Hi Vasilis!,

It is my pleasure to talk with you!

Things are going way better than we expected. Which "better" as a word is a bit forbidden nowadays but there are things that are going better and this makes us really happy. I see that people, despite the economic difficulties, are still coming to our concerts and have fun but obviously this must be combined with a good approach on our side on cheap tickets but I see that things keep going.

Yes we are done with the first part and this relates to my previous answer. We saw that we had more people than on our previous concerts and we were actually impressed.

Yep that's true.

The album has got some really positive reviews, though it is a bit difficult for somebody to understand this (meaning the album) because it requires more listening. But those who managed to get into it are praising it.

It is an ancient Greek saying that means "act according to your own will", which is something that is following us for so many years, not to mention we have released records that their title means more or less the same thing and I am talking about "Non Serviam".

You know what, I found about this later. This saying is actually written in Morrison's grave, which in any case can't say something more. I mean it's not mine or Morrison's. It's nobody's.

No, that happened because they wanted to have an English title because in the United States they would have troubles with that thing and so they did like that.

Nope it's actually only in Greek. (Damn he got me)

We did that on purpose, as an anti conformist way of approaching things which doesn't follow the western type, that you have lyrics in English say the word fuck etc We take a different approach in our music, which is not working always for our own good. Because in the States we got a problem, as it is a big market for us. On the other hand we do not care, because commercial success is not everything. We stand for something (our ideals) and I believe that we are doing our best to achieve this.

It is not about risk, but after twelve albums my friend I do not care.

Well they did. We argued a bit, but I wanted to go the unconventional way and the ethnic elements from the non-western culture.

I agree. This is what touches us and me personally as a composer.

I wanted to create a multicultural trip with this record, I am a guy who thinks himself as a multicultural person, I like various civilizations around the world, I travel since I was a small kid and this is what touched me this time, it is my main influence. Aside from that I made a journey to the past, a journey to the ancient civilizations, something different from what is expected from a release. I think that the record is an escape to the past and its occultism and to the ancient mystagogia.

They are very talented and I was impressed with the Romanian version of the song and I asked them to cover it in the style of ROTTING CHRIST. And they said yes and that made me really happy. Look ROTTING CHRIST is a band, which despite the classic influences that we have, always look to different genres of music. When I am talking about different genres of music, I do not talk about something happy or commercial I am talking about things that create some atmosphere.

No.. Well relatively yes. But there were some things in the beginning... There is always this phobia, you know ROTTING CHRIST well those are Satanists or whatever (the hell) people may call us but as time passed our art met a common line and this is how it should be.

I mean why not? We wanted to do a SABBATH cover. We did a jam we did something simple and life goes on.

Well yes it has that darkness.

So do I.

Look when you cover BLACK SABBATH you do not do it to become smarter or you got some standards. You just cover it because they are the biggest band on the planet. You add a small stone and say guys this is my view of the song. Obviously you can't touch them. Some people want to compare things and expect me to become Ozzy - but I am not.

Well I might be eager but I stick to the past of those big bands. Unfortunately I am not that satisfied with the latest releases of the big bands.

We keep going on. We want to be ourselves and to fight and give our fights in all the places of the world. We are always in the frontlines. We wish to stay healthy to keep going because we have the fire, no matter the difficulties. We have just started our worldwide tour. We came back from South America, now we are in Greece, we went to Turkey and we continue our worldwide journey. We hold the flag of the Greek scene high and I wish to keep touring the next year.

Well I will take my time on the next one. I need to be inspired. After so many years of releasing albums I wouldn't let any record company tell me release a record then because we need to sell. We might have done those things at the 90s. Now I am not reconciling. If I feel that there is something moving inside me then I will write something. Else I am not gonna do this. Maybe never. There must be a good record or else forget it.

We have done that in the past and obviously that would be something different. Do not forget though that there is the new generation, which can show us how things are done, related to playing. Surely those bands have created something, but it's not just that. There is the new generation and I hope that all the bands could play together in a concert, though we have done that already in the past.

I see that a lot of Greek bands are going on tour. I have been impressed in the last five years about the Greek scene and the great steps it is making. The new generation might have not released their best albums though they are tremendous as players and they have understood how things are working in the scene. They might lack a bit in personality but that can be found in the process. But I see a lot of bands playing on festivals abroad and tours and I have been really impressed. The Greek scene is existing and strong and I hope in the future to live the glorious moments of the past.

Look people are getting on stage because we feel like doing this and we let it happen as eventually we are also fans. I can't think of something. Sometimes there are a lot of people on stage and I am afraid if there is too much vibration that something bad might happen. I remember that when we played in Thessaloniki there were about 100 people on stage and it started vibrating and that I started to worry should the things go ugly. But other than that I am proud and happy to share the stage with my fans on some of our songs, because that means a lot to us.

I want to say that in these dark times that we live we have to keep the flag high, to survive and I am sure that Greek metal scene will give a new meaning to what we are going through as a country. Until the next time we meet at a concert. Non Serviam!