Athens, Greece metal band AFTERBLOOD primarily combines death and groove with elements of black to deliver their special form of heavy music brutality. The band recently placed 2nd in TMD’s Battle of Death online contest in 2013, having also self-released their debut album entitled “Of Unsound Minds” in the same year. With a wicked stage performance and a growing legion of fans, it’s only a matter of time until this band has a major breakthrough in an industry that currently rapes and eats its young.
The Metal Den’s Randy “Rocket” Cody has conducted an EXCLUSIVE interview with AFTERBLOOD vocalist Hel Pyre for TMD’s loyal following of DEN HEADZ all across the globe!
ROCKET: Where were you born and raised?
HEL: Athens, Greece.
ROCKET: Do you recall your first rock concert?
HEL: It was a Rockwave festival here in Greece and it was a life changing experience!
ROCKET: When did you first start singing?
HEL: My dad’s favorite story is how as a baby I first started mumbling tunes before even started talking 🙂
ROCKET: Who are some of your biggest vocal influences?
HEL: All the bands I’ve loved listening to and admire since I was a kid are an influence, from classic heavy to extreme metal. Especially for my clean vocals I’m definitely influenced by the psychoticness of my all time favorite King Diamond, a unique person that I got to meet and become a dear friend with, and the one that “introduced” me to the metal music when I was 12 years old.
ROCKET: Congrats on placing 2nd in TMD’s Battle of unsigned death contest! How was your band’s reaction when they found out?
HEL: We are all honored to be part of this competition, it means a lot to be chosen for this and gain second place.
ROCKET: I would describe your band as death groove, because your vocals are clearly death metal growls and the band is playing a really heavy but grooving music. Is that how you label your music also? Or different?
HEL: That’s exactly how I woud describe AfterBlood’s sound, but I would also add the thrash metal element that plays a big part in our sound.
ROCKET: Briefly, how did Afterblood first meet and form together as a band?
HEL: They started from me and Cyan, we’ve worked together before in another project, and gradually we added the most suitable people to complete the band.
ROCKET: Afterblood released new music in 2013. Can you tell us what is the title of the album and where was it recorded?
HEL: The title is “Of Unsound Minds”. It is produced by Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc) and AfterBlood, mixed and mastered by Waldemar Sorychta and sound engineer Dennis Koehne (Lacuna Coil, Moonspell, Tiamat, Samael, etc.) at Waldstreet & Denroad Studios at Dortmund, Germany. The drummer for this album is Markus “Makka” Freiwald (Sodom). There are guest vocal appearances by Tom Angelripper (Sodom) in the song “Mission of Aggression”, by Antony Hamalainen (ex-Nightrage) in the song “The More I Lie” and a guitar solo by Waldemar Sorychta in the song “Beyond”.
ROCKET: Where is the best place for fans to go and buy your music?
HEL: At the moment it’s only digitally available and the best place to go is here:
http://store.afterblood.com. It’s also available on iTunes, Spotify and other selected services.
ROCKET: Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?
HEL: This could have an answer if we had a linear time and determined future. Since we don’t, I’ve no idea where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing. I just hope I’ll be healthy and satisfied with my life.
ROCKET: Very cool! So what are some of the upcoming shows for Afterblood people need to watch out for?
HEL: There will be some announcements soon about upcoming live shows, but most importantly very soon we will announce the date where the album will be available physically, so keep an eye for that!
ROCKET: Thanks for rocking this out with me. Best of luck with your music. Any last words for your fans?
HEL: To everyone reading this, thank you for your support, stay brutal and always be after blood!
Thank you for this interview Rocket, all the best to The Metal Den for supporting underground metal music, keep up the great work!
Afterblood is:
Hel Pyre – Vocals
Cyan – Guitar
Dasno – Bass
Vector – Drums
https://www.facebook.com/afterblood
More Stories
Rocket Interviewed On WQEE 99.1 FM Rock Radio Station “The Key” (3/6/2024)
DIMEBAG DARRELL – November, 2004 Interview
Rocket Interviewed on FM Rock Radio WQEE 99.1 “The Key” in Atlanta, Georgia (2/14/2024)