Subfire is a power/heavy metal band from Greece, active since 2004. Lucas Biela (LB) interviewed them for ISKC Radio Group.
1/ LB: ‘Define The Sinner’, released this year, is your first full-length album. You had two demos in the late 2000’s, and one EP in 2013. 8 years is long. Could you explain why it was so long to get to your first album?
George: Due to various obligations of the members. So we decided not to haste the process, we bided our time until the final product was of our satisfaction. And of course we are the hardest judges of ourselves.
2/ LB: Where does the idea of the band name come from?
Symeon: We always believed that the band name has to be one strong word. Also we thought that one word will reflect better the quality of our songs and the image of the band and we were right. Fire is one of the strongest elements and we wanted to put it on the band name, so after careful research we ended up to SUBFIRE.
3/ LB: Symeon Sanidas (drums) and George Larentzakis (guitars and backing vocals) are the only constant members since your EP in 2013. The new formula with Veandok on vocals and Rindra Rado on bass guitar works pretty fine. Do you expect this line-up to stay as is for the next albums, or only time can tell how things will turn?
George: We choose our members very carefully and after many changes in our line-up there is a belief that we have reached our musical style, so yes we are here to stay!
4/ LB: At one point, you had a female vocalist (Kathrin Kotsou). You even performed a Nightwish cover, which unmistakenly informs us that stylistically you played symphonic metal. Your new album is in pure heavy/power metal style. Is this change linked to the hire of a male vocalist?
Symeon: As a band we always tended to heavy / power metal. In a period of time when we were looking for our musical identity and facing the difficulty of finding a singer in this range, we decided after much thought to support the style that defines us the most, so we collaborated with Veandok and found the musical style that expresses us 100%.
5/ LB: There are keyboards on your album, but the performer is not credited (at least on metal archives). Is it a guest person or one of you?
George: All keyboards in the album are written by Bob Katsionis (Warrior Path, Stray Gods, Outloud, ex-Firewind, ex-Nightfall, ex-Serious Black, ex-Septicflesh (live)). The credits are on the physical cd.
6/ LB: How do you work for music composition and lyrics writing?
George: At this point I want to mention that the songs are written by me while the melodic vocal lines by Symeon. First comes the inspiration of the basic structure of the songs and on this composition we add the melodic vocal lines and the lyrics. Of course there are a few more corrective steps until the final version of the songs, but most of the time this is how we work.
Symeon: I write most of the lyrics and the vocal lines. Sometimes George writes too and we combine the result. Every lyric of each song has its own story, that depends on the music. I write when the music is ready and I add the lyrics into the songs. The music that George writes drives me to write many situations. It could be about the result of a battle and the impact that has in a soldier’s mental state for example, or it could be the inner struggle of a man with himself when he returns home from war, or it could be an internal wandering when he seeks for divine signs that could explain things etc. Of course, I try to end things with a positive note when I write, it is not my intention to write ‘dark’ and ‘doom’ songs, I want the reader, when he reaches the end of the lyric lines, to feel hopeful and with good energy.
7/ LB: What are your main influences?
George: Our main Influences are really very classic! Iced earth, Judas Priest, Helloween, Blind Guardian etc. But also I am personally attached by the Japanese style (Galneryus, X Japan)! In time I am thinking of incorporating it a little more in my compositions! The result is unique at the moment, so stay tuned!
8/ LB: Following the question on line-up stability, what are your plans for the future?
George: Promoting the album with live shows and festivals if Covid allows it and of course we almost finalized our songs for the second album and we will start working on it in the near future! So stay tuned for more! STAY METAL
9/ LB: I know it’s a bit early to ask, but how is your album received so far, both by press and fans?
George: Glad you ask. It is something that makes us very happy. Although, before the signing with Symmetric Records we had a plan about the whole process (recordings, production, promotion etc) and we were prepared for this step. Nevertheless we didn’t expect such correspondence, and we were happily surprised. We hope that our work will satisfy the metal audience worldwide.
10/ LB: Is there anything you want to add?
George, Symeon : Thanks again for the invitation, it was a pleasure talking about our band. You will hear from us again and we hope for a long time. Our new album is almost ready and will amaze you all. Stay tuned, stay metal and see you very very soon!!!
https://www.facebook.com/SubfireOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/subfireband/
https://www.youtube.com/user/subfireband
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf-8claDxGo
| Subfire – Fate Of A Sinister World (Official Music Video)
The official music video for Subfire – Fate Of A Sinister World Taken from “Define The Sinner” album, out on September 10th, 2021 via Symmetric Records. Pre-order the album on Digital, Digipak-CD at https://subfire.bandcamp.com/album/define-the-sinner-2 Produced and mixed by Bob Katsionis Recorded at Sound Symmetry Studio, Athens, GR Mastered … |