The Chaos Is Now! The Future Is Past!
(Provided by Florent Campana)

Chaostar is the classical side of Septic Flesh. Here's a very cool interview answered by Mr Sotiris (author of the whole concept and lyrics and vocalist) !

Is Chaostar gonna appear live on exceptional events ? (Like Apocalyptica does) 

This is something very difficult as we need a whole orchestra and a full choir if we want to remain faithful to what you listen to the album. If Chaostar are going to play live someday probably it will be more like a theatrical act based on samples than a concert. However our plans for live shows at this time concern only Septic Flesh and not Chaostar. 

When you first heard the finished record, what were your feelings ? 

We felt relieved and of course happy that we did it. It was a pleasure to be surrounded from so many talented people with their own musical perspective, introducing them into our different world. There was excitement in the air and everyone gave his best. It was a special experience and we would like to repeat it in the future. 

Do you plan to shot the film for which Chaostar could be easily the soundtrack ? 

That would be something very interesting with a proper budget, but very embarrassing otherwise. A science fiction story like this one, demands at least some decent effects or it would come out like "DOCTOR WHO". On the other hand Akis has many connections into the Greek film making industry that could be of use to us. Anyway I don't think there will be something more than the album, but I would be very happy if someone could take this thing one step further, into visualization. 

What are your favourite films ? What is your most hated film ? 

What I like to see are very good or very bad films. I hate everything in between. Basically, I am not so fond of erotic stories with romance, sweet dialogs and stuff like that. Movies like "Titanic" make me sick. Some movies that I really enjoyed seeing were Hellraser, Star Wars, Naked Launch, Suspiria, The Beyond e.t.c. Our drummer Akis is fanatic with everything done by Dario Argento and I share his opinion as Argento is a true master on his kind. I never say no to a good Italian horror movie. 

Which has been the feedback after Chaostar release? Did Chris got his prize? 

Yes he won the Howard Goodal award from the London's College of Music. As you can guess he is very honored and happy about it. 

You wrote the whole scenario, and lyrics, what are your inspirations ? 

My dreams and fantasy, also the science fiction books that I have read during all those years. I always wanted to write a complete science fiction story with strange characters living intense situations in a futuristic background. This was an opportunity for me to do that, but of course in a limited scale, as it is basically part of an album and not a book. 

Having only the promo cd, could you tell us the story once more ? 

The story is taking place on a planet called Ahrem. The people of that exotic place are facing a very serious problem of overpopulation. The catch is that they can't leave outside the perimeter of their planet, as there is a strange relationship between the planet's core and their bodies. Every attempt for colonization of the nearest planets, can only bring molecular distortion and certain death to the one that will dare it. The leaders of this society made some secret plans on the past, to decrease the population with the use of an intelligent biological weapon, but these plans were canceled after a "strange accident" in a city called Ambere, that attracted the attention of the masses. Then a scientist called Cendor appeared (played by Spiros) proposing a different "more ethical" solution. The other two main characters of the story, Mayon O and Gaia (played from me and Natalie), are taking their chances in this new experiment that is openly promoted as the projection of two combined minds into a selected part of space, for a limited time, while the bodies are stored and confined in small boxes. But there is "more than meets the eye" behind the plans of Cendor. He is a very interesting figure. In a way he is both traitor and savior. 

Does the religion have a place in the story? 

No there is no church or religion on Ahrem, only political power and manipulation. 

Is this first album the beginning of a long story? 

The concept I have in mind goes much further than the story that appears on the album, so it is very possible that there is a continuation of the story in the next album. 

It seems that the whole "extreme" metal scene tends to get closer to classical music; for example, Ihsahn of Emperor released lately Thou Shalt Suffer, Therion recorded with an orchestra. Even Metallica played with an orchestra. Did you hear these three records? If so what do you think of them? Don't you think this can show that metal musician aren't just a horde of pigs screaming about satan and his friends? 

Classical music had always a strange affair with metal and rock in general. Take for example bands like Deep Purple. The orchestra is a powerful combination of instruments and opens sound-dimensions that are unavailable from the modern electric instruments. That' s why more and more musicians are experimenting in this musical field. Of course that doesn't work well all the time, in all situations and bands and it is very easy to get out something rather boring than exciting. However there are a lot of precious artifacts made from this bizarre union of metal and classical music and they will be more. 

How went the whole recording? Did you have hard times to fix some parts ? 

There is a lot of hard work behind this album, especially from the side of Chris as he was not only the main composer, but also the conductor. He was in charge of virtual everything, directing all those different musicians to accomplish this task. The parts were worked over and over until we felt that they were as we wanted them to be. 

Weren't the lyrics hard to incorporate to the music ? 

You can bet on it. Sometimes the changes between the rhythm and the peculiar orchestration of Chris were driving me insane as I had to bond the lyrics and the meaning with no easy and conventional musical forms. We experimented a lot in all fields, music, lyrics, vocals production and you can find elements from both old classic and modern, futuristic school. This is the strong point of this project. It is something different and powerful. 

Now on Septic Flesh, you've been touring in april with Gloomy Grim, and S.U.P, how went this tour ? 

This tour went on but without Septic Flesh because I had some personal obligations in Greece at that time and wasn't available. Now, the band will tour in Europe with Rotting Christ during October. For the time being we are playing some shows in Greece, with most important our recent participation in Rockwave festival with bands as In Flames, On Thorns I Lay and Dream Theater. 

Do you plan to release a new Septic Flesh this year ? 

No it is too soon for a new album. We are working on some ideas as always, but you will have to wait until the completion of the next stage of our evolution. 

What are your activities outside of music ?

Most of the bands members are dealing with art in general. For example Akis is movie critic and Spiros is painting and is occupied doing graphics and artwork. 

Do you have last words for our readers ? 

These are my last words.