GODDESS OF DESIRE - Interview with Grev Drake by Dave Wolff - Music - http://maxpages.com/aeazine/GODDESS_OF

When did GODDESS OF DESIRE get together? What inspired you to start the band? What was the inspiration for the name?
We started around 1995 I guess. I wasn't a member of the band at that time. Anyway, the band won some local competition-shows and we really had a lot of success with our formula: old metal covers (we played covers from 80's metal bands at that time), extreme looks and sexy women with a sexy stage-act, fire and to complete it all: fireworks. This were really getting serious suddenly and one of the guitarists left the band, since he also had 2 other bands he really didn't want to abandon. I replaced him and that's where everything started to become more serious. We started writing own material and our stage-act also grew bigger and bigger. In a few months we already played everywhere in Holland and we also were on TV. Then suddenly a record-deal and Dynamo Open Air were there The reason why we play old metal is because at that time the old metal was not popular anymore. People only listened to black metal and all this "fake-metal" (metal combined with rap, R&B, soul, funk, etc.) The real metal spirit was also gone: metalheads were somehow hostile towards each other, while the 80s were really friendly: metalheads stuck together then! We wanted to return this feeling. The name Goddess Of Desire is abbreviated G.O.D. We shock Christians with this and it also suits our stage-act.

Name the complete lineup and their positions in the band. For how long has this lineup been together?
Count August: bass and vocals, Grev Drake: lead guitar and vocals, Lord Arydon: rhythm and lead guitar and backing vocals, Master Blaster: drums and backing vocals, Delilah + Lilith and Medusa: female effects.
This is the current line-up. Master Blaster and Lord Arydon joined the band last year in January. We wanted a second guitarist, since this would make our sound better and the previous drummer left the band and Master Blaster replaced him.

What bands would you cite as your biggest influences? How much of this influence is reflected in your music?
Just to name a few bands: Manowar, Celtic Frost, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Slayer, Metallica, Motörhead and Venom. I guess from all these bands you will hear some or more stuff in our music, especially Manowar, Motörhead and Celtic Frost.

How did the band decide on their stage presence and the imagery you wanted to portray?
In the 80s bands had the same clothes and paint as we do now. we gave it a bit of a 90s look, just to make it look not too corny. It's 80s metal with a 90s cover.

Describe all the material you guys have released since the beginning. How have the band progressed as a whole since day one?
First we released a 5-track demo of 50 pieces, it was sold out after 1 night. The recording was very bad, because we were a bit in bad shape then (read: drunk), but the fans appreciated it. After that we released a video of a live recording. This was already much better and after that Lord Vulture left the band. We made more songs and so came our first CD, "Let Us Win This War". The production was okay for a first album, I guess. Right after that we recorded an LP-version of this with some extra tracks on it and a remix. We decided that it should be a picture-LP and so it turned out really good, with a shield on the first side and some tits on the other side. After that we made new material and a year later we recorded "Symbol Of Triumph," our second album. This one is much better than the first one and also the production is really good. We released it at Wacken Open Air in Germany, in front of 10.000 people. This was really incredible! We recorded a video of this event, which really turned out very good. Here I met Lord Arydon and after a few months I asked him to join the band, because I can get along with him very well musically. Emperor Mark left the band at that time to make space for Master Blaster. With this line-up we made the LP-version of Symbol Of Triumph, which includes a large poster and lots of pictures. It's just like the first LP, a remix with extra tracks (in which this full line-up participated).

Do Goddess of Desire consider themselves retro-thrash or old school? Explain your response.
What does school have to do with Metal? Retro-thrash? Hmmm... Also a very strange name.... I consider ourselves a Metal band. We make metal the way we want to. We are not original (and none of us said we were), but we just make nice music I think and we try to make it sound catchy and powerful. The music depicts our mood very much, we make heavy metal when we are in a heavy mood and thrash metal when we are pissed off, so I guess we are a metal band in every aspect.

Do you get to play as many shows as you'd like to? How's the scene doing over there where you're from? How does your hometown scene compare to others?
Well, where we live there is hardly a metal scene left. The people that used to listen to metal are now sitting at home taking care of their children or they listen to hip-hop or house. In other parts of Holland and also in Germany there is still a metal scene. The German metal scene is actually very good, we have a lot of fans over there!

What's your favorite material to play live? How about your audiences'?
Our audience just loves to hear "Metal Forever," it's a bit of a sing along and Germans really like this. My favorite songs right now are "Whimps & Bastards" and "Confusion Of Tongues," these tracks are both on our second LP.

What's your opinion of the divisions in underground heavy metal (i.e. black, death, doom, etc.) Is this a good or bad thing to you?
It's okay, as long as metalheads just respect each other. I really hate all this stuff in black metal about being "TRUE", whatever that may be. I guess metal is true when it's just about being yourself and listening to metal. Being true has nothing to do with setting fire to churches or killing "rivalist" bands. I think this is just childish behavior.

Do you read a lot of fanzines? If so which ones would you recommend?
I read Metal Hammer, Rock Hard and sometimes Ablaze, but I don't read them regularly, since I don't have time for that.

What's the band's ultimate goal?
To play in front of a big audience in a stadium.

Anything you wish to close with?
Check out our website if you've never heard of us and let me know what you think of it. Also check out the albums and T-shirts, you can order them at our address if you like. And, if you get the chance, come and see our Metal show!!! Hope this interview is okay!

Grev Drake fra Goddess Of Desire
www.goddess-of-desire.info
MailTo: lordarydon@goddess-of-desire.info
MailTo: 3431223@pager.mirabilis.com
Metal To The Metals!!!
...only dead people are cool...

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