BURNING SHADOW - Interview with Kostas Part II - Music - http://maxpages.com/aeazine/BURNING_SHADOW_ZINE_PART

In relation to the two above questions, how big a role would you say these industries have really had in the development of extreme metal? In what ways do they look at such forms of expression in Greece as opposed to in America?
Gore/horror movies play a very important role in extreme metal. Just look at all those grindgore, death/grind and brutal death bands. Everyone, from Autopsy to Cannibal Corpse seems to have been influenced by such films. If those movie industries didn’t exist I can’t say in which form extreme metal would appear today. But I think it would be totally different. All this kinds of gore art have pushed extreme metal into a more sick direction, as it should be! Unfortunately gore/horror movies and fiction aren't very popular in Greece as they seem to be in America. Only a few people are involved into this and that’s why there are only a few bands here that play brutal death metal and grindcore. There isn’t a strong censorship system here so if someone is interested in this stuff I think he can find what he’s searching for, but it’s just that not too many distributors have such shit in their lists because they don’t sell good enough. Of course the TV very rarely plays such movies but this happens in almost every country I think. But even though there aren’t any major censorship problems, the reason why not too many people care about such extreme forms of expression is probably because there aren’t any Greek companies to produce such films/fiction. In America, as far as I’m informed, there are a lot of such companies so I guess gore art is more popular there. And about how people look here at such films and books, I will say one thing to you. I remember when the movie “Saving Private Ryan” was played in the cinemas here everyone was scared so much that said that this is a very extreme film that shouldn’t be played! Ok, there were a few extreme scenes in that movie but I can’t understand why people get so much afraid when they see a bit blood spilled. The same happened a few weeks ago when “Hannibal” was played! Can you imagine what will happen if someday a true gore film is played at the cinemas here??? Even worse things happen with extreme metal bands. Everyone that’s out of the scene says that this music is satanic, evil and stuff but the thing stops there because hopefully they can’t do anything to prevent it from growing. I don’t know what the situation in America is but I think it’s a bit better, isn’t it?

There has been a great deal of schism and infighting between fans of black and death metal in the past. What is your view of this? Does it hurt the metal underground in the long run? Do you personally see this dying down a bit. Are the lines between different styles of extreme metal thinning out in your opinion?
I think this infighting still exists, especially in the underground scene. I want to vomit when I read people from brutal death/grind bands saying that black metal is music for the kids bla bla bla. Ok, I agree that black metal is these days more popular than brutal music, but this isn’t an important reason to fight. Of course the same happens when people say that death/grind is only noise. I can’t understand how people criticize a kind of music only because they don’t like it. If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it, and do not speak bullshit about it, that’s all. Just think that there are some others that like it. Personally, I enjoy listening to both black and death metal and I don’t see why a kind of music is “better” than the other. But I’ve stopped caring about this schism a long time ago. I don’t see a point, it leads nowhere. I just let them fight each other and not give a shit about it at all. If it hurts the underground? Of course it does! But hopefully I see it passing away. I can’t say if it will ever cease to exist, but I see it dying down. As a result, the lines between death and black metal are obviously thinning out. Just check out bands like Gehenna and Aeternus. What do they play, black or death metal? It sounds more like a hybrid of both styles I would say. Even bands like Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir have some straight death/thrash parts in their last albums. But there always will be people who will complain about a specific kind of extreme metal. To them I have only one advice to give: listen to what you like and forget everything else.

Your section on scene reports from various countries is also a nice touch. From your correspondence with friends from those countries do you receive more of an impression that people are generally happy with their scenes or that people would like to improve things? In what ways?
First of all, I do not know what you mean by saying “scene reports” because until now I hadn’t have any scene reports in my ‘zine but anyway. The fact is that no one will ever be totally happy with the scene of his/her country. For example, if you ask a guy from Sweden he’ll probably tell you that the scene of his country is too overcrowded or that too many bands have “lightened” their sound during the last years. If you ask a guy from Eastern Europe he will tell you that the postage costs are too high. And I just remembered my friend David from Malta who has always been telling me that the censorship controls everything, including the porn pictures inside his ‘zine!!! Every country’s scene has it’s problems and for some of them the responsible persons are out of the scene (for ex. about the rip-offs in the post services). But I think that most of the people I’m in touch with are satisfied with the scenes of their countries, especially from Eastern European countries, like Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. I, personally, think these scenes are the most healthy in the world. Totally devoted to the scene, tons of great bands, labels and ‘zines and I can feel the underground passion burning inside them all. Of course there are a lot of things that each individual complains about, but in general, they seem happy. Some of the main things they worry about are the rip-offs, the commercialization of the scene and ,as a result of this, crappy bands. This happens everywhere so I don’t think I have to say anymore.

In what ways, if any, would you prefer to see the current state on the underground metal scene in Greece improve?
As I said in a previous question I don’t care if the situation in Greece is shit, because I have my conscience clear. I know I support this scene, if other people don’t care for what I do, I don’t care for them too. Hypothetically speaking, there are a lot of things that need to be improved. And first of all the amateurism of the bands. They have to understand that only the hard work will lead them to recognition. Of course, if you don’t pay a lot of money from your own pocket too, nothing will happen. So, guys, do not give up, remember: “it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll”!!! Then the biggest problem probably is the lack of good Greek labels to support and promote our bands. There once was Unisound but they fucked it all up. During the last few years there have been created some labels, but they are very small and do not have the necessary funds to promote a band decently. Then, it has to be army. If I could, I would disappear this fucking plague from the face of earth! It’s the worst thing it can happen to a man in Greece. For more than a year, you live under their fucking rules, away from your family and friends and they also don’t allow you to work or take care of your hobbies! But I don’t think there will be a time when Greece could go on without an army, simply because it’s located in a very dangerous area so army is necessary. Anyway…After all that, I have to say a few words about the stupidity of the fans, who most of them doesn’t even know that an underground scene exists! I can’t understand it, I mean how one can listen to Cannibal Corpse and doesn’t know Deeds Of Flesh, a band a lot better than C.C. for me! But, that’s a result of the modern society, people are bored to use their mind and search a bit under the surface. That’s why there only are a few active people in the scene, and if you ask me, it’s those people that keep the whole scene alive. But I think we shouldn’t care that much about the non-active people because it’s them who loose the best bands, not us! The same goes for fanzines too. There’s a very small feedback from the Greek fans for fanzines and that’s hurting the scene. There are two monthly “big” metal magazines in Greece today and almost all of the fans buy these magazines and the bands they promote. Of course, these bands are all the well-known ones, so the fan who reads these magazines doesn’t have the chance to learn about the underground acts. Finally, one of the biggest problems in our country is the lack of quality live-shows. As you know, Greece is rather isolated than the rest of the Europe and because of the war in Kosovo the bands can’t come here by car, or train, only by plane. It isn’t like in Germany or Holland where the bands just take their cars and in an hour they’re at their destination. Of course the gig organizers here need to pay a lot of money to bring foreign bands to play here. But they also have to be sure that they will get their money back so they only bring big names that can gather more than 1000 people. Very rarely we see small bands and that’s a very important problem that can’t be solved, unfortunately. As for myself, I live in an island, far away from the center of Greece, which is Athens, so I don’t attend to many metal shows.

Where do you see extreme metal as a whole headed in days to come?
Oh, let me see through my crystal ball…I see extreme metal stronger than ever. And this is not just what I believe, everybody can see it. Look around you. There are tons of bands and ‘zines springing up everyday in every country, more gigs, tours and festivals take place even in places you never thought of, and the most important thing: a lot of great albums! I don’t think we have to worry at all, the future of extreme metal seems brighter than ever. About the musical direction, I think more bands are gonna follow the Dodheimsgard, Satyricon and Kovenant path, and I mean that they will adopt that violent and industrialized sound that’s becoming so popular nowadays. Also I can see some kind of return-to-the-roots thing, more and more bands return to more primitive forms of metal and that’s very good in my opinion. Another fact that everyone has to accept is the use of modern technology that will become more extensive in the next years. I’m not only talking about the use of technology during the recordings but also in music, which will have a more “electronic” or “futuristic” sound. Of course bands like Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Lacuna Coil etc. will still continue to have a lot of fans and sell thousands of albums but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about here. There will ever be thousands of bands in every kind of extreme music, from goregrind to gothic metal so all the fans will be satisfied. As long as there will be fans willing to listen to extreme metal the music will be here. What I see the last years and don’t like at all is that the heavy metal industry seems business to me. Labels like Century Media, Metal Blade and Nuclear Blast are huge businesses with lots of employees and million dollars profits. And also more and more bands start to live out of their music and that’s a bad thing in my opinion ‘cause when money is involved the situation can get only worse. That’s why I have reduced buying albums from well-known bands and started giving more chances to smaller ones which are more honest and play music from their hearts and not their minds. That’s what everyone should do if he wants to hope for a more honest scene. About the metal press I’m sad to say that the true old spirit seems to become more and more difficult to be found. Almost all of the zines today have professional layouts and glossy pages which is a thing I don’t totally support. Of course progression is necessary, but the whole thing should be more underground. I don’t see a point in interviewing big bands, that’s a thing everyone can do. The difficult and sometimes boring thing is to be in contact with small bands, write the interviews and send them by mail, and then wait for the letters to arrive to your mailbox. There is no feeling when you just sit at your couch and wait for Slayer to give you a call, if you know what I mean. These are my beliefs and I try to express them through the pages of my ‘zine. And since I’ve talked about modern technology, I shouldn’t forget to refer a bit to internet. It’s a very useful tool but only if you use it in a clever way. I personally use the internet a lot in order to check out some information about bands and I also send a lot of e-mails but it’s overuse hurts the scene. Just see how many webzines there are in the net. Thousands! And most of them are crappy. They just send a huge mailing list to labels and bands saying that they have a webzine and then wait for the promos to arrive. Sorry, this is not underground for me. I know that you also have a web version of your ‘zine Dave, but it’s very good and totally underground and you also have the paper version, which of course I prefer. I can’t compare webzines to paper ones, it’s like the CD-vinyl “war” to some people. Where have the good times been, when everyone used to spent hours writing letters and spreading flyers? Nowadays there are only a few people who continue the “tradition”. Anyway, I don’t think this situation will ever change, the times are different and we’re heading into a new era. Oh yeah, I also see a lot of people fighting about Napster and the MP3 format. I think it’s a clever idea and I have found it very useful. I support it, only regarding big bands. Never download whole demos of small bands, you are simply killing them! Write a letter to them instead and buy their stuff, that way you give them the chance to stay active. But I see this songs-transfer thing through the internet to gain more and more land in the future. I know I’ve started talking about the things I don’t like in the scene and in the beginning I told that extreme metal is stronger than ever. No, I’m not nuts, it’s just that even though there are a lot of things I don’t like in the underground I still think that the scene is growing stronger. Fuck, if I continue that way I think I’m gonna need the whole issue Dave, so I’ll stop here.

Personally I think you're doing a great job with Burning Shadow! How long do you plan to continue releasing the zine? Anything new you would like to include in it?
Thanks a lot Dave for your great words, I feel I’m gonna turn red!!! This statement is even more important when it comes out of the mouth of a true supporter of the underground, like you! If I could, I would make the ‘zine go on forever. Unfortunately I can’t…As I have told you already personally, the biggest problem for bands and fanzine editors in Greece is the army. Every man has to join it for about one and a half years. No one avoids it, only crazy and homosexuals! Hopefully I’m not crazy nor gay so I will have to do my military service. This is gonna happen in about 2-3 years from now so I still have time to release some issues more. But after the army, I can’t tell if I will keep on going with the zine. It’s too early to speak about it now. If I would like to include anything new in it? No, not really. As I said, I don’t care about the layout so do not expect any improvements in the following issues. Sure, glossy pages and professional layouts are welcomed, but they’re not for me. I do not have the necessary knowledge about these things, and I don’t have time to search for advertisers to pay for the expenses. Remember, behind Burning Shadow it’s only me, I can’t do everything by myself! So, for the next issues, expect more interviews and reviews from underground bands, nothing more, nothing less. One thing I’m thinking of during the last months is the price of the ‘zine. I charge it 3$ which I think is a quite good price. I don’t earn anything, just cover a part of my expenses. I think it’d be cool if I could give the ‘zine away for free. So, if any advertisers are reading this, get in touch with me and help me to create a totally free underground publication! By the way, if any one of you likes my writing, you can check out Ancient Ceremonies ‘zine from Portugal, to which I am a contributor. It’s a pro-printed ‘zine with glossy pages and I help them with some reviews and interviews. Burning Shadow is my main priority though.

Thank you for the interview! Anything you wish to end with?
Hey, it’s not you who should thank me, but I should thank you for letting me answer my first (and probably last) interview! Your questions were just great but I was expecting you to ask me about religion and all that shit too, haha! You know you are one of my best friends in the scene and I thank you for supporting a freak like myself! Good luck with Autoeroticasphxium! Also, I would like to greet all my friends worldwide, and to all those who will read this: write to me now to: P.O. Box 1112, 710 01 Heraklion, Crete, Greece email: lordcrest@hotmail.com . Write if you want info on my work, or on any other band/zine or if you just want a friend! Copies of issue #2 are still available, they cost 3US$ each(p&p included) but trades are better! You can get copies of my two issues through several underground distributions like Dirty Pair Affair(Portugal), Canadian Assault(USA), Mortuary Khage Productions(USA), Scream In Flames(Poland), Axa Valaha(Romania) , Burned Toast(Malta) and more. Thanks again Dave and keep the flame of the underground metal burning bright! Hail Metal!

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