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Lethal Saint is a young band from Cyprus which is delivering 80's heavy metal. As they are nobodies to most metal fans, we asked them to tell us a bit about the band!
For most metal fans Lethal Saint are nobodies, so please tell us a bit about how everything began!
Lethal Saint band was formed by three friends (who are now active Lethal Saint band members), Christis Isseyegh (drums), Andreas Kasapis (guitars) and Christos Papadopoulos (guitars) in mid-2006. We actually formed the band when we were around 15 years old! At that time we had nearly no musical experience, but from the beginning we were aiming high, and that contributed in increasing the rate at which our musical skills evolved. We started talking with people who knew a lot about Metal, and we finally managed to join in to the Heavy Metal group in Cyprus. And that's how we met with Andreas Pouyoukkas (now our lead singer) who was already a heavy metal fan and had musical experience, since he had been performing with a few other local bands at the time. In early 2007, our first bassist, Nicolas Papaeftihiou (our ex-bassist), joined the band! Finally the Lethal Saint band was complete for the first time! So we started performing live mainly in Nicosia, playing both our songs and many covers, with other local Heavy Metal bands.
Well that's how it all began, but what's much more interesting is how it evolved! So if you don't mind I would like to include that, although I know it is exceeding the requirements of the question!!!! So here it goes: Being greatly welcomed by the Heavy Metal Fans in Cyprus, and having performed some of our newly released at the time songs, we decided to record our first demo album in the summer of 2007. The demo was released and was a great success, as it was sold out in the first gig we did just after its release!! Then we continued performing live all around Nicosia, bringing newly made songs to the surface! Then in 2008 we won the first prize in the Band's Fest competition in Nicosia! This was a great success and gave us the courage and the push to complete our track list and record our work! Band's Fest 2008 was Nicola's (our ex-bassist) last concert with Lethal Saint! A close friend George Haigaz Yildizinian temporarily joined Lethal Saint to help us out with the bass! The creating, recording, mixing and mastering process was completed about 3 months ago and that's when our first complete album which has just being released was finally being brought to life!! With the label, and the greatly appreciated help of Pitch Black Records the Lethal Saint CD was released on the 9th of February 2010!! Now Lethal Saint's new bassist is Mike Papapavlou, and Lethal Saint is ready to perform live on stage everywhere to deliver the magic of 80's Heavy Metal all around the world!!
(Well, as a webzine we have all the space we need, and it's appreciated that you tell us whatever you think is essential! - Claudia)
Musically you are based in 80's heavy metal, how did you get into this style? Most of you haven't been born when this music was popular...
Well the sound of 80's heavy metal always inspired every single one of us! The sounds of heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Grim Reaper, Accept and many other bands are the best music to ever reach out ears! We couldn't stop listening to these masterpieces! This is what inspired us to create the band initially! It's true that most of us actually never lived in the 80's, but the truth is that we have created a very delicate and saturated picture of the 80's in our minds, due to a lot of research involving both life and music in the 80's. The all around spherical knowledge that we have of the 80's allows us to find the magic in 80's heavy metal music that made it so popular at the time!
Which of the 80's bands influenced you most and made you want to play this style?
So where do I start form?? Hehehe! ;) The main bands that have influenced us are: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Accept, Grim Reaper, Dio, Hittman, Crimson Glory, Q5, Warlock, Warlord, Heir Apparent, Ozzy etc etc etc etc etc etc! I can go on forever!! I think, we were influenced by all that is 80's Heavy Metal and sounds good!! ;)
Was it difficult to find others with the same vision? Cyprus isn't that big...
Actually I think, we were lucky in this part!! I don't think it was really hard! Basically what we did is that we met with people which were already involved in other bands, and had 80's Heavy Metal flowing in their bloodstream! I think a quite similar vision to ours was already being followed by most of the Heavy Metal fans in Cyprus! So, all having the same dream, we managed to form the band quite easily!
Nowadays it seems that everybody is looking for the next big thing and your music is kinda backdates - style-wise -, was it difficult to find a label? Or have you been lucky that Pitch Black Records is out to promote Cypriot bands?
Label record companies are really rare in Cyprus, and we are really glad that Pitch Black Records is here to promote our music! So of course all of us feel more than lucky that Pitch Black Records is out to promote Cypriot bands!!! As you know, many people nowadays know little or even nothing about our style! But people should never forget the style that once inspired generations! So we're here to remind people that the Heavy Metal Fire is still burning, and we will try to make the flame as bright as possible! So it might be that the next big thing is just the continuation of something that once shook the world!
You now have your debut album out and I guess you already got some feedback. Are you satisfied?
Of course we got many different types of feedback! Most of the feedback (around 85%) was pretty good and we are really satisfied! But we don't only look at the good comments! We get an overall idea out of both good and bad comments so we can sort of rate our album, and note all the useful comments that can make us progress and evolve! This means that hopefully the percentage satisfaction derived from feedback will show an overall increasing trend in our future's subsequent album releases!
These days it seems to be important to be present at YouTube and similar platforms. Are their plans for a video? Perhaps just something recorded at a concert to give people an idea about Lethal Saint?
We already have some videos on YouTube, both with live and studio sounds! The bad thing is that live videos usually have a really bad sound quality, while studio tracks that have a good sound have just pictures displayed! So we haven't actually released any official videos yet! There are plans for making some video clips for certain songs that are part of our new album, but I have no idea when this is going to happen!
How important is MySpace & co. for you?
MySpace is a fantastic way to communicate with the fans, and with other both famous and infamous bands! Also it is really nice that people can listen to uploaded track samples, and read information or see pictures of the band! Also it is a really good means of promoting or advertising concerts and releases of the band!! I think MySpace is really important for Lethal Saint and for many other bands all around the globe!
What about shows outside Cyprus? Anything on the way?
Lethal Saint would love to perform outside Cyprus! We would really like to deliver the sounds of 80's heavy metal all around the world, anywhere, anytime!! Participating in Metal Festivals such as Graspop, Download etc would be 'a dream come true' for us! We are really willing to perform anywhere! Now there's still nothing planned, but we are thinking that soon, we'll create a program of concerts around some countries in Europe and America!!
What are your plans for 2010?
2010 is a fantastic year for Lethal Saint as it began with the release of the Lethal Saint album! We plan in making a program including shows all around Cyprus, and also outside Cyprus, to both promote our album and to spread the magic of heavy metal all around the world!!
Thank you very much! Keep it true and keep the 80's Heavy Metal Flame Burning Bright!
LETHAL SAINT
Thank you very much for answering our questions. Perhaps they get the chance to play outside Cyprus, perhaps it needs a bit more time, but I'm sure we will hear again from Lethal Saint!
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