Sotiris Anunnaki V. from the symphonic death metal band SEPTICFLESH spoke to Metal Oda on the verge of their İstanbul concert to be held on February 16, 2024. The concert venue is IF Beşiktaş and the concert is organized by Vera Müzik and Black Label Events.
Sotiris, welcome to our chat. First of all, thank you so much for taking time to do this interview. SEPTICFLESH has been many times in Turkey before and you have this solid fan base in our country who are looking forward to this concert. What can we expect on February 16th in terms of lineup and show?
– It will be the first time in Turkey that the band will perform on its whole, as I will be also present on stage. As a performer, I am preferring to have a theatrical presence on stage and focusing on the clean vocals for the live shows, allows me to do so, bringing more movement and interaction on stage.
(Sotiris in concert)
It has been a long journey of about 34 years for the band; from Forgotten Paths (1991) to Modern Primitive (2022) and more. What would you like to say about the evolution of SEPTICFLESH sound through the years and the current place it holds in the metal scene with the last album the Modern Primitive?
-Indeed, it is a long journey with various turns along the way. As a band we were always focused on building a unique identity. Also, from the beginning we loved to experiment, trying different things. With the passing of time, we developed our skills and from one point and after, we were able to create more complex compositions, using whatever instrument we desired, besides the “traditional” rock instruments. Modern Primitive represents the maturity of SEPTICFLESH, building upon our strongest elements.
The music and the lyrics of SEPTICFLESH have so many layers, and I think this is one of the trademarks of the band, one of the unique features of what makes SEPTICFLESH. With Chris who has a background in classical music and who is in charge of the symphonic elements, with you, Sotiris who writes the lyrics which deal with mythology, history, philosophy and literature and with Seth who creates the most impressive, dark, brutal and distorted but figurative art, all of this contributes to what SEPTICFLESH tries to shout out to the world. In that sense, I believe SEPTICFLESH is the closest “metal” gets to classical music and of course to art. What would you like to say about the “art” of SEPTICFLESH?
– As a matter of fact, we are considering what we are doing, art in a general sense. It is not only music it Is also concept as well as visual representation. We represent a darker aspect of art, something more extreme and gloomier.
What made you guys “metal” musicians in the first place? One could have taken so many different paths in music in terms of genre. How did you guys decide to take the path of death metal and why? (For me as a devoted classical music fan, moving towards extreme metal has been a natural, satisfying and easy one. How did you progress towards death metal?)
– My first instrument was a violin, so in my childhood I was learning how to play violin through it, I was introduced to the world of classical music. However, when I discovered Heavy Metal, I fell in love right away. Gradually, Metal music was becoming heavier and darker. I enjoyed all different paths and I have many different influences, both as a guitarist and as a vocalist. However, it seems that the Death Metal element gets the upper hand. The other guys also, are more into Death.
Death Metal genre in metal music deals with “death” for sure and death is one of the most terrifying, fearsome, unknown and brutal facts we face in life. SEPTICFLESH combines the elements of classical music and metal, and creates something bigger, more grandiose and darker than both. When we speak about “dark” music I think about the Requiems (music for the dead) by the great composers such as Mozart, Verdi, Britten, Berlioz and about the religious music such as the Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. SEPTICFLESH has this wonderful album The Great Mass (2011), a Mass on its own. Did all these classical masters and their works have an inspirational influence on this wonderful album?
– Yes, The Great Mass is our Requiem. Fun fact, in the movie Amadeus (filmed in 1984) Mozart confides his plans to Salieri to create a great mass of death. That phrase was the first building block that influenced us creating the specific album. (Remark by Metal Oda: Antonio Salieri was a famous composer and musician of his time, holding the position of kapellmeister at the Vienna Palace. Salieri was also the teacher of very famous composers such as Franz Liszt and Schubert. In Milos Forman’s Amadeus (1984) which is one of the most beautiful films made about music, Salieri is described as an incompetant musician, fueled by his hatred and jealousy towards Mozart and is blamed for his death. The original text of Amadeus is a theater play by Peter Shaffer.)
Music is a beautiful element on its own: but when you combine music with meaningful lyrics which make you think about the existential problems of mankind, it becomes a complete art form. SEPTICFLESH takes a lot of inspiration from Ancient Greek, Sumarian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian legends and mythology. We, as residents of Anatolia, share a common cultural memory with you guys, the Eastern Roman Empire culture, art and history being encoded in our genes. All the folk tales, philosophical figures like Thales, Diogenes, literary figues such as Homer (Iliad & Odyssey) link the Greek and Turkish people and their common ancient culture and geography. In SEPTICFLESH lyrics there are so many references to Mesopotamian myhology (Tiamat- Faceless Queen) , Sumerian Legends (Sumerian Deamons 2003), Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (Ra, Anubis, Set), to literature (Dante’s Inferno-Dante Alighieri, Neuromancer -William Gibson, Cthulhu- H.P.Lovecraft) and the supernatural (Vampire from Nezareth, Theriantrophy). How did you decide to combine all this mythology and literature with your music in the first place? I think this is another powerful element which nears your art to classical music domain.
– I was always fascinated by ancient cultures, mythology, the occult. My interests inevitably were brought to the surface, in my lyrical works. I always write about subjects and general themes that create to me intense feelings, as I believe that only if you give something real and intense to the audience, you are transcending the barriers of mere communication and you efficiently stir emotions.
Your song “Martyr” from Codex Omega album (2017) is one of the most interesting works of SEPTICFELSH : the lyrics deal with the story of the great Hypatia, Greek philosopher, astronomer and mathematician of Alexandria. Hypatia is one of my superheroes as a woman, a figure so much ahead of her time. She was massacred by stoning in 415 AD by a fanatic Christian mob because of her pagan belief. Nearly 1600 years from her death today, I believe it is shameful to see women massacred and killed in a similar way by religious fanatics in underdeveloped countries. What did SEPTICFLESH have in mind when writing this song “Martyr” about Hypatia?
(Rachel Weisz as Hypatia in the movie AGORA)
– I wanted to create a song about a great historic figure that was a woman, as I believe that unfortunately it is something rarely done. The story of Hypatia was fascinating for many reasons, although it had a very sad ending. In a wider sense, this song is praising the light of knowledge and is against the darkness of fanaticism. (Remark by Metal Oda: To learn more about the life and death of Hypatia, you may watch the historical drama AGORA -2009 from director Alejandro Amenabar, with Rachel Weisz as Hypatia).
The dark, heavy and grave music of SEPTICFLESH has the purpose of making us think about the terrible future mankind faces: for example “Portrait of a Headless Man” makes us think about this infernal and dystopian future darkened by an unreliable artificial intelligence, a destroyed environment under the authoritarian rule of hypocrite leaders and with crowds blinded by technology. So many metal bands today deal with dystopian and post-apocalyptic subjects. Do you think mankind will be perished by self-destruct as a result of greed and lack of compassion? There are so many hints in your lyrics about the selfishness and unconsciousness of man:
Apocalypse (Great Mass)
Who is leading who?
Is Human a parasitic organism on the body of Earth?
Is man a suicidal God?
Portrait of a Headless Man (Codex Omega)
They use the waves to bind us
They use the screens to blind us
(This makes me think of one of the interesting metal albums of 2023: Terrasite by Cattle Decapitation: human being is the parasite of our world)
– I think this is unfortunately the most probable scenario. Mankind is in real danger of perishing by actions initiated by humans. It is bad mixture of greed, human flaws and chaotic, problematic characteristics. Most importantly, there are a lot of people in key places, that simply don’t care at all about what happens to humanity after they are gone. Also humanity is fragmented and divided. There is not a connecting sense of global welfare, nor a globally approved mechanism of dealing with factors that are destroying day by day the human future. On top of that, sometimes we behave like the magician’s apprentice, playing childishly with very dangerous “magic”, without taking the necessary precautions.
Let’s go back to music: there are so many traditional musical instruments in the music of SEPTICFLESH and we have so many instruments in common in Turkish and Greek music such as the baglama, tamboura, oud, bagpipes, zurna, kaval, duduk and daouli. How and why did you decide to combine the sound of these folkloric instruments in SEPTICFLESH music in the first place?
– We love the ethnic, natural sound of these instruments and having Christos on the team, gives us the ability to do whatever we see fit for our compositions. When we compose, we are focusing on creating emotions without limitations about the instruments that will be used as protagonists.
(Christos Antoniou of SEPTICFLESH)
This is for Chris: the music of SEPTICFLESH is very visual like a movie score. As far as I know your music, I think that composers Wojciech Kilar, Arvo Part, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Britten and Danny Elfman are major influences on your music. Being a great fan of classical music and metal, SEPTICFLESH sound for me is a delight because it is a blend of what I like best: classical & metal. What other classical and/or movie score composers are an influence on SEPTICFLESH?
– Tchaikovsky, Satie, Verdi, Rachmaninov, Basil Poledouris, Hans Zimmer to name a few others.
(Igor Stravinsky)
Speaking of visualism, what would you like to say about the paintings of Seth? I know that aside from SEPTICFLESH he creates cover art for many other metal bands like Paradise Lost, Camelot, Moonspell and more. I know that for him a major inspiration is the art of Francis Bacon, a controversial but major figure in figurative expressionist painting with his dark, brutal, biomorph works. What would you say about the link between the art of Seth, Bacon and the music of SEPTICFLESH? Do you think they all meet in the common ground of death metal, life, death and destruction?
(Spiros “Seth” Antoniou)
– Yes, I think so. Seth is very capable of creating provocative and highly detailed imagery that is really fitting not only to SEPTICFLESH but to a Metal artist in general. That is why he has a very impressive career. And he loves what he is doing, so he gives a lot of passion to his work.
(Artwork by Seth Antoniou)
(Screaming figure by Seth-left / Screaming Pope by Francis Bacon-right)
The effect of choir and strings add more drama to the music of SEPTICFLESH and makes it bigger; the orchestra is an essential and integrated part of SEPTICFLESH music: can we expect a show accompanied by orchestra in İstanbul in the future? (such as Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX- Live in Mexico show) What do you think?
– It would be great of course. In general, we want to raise the number of shows that we are giving along with an orchestra. Christos is trying to figure out a viable solution for this as indeed orchestra is an important part of SEPTICFLESH.
You will be taking the stage on February 16th 2024 in İstanbul with On Thorns I Lay, a death-doom band from Athens as the special guest. The concert is organized by Vera Müzik and Black Label Events.
What would you like to say to Turkish SEPTICFLESH fans who are eagerly waiting for this concert?
– I am also eagerly waiting for the show. Let’s make it together a very special one!
Thank you Sotiris very much for your time and for being my guest in Metal Oda. I look forward to see you guys live in İstanbul.
-Thank you Guzin, see you there on the 16th of February.
SEPTICFLESH is:
Sotiris Anunnaki V. – rhythm guitar, clean vocals
Spiros “Seth” Antoniou – bass, brutal vocals
Christos Antoniou – lead guitar, orchestration
Kerim “Krimh” Lechner – drums
Dinos “Psychon” Prassas – rhythm guitar
@metaloda is a registered Trademark.
(c) 2024 Metal Oda. All rights reserved. Quotations without reference is forbidden.
