Hanna Tsepesh: Hello Argos and Galf! 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?
Galf: Hello Hanna, Greetings to all, and thank you for offering us this space. About the shows, they are happening! We started to perform live since we stabilized our lineup and the quantity of dates has increased since the date we unleashed our first work, the demo called Specters' Arrival. The invitations for shows are growing in our territory, and we enjoy doing them. We like being on stage.
Argos: Hello Hanna and hello to all readers of THE GATES OF METAL! As Galf said, the number of shows has increased over the time, according to the growth of our reputation in the scene, but the conditions in the majority are not the most favorable, and this is a serious problem in our country, because the financial situation here is complicated for the people. Most metalheads do not show up in the gigs, and producers eventually reduce the effort in making events due to limited feedback received by the public... But we don’t give up the work ‘cause we believe in our music and always find people who share this sentiment and offer decent conditions for our presentations.
Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know DarkTower could tell us a little how it all started?
Galf: The band was a proposal of Argos to put into practice ideas that were not viable in our other project, the Black metal band “Belial War”. So he called me and we began to work on the songs, recruiting musicians that would join our project. Thus born DarkTower.
Argos: Exactly, I left the project we played before DarkTower, the black metal horde “Belial War” that although new, gained some reputation in the local scene. But we were very young and inexperienced, and over the time, the interest of some members died. My desire to create something more complex, both in lyrics and music led me to create the band, still nameless. I invited Galf to participate my project, and together we designed the name DarkTower name that conveyed our vision for the project: A sound with epic influences, with roots in the classics of traditional heavy metal, however extreme, dark and ghostly. This is the origin of the name DARKTOWER.
Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs to comply with the lyrics?
Argos: Our process does not have many formulas. Sometimes we create a song and associate some lyrical ideas which we use for inspiration. Sometimes we join Galf’s ideas with songs already created, believing that the song share the same feeling of these writings. What worries us most is to create songs that contribute in the quest for our identity, and above all possess musicality and not just a bunch of riffs. We always try to print emotions and feelings of all kinds in our music, thus creating an intense atmosphere.
Galf: We don’t follow a formula for writing. We like to always be able to enjoy our artistic freedom to develop the theme as we want. We prefer that the process always comes to sound honest and convincing. What inspires us is usually what we do with our minds. And we can go far with this!
Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands?
Argos: I own a very large taste in metal, and my preferences ranges from Heavy Metal bands like Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Manowar, Accept, Iron Maiden, Wizard, Rage, to more extreme bands like Dissection, Naglfar, Misteltein, Stormlord, Keep of Kalessin, Dimmu Borgir, Slayer, Sodom, Destruction, Tankard and, for sure, national bands that we admire so much like Torture Squad, Krisiun, Unearthly, Malefactor, Miasthenia, Hicsos, Lacerated and Carbonized, HatefulMurder, Hellbreath, Ainur and many others!
Galf: My preference is guided in Extreme Metal, basically. My favorites are: Naglfar, Keep of Kalessin, Emperor, Sirius, Dissection, Limbonic Art, Opera IX, Nile, Dawn (SWE), Behemoth, Hypocrisy, Misteltein, Dimmu Borgir, Judas Iscariot and others.
Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if you had or have any guttural technique lessons? You have any singer that you admire the most? I as
k that because I really liked a lot your work in this Demo! You have a great voice to sing this kind of music style and also you are a very versatile singer! I think you will have a great career…Galf: Thank you for the kind words! I had a few classes in traditional singing, but for a short time.
I really like to use a lot of guttural variations; this is something that enriches the feeling of our music, being in that way, one of the differentials of DarkTower.
I have great admiration for many singers, including Peter of Hypocrisy; Wrath Olivius of Naglfar, Thebon of Keep of Kalessin, Nergal of Behemoth... These are just a few of a long list.
I would also mention that, one reason for the versatility of vocal lines on DarkTower is due to the work not only made by myself but also by Argos, which is responsible for the clean vocals, and also for the supporting guttural in live acts. Niccollo also has a part in this team, making the backing vocals for our parts.
Hanna Tsepesh: When you start to play drums? You have any drum player that you admire the most and why you pick this instrument? I also sen
d you my congratulation for your work in this Demo; I liked a lot your work too! Argos: I started drumming in 2002, influenced by monsters like Lars Ulrich, with his feeling and simplicity that makes him extremely musical in my opinion, Dave Lombardo and the whole legend that he created around his name and his career, and Nick Menza’s technique and musicality, among others. I greatly admire these drummers and many others who incites me to try to shape a style that is focused not only on extreme speeds but also in simple and rhythmic parts. I owe it also to drummers like Uli Kusch, Tomas Stauch, Asgeir Mickelson, Nickolas Barker and Hellhammer along with the already mentioned musicians.
I appreciate the kind words! I confess that I’m a little lazy in the studies but I try to train always as I can to improve my skills both in drumming and vocals.
Hanna Tsepesh: DarkTower has the second Demo called “Lord ov the VastLands”.Guys I am really surprised with this Demo I really can’t wait to listen a full album! This album is excellent and very powerful and is also very interesting demo to listen we can see a lot of elements! For sure I will give to you guys 10/10 in my review for this amazing Demo! For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about your Demo and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one?
Galf: Indeed, this process was a natural evolution. In Lord ov the VastLands, we could count with the effective work of all members in the process of writing songs. This situation has a result much more complete and characteristic than the previous work.
Argos: Again, thanks for the compliments! Well, we already have a previous record, the demo Specters Arrival, which opened several doors, and had copies sold from north to south of our country, besides getting a great response by the critics. We think that this release was a great achievement both in musicality and production, however we think the biggest difference between Specters Arrival and Lord ov the VastLands is the creative process. In the beginning of the project, I was responsible for most of the creative process since I founded the band and had time to work on my ideas. Everyone participated, but somehow, the process went, mostly, worked in my ideas. Nowadays, with the formation stabilized, and above all united and committed, we had the opportunity to work on ideas from all musicians, creating a sound with more influences and more suited to the personality of all DarkTower members. We found this a very important step in our career.
Hanna Tsepesh: The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something? It was an easy process?
Argos: Yes, we are very proud, because as I said in the past question, this work was done with greater participation from all members, and mainly because it was all recorded and produced by us in PyroZ studio, which belongs to the band members, Niccollo and Hanged, guitarist and bass player respectively. They are new in this business, but many bands with great potential in our state are producing their recordings with them, and there are bands from other regions seeking the studio and we are very happy with it!
Galf: We are very satisfied with the results! The process was as smooth as possible; we try to accomplish all details with great precision. But we do not stop here. We are already working in the progress of the next release, which certainly will be our debut.
Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the Demo by the media and fans?
Galf: Has been the best possible! Even with so little time of release, it has dramatically increased our number of requests on Myspace. Many people are already singing the new songs in the gigs. That response is something really priceless!
Argos: As told by Galf, the response has been great, many contacts are appearing due to high visitation at our Myspace, and the public already sings the songs of the single! We are scheduling dates at this very moment, in other states to expand this process of promotion and we have many updates to be revealed soon...
Hanna Tsepesh: DarkTower have this Demo for free download, right? Why that decision? Can you guys send the link for our readers download it…
Argos: We decided to liberate the download of this material because it is a single, a mere warm-up for the storm to come! Therefore, we want everyone to have access to this release that represents an evolution in our music. We also wanna use the resources that the Internet provides for promotion because we believe that we can’t fight this movement. It’s part of the evolution of music and of behavior in general. It’s up to us put those tools in our favor.
The link for download is: www.metalmedia.com.br/darktower/darktower_lordovthevastlands.rar
Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this Demo and why?
Galf: All songs have their value, and it is really difficult to choose just one of the three. But I get the song Lord ov the Vast Lands.
Argos: I really like all songs of the single. Creatures of Moonlight has an essence more obscure, full of melancholy, and I believe I created a stronger part when I wrote the final part, in which I sing. Lord ov the Vast Lands is the song who best represents our unity and current situation. It was composed and arranged by all members of the band and was originated from Niccollo’s ideas. The song has very powerful riffs, groove and a catchy climax in the clean vocals part, but I'm take The Mightiest Being cause is a strong song, with a intense chorus, and I believe to be the heaviest thing we've written so far.
Still about the songs, we were very satisfied, ‘cause talking with the people, we see that, just as occurred in Specters Arrival, there is no unanimity in choosing a favorite song, and we believe this is due to the uniformity of the work.
Hanna Tsepesh: You guys are thinking to record an album in the future? When we can expect DarkTower album? I am very curious about what you guys can do in one album…
Argos: We are already working on our debut. You can expect powerful songs and an ever-present quest for musical and lyrical evolution. We are working firm in this release, so you can expect something great!
Galf: What you can expect is only the storm to come!
Hanna Tsepesh: I read that you won the Preliminary W:O:A Metal Battle 2009 in Rio de Janeiro. How was that show for the band? Can you tell to us little bit about that? In your country (Brazil) you feel supported by the media and metalheads?
Galf: It was a sensational experience! Surely, this feat has opened many doors for the band, it made us known throughout our country, which is quite large.
About the support, people have bought the merchandising of the band, and give us prestige wherever we are. We are forming a true legion of chaos!
Hanna Tsepesh: Talking about concerts: The band is thinking about a European tour? You guys have plains to include Portugal in your tour?
Argos: Make a tour through Europe has always been in our plans. We know that the metal scene is strong in the "old world" and we wanna show our power for this audience!
We will begin a search for labels interested in promoting our work in Europe, making our name known in these lands, and thus, making the “so expected for us” passage of the Specters on this side of the Atlantic!
Once we have the opportunity to make this trip, and existing producers interested in bringing DarkTower to Portugal, we will do these dates with great satisfaction!
Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?
Argos: Thanks to everyone who read this interview, know more about our work and about Brazilian Extreme Music!
Galf: We count with your support! Without the strength of the fans we are nothing!
Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a great success with “Lord ov the VastLands” Demo! We hope to see you guys very soon in here…
Argos: We thank you for the space granted to us Hanna, and hope to see you very soon in Europe!
Argos and Galf: SEE THE FUCKING RISE!
Hanna Tsepesh: Thank you so much guys and all the best!
By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some DARKTOWER music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/risedarktower.
