Hanna Tsepesh: Hola (Hello in Spanish) Exo! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you guys and how are the things doing with your concerts?Exo: Hi Hanna! Everything is going really good, now we’ve finished the recording sessions from our next videoclip, based in the song “Across Heracles Towards” from our debut album “Divinity! And for the shows: We toured in Germany, Spain, now we have supporting gigs with Malevolent Creation and Vomitory, it’s going to be fucking amazing, and of course our Portuguese Tour 09: “Divinity Devastation Tour!
Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know Noctem could tell us a little how it all started?
Exo: We started with Noctem in 2001, we’ve changed our line-up a few times but we finally found the right members. After 3 mcd’s we finally signed with Noisehead Records, we started presenting our mcd “God among Slaves” in an European Tour in 2008. In January of this year we recorded our debut album: “Divinity” at the Noise Head Studios in Austria… and now we’re going to present our debut fucking album to Portugal!
Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs and the melody to comply with the lyrics?
Exo: Beleth writes all the lyrics; old cultures and primitive civilizations are a very strong inspiration for us. All our songs born from the guitar lines, then I add harmonies with the second guitar and the other instruments do the rest, finally the voice is the last one to fix into the song.
Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any guitar player that you admire the most?
Exo: Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Dimmu Borgir, Mastodon, Nile, Behemoth… Karl Sanders or Michael Ammot is two of my favorite extreme metal guitar players; Karl means the speed, the technical one, and Michael has more feeling in every note.
Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know when you start to play guitar and if is any reason for you pick this instrument?
Exo: At the age of 15, I started listening Metallica albums when I was 14, so it was the first experience that I had with metal music. The guitar in those albums is the most significant instrument so I established a connection with it.
Hanna Tsepesh: At the moment you have another project in hands or your time is only for Noctem? You are open a new challenges in the future?
Exo: No! Noctem keeps me busy 24 hours per day, it’s impossible for me now to think about different projects. Maybe in 10 years... (laughts)
Hanna Tsepesh: (laughs). Noctem have a new album called “Divinity”. I liked a lot the “Divinity (Orchestral version)”, “Under of seas of Silence” and “The call of Oricalco’s horn” music’s. For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about “Divinity” and what the band want to accomplish?
Exo: “Divinity” is the result of eight years of experience, a mix of different extreme metal styles, from death to trash and black metal, with modern influences. In this album we talk about the lost continent of Atlantis, their rituals to reach the immortality, society, acting in the battles…
Hanna Tsepesh: Everything went well at recording studio? The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something?
Exo: Yes! ‘cause we went to the Noisehead Studios so prepared, playing 5 hours per day…for that reason we recorded everything very fast, but it wasn’t an easy process at all; we used to spend like 8 hours in the studio every day.
Of course the band feels very proud, with “Divinity” we got the sound and quality we we’re looking for so many years ago.
Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?Exo: Really fucking great! Media and fans are receiving the album with a lot of energy, a lot of great comments about it in every country, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italy…
Hanna Tsepesh: How you describe Noctem style?
Exo: A mix of different metal and extreme metal sounds, including our dark point of view.
Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?
Exo: Well, you have two options, buy the album in your stores; we are distributed there by Locomotive Records, or buy the album in our online store at our official MySpace.
Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?
Exo: Well, my favorite song could be “The Sanctuary”, but I fucking love the entire album, for me all the songs are one, the album, the story as a unity. That’s a concept that keeps me very excited about it.
Hanna Tsepesh: The band will return to Portugal very soon. What we can expect from Noctem in live show? Can you tell to us the dates and places where Noctem will play?
Exo: A stage being destroyed under a rain of blood, a non stop headbanging show with axes and skulls falling to the arena.
Our final dates for our “Divinirty Devastation Tour 09” are:
17th September at Sede Paio Pires (Seixal)
18th September at Arcadia Rock Bar (Faro)
19th September at Metalpoint (Porto)
20th September at ADR (Lagoa)
It’s going to be fucking amazing!
Hanna Tsepesh: It was difficult to find a great label and have support in your country (Spain)?
Exo: Well, our label Noisehead Records is from Austria, so it was easy to find a good distribution in Spain, curiously we have the same partnership in your country for distribution: Locomotive Records. After a lot work and hard times, the support every day becomes stronger.
Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?Exo: Portuguese metalheads! We’ll be waiting for you at the battlefield! The” Noctem Portuguese Tour” presenting “Divinity” is here now!
Hanna Tsepesh: Thank so much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a Big success with your debut album! See you guys next month…
Exo: We’re very fucking proud to tour Portugal the next month, you have the craziest crowd in the metal world! Horns up Portugal! See you soon!
Hanna Tsepesh: Thank you so much Exo!
By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some Noctem music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/noctemofficial
