Artist: Sorrowful Angels
Origin: Athens, Greece
Genre: Gothic Metal, Alternative Metal
Label: Roar – Rock Of Angels Records IKE
Link: https://www.facebook.com/Sorrowful.Angels.page and http://www.sorrowfulangels.com/
Band Members:
Vocals and Guitar – Dion Christodoulatos
Guitar – Nikolas Perlepe
Drums – Stelios Pavlou
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
Hello Dion,
First of all thank you very much for taking your time, answering our questions.
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
Thank you very much, the pleasure is ours!
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
Can you first tell me a little bit about the history Sorrowful Angels? How did you come together in 2008, and why did it take so long (if I understood right, the idea to create a band already came up in 1999) to finally realize this idea?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
First of all, I would like to clear some things up. Although the band shares the same name as its predecessor, Sorrowful Angels as we know them, came to life in 2008 by me (Dion), Dariusz and Kostas. The previous incarnation of Sorrowful Angels bares only the name and one member (Dariusz) as similarities. Apart from that, the story of the band from 2008 until this day is autonomous.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
How did you agree upon playing that kind of music? Has this always been your favourite style? And why did you choose such a sad band name?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
There was no agreement, just similar tastes. We used to hang out in the same club during that period. You could say we were drinking buddies, listening to the same music more or less, so the next logical step for us as musicians was to form a band. Dariusz proposed we use the name of his old band, a childhood dream that never evolved to something more than a few gigs. We agreed, although it could have been any name. Sorrowful Angels has a strong 90’s aesthetic to it and could be misleading nowadays, as our current style has matured and evolved into something different although the ground base is still the same. We are not the happiest bunch out there.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
I have to admit that Remedie is the first album I hear from you, but I will definitely also give a listen to your earlier releases. How did the works for the current album proceed? Do the single band members have specific tasks, like writing lyrics and/or music?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
I have always been the main songwriter and lyricist of the band without excluding anyone from the writing/composing process, whenever he wishes to offer something. It’s just that it has always been easier for me to provide new material, as I constantly write new stuff.
Usually, demos are handed to the other guys well before pre-production and we go through a period where everyone offers his input upon the given material. The band may jam and recompose those songs, so the end result can be something really different from the initial demos. Later on, the songs are enhanced with vocal lines. Lyrics always come last and set the final mood of the album. To me that is the hardest part of the process. I can express myself more easily through music than in words.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
Is there any specific concept behind the album and/or can you tell me something about the meaning behind the songs?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
The key point of Sorrowful Angels’ thematology has always been based around human imperfections and people’s passions. I have always had a fascination with the implications that our vices have upon our lives.
The concept behind Remedie, which is a compound word and does not exist, is our own self destructive mechanisms. We, people, are a defective species when emotions come into play and we tend to rely on solutions for our problems that are less than ideal. Sometimes the “Remedies” we choose are more destructive than the real problem. That’s what Remedie is.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
In my review I unfortunately didn’t mention the amazing cover of the album. You informed that Themis „Fad“ Ioannou did this cover. Was he free in his work, or did you give some directions?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
Themis is a good friend of ours and has been responsible for the artwork of our previous album, the inlays of our debut album and a couple of our videos, so we go way back. He has a deep understanding of our music and mindframe so we don’t have to “communicate” to him what our intentions are. The only directions he was given was the music and lyrics, that’s it. We are very happy with the end result, as it was a product of free inspiration.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
I didn’t read other reviews, but I mentioned that the British band Paradise Lost, with which you already shared the stage, might have influenced your music. What do you think about these comparisons respectively categorisations? Are they both a blessing and a curse? To me especially the categorisations are quite helpful, because they allow me to arrange special playlists…
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
I couldn’t agree more with the term “Blessing and a curse”. That’s exactly what it is. I can understand how it can be helpful but on the other hand it can be negative because this may lead to a false idea of what your music is about. In regards to Paradise Lost, they no doubt comprise of our teenage soundtrack as were, Amorphis, My Dying Bride, Sentenced, Anathema, Katatonia etc. as well. All these bands were the inspiration behind Sorrowful Angels which encapsulated the era of the 90’s. In our debut album we may have presented all these aspects but since then, every album has taken the band one step further and the peak is now Remedie which is our most personal album to date.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
On your Facebook page there are no shows or tours announced. Are there any plans to do a promotion tour for Remedie or maybe a tour with some other bands?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
At the moment, it’s true that there no official dates announced apart from our release party shows that are scheduled in December. More dates will be announced soon, though, through our websites, and we are trying our best to book some really great gigs. This proves to be a hard task nowadays, with the economic crisis our country is going through, but I’m sure that within the following months our friends in Europe will get the get the chance to see us live. After all, we love gigging and try not to miss opportunities to present our music to the world.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
One more question for concerts, because you already shared the stage with some famous bands from different genres. How does it feel to meet all these other musicians, who already have so much experience?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
It’s always a mixed feeling. A blend of awe and curiosity. How they “do it”? Sometimes you get to learn tricks from people that have been around long before you got involved. There’s always a story that can give an answer to your problem. But the most exciting thing is when this comes back as mutual respect. When they tell you “you did a good job”. It means you do something “right” after all these years.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
What are your experiences on tour? Do you think, there is any difference between the fans in the different countries, or are they all just metalheads?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
Metal is an independent culture for sure. You can see similarities between the forms of expression but that does not make all the fans one and the same. This means that one of the most amazing things you see on tour is the different ways the audience will react or express themselves to a specific song, but the common denominator is always the mutual love for the metal scene and the very passionate form of expressing it. What changes is the culture behind each country’s audience.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
Is any of you guys also engaged in some other bands or projects, maybe also with a completely different kind of music?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
Most of us are active in many forms as musicians, even outside our band, whether it be as musicians or producers etc. Over the years we have individually been involved in various projects, even outside the realm of metal. What this experience brings back to the band however is the development and evolution to our music and to us as individuals.
Personally, I have been involved in many differing projects as a composer for soundtracks of independent films and theatre productions as well as more experimental material that delves into the electronic realm.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
The songs are not easy to play and are demanding a certain level of technical skills. Also the vocals to me sometimes sounded to such an extent nonchalant, that I really wondered, if you have some musical education, or are you self-educated?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
Some of us have been classically trained and have studied composition and when we started playing rock music, the underlying classical musical education was always a valuable asset. We are all self-educated in certain aspects of playing which are not necessarily theoretical. As the years pass, due to experience, we have developed our technical skills. Specifically in regards to the vocals, I have been mostly self-taught. Singing is the result of a necessity that arose when I first started writing music. This leads me to develop my own style.
Time For Metal / Heike L.:
And that’s it for now. Thanks once again. I really hope to see you on stage one day, maybe on a promotion tour for Remedie or latest after the release of your next album 😉 Is there anything you would like to tell to your fans and the readers of Time for Metal?
Sorrowful Angels / Dion Christodoulatos:
Promotional shows are going to be announced really soon. We hope to see you on tour and we are looking forward to meeting all of you. We like to share our music with the world so we urge everyone to grab a copy of our new album in any way they can.
Thank you for the beautiful interview! Support the scene and your local bands.