Dead Congregation pour l'album "Graves Of The Archangels"

Hi Anastasis, thanks for accepting this interview. Dead Congregation is more and more often mentioned on the underground forums as one of the best newer death metal acts. Unfortunately, you're not known by everyone yet so can you please introduce Dead Congregation to the ignorant ones?

Hello. The band was formed around the end of 2003 – beginning 2004 when I finally found the perfect members to share my vision of creating Death Metal the way we define it.
In May 2005 we released our debut MCD ‘Purifying Consecrated Ground' (which has eventually also been released as a 10”MLP/Tape/digipack MCD) and in February 2008 we finally released our first full-length album ‘Graves Of The Archangels' on Nuclear War Now! productions. We do some gigs now and then, so far we've played with bands like Antaeus, Watain, Kaamos, Corpus Mortale, Slugathor, Necrovation, Tribulation, Drowned, Asphyx…


I think Dead Congregation is an awesome band name that fits perfectly your music. How did you come up with it?

It was a title of a Nuclear Winter (my previous band) song and I thought it was very appropriate for a Death Metal moniker. Actually it was a friend of mine who came up with the idea when I asked his opinion about some other name I had in mind, heh. Thank him for that for it was a great choice indeed!


As said earlier, Dead Congregation is one of the most promising bands around. "Graves Of The Archangels" will likely end up in my top albums of 2008. And I'm not the only one to think that way. Are you aware of more and more people getting crazy about you? How are the reactions so far to the first full-length?

Yes, we've also noticed that our fan-base grows bigger almost every day. The reviews of the album have all been extremely positive. What can I say, we just play the music that comes directly from our hearts without any expectations at all but it is flattering to see that there are other people who seem to appreciate our Art as well. The most rewarding bit is that we receive very positive feedback from people who we admire and respect ourselves.


Incantation and Immolation seem to be your biggest influences. I guess you agree on that? Tough question: who is the best for you, Incantation or Immolation?

I would agree about that regarding our debut MCD but not for our album. I think it's the easy way of someone to describe our sound without putting too much effort in finding the appropriate words. Our songs have MANY riffs and out of the total number of riffs in the album there are maybe 3 that are inspired by Immolation and 3 that are inspired by Incantation. That hardly qualifies as a ‘big influence'. We create the same atmosphere as these bands maybe, however I strongly believe that with this album we have our own identity.
As for the later part of your question, I'd say that Immolation have managed to release flawless albums up until ‘harnessing ruin' while the last Incantation album I really like is ‘Diabolical Conquest'.


Dead Congregation mixes what I'd call the blasphemous old-school vibe to the blasting brutality of the new school. Do you share my point of view?

There is no ‘old' and ‘new' school of Death Metal. There is DEATH Metal and other forms of Metal that are simply extreme in sound but don't carry the elements that are needed to be labelled as ‘Death' Metal which is with no doubt, dark, suffocating, twisted and blasphemous atmosphere!


Who's the main writer in the band? How does the writing process go for Dead Congregation?

I write 90% of the music and T.K. (guitars) the rest. Usually each of us compose a song on our own to its very last detail and then we show it to each other so both of us know the guitar parts and arrangement of the song. Then we show it to V.V. (drums) at our rehearsal place and that's it… Songs are always completed and fully arranged when we move on to adding lyrics to them because we feel that it's the music that's most important so the song must sound good even if it's played without any vocals at all. Vocals are just another instrument to contribute in the overall atmosphere and are only used where and when needed, without being too excessive so that they don't draw too much attention from the music itself. Most lyrics are usually written by T.K. but it just happened that for this album I handled the biggest share. We are also very honoured to have lyrics from MkM of Antaeus and T.Ketola who is a long time friend and also responsible for the visual side of Dead Congregation releases.


The sound on "Graves Of The Archangels" is amazing. Where did the recordings take place?

“Forged In Hell”.


I believe you have no permanent bassist at the moment. What happened to A.A.? You only have a Swedish session player now. Have you finally managed to find someone from your country to make things easier?

A.A. also plays guitar in another band and he wanted to focus on that. He still helps though whenever needed, for instance he played the bass at our gig with Primordial in April '08 since that was arranged in too short notice and K.P couldn't fly from Sweden to Greece and play with us. We are not actively looking for a permanent member because the core of the band is T.K., V.V and myself. Eventually the right person will show up to fill in the bass player's spot…


The only complaint I have would be the ugly cover art. No offense to the artist but it looks like it was drawn by a child. Why didn't you choose some more detailed, dark and classy art to go with the music?

We wanted Dan SeaGrave but we couldn't afford him. The artist who did our artwork has been and hopefully will always be responsible for all of our artwork. Not only he has done artwork for bands like Kaamos, Marduk, Murder Squad, Watain, Dissection, Funeral Mist, Deathspell Omega, Verminous, Opeth, Teitanblood and countless more but he also happened to write the lyrics for the title-track so the front cover artwork is his own interpretation of what he visioned when he wrote the lyrics. The cover depicts the Archangel levitating from the grave to the air, exactly mutated as described in the lines of the song – with lion's claws and horns of ox. Maybe if you were into Lovecraft you'd be able to appreciate it. As actual artwork it's surely as detailed as needed (it even has the names of the Archangels on the gravestones in Sanskrit for fuck's sake), leaving some things to the imagination of the viewer and it sure as hell is DARK. We leave the detailed arty farty photoshoped album covers to whoever enjoys them but since our music is Dark and Filthy and crude, the artwork will have to be the same. 99% of the people we're in contact with have urged to tell us how the overall appearance of the LP and CD totally matches our music and of course I agree with them.
Your offence does not go to the artist who drew the cover but to us as a band, as you imply that we settled for something that wasn't 100% what we wanted and believe me when I tell you that this album fully represents what this band stands for.)


How are things going with your label Nuclear War Now! Productions? Don't you plan to sign to a bigger label?

Words cannot describe how we feel about Nuclear War Now! and how professionally they have handled this release and Dead Congregation as a band. Apart from being fast, reliable and keeping their part of the deal to the last detail they also spare no expense when it comes to packaging and print quality, which is very important to us and more than what any big label would offer. Besides, if we wanted a big label we would play Pop music instead.


Dead Congregation is all about the atmosphere and don't care about technicality, even if you're obviously skilled musicians. You got the old-school mentality I guess. But what do you think about successful technical death metal bands such as Origin, Brain Drill, Beneath The Massacre, Decrepit Birth, Odious Mortem, Brain Drill, etc?

I don't know any of those bands! Except from Origin who I don't like.


What is your opinion on today's extreme metal scene in general?

Of course the majority of the scene consists of mediocre/bad bands but there are many exceptions such as Arkhon Infaustus, Drowned, Ignivomous, Necrovation, Grave Miasma, Necros Christos, Funeral Mist, Deathspell Omega, Coffin Texts, Drawn & Quartered, Mortem, Nile, Black Flame…


Besides Incantation and Immolation, what are your favorite bands?

Arkhon Infaustus, Antaeus, Nevermore, Solitude Aeternus, Anathema, Slayer, Morbid Angel, old Diabolic, Angelcorpse, Mayhem, Funeral Mist, Memento Mori, My Dying Bride, Kaamos, old Entombed, old Grave, old Edge Of Sanity, old Demigod, Iniquity, WASP, Iron Maiden, old Belphegor, Sadistic Intent, Coffin Texts, Atrophy, Evildead, Holy Terror, old Dark Funeral, Isole, Nile, early Hate Eternal, Bolt Thrower, old Pestilence, Death, Autopsy, early Carcass, At The Gates, Decomposed etc etc etc…


I'm sure you also like black metal. You play a kind of death metal that is close to what black metal gives off as far as atmosphere is concerned...

That's the only kind of real Death Metal.


You're obviously an anti-Christian band. Just look at your lyrics and imagery. But is it just to go with the death metal attitude or do you really hate Christianity? What do you think about religion in general, being Christianity, Islam or Judaism?

Every religion is meant to manipulate the masses. Quite a cliché answer but oh so true. We detest all religions that support the castration of the human spirit and confine free will in the name of non-existent moral values.


What are those religious chants that one can heard on "Graves Of The Archangels" and "Teeth Into Red". Are they orthodox? Where did you take them from? Why did you put them in your album? Anyway, I really like them, they bring out a lot to the atmosphere of the album!

These are orthodox Christian chants and they are actually hymns to the Archangels so they are quite relevant with the album's concept. We used them because they serve well in bringing out further Blasphemy as we shamelessly interrupt them with our savage music and lyrics.


Greece is an orthodox country. Is religion really powerful there? Is there a lot of censorship?

I don't know about censorship but most people sure are prejudiced as hell. “Oh, you have a huge wooden inverted cross in your living room, you're going to hell”, and all that crap. But religion has certainly lost a lot of its impact on younger generations and I think it's only a matter of time until nobody gives a toss about Christ Oh fucking Mighty.


How is it to live in Greece? I mean on economic and social levels. Except for forests in fire and heatwaves we don't often speak about Greece on TV news.

The feelings I have for my country are quite contradicting. It's chaotic, dirty, corrupted (and Athens is way too overpopulated) and yet I still love it. I don't think I could stand living in a country in which you'd actually have to abide by all rules, although sometimes my romantic side pictures me in a place less dirty and greener than Greece. Truth is that as a country (in terms of landscapes and history) it cannot be matched by almost any other. The people however have no respect towards it and really try their best in ruining it if it will serve their best interest.


I'm not really familiar with the Greek metal scene. I think it is the case for most people. Inveracity (your drummer's other band), Septicflesh and Human Rejection must be the only bands I can think of right now. For someone who is a part of it, how is metal in Greece?

There are some decent bands for sure. Regardless if I personally like them or not these are some names that are great in their respective genres: BLACK METAL: Acrimonious, Angstridden, Burial Hordes, Injekting Khaos. DEATH METAL: Nocturnal Vomit, Blustery Caveat, Inveracity, Extreme Violence.


What about tours? Do you think you will play France one day? Were you contacted to play some summer fests like the Death Feast Open Air?

It's a bit hard for us to do extensive tours as we all work regular jobs and apart from that our drummer also plays in Inveracity which is a very active band too so he has to share his time between the commitments of both. We have received offers to do quite a few gigs (in France too) but nothing is certain at this point. I know that it will definitely happen some day in the not so distant future!


Do you know some French bands? You must have heard of Arkhon Infaustus at least, right? They play the same kind of music as yours.

Ha, as I told you already Arkhon Infaustus is one of my favorite bands! They have evolved tremendously through the years and I think they become better and better with each release. ‘Orthodoxyn' is pure Insanity… We have been honoured enough to have their support too as Dk Deviant actually wanted to get us signed to either his own Ordo Decimus Peccatum or Osmose. We were also asked to play with them in London, with Angelcorpse and Revenge but unfortunately we couldn't make it at that specific time. A damn shame as it would have been the absolutely perfect line-up in my opinion, we deeply respect all of these great bands.
I think you have a VERY strong Black Metal scene with bands like Antaeus, Deathspell Omega, Glorior Belli, Hell Militia and quite a few others! Out of older bands, I really like old Mercyless and Massacra, Mutilated, Abyssals…


What are your plans for the future of Dead Congregation?

We will release a split 7”EP with Hatespawn from Germany. The songs are already recorded, cover artwork is ready (which you'll hate because it's drawn by the same artist who did our album's cover, haha) so now we're waiting for the layout to be completed so it can be sent to print. Apart from that we're working on new songs and it's possible that we'll do another EP before we focus in recording for the next full-length. Last, we will some gigs here and there if the offers are good and we like the bands that we'll share stage with! This is quite important to us because we play live mostly for our own gratification rather than to promote our material and such…


That was my last question Anastasis. Thanks a lot for your time and keep up the good work with Dead Congregation! I let you conclude.

Thanks for the support and excuse me if I was a bit rough on you on that question about our album cover, our Art is very personal to us so I guess we are quite touchy with such comments. Heh.