Axiom kicked my ass. Quite literally. Greek trio Dephosphorus have come up with quite the astonishing debut. Sprinkling their grindcore with the now obligatory crust crumbs, but more so with a hiogher dose of black metal, the ‘till yesterday unknown unit has released what is in our ears, one of the best releases of 2011. Axiom pummels like few releases. And it only cost $300. Too bad you haven’t heard it yet. So we got in touch with the band to talk about a little bit of everything. This is what mainman Panos had to say...and oh, yeah, Read on and spread the word....

DS-First of all, let me say that Axiom is an amazing recording. I am quite surprised. Let’s start at the beginning. Two out of the three members were in a band called Straighthate, which without having heard it sounds like a hardcore band. If that’s the case, please explain the transition from that band to this one? What brought about the end of that band? If there was a change in style, why the change?

Panos: We are very pleased by your appreciation of "Axiom"! Straighthate (1999-2008) was indeed a hardcore band, but we had huge grind and death metal influences, as well as some of the same noise rock and post-hardcore background that we now have with DEPHOSPHORUS. This can be heard on our one and only album, Indigenous, that I have released through my label (www.blastbeatmailmurder.com). By the summer of 2008 we have clearly felt with Thanos, who was also the guitarist and main songwriter, that our participation in the band has come to an end. That was for reasons who are familiar to anybody involved in the scene, playing in a band or knowing people who do: exhausting line-up changes, deteriorating conditions for live gigs, lack of focus/organization/initiative, etc.  A few months before our departure from the band and while we had an album worth of songs that we were playing live for a couple of years already , Thanos came to us with a dozen of demoed songs and told us: "Listen up, this is our 2nd album!". That was brilliant material and far more challenging creatively that whatever we've done until then. The rest of the guys (our rythm section basically) haven't been as enthusiastic and thrilled as us, yet we were eager to start working on this kind of different material. That led to Dephosphorus and some of these demos evolved into the tracks that you now know...

DS-I was reading your biography and there seems to have been a change in style from the very beginnings. It reads, ‘the band decided to opt for a more visceral and organic approach’. What happened? What were the circumstances surrounding this change?

Initially, when we quit Straighthate, me and Thanos wanted to start composing and demo'ing straight away, without having to depend on others and without spending time driving around to rehearsals. That's why we've started as a home recording band. We spent the first year of our existence recording demos at Thanos' place with him programming the drums. As we've started to elaborate our style and concept, we've realized that such an approach was too sterile for our music. We felt that the songs needed the input of a creative drummer. Until that moment we had 20-30 minutes worth of composed/recorded music, and we were thinking about releasing a demo with some of it, always with a drum machine.

As soon as we've found Nikos, we scrapped the old songs and started working on more agressive and straightforward material, in what was to become Axiom. Therefore the change we mention in our biography is the transition from a home recording project to a band with a real (and killer) drummer.

DS-Your biography speaks about a ‘cosmic concept’. Can you please talk about this? How is it tackled in the music? Does it only relate to the lyrics?

Dephosphorus is an ancient cosmic entity. It scans the universe for civilizations to recruit for his quest to pierce the mysteries of creation and what lies beyond the known cosmos. Our concept is vowed to the Dephosphorus mythos, narrating its sagas, incidents, locales, artefacts and heros. It is a metaphor, an allegory for what we perceive to be the highest motivation of  human existence: the attempt to comprehend our origin and place in the universe. We spend our lives with our heads bowed, not looking above, enslaved by the tyranic constructions that we, our peers and our ancestors have created. If only we could be brutally and forcibly exposed to the wider cosmic realities and the structure of present creation or at least to small hints of them, then some of us would ignite change, modifying life in the planet, aligning it with the universal flux.  The lyrics of Axiom are an ensemble of different stories, not necessarily connected with each other. The record also features "Dephosphorus", the song whose lyrics are an introduction to the whole concept. Most of the lyrics are quite vague and abstract, allowing the listener to take a peek into the dynamic and majestic environment where our story takes place.

I would say that Axiom is our space opera. Not only many of the lyrics are strongly influenced by science fiction and more specifically Iain M.Banks (one of the most imaginative and powerful minds currently alive), but the electronics with which Panos Alexiadis has completed our music flesh a very vivid and immersive cosmic atmosphere.

So, our music is connected to the concept and I know for sure that when Thanos is laying down the riffs that will be the foundation of our songs, he has in mind our overall purpose and design. The atmosphere and lyrics of our forthcoming debut album Night Sky Transform are different. While some of the lyrics still narrate stories from the wider Dephosphorus mythos (eg. "Starless"), most of songs focus on a planet or a solar system where a small group of initiated gets in contact with Dephosphorus then provokes brutal change via "The Astral Putsch". So, it is less of a space opera and more a link connecting the universal scale of our concept, with local, earthly realities. Ultimately, we think that better comprehension of the universe will have an impact on local existence.

DS-When I read your bio, it almost came off as if Axiom had only been a demo. While its sound is to me excellent and its execution flawless. That could mean that if you were to take your time you could deliver a monster. Please talk about the recording of Axiom.

The recording of Axiom costed us 100 euros and it took us 10 hours in total to track down. All in all, together with the mixing and the mastering, we must have spent 300 or 400 euros. With such a low budget it's simply astonishing how much people love its sound!

The sound engineer and the studio are not worth mentionning. I believe that despite the low budget, Axiom turned out great because of two reasons. The first is that during the weeks before we entered the studio we had rehearsed intensively freshly composed songs. That led us to record the drums and the guitars live, making it sound so spontaneous and energetic...

The second reason is that our friends Panos Alexiadis (mixing/live electronics) and Miltos Schimatariotis (mastering) did a great job in turning average source waves into a powerful final result.  We are perfectly happy with Axiom, because we did the best we could with the limited resources we had and under tight conditions. Overall, Axiom turned out a better release than what we could possibly imagine and the response and feedback we are receiving until now are overwhelming.  In the 4 months after the recording of Axiom we have composed and recorded 14 new songs (40 minutes of music) for our debut album Night Sky Transform and for two split-EP's. As you can hear in the opening track of the album, "Uncharted" (streaming at our bandcamp page, http://dephosphorus.bandcamp.com), we have evolved and we feel that our new material leaves Axiom far behind in terms of execution, intensity and sound.

DS-I am surprised that Axiom wasn’t snapped by a bigger label. The gatefold from 7 Degrees is gorgeous, but it seems like at first listen many labels would be wanting to sign you. How did you shop Axiom?

We are surprised too! We sent promos to at least 40 labels. Some of them came back to us with positive feedback saying they loved the music and the artwork, but without making any offer. It's a tricky affair trying to getting signed when you are unknown, popping out of nowhere - even if you have under your belt some good music. Labels are flooded by piles of bad demo CD's to start with, and  even if they like what they hear they have to evaluate whether you are worth the risk, whether your music can possibly sell. Nobody wants a good band that sells shit but plenty of label owners (luckily not all of them...) would love to sign a shitty/average band that sells well. Having said that, we don't complain and are extremely grateful to have Axiom released on vinyl by 7 Degrees Records! We got in touch after I read some positive reviews of releases of theirs such as the Krupskaya/Sandokhan split-LP. I wrote to Simon, who is also the bass player of excellent grind outfit Keitzer, and traded some of my label's releases with his. I thought "What the heck?" and sent him an Axiom promo too. He loved it and made us an offer within a couple of days.

We have had an ideal collaboration so far. Simon has similar background and views than us. Being a musician himself, makes things even easier. He took the risk to press Axiom on vinyl while it is a mini-LP and cannot be sold as a full length LP (it costs exactly the same to manufacture though). He also didn't spare the extra expense of a gatefold cover and printing an insert, giving the opportunity to the fantastic artwork by Viral Graphics (www.facebook.com/viral.graphics) to shine in all its splendor. Being vinyl fans and having for the first time our music pressed on such a glorious piece of wax, you can imagine how happy we are! 7 Degrees Records might carry the vinyl release of Night Sky Transform but it will depend of any possible offers that we might get this time... In any case, I hope that we will work again with them at some point in the future because we have affinities and are bonded by the same underground attitude and state of mind.

DS-Getting into your music, I really like the vocals. Very extreme, almost sounds as if Panos Agoros would be blowing out his throat. Are there any effects used here? How can he keep such a voice throughout?

There are no effects on the vocals. I have a particular voice. Some like it, some others possibly don't. I also have a loud voice and I love to scream my lungs out. I am gifted with good vocal chords, so it doesn't take any particular effort except a lot of practice and as many rehearsals as possible (of corpse!). I always used to scream like that, as loud as possible without caring too much about doing the longest cry possible. Over the years I have evolved as a vocalist and expanded my range to different registers (eg. in the beginning I couldn't do death growls). More importantly I learned how to control my voice and make it sound more expressive. The real challenge for a vocalist is not how to make the most extreme vocals - which is a mere technicality at the end of the day. It is how to touch the audience, transmit to them the feelings and vibes associated with the music and lyrics, grab them by the throat, make them shiver!

Take "Indulge Me In Silence". It's Axiom's song whose vocals I am most proud about and possibly my favorite one from the MLP. The music's cold dissonance and harsh agression, combined with the story and atmosphere that the lyrics convey made me track the vocals while being into an eerie state. I think that this can be heard. Another example of what I am talking about is "The Long Crossing". This is the last song for which I recorded vocals. It was at the end of a long, single session, so my voice was starting to get tired. The screamed vocals would probably be a little bit more extreme if the track was recorded earlier in the session, or another day. I think that it turned out perfectly this way. They are a tad less extreme than what they could have been but they sound warmer this way, more expressive and fit well with the clean guitars that kick off the song.

DS-I was very surprised by how fluid is the sound of Dephosphorus, especially because it takes from so many genres? There is grind and black metal, especially those two. Who would you say are your main influences to this band?

You are right, the main poles of Axiom are crust/grind and black metal. There is also death metal, sludge, noise rock and post-hardcore. Through Night Sky Transform you'll discover a different balance of influences, but I won't say more - I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise! Our guitarist Thanos, who composes all Dephosphorus music is influenced by bands such as Virus, early Godflesh, Breach, Helmet, Unsane, Earth, Neurosis, Nasum, Discordance Axis, Nirvana, Skitsystem, Immolation, Slayer, Arkangel, Unearthly Trance, Thralldom, Leviathan, Lurker Of Chalice. Our drummer Nikos listens mostly to classical music this last couple of years - rarely to metal. Last time I checked, he declared that Diapsiquir was some of the best music ever written by man! That's why I guess he loved so much the latest Kickback album "No Surrender": it features Toxik, the former Arkhon Infaustus guitarist. He also loves Antaeus, Arkhon Infaustus, Deathspell Omega. 

As far as I am concerned, there are too many bands that had an impact on me. It would be ridiculous to start listing them. You might want to know which vocalists influenced me the most though. To start with there are the vocalists of my two favorite underground bands, who happen to hail both from Paris-France: Stephen from the masters of negative hardcore controversy KICKBACK and mKm from black metal legends ANTAEUS (who also sings for AOSOTH lately). Both had an impact on me not just vocally but also as frontmen and individuals: they mean what they say and are not pseudo-artistic muppets. I am regularly being told that my voice reminds Tomas Lindberg's which is a compliment because Slaughter Of the Soul is an all-time fave, and I love Tompa's voice. I have also been strongly influenced by hardcore vocalists such as Mike Score (All Out War), Baldur (Arkangel), Dwid (Integrity), Brian (Catharsis). I guess I also have been influenced by the vocals of Iron Monkey (R.I.P. Johnny Morrow) and Zao circa Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest. Grind-wise, Jon Chang (Discordance Axis, Gridlink, Hayaino Daisuki), Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth) are my bigger throat influences. From the metal side of things, I absolutely love the vocals on almost all Darkthrone records, as well as Pete Helmkamp (Order From Chaos, Angelcorpse, Kerasphorus), Attila Csihar's vocals on "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" has been of immense inspiration to me, eventhough I am not sure if this can be heard.  Some more black metal vocalists that have influenced me: John Gossard (Weakling, Dispirit), Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker Of Chalice), Ryan L. (Thralldom, The Howling Wind), and the list goes on. Some of the best BM vocals I've heard lately are those of Nox, at Craft's "Void".  Last but not least, two other two favorite singers and frontmen of mine that you wouldn't tell are two Mikes: Mike Patton (Faith No More, etc) and Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies).

DS-It is well-known that Greece has a strong metal scene. But your sound is a bit different. Is there a scene in Greece where you would say that Dephosphorus fits? I understand that you can gig around with whoever you want, but are there other bands crafting a sound that’s say out of leftfield?

I wouldn't say that we feel part of a particular scene. There is mutual appreciation and comradeship with bands that we consider to be the elite of what Greece has to offer in terms of extreme/underground music. Some of them are:
END - My favorite black metal band from down here since I've first listened and met them back in 2002 I think.
RAVENCULT - Amazing band and honnest, down to earth folks. Their latest album "Morbid Blood" is a gem of relentless, thrashy black metal.
DEAD CONGREGATION - I guess I don't need to say much about them, do I? One of the 2 or 3 most exciting death metal bands in the world right now.
KVAZAR - My favorite local grindcore band.
RUINED FAMILIES - Excellent young band playing dark hardcore in the veins of Cursed, Catharsis, Νirvana. They got an excellent debut MLP out, “Four Wall Freedom”, and have tracks ready for a cool new 7"EP . There is also the other bands that we are playing with:
AMNIS NIHILI (www.amnisnihili.com) - I am also screaming and writing vocals for them. A blackened, harsh & mesmerizing affair. We have our debut EP entitled "Christological Escalation" coming up soon on 10" wax and Compact Death on Avantgarde Music.
INJEKTING KHAOS (www.myspace.com/injektingkhaos) - The black metal band that our drummer Nikos was playing with before Dephosphorus, very influenced by the french scene (Antaeus, Arkhon Infaustus, etc). They have a powerful new mini-LP recorded and are searching for a label. Check them out.
There is also the other bands that we are playing with:
AMNIS NIHILI (www.amnisnihili.com) - I am also screaming and writing vocals for them. A blackened, harsh & mesmerizing affair. We have our debut EP entitled "Christological Escalation" coming up soon on 10" wax and Compact Death on Avantgarde Music.
INJEKTING KHAOS (www.myspace.com/injektingkhaos) - The black metal band that our drummer Nikos was playing with before Dephosphorus, very influenced by the french scene (Antaeus, Arkhon Infaustus, etc). They have a powerful new mini-LP recorded and are searching for a label. Check them out.

DS-Talking about the history of Greek metal. I wanted to know your opinion on the subject. Why is it so famous? Why is there such a perception that Greece is this huge Metal Country? Which bands helped build this reputation?

I guess that in terms of metal's popularity in the country you can safely say that Greece is a huge metal country. The percentage of metalheads in the population is larger than in most countries.  To say that Greece is a huge metal country in terms of musical output though is exaggerated. What would Norway or Sweden be then?  Greek metal has been amongst the most cult worldwide, following the rise of late 80's, early 90's black metal (Rotting Christ, Necromantia, Varathron, etc) and to a lesser degree of early/mid 90's atmospheric doom/death (Nightfall, Septic Flesh...). I think that this is due to the fact that all these bands had some special vibes, a unique, immersive atmosphere, and an exotic appeal to the foreign audience.

From the mid-90's until the early 00's, Greek metal has been largely stagnant with extremely few interesting new bands. Most of the rest just trying to reproduce the formulas of the classics.  This last decade has seen a renaissance of underground Greek metal with death metal bands such as Dead Congregation and Inveracity, experimental acts such as Sun Of Nothing, Straighthate, Innermost Konkave, a wave of new black metal (End, Ravencult, Dodsferd, Acrimonious, The One...), etc. Old bands Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh enjoy massive appretiation from the wider metal public and a handful of greeks are carrying on high profile careers outside of the country. This has definitely helped legitimize greek metal in the eyes of the mainstream as a force to be reckoned with worldwide: George Kollias playing with NILE, Gus G. with Ozzy...

DS-I understand that you have newer material ready. So what is going on? What’s the name of the album? How does it differ from Axiom?

We have 14 new songs ready for three releases: our debut album Night Sky Transform which will feature 10 of them, one track for Hell Comes Home's (www.hellcomeshome.com) split-7" EP series volume#1 and "The Cosmologist", an ensemble of 3 tracks destined for a split-EP/MLP. We are currently searching for the appropriate label who will release Night Sky Transform, as well as a killer band to share our second split with. Our new material is more intense, agressive and instinctive than Axiom. The riffs are harder. Nikos played some devastating and otherworldly drums. My vocal delivery is harsher and more focused. We also took the time to experiment and have quite a few surprises for you!

DS-How was the recording this time around?

The recording has been done at Northside Studio (www.northside.gr), the compound of our friend Miltos Schimatariotis - the responsible for Axiom's mastering. Having already done some demos there, we felt at home straight from the beginning. Even though we had a hard deadline because Thanos was leaving out of the country for his mandatory military service in November 2010, the conditions were met for our creativity to be unleashed. Last but not least, Ryan Lipynsky (Unearthly Trance, The Howling Wind, Thralldom, etc) has contributed to the track "Unconscious Excursion" doing all the vocals, writing the lyrics (even coming up with the songtitle!)and playing some great lead guitars. He recorded everything at this rehearsal spot in Brooklyn and we are extremely happy to have him on the album because we feel connected to him. This particular track was our way of paying tribute to his bands for all the inspiration they have provided to us during the last decade.

DS-One unrelated question, so what do you make out of this crisis Greece is going through? have you guys been affected at all?

Everybody has been affected to a lesser or greater degree. We or our families haven't lost our jobs, so are part of the luckier ones. Our income has been drastically reduced though, due to higher taxes and V.A.T. The general mood down here is a general feeling of hopelessness and of terrible uncertainty for the future. The bigger victims of all this is the youth. We have been fucked by older generations (those who are 45-50+ y.o.). Everybody knew for these last 30 years that something was going wrong, that Greece's foundations were rotten. Yet, nobody had the balls to do something. They kept voting for the same corrupt politicians, feeling comfortable in the false security that provided to our society an overgrown public sector. I don't want to be 100% pessimistic. I share the feeling with other people, that this might be the occasion for positive change because one thing clear is that Greece could not carry on like this. I want to add that while I acknowledge that the situation is mainly the fault of the Freeks, things are not as simple as it is presented by demagogue politicians and corrupt media: "lazy Greeks" have become Europe's scapegoats and this is wrong. Let me explain this to you. Greece has had corrupt governments for at least 30 years, since it has been part of the European Union. Yet it has received considerable financial help and support, why? All this money hasn't been used for what it was intended to, but has been wasted instead. Were the Greeks so smart that they have fooled Germany, France and the rest of the European countries? One should be stupid or naive to think that. The European Union knew very well what was happening. Yet they did give us plenty of money. Why's that? Well because a big part of this money, the European taxpayers' money, went back to the pockets of their industrialists and bankers. Simple as that. If you take a look at how much money Greece is dedicating to defense you'll understand. So if they all knew, why does this happen all of a sudden? I think that this is for the same reasons that they fucked Argentina. This is some sort of capitalist experiment, conclusions of which will be used for the grand scheme of things to come. This is no conspiracy theory, this is a fact. The current global monetary and financial system is humanity's biggest problem right now. "Zeitgeist II" explains all that pretty well. Our collective future is grim, yet letting ourselves go in abandonment and despair serves their plans even better. This is my state of mind and this is at the core of the Dephosphorus concept.

DS-Finally, what are you listening to right now?

This is what I've been listening during the last couple of weeks.
NECROBLOOD - selftitled 7" EP: excellent primitive french black/death out on Spikekult, the recently reactivated label of my brother mKm from Antaeus & Aosoth!
DEFY "Desprazer" MC: great crust/death from Brazil.
DISKORD "Doomscapes" MC: avantgarde death metal from Oslo, challenging and mindblowing!
SCYTHIAN "To Those Who Stand Against Us..." CD: Epic & majestic black/thrash from the UK, highly recommended.
CREEPING - side of "Rites Of Spiritual Death" split-12"MLP w/GLORIOR BELLI: impressive doom/sludge from New Zealand....
ULCERATE "The Destroyers Of All" CD: my favorite album for 2011 until now. This is the future of death metal.
CRUCIAMENTUM "Convocation Of Crawling Chaos" 10"EP: some of the best death metal I came across recently. All hails to Nuclear Winter Records for giving this demo the treatment it deserves on vinyl and CD.
V/A "The Wine Of Satan volume II" LP: Great BM comp.
CRAFT "Void" 2xLP: Latest epic opus from one of our favorite BM bands @ the Dephosphorus kamp.
DRACONIS INFERNUM "Death In My Veins" MC: Surprisingly good BM from Singapore!
FLEURETY "Evoco Bestias" 7"EP: I've shitted in my pants when I have first received this excellent piece of vinyl. Fantastic stuff.
AKITSA "Aupres De La Mort, Triomphant" 7"EP: 3 new tracks from one of my favorite bands!
BIOSPHERE "Subtrata" MP3: I am a big fan of whatever Biosphere has released. Northern ambient that freezes your soul.
GADGET - side of split-MLP w/PHOBIA: One of our favorite grindcore bands.
KICKBACK "No Surrender" CD: I can't even begin to write down how much I adore this band.
And last but not least, GRIDLINK "Orphan/Amber Grey" LP: #1 grindcore band in the world right now. Enough said.

DS-Last words?

Download Axiom for free from our site www.dephosphorus.com, in case you haven't done it already! If you like what you hear and what you see please consider ordering the 12" MLP and/or our t-shirt either from us directly or from our label 7 Degrees Records (7degreesrecords@gmx.net, www.myspace.com/7degreesrecords).
Axiom is a mere hint of things to come. Brace yourselves for our debut album Night Sky Transform - it will blow your minds and your speakers!
Thanks so much you guys at Deaf Sparrow for your support and your help in spreading the word about Axiom and DEPHOSPHORUS. We totally appreciate that and hope we will be able to pay you a few beers sometime!

Official Site

Interview by Ignacio Brown