Greece has been for some years one of the most important countries in the metal scene in Europe. Not only for being a great consumer of our style, but also because its bands have an unquestionable quality. One of the latest to surprise us is THE SILENT RAGE, who with their «Nuances of life» set the bar very high in the European heavy scene. And it will be very difficult to surpass this year. For this reason, they are visiting these pages in order to see how they have created this masterpiece.
Interview conducted by Kikemaiden.
Translate by Andrea Mollá.
REA – As always when a new band drops by, I would like to thank you for being kind enough to appear on this humble website.
Nikos Siglidis: The pleasure is ours and we would like to thank you from our side for having us plus your readers for the time they will spend to get to know us better through this interview.
REA – Before we talk about THE SILENT RAGE, let’s start with the Greek metal scene. In the 80’s your country was a place with quite a lot of Heavy metal followers in general and the first important bands like Flames, Vice Ηuman, Spitfire and, on the extreme side, Rotting Christ started to appear. Later, in the 90’s, Septic Flesh, Astarte, Firewind, Nightrage and many more. So that in the XXI century Greece becomes one of the countries with more weight within the European scene. How do you see this evolution from the inside, and what is the current situation of Greece in terms of the metal scene? From the outside we assure you that we see it as the strongest after the German one.
Nikos Siglidis: It is really flattering to know that the Greek Metal Scene can be described as a powerful one. It is very important to acknowledge that due to the fact that Greece in contrast with Germany is a small small country, but I do believe as well that the quality of the bands in our country is getting bigger and bigger every year. The most important thing is that the studios and the musicians are willing to get a more professional level in all terms – production, album covers, touring as well. In the previous years even record labels could get serious bands from here, due to lack of the previous mentioned. Thankfully, that has changed throughout the years. I have followed the Greek scene since a teenager and afterwards being an active member of it from the inside, all I can say is that you have to check it. It has some really great bands that need to be discovered and trust me, they will blow your mind out!
REA – Let’s continue with this topic, but from the point of view of a band from outside Greece. We also see that for many bands your country is considered an important place and an unavoidable date to tour in Europe. We can talk about bands like Skyclad, Satan, Jag Panzer, Iced earth (before the white house invasion scandal involving Schafer). Is the Greek scene so strong in terms of consumption, being a rather small country?
Nikos Siglidis: To be honest talking with those bands in person through the years, they were always telling me that the crowd that they want to perform most while on a European tour is the Greek one and the only one that can compete is the one in Latin America. You have to perform a show in our country in order to see the vibe and the passion that we have. Iced Earth for example have recorded here the legendary «Alive In Athens», which is a characteristic of what the Greek audience is all about. So in terms of consumption, we have a strong scene with great bands that need to be discovered by you.
REA – Now that we are on the subject of John Schafer of Iced Earth and his complete oblivion after the case of the invasion of the White House and also being Greece, a country with a lot of political and social problems over the last few years, what do you think about mixing politics and music?
Stamatis Katsafados: We simply have no interest in promoting nor conveying political messages through our music. It is my opinion that music, and especially the Metal Genre, is a formidable candidate in expressing your inner feelings.
REA – Continuing the previous topic but outside the musical aspect, Greece went through a really complicated crisis a few years ago and it was a hot spot in Europe, where many Spaniards felt strongly identified with the problem of the Greek people. What is the social and political situation in Greece today? How did that time affect the culture and specifically the rock scene?
Stamatis Katsafados: The main downside on Greek people came down to economic difficulties that created a domino effect. Free time became less available due to trying to work more to make due and the luxury of creating music became a real trial. Of course the greatest inspiration comes through times of turmoil. The political scene follows a global scale of disappointment and finding light at the end of this tunnel requires extreme will and patience.
REA – And looking at the situation in Greece during the last 20 years, how has it affected the lyrics and concepts of THE SILENT RAGE, and do you think these years have influenced the band in some way?
Nikos Siglidis: Lyrically wise, there are for sure issues that influenced us to write about them that have to do not only with Greece but with the world generally. We are not a typical power metal band that their lyrics deal with issues about dragons, swords, warlords, kingdoms etc. Of course we do have some issues close enough but there are not only from that. I am going to give you a few examples about that. For a start, if you observe the lyrics in our debut album, “The Deadliest Scourge”, you can find for example “Proselytize The Masses” which is inspired by the current situation in the whole world and the Gatekeepers that lead us blind. Or you can see tracks like “The Right To Dream” or “A Piece Of Eden” that are influenced by video games such as “God Of War” and “Assassin’s Creed” respectively. On “Nuances Of Life” on the other hand, the issue that has to do with the current situation has been featured on “Black Monday”. It has to do with the loss of 103 people during the wildfire of July 23rd, 2018 in Mati, Attica.
REA – Moving on to the musical side of the band, what is the beginning of THE SILENT RAGE? How did it come to your mind to start a band, let’s be honest, in a time of general sluggishness in the metal world? Let’s remember that you were formed in 2006, in the middle of the music business crisis.
Stamatis Katsafados: I have had the honor of being in The Silent Rage family since 2011, also a time of great difficulty, but my mindset on creating and risking new pathways is regardless of the current state of the world. Simply because there might never be a perfect moment to start something, but we must follow our dreams and hope for a better tomorrow and be ready when that tomorrow comes.
REA – Personally I didn’t know you until the release of «Nuances Of Life» and I can clearly see the influences you have for the sound and the compositional aspect. I could name (that come to my mind by similarities in your sound) Brainstorm, Metallium, Iced Earth, Grave Digger, Running Wild or Rage. But in your beginnings, what were those influences? From what I have heard in your first demos, you have a lot of influence from the melodic heavy power that was so successful in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Which bands would you add to the mentioned ones?
Nikos Siglidis: I can definitely accept the bands that you’ve mentioned above as influences, mostly Brainstorm, Iced Earth, Grave Digger and Rage. Nowadays, I would definitely add elements from Nevermore, Primal Fear, Seven Witches, Judas Priest as well. In the early days of the band on the other hand, the material that we had was closer enough to bands like Angra, Gamma Ray or Hammerfall perhaps. Of course, the Iced Earth, Metal Church or even the Savatage influence was there as well.
REA – From the creation of the band to the release of «The Deadliest Scourge», your debut in 2016, 10 years passed with three demos along the way and a split. Why did it take so long to release your first full-length album?
Stamatis Katsafados: Band member lineup changes surely contributed in delaying as well as of course the COVID era. But it gave us a lot of time to regroup, create music that we can be proud of and not simply provide albums that are coerced by time.
REA – And regarding your first album, it seems to me a quite interesting work with the style of THE SILENT RAGE defined, hardening the sound and with a lot of influence of bands from the German Power scene and US metal. But I think that at least outside Greece it didn’t have much repercussions. Tell us what do you think about «The Deadliest Scourge» so long after and how was the reception of the people?
Nikos Siglidis: As an album “The Deadliest Scourge” received nice reviews from all over the world and we got some really nice feedback from fans as well. For example we got reviews from media coming from Brazil, Australia, USA, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Colombia, Israel, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Cyprus, Italy, Slovakia or even Japan, so we did have some repercussions. It was really overwhelming to know that people really like your work. It gives you the motivation to go on and create even more and that is what happened with “Nuances Of Life”.
REA – Once again it will take a long time for THE SILENT RAGE to release a new full-length album. It seems that you have important line-up changes such as the entrance of Michael Rinakakis for the previous vocalist, Steve Venardo. And only two singles are released until the current «Nuances of life». What happened during that whole stage? Was the change of vocalist very traumatic for the band? What were the main reasons for the exit of Venardo and the entrance of Rinakakis?
Stamatis Katsafados: There lies no mystery or secrets. It’s simply a matter of priorities and family. Band members might come and go but their contribution and musical insight lives forever. As I mentioned the dry period of TSR came with great difficulty and assessment but also provided the album that we released now, so as cliché as it sounds, everything happens for a reason.
REA – Let’s now talk about «Nuances of life», how was the process of composition and production to end up releasing what is for me (Kikemaiden), the best work within the European heavy power so far this year?
Nikos Siglidis: I had started composing most of the material in the fall of 2017/early 2018, right before Nikos Sarbanis & Michalis Rinakakis joined the band. Right after Nikos joined, we started the pre-production of the songs. Of course, Nikos also contributed with three songs of his own in this album (“Exhaling Fear”, “Black Monday” & “Defy The Headhunters”) while some others co-written by both of us (“Carve Your Rage”, “Nuances Of Life”). All the ideas were recorded at the Nomad Studios, our place. When Michalis Rinakakis joined the band, we started working together on the lyrics & vocal lines. He wrote the lyrics for five songs (“Carve Your Rage”, “Crows Fly Back”, “Scarlet Dawn”, “Exhaling Fear”, “Ghost Of A Wayward God”) and recorded his vocals in his home studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he lives in. Exchanging files and finalizing the material after a while, we headed to the Devasoundz Studios to start recording the album under the guidance of Fotis Benardo once again, while in the meantime George Haniotakis joined the band as a bass player. The rest is history. As for your comment about “Nuances Of Life” being the best work within the European heavy power metal genre, what can I say? It’s really flattering to read comments like that and sure gives me, us, the motivation to keep going on!
REA – Regarding the production, it seemed to me that you have managed to get a brutal sound, enhancing the strong points of the band. The sound of the rhythmic base is powerful; the guitars sound perfect, powerful and crystalline; and the voice of Michael Rinakakis with that duality in the style that he has, brings out all the possible potential. It was recorded at Devasoundz Studios, in Athens, the same studios as in previous works, and the difference in sound is abysmal. Is it all a matter of technology, evolution and improvement of the studios; the same producers or is there something else that achieves the sound that you have been able to capture in «Nuances of life»?
Stamatis Katsafados: We certainly were more prepared and fueled with ideas for this album. Fotis Benardo of Devasoundz Studios is a perfectionist when it comes to sound and certainly a producer that always stays alert and updated to new hardware and techniques. Everyone evolves with time and this evolution is what gives the best possible results. The most important thing is to learn from past mistakes and surpass yourself.
REA – There is something that stands out a lot in the songs and it is the compositional work in the bridges and sung choruses. They are very elaborate, they are long and many times it’s hard to distinguish which is which part of the song, because they are so accomplished and have so much strength. At the same time, it sounds epic without the use of additional instruments or grandiloquent choirs, only with the changes of registers in the voices of Rinakakis and some of your support. I think it’s a marvel, how was that part of the composition that I personally highlight so much?
Nikos Siglidis: Well it was something that we had in mind and also received a lot of help by our producer, Fotis Benardo, on some of them. He gave us a whole new perspective on how we should use them properly in order to sound the way you hear on the album. I am glad that you really mentioned it and you really liked the way they turned out to be.
REA – And to give more value to «Nuances of life» you have counted on the collaboration of two colossal vocalists of the Heavy metal scene and above all very appreciated in Greece. Stu Block (Ex Iced Earth, Annihilator, Into Eternity…) and Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer, Satan’s host, Titan Force…) Why the choice of these two singers? How was the contact and the relationship with them? Was there any attempt to collaborate with someone else besides Bob Katsionis, great Greek musician on the keyboards in one of the songs?
Stamatis Katsafados: We were hoping for vocalists that were close to the sound and melodic lines of our singer Michalis so as to give out a “duet style” headbanging experience. Stu Block and Harry Conklin are extremely talented vocalists and we were more than proud to have had contribute to our Album. The contact was smooth and real casual, we agreed in the style we were going for melodically, and when we received the first exports we were really thrilled for the combined outcome. Bob Katsionis has been a friend and a real help during our active years and really was a no-brainer when we wanted to add keyboards and the sort of soothing melody in our very special song “Black Monday”.
REA – And with «Nuances of life» on the market, what would be a success for you? What would it be to exceed those small expectations that a band has when faced with something that you have worked so hard to create?
Stamatis Katsafados: Our passion for music is what fulfills us and the opportunity to give out to our listeners that passion is our reward. The success of leaving an undying musical imprint and hope that in a world of spectacular music work we will leave our mark .
REA – There’s one aspect we haven’t covered so far: live shows. What have live shows been like for THE SILENT RAGE? Have you been a very active band? You recently played with Kamelot on several dates in Greece, how were the gigs? Did you have a good relationship with Thomas Youngblood and company?
Nikos Siglidis: There was only one show in Athens and Fuzz Live Club. The show was great, the crowd seemed to love us, and that’s something really important for us, especially when they were singing our songs or screaming our name. As for the Kamelot themselves, what can I say? They are really great guys and it was a pleasure to play with them. Of course, my good friend Alex Landenberg is always the favorite person in the band hehe.
REA- And linking with the previous question, how do you see the future expectations not only for you, but for any band? Is it perhaps the most complex aspect for a band?
Stamatis Katsafados: The most complex part of any band and any endeavor is consistency! Consistent in practicing, creating new stuff, reaching out to people, accepting feedback and always trying to improve by not standing still. Reassurance over a recent “success” and holding back is what creates the slippery slope for slowly fading out. We want to be always on the move organize and visualize what and where the band can be in the future.
REA – Well, we are reaching the end. It has been a pleasure and we leave you to share some last words for our web readers.
Stamatis Katsafados: I would like to thank all of our readers for their support and interest and welcome all feedback of our latest work. I would like to thank Rock Entre Amigos for having us and for this exciting interview, and last but not least for everyone wanting to support our efforts and for some real cool merch visit our store in our official The Silent Rage webpage. Cheers and stay heavy!
REA- Thank you and good luck with «Nuances of life» which is a great work.
Nikos Siglidis: Thank you very much for the kind words and the whole support to the band. It is really important and we appreciate it. Also, I would like to say a big “THANK YOU!” to your readers for the time the spend reading this interview. We would like to see you all following our pages through https://linktr.ee/thesilentrage.
Rock Entre Amigos 