Interview with Ephialtes

Aggressively charged melodic blackened death metal with a traditional heavy metal touch. A strange, explosive mixture that the band themselves decided to call Heavy Metal of Death. Their debut album is “Melas Oneiros”, we will discuss it a little in a short interview with Quazarre (guitars / vocals) and Avernatvs (drums).
Alan – Hello to Poland. Do you work on summer festivals?
Avernatvs – Hello there! I think at that point we missed this year’s festival season but we are working continuously on some dates for this year, so fingers crossed! We will definitely do our best to enter the festival season for the following year.

Alan – Come and introduce yourself to us. When was the band founded, and who was at its birth? And what does Ephialtes mean?
Avernatvs – The history of Ephialtes started over the course of the global pandemic. While we were still active as a part of Devilish Impressions, Quazarre started writing material that he felt was straying a bit from the style we represented in DI. This resulted in thought of releasing this music as a different project, as we think that songs we had were great and really special. We were all on board with the idea and that’s how Ephialtes was born. Core line-up included me, Quazarre, Tzar and our former guitar player Isemal who eventually had to step down as he wanted to focus on his family. 
Quazarre – Another figure to compliment “Melas Oneiros” is Marcus Edvardsson from Sweden’s Souldrainer, who’s responsible for the parts of epic, choir-like synthesizers on the album. When it comes to the name of the band, it derives from the Ancient Greek word “ephiáltēs (ἐφιάλτης)”, meaning “nightmare”, which in turn derives from the “ephàllomai (ἐφάλλομαι)”, composed of two elements: “epí (επί)” (upon, on) plus “állomai (ἅλλομαι)” (assault, climb, uphill, jumping, jump) because, in reference to a popular belief, the nightmares were nicknamed “one who climbed over the body of the dormant”. To cut it short, Ephialtes is The One who leaps upon. The nightmare.

Alan - Melas Oneiros is your debut? How satisfied are you with the album?
Avernatvs – We think it came out great! We worked really hard on this record and did our best in terms of performances, music and catching the right tones to make it sound like a fully professional record, very much like making a statement that we are here to stay and we have something to show, so you better listen! (laughs)
Quazarre – That’s right! Having made all the demos for each song that eventually landed on the album, I decided to rewrite some compositions and consistently change all the arrangements up until I was truly satisfied with the final result. We really pulled ourselves out of the comfort zone which translated to the attitude towards the composing and later to the recording and post-production process – no boundaries, no restrictions and fulfilling only the expectations of our own. 

Alan – What do black or death metal listeners say about the album? And how do you feel about the praise from zines?
Avernatvs – So far the response is very good, we saw plenty of positive reviews and people we talked to always had very encouraging things to say about the record, both when it comes to the music and the recording quality. It’s very reassuring to see such feedback as it reinforces the conviction that we do something right and people notice and respond to that. 
Quazarre – From the beginning it was meant to be a loud, untamed roar from the very bottom of our hearts. I believe it is one of those ‘love it or hate it’ records. Remorselessly honest, touching and uncompromising. Nevertheless, it is a really great feeling that all the effort we have put into this album is widely appreciated.

Alan – The album has been out for a short time. Can you briefly describe the individual tracks? Both musically and lyrically?
1. Ad Patres (intro)
Quazarre – Composed by Krzysztof Wołoszyn, its character may be reminiscent of the soundtrack to some great, epic film production. I think it’s a great introduction not only to the opening track, but to the whole album.
2. To The Victims Of Sirens
Avernatvs – Intense and catchy song, thus it became our lead single. Song deals with a theme from Odyssey when Odysseus and his crew had to pass waters haunted by sirens, which we all know how it could have ended. We shot a music video for this one too.
Quazarre – Indeed, after mixing this song, we knew it would be a so-called instant banger. It’s one of those “in-your-face” tracks that immediately grabs the listener's attention.
3. In Her Embrace Again
Quazarre – It has a lot going on in it, there are a lot of changes, including changes of pace and rhythmic play, very varied vocals, and so on. The lyrics of the song directly refer to what a ‘mare’ is, a figure present in beliefs and religious denominations around the world. It describes recurring images of a nightmare sitting on the chest of a sleeping person and the feelings accompanying it. The feeling of helplessness, paralyzing fear of a figure lurking in the dark, and the inability to scream. Sounds familiar? ;-)
4. The Void
Avernatvs – Another single that combines some fast parts with lots of melody. It contains some of my favorite parts out of the whole record, especially the chorus. I wanted to channel the emotions in my drums on that particular part. We have a gorgeous lyric video done for this one!
Quazarre – It’s a story about a human who struggles with loneliness and searches for answers to an array of existential dilemmas, often seeking help from the supernatural. Regardless of under what name humanity refers to God in different places and cultures, the mechanism of merging the physical and spiritual world with each other, is always exactly the same. The true question is if prayers sent out to forces above or below in actuality help one persevere through struggle and hard times, or if in any case they fall upon deaf ears, into the void...
5. Children Of Arachne
Avernatvs – First song made for the record and also the first I recorded drums from. Musically it’s pretty straightforward but fun to play and it has great drive to it.
Quazarre – Referring directly to the Greek myth of Arachne and Athena in our view the Children of Arachne personify all those who decide to take revenge for what the old gods did to their mother. The Children of Arachne are the people of today, proudly defying the will of the gods and the pressures of society.
6. Homo Deus
Avernatvs – Most evil sounding and heaviest song on the record. Actually it was our first single off that album. It has some crushing, Morbid Angel-like sounding moments and some of the fastest stuff I did for that record. 
Quazarre – It also has this unexpected twist to it at the end of the track, and although the song in its majority is indeed one of the most evil sounding of all the songs from the album, that very part of it may not be something less open minded listeners would accept (laughs). Here we have a story akin the one we saw in Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’ not only about a well known human desire to be as powerful as God himself and create anything on his image but also - or first and foremost - a warning tale about lack of acceptance for otherness, about reasons that drive societies all over the world to reject anything "different" and ostracize such units. No wonder that in the end, the creature unleashes his vengeful rampage on mankind. After all, isn't it what we deserve? 
7. The Blood Of The Gods
Quazarre – The song talks about how, in today's rush for material goods, we forget about the need to work on the development of our spiritual side. About the fact that as thinking beings we should live not only for temporal goods, but also by desiring something more, to live life to the fullest, accept its challenges and one day face death with pride. Music-wise it’ a fairly progressive song with a lot of things going on here and there. Time signatures are changing left and right, same with both the guitars and the drums patterns. I love the ending part of it with harmonic guitar parts reminiscent of Iron Maiden, for example.
8. Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus
Quazarre – The heaviest, slowest and the most groovy song on the record, a memorable musical suite with those gorgeous melodies and a mix of triumphant and sorrowful edge. It is quite a pessimistic, yet true reflection on what or who we are, how in fact this small fragment of time in eternity means little for the fate of the world and humanity. About the fact that at the same time we have a very high opinion of ourselves, although unjustified in the context of our importance for the course of events. No matter what we tend to think of ourselves at the end of the day we are nothing but dust and shadow. 

Alan – Where and how long did you record the album? Did anyone help you with the songs? And the choice of the cover?
Avernatvs – The album was recorded in various locations and it was stretched through various months of 2021 and 2023, if I’m not mistaken. Guitars were recorded at Quazzare’s home studio, bass was recorded at Studio Młyn, synthesizers at Metallfabriken Studio in Sweden, while drums and vocals were done at Impressive-Art Studio under the supervision of Przemyslaw Nowak, who also mixed and produced the whole record. We worked on the songs ourselves all the way through. 
Quazarre – As for the artwork for the album, we asked our friend, tattoo artist Łukasz Kotula, to paint it. We showed him the lyrics of the album and explained what’s behind both the band's name (Ephialtes – ‘nightmare’) and the album's title (Melas Oneiros – ‘black dream’). Of course, we placed the figure of a nightmare in the context of many beliefs around the world. What you see on the cover art is therefore Lukasz’ vision, his very own perception of the entity responsible for the nightmare zone, the entity that sends the sleeping man into the abyss of darkness, fear and eternal terror.

Alan – Just out of curiosity. Do you have any funny experiences from concerts, or from recording the album, or videos?
Avernatvs – Probably when we were shooting music video for “To The Victims Of Sirens” and we were walking around in corpse-paint all day while people were walking around our location sightseeing (laughs). We did this one in an old fortress in Nysa, which is also a popular tourist attraction in the city. Of course there was plenty of laughs on the set, you have to be in the high spirits!

Alan – For your short existence. What do you value the most? And what have you achieved with the band so far? A European tour?
Avernatvs – I think just having this album out in the world and seeing it getting acclaim it did is one the most rewarding things so far. So far we haven’t played any gigs in support of the album but we are very eager to do so and we are working constantly on shows on tours here and there. 

Alan – Are you not planning to visit the Czech Republic or Slovakia yet?
Avernatvs – We would love to, we will see what offers we’ll receive and which places we can reach but playing these countries would be awesome.
Quazarre – Oh yeah, man! It’s always great fun and pleasure to play both Czech Republic and Slovakia. Once locking up the dates we shall try to push our agents to book some venues over there. 

Alan – Speaking of these two countries, do you know any Czech or Slovak bands? Which ones do you like?
Avernatvs – From Czech Republic I remember bands like Root, Master and Krabathor. I know that Master is a bit tricky call cause the band started out in the US but relocated to Czech somewhere down the line. I saw Root at Brutal Assault, that was fun to see. From Slovakia, I know this black metal Krolok. They have this olds-school sound and tons of references to vampirism, so this is something I am always gravitating towards.
Quazarre – I would also add Master’s Hammer, XIII. Stoleti, Pandemia, Inferno, Tortharry and Doomas. 

Alan – Your work is focused on two genres – black and death. Do you draw from some other bands?
Avernatvs – Of course! I think that everyone of us have different influences and they can manifest even subconsciously. What you grew up listening to basically becomes part of your DNA and it is always going to shine through. I grew up on a lot thrash and death metal, even before I started listening to black metal. Bands like Slayer, Entombed, Deicide and Nile were my daily fixture. However, there is some not-so-obvious influences, as some drum parts on my side were inspired from more modern bands. So it’s varied and I think that makes it even more interesting, as we have more ideas and influences to include and choose from.
Quazarre – Apart from being in love with all the classic thrash and death metal bands, including those mentioned by Avernatvs, I think I am the one who’s the biggest black metal fan in the band. Therefore groups such as Emperor, Bathory, Mayhem, Christ Agony, Burzum, Necromantia, Celtic Frost, Dissection, Limbonic Art, Marduk, Rotting Christ, well, the list seems to be just never-ending, but anyway, all these bands shaped and eventually blackened my musical taste so to say. On the other hand, if you give “Melas Oneiros” a proper, back to back listen, you will also hear a lot of heavy metal patterns here and there. Wonder why? Simply because bands like Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., King Diamond, Accept, Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate have also had a huge impact on whom I had become as an artist known nowadays. 

Alan – So, where are you going this year? To concerts and festivals?
Avernatvs – I am having my eye on some shows in Poland this year but we’ll see. I would like to see Bleed From Within with After The Burial and The Great American Ghost in Warsaw later that year for sure.
Quazarre – I have lately been focused more on the local events and due to numerous reasons I am not planning to attend any festivals this year. Well, there may be some occasional exceptions. For example, slightly over a month ago me and my girlfriend went to Prague to see friends in Behemoth who played the last date on their European tour in a company of Satyricon and Rotting Christ. What an inspiring, memorable night it was!

Alan – Which concert or festival do you consider to be the top one where you played, and why?
Quazarre – Well, since we did not play a single show as Ephialtes as of yet, this applies to other bands we were or still are part of. I think the biggest number of festivals we had a chance to appear at were those we played with Devilish Impressions. It’s hard to say though which one I consider to be the best because all those events have something very unique to them. Oh, actually playing at Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig / Germany as well as Castle Party / Poland I recall as something truly exceptional and extraordinary. Seeing that both festivals are being focused mostly on the gothic genre it was a rewarding but also somehow strange feeling, you know, to be on the bill with all those bands that are rather out of our box so to say. I must admit that both festivals have an extremely friendly atmosphere.

Alan – Which event that is very important to you are you going to?
Avernatvs – I always attended Brutal Assault in Czech Republic, been to this festival around 7 or 8 times at this point. Not sure if I’ll make it this year but I have some of the greatest memories of my life from this festival. I’ve also seen bands there that have been on my bucket list forever. Hopefully we’ll play this one someday!
Quazarre – Speaking of Czech Republic as far as I know our guitarist Stiggma is headed to Metal Gate Czech Death Fest.

Alan – Thanks for the interview. I hope we will meet at a festival sometime.
Avernatvs – Thanks for having us and see you on the road soon!
Quazarre – Your support is much appreciated! Thanks a million and hope we’ll meet in person one day.
https://linktr.ee/ephialtesofficial
www.facebook.com/ephialtesofficial
www.instagram.com/ephialtesofficial
https://ephialtes.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@ephialtesofficial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCizsoQpl50