hails!!!
here is a new interview with the russian based label
grailight prod. this is a new label but i have been lucky enough to hear
some of the mentioned releases.and let me tell you they are HIGH
QUALITY if you are a fan of atmospheric black,death,some doom or folkish
metal.then this is a label you must check out!!!
as always thanks to everyone who stops by and comments,cudo's or emails,etc the support is over-whelming and i thank you!!!!
best regards,
patrick and winter torment web-zine
http://www.wintertorment.com
interview with demether g, owner of grailight prod.and vocalist for the bands arcane grail,and skylord done by patrick
1.hello Demether, how is your weekend been going? please tell the readers a little about yourself.
Hi,
Patrick!) Holidays pass off not bad. I have a rest at home, it is rare
I have such happens - usually holidays few, always any business, for my
own bands, a label, daily work (which connected with music directly
too) - a free time few. About itself? Well, I’m the Russian
metal-musician and, so to say, the figure) Singer in bands Arcane Grail
and Skylord, I supervise over label Grailight Productions, I am engaged
in journalistic activity for a site www.heavymusic.ru.
2.when did
you first start listening to metal? who were some of the first bands
you heard? who are some of your "current" favorite bands?
I have
started to listen to metal in 16 years old. The first heard groups were
Rammstein, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Helloween. First I listened
only power metal and thrash metal, but have a year later I heard black
and doom and have fallen in love with these styles much more. In any
case, I have usual favorites: Therion, Cradle of Filth, Rhapsody, Kind
Diamond, Bal-Sagoth, My Dying Bride, Cannibal Corpse.
3.what gave
you the idea to create Grailight prod.? how did you come up with the
name for the label? are you happy with how things are progressing so
far?
I have a desire to create a label during last several years,
despite of gradual and all greater decline of all of it all over the
world and especially in Russia. Well here simply it would be desirable
also at all. And in this year I have ripened, so to say. I have thought
up the name almost instantly, it very much is pleasant to me - it simply
superb, in my opinion. Magnificent Russian artist Pablo the Elephant
has created a magnificent logotype. Master Alexander Mayhem Gluhov has
created the most beautiful myspace-site for my label. All meshes is very
class, in my opinion! Business goes on not bad on the one hand, though
sales, certainly, are strongly insignificant and from the other hand all
stands on pure enthusiasm and patronage of arts...
4.i know you already have released quite a few great band. can you please tell the readers a little about your releases?
For
half a year I have released already 9 releases. The Ukrainian command
Letargia, playing atmospheric doomish melodic death, Belarus dark-black
metalheads Aeon Noctis. Muscovites Astel Oscora, playing most beautiful
atmospheric black. Band Torsense, combining brutal death. melodic death,
sympho black, brightest melodies, growling and female mezzo soprano.
Innovators Ruthless Order, my oldest friends, playing a mixture a
hard-rock and melodic death (yes!) with a touch of progressive-metal.
Opening of year in the world, as I consider, Belarus pagan melodic death
Drygva. Crude but very powerful and competent sympho black from Neron
Kaisar. Very beautiful sympho-gothic metal from Ukrainians Mizantropia
with unbelievable smart female vocal. Well and the last while - cult
Moscow sympho blacksters Stigmatic Chorus with new 4-th album on which I
and my vocalist from Arcane Grail Natalie have sung.
5.besides
your "current" releases are u planning to release more bands/releases in
the near future? if yes please tell us about them band/release names,
release dates{if they are set} and any info you think the readers should
know.
Yes, certainly, I plan to continue further activity of a label and to release out even more releases.
Precise
plans while such: debut of Portuguese gothic-blacksters Darkside of
Innocence, debut of my second band Skylord, debuts of Russian
sympho-black metal Artania and Twilight.
Also I can preliminary tell,
that releases Arcanorum Astrum, Atoll Nerat, Atra Mustum, Epitimia,
Black October are possible - all is beautiful extreme metal from Russia.
And it is not all… Quite probably, these releases will be issued all in
this year!
6.are you currently looking to "sign" any more new
bands? what do you look for when "signing" bands? also if any bands or
labels are reading this what styles of metal do you trade for//carry in
the Grailight distro?
I look for new groups for a label by myself,
because I know sympho-blackish and an adjacent scene very well, and it
is the extremely complex to surprise me with any unknown to me already
band. Main my criteria - beautiful music, availability of an extreme
vocal, desirable powerful qualitative record and beautiful professional
registration. Popularity of band is not important at the moment of
signing the contract. Anyway I prefer sympho-black on the first seat,
melodic death with keys, pagan metal with elements of symphonies,
sympho-doom.
7.what do you feel is the easiest and the hardest
part about running a label? do you have any advice for anyone who might
be thinking of starting up a label?
Yes, undoubtedly I consulted
with the senior counterparts on a common cause, considering, that I am
personally familiar with all labels in Moscow. And about most easy way -
to not despond, continue to work despite of everything, and to do all
in the promised timeframes, precisely and responsibly, to not deceive
the band and distributors.
8.besides running Grailight
productions, you are also the vocalist for the bands "Arcane Grail" and
"Skylord". When did you form/join these bands? What releases do the
bands have available? for the readers who have never heard these two
bands how would you describe their music?
Yes, first of all I’m the
metal-vocalist in bands ARCANE GRAIL and SKYLORD. I have based ARCANE
GRAIL in 2001 year, we play Symphonic Extreme Metal Art, with screaming,
growling and a female soprano. We have released two albums "Mysteries
of the Ancient Charnel" (2006) and "Arya Marga – The Ninefold Path to
the Innocence" (2009) on Moscow label Musica Production. Also, the
second album is available on ITunes. To listen to us it is possible here
– www.myspace.com/arcanegrail
In SKYLORD I have come to sing in 2008
year, we now record our debut album. We play very high-speed and very
beautiful sympho-black metal with elements of melodic-death and power
metal. Wait!
9.when did you become interested in singing? who are some of your influences/favorite vocalist?
Beside
of that I have learned in musical school in the childhood on class of
baritone (instrument) and drums, when I started to listen to the metal I
was liked very much in extreme singing and decided to sing, not play on
some instrument. My favourite vocalists in metal are: Kind Diamond,
Dani Filth, Fabio Lione, Alexi Laiho, Mille Petrozza, George Fisher.
10.do you do anything special to keep your throat/voice healthy? what other instruments do you play?
I
have learned with jazz-vocal teacher, but, unfortunately, enough less.
Undoubtedly, I have been rehearsing at home promptly; I don’t smoke and
drink alcohol. Maybe, few beers sometimes:) I don’t play other
instruments nowadays, on piano and drums a very little more.
11.you
live in the mighty country of Russia. it seems like Russia has a
fairly strong metal scene would you agree? what is your opinion of
Russia's metal scene?
In Russia, in the last five years, the dawn of
metal has begun at last. There were enough very decent studios owing to
which now it is easy to record at the European level. But the deal is
not only in sound. Really, there were many of the most worthy bands
playing high-quality, interesting, and original metal music. It would be
desirable to name the following bands:
Ambehr – Majestic ethnic melodic death with screaming and soprano
Blackthorn – All-female symphonic dramatic black metal, beautiful and haunting, with a unique soprano
Atoll Nerat – Unique epic sympho-black with an atmosphere of Indian Toltecs
Non Immemor Mei – Amazing original post-doom
Kartikeya – Brutal death on the basis of the Indian music
Dorgmooth – Superb melodic death
Astel Oscora – Beautiful and magic sympho-black with the atmosphere of Alice in Wonderland
Welicoruss – Magnificent epic sympho-folk-black
Tantal – They can easy outdo Arch Enemy and The Agonist
Little Dead Bertha – Fine sympho-black/melodic-death with screaming and a stunning soprano
Wine from Tears – Excellent doom-death
Id:Vision – Absolutely mad industrial-techno-black
Atra Mustum – Perhaps, one of the best representatives of gothic-sympho-blacks in the world
Diathra – Excellent gothic metal band
Scrambled Defuncts – Improbable sympho-brutal-death
Crystal Abyss – Mystical sympho-black
Solerrain – Children of Bodoms, playing better than Laiho and company a hundred times
Arcana Imperia – Very interesting avant-garde sympho-death
Ordalion – Original and very might Russian sympho-black
And,
certainly, it is possible to list much of our most interesting pagan
metal bands, which similarities in the world are not present: Arkona,
Butterfly Temple, Nevid, Severnye Vrata, Smuta, Natural Spirit,
Temnozor, Nebokray, Tverd, Svarga, Kroda, Alkonost and many others.
12.who are some of your all-time favorite Russian bands? are their any new bands the readers should watch out for?
My
favourite surely are: Arkona, Ambehr, Blackthorn, Abstract Spirit,
Butterfly Temple, Temnozor, Nokturnal Mortum, Ea, Welicoruss, Stigmatic
Chorus. Many…:)
13.besides bands are their any good/honest
labels or zines in Russia you would recommend? are there a lot of
clubs/places for metal bands to play live?
Good labels surely are:
More Hate Productions, mighty Solitude Productions (benefactors of doom
metal), Coyote Records and Soulflesh Collector (hellish pits with mead
for brutal death metal collectives), Stygian Crypt. Its all. The best
our zine is Dark City. About clubs better to gig in Moscow and
Saint-Petersburg, and Ekaterinburg. Best clubs of Moscow are Tochka,
X.O., Plan B. We haven’t much clubs, unfortunately. We have much very
good bands, labels, studios, but also we have many problems with concert
stages, promoters and the general – people in metal-shops and on gigs…
14.in
your opinion what is the best and worst thing about the metal
underground? and what does the term metal underground mean to you?
The
best thing I think is the metal unites the people, gives them the
power, ideas, will to live and to create. The metal is good!:) The worst
are the lack of money, prohibitions in some countries, incomprehension
of society, and sometimes disrespect between bands and listeners,
foolish enmity between genres. I’m really in metal underground, and I
think that all bands, except maybe only Metallica and Iron Maiden, in
underground of world music – and, hm, I am more free and honest and my
brothers and sisters at arms of metal too. We’re really the soul of this
world, I’m proud of it!
15.well, my friend we have reached the
end of the interview. thank you for taking the time to fill this out.
good luck with your label and bands and looking forward to see what you
release next. do you have any final comments for the readers?
Thank
you very much for this interesting interview. And my words for all are:
love the relatives, hate the enemies, do not cave in under the modern
world, be free, do not allow anybody to manipulate your consciousness,
and, certainly, listen to good music – metal, the most strong and honest
music in this sublunar world!
to contact demether
and grailight prod pls.check out the "official" page here for all the
current news,releases,etc..
http://www.myspace.com/grailight
