Monday, July 24, 2017

The Shadeless Emperor Interview

For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Hi, we are “The Shadeless Emperor” a 5-piece Melodic Death Metal Band hailing from Larissa, Greece. We have a handful of musical and non-musical influences that crafted our Style into something Unique and Interesting. So we started our way into the Metal phasma by early 2010, albeit the band was inactive for a couple of years. A Demo release, an 8-bit version of it, a few line-up changes and a Single later we are here with our Debut Album “Ashbled Shores” and we are quite proud of it. \m/

2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

“Ashbled Shores” is An Incredibly Interesting Album. We aren't saying this because we wrote it (duh), but really any metal fan can listen to it and find loads of things that are stunning, bizarre, beautiful, dark or emotional. We have many different influences and someone that’s absolutely new to our sound can figure this out. We love Melodic Death and this is the core of our music style. Epic, Progressive, Folk, Doom, Atmospheric and Thrash influences are present and solidly established to our sound. Yet we are unable to provide you with a label to our sound. Many may label us under Progressive MDM or Epic Melodic Death yet we prefer just Melodic Death Metal. Every single person can find something different in our music style but that’s the beauty of creating music, right?

3. Some of your lyrics deal with fantasy, mythological and philosophical themes. can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those  topics?

Literature all the way. This is truly the basis of our culture. Fantasy Literature / Mythology is the expression and expansion of the mind. To reach a level of expressing the Apathy, disgust, love, hate, passion, happiness of the society we live, we would or we would not love to live in. Mythology is the same thing, in a way. Legends, tales, folklore that turned into Myth through the years. All of those parts of Literature are filtered throughout a philosophical veil we like to use and express the aforementioned emotions, yet so much more. We are Greeks after all and we do Philosophy.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The Shadeless Emperor'?

An Emperor is the noble term of a Tyrant. An elegant title used for a Very Powerful Leader that the ear usually interprets and redefines into a Reliable, “Honourable”, Protective and Inspiring Individual of a Past-Era Civillization. This Emperor is nothing more than a Tyrant though. “Our Emperor” has no Shadow. A Powerless Entity. An Emperor without a Shade is as good as a Sword without a Blade. The name’s inspiration is derived from Cristopher Paolini's Eragon Book Quadrilogy.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Definitely the shows we shared the stage with Wolfheart and Jinjer. We had a very good time and the audience enjoyed the performance as well. As for the stage performance I would describe it as energetic and theatrical. I don't know for sure. These are the two words that came first in my mind.


6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Yes we do actually. First of all there is an album release party in our Hometown, Larissa. After that around November/December there would be definitely some shows around Greece with notable bands. In the new year to come there would be a few more. Do not forget to like our Facebook Page to be notified. You never know. We may visit your Town soon.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of melodic death metal?

The feedback is AMAZING. There are so many people out there sharing and supporting us in every way. There are people from all around the globe ordering the album lately. Iran, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Brazil are some of the countries we have fans at. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. There are so many things coming over soon, so stay tuned.

8. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Almost every band member is in another project nowadays. Ethan is singing in a Modern Melodic Death project called "Scarletborn", Chris is playing guitars in a Atmospheric Rock band called "The Red White Spiral", Philippos is also participating in another Death Metal project as a singer, which they will soon release some more info for, and he also has "Arcanus", a Blackened Death Metal One-Man band. Thanasis is also playing drums in a Classic Rock band. Tasos and Chris are also guitarists in a Modern Metal/Metalcore Band called "Intensify".

9. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

There is a solid path we are trying to pave. There are so many influences and inspirations striking us through the years that we believe we will show you something spectacular in the years to come. Sure our sound has this Progressive vibe and many Folk influences are also present. There would be variety but in a minimalistic way. You will see soon.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We all listen to different styles of music. From Post Rock to Black Metal, K-Pop to Metalcore, from Classical Music to Crust. There are no borders in music and there should not be any. There are so many different bands that inspire us. But if you would like us to mention a few bands those would be, In Mourning, Be'lakor, Opeth, Symphony X, Trivium, Blind Guardian, Emperor, Paradise Lost. Insomnium, Eluveitie, Wintersun, Ronnie James Dio, While She Sleeps and Iron Maiden.

11.What are some of your non-musical interests?

We all love to go out and socialize. We read a lot of books, we love gaming, we love drinking beer. Thanos is a designer/psychologist, Chris is an accountant, Tasos is an IT Expert, Philippos has his own Rent-A-Car Business and he is a Sound Engineer, Thanasis is a Physics Student. We are very busy individuals.

12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks a lot for your time and support. Make sure to take your time to listen to our music and lyrics. Read a lot, support your local scene and always try to listen to other people’s issues. Always Breathe and Create. After all, we are what we leave behind.
Last but not least Kudos to VarietyOfDeathZine for the interview and Rock On \m/

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