Интервю с TEMPLE OF EVIL

Interview with TEMPLE OF EVIL

S.: Hello, present the band.

TEMPLE OF EVIL: Hello. Firstly, we’d like to thank you for the interview. The Temple has been built in the mid-2008 and since its inception many changes occurred regarding its members, thus leading to the latest line up consisting of Arkhon Sakrificer on vocals/bass, Apethantos on guitars, Nekrocurse on guitars/keyboards and Iaculus on drums. We released our first opus in the beginning of 2016 entitled ‘’The 7th Awakening’’.

S.: How did TEMPLE OF EVIL come to life?

T.O.E.: Temple of Evil has come to life way back in the mid-2008 as we had craved to create a source of inspiration so as to express our personal philosophy strongly bound by our inner desires and beliefs. It is our own spiritual temple which allows us to act as preaches of our unorthodox vision.

S.: Cyprus is famous as The Island of Love. How does a satanist, ritualistic black metal band connect to the overall landscape?

T.O.E.: Cyprus it is well-known for its hospitality and love according to its history and culture but our art has nothing to do with any of those. Apart from that, the majority of the population (about 80%) are Christian orthodox which enables the church of Cyprus to act as the bane of the society through politics and culture and our primary aim is to awaken every individual whose mind lies on slumber deep.

S.: Is there a independent extreme scene in Cyprus? Tell us more.

T.O.E.: Well, in Cyprus speaking of black metal, it has had a limited but strong presence on the island. The scene has its birthing roots in the early 90s with bands such as Godblood and Witchcraft being among the first metal bands in Cyprus. Godblood managed to release an album and a few other releases before being split up and re-uniting in 2015. Necroterror Records has also been in operation since 2006 and since then a few other labels such as Deathhammer Records, Temple of Flesh and Order of Theta have surfaced and are active in the international scene. There has been witnessed a constant rise in the scene in the past few years with bands such as Necrosadist, Tome of the Unreplenished and Frozen Winds releasing their work and making the scene even stronger.

S.: Until present date you have only one studio album – „The 7th Awakening“… A seventh anniversary from the founding of the band is coming. Is there some kind of symbolism in this? Is this your personal awakening and initiation?

T.O.E.: Actually, there is not any upcoming 7th anniversary since the formation of the band. The 7th anniversary was actually 2 years ago hence the title of our debut album was entitled ‘’The 7th awakening’’ as it symbolizes the existing years of the band.

S.: Is it hard to make extreme music in Cyprus? Are you working on new material?

T.O.E.: It isn’t hard to do whatever expresses your lust for creativity better, no matter where you are as long as you are honest about it. Any place is insignificant as inspiration and art are profound virtues that derive from the vast depth of the creative force which is no other than the mind itself. We have been working on some new ideas about our sophomore opus but it’s too early to mention anything at the moment.

S.: Your logo is really interesting and impressive. Who is the author? Is the „TEMPLE OF EVIL“ just you as members of this band or anyone, who likes and understands your art and can feel like being a part of this temple?

T.O.E.: Thank you for the kind words. The mastermind behind our logo and our artwork in general is no other than the mighty Khaos Diktator Design. Be sure to check out the rest of his astonishing artworks as well. For us Temple of Evil symbolises the capacity of oneself to examine and engage in adversarial beliefs through which chaos directs to new portals of endless interpretations. One can become adept in exploring and cultivating the inner self that is not yet known and shed the old skin that has been consumed and emptied of any material meaning and become a part of this preaching.

S.: You use a lot of stage props for your rituals. What exactly do you want to show and tell people?

T.O.E.: Each performance to us is truly pivotal, as we crave to invoke our art in the ritualistic manner that we intend to. Even though this may be difficult and costly in some circumstances, we have not and will never compromise as we want every individual present at our concerts to have the same experience, reach a certain state of mind and absorb the quintessence of our art as we incarnate The 7th Awakening alive on stage.

S.: How real is what you do? Is it more of a show and theatre or it’s more of a ritualism and message?

T.O.E.: The primary philosophy that is personified on our art can be described as an inconspicuous prism of our inner feelings and esoteric thoughts. The music must embrace the lyrics equally so as the listener to be able to witness their subconscious’s awakening through their own exegesis and to make them think deeper by drowning in the shaping of different dimensions and giving a totally different perception on anything that could be; either the current ambience they are engaged to or their inner spirits.

S.: You’re being in Bulgaria for the second time now. What are your impressions from the Bulgarian audience?

T.O.E.: Our first visit was back in May 2016 at Artists of the Dark II and it was truly unique to us as it was our very first performance abroad and the people who attended our show were very energetic and supportive. They may were few in numbers but they were loud in spirit to birth an exceptional and meaningful performance.

S.: As much as I know (unfortunately I couldn’t go too, but this time I’m going to catch up the missed opportunity), you haven’t played in front of a big audience. What did the people who weren’t there miss (including me 🙂 )?

T.O.E.: As we mentioned above the audience wasn’t big but that does not affect our performance at all. Mere numbers mean absolutely nothing to us as we prefer everyone who observes our summoning on stage to participate and feel the quintessence of this Temple embracing their inmost spirits. The energy of the crowd is a crucial factor for this experience and the merging vibe contributes dramatically in our manifestation.

S.: How would you call more people to come and see your ritual this time?

T.O.E.: If someone wishes to be drowned in a parallel dimension and experience the awakening in its living form, they should join us so as to become one and invoke our deepest reflections into darkest shadows.

S.: Final words to the fans. Thanks for your time!

T.O.E.: We would like to express our uttermost gratitude towards every individual that supported our vision in any way.

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Photo credits Maria Andronikou Photography