TRIUMPHER entered our lives with a bang, releasing their first full length album “Storming The Walls” in 2023. An album that was being prepared for many years but mostly due to COVID-19 it took them longer than they expected. But the second album, “Spirit Invictus” came only 1,5 year after the first and it is already included in many “best of 2024” lists. Moreover they decided to give us a christmas present with a release party on Christmas Day along with ACHELUS and two very special guests. We had the chance to talk to Antonis Vailas, founder, vocalist and bassist of TRIUMPHER for their new album, the live and many more interesting things regarding music.
-Good evening Antonis. Welcome to The Gallery web magazine. First of all, I would like you to tell me a few things about the band since you are relatively new as TRIUMPHER, despite the fact you have already released two albums.
Antonis Vailas: The idea to create TRIUMPHER started in 2019 and from then on until 2022, during the pandemic, we were working on the first album, which was finally released in 2023 by Floga Records. Then there were some changes in the line up of the band and we reached 2024 and “Spirit Invictus” wes released with new members.
-Who are the members now?
A.V.: Now it is Marios Petropoulos on guitar, Christophoros Tsakiropoulos also on guitar, Stelios Zoumis on bass, Agis Tsoukopoulos on drums and me on guitar and vocals.
– From what I see, you are all experienced musicians but again it is impressive that you released two back to back full length albums in just 18 months. How did it happen?
A.V.: As I told you, we recorded “Storming The Walls” almost in 2022. It took a long time because of the covid pandemic and other delays. The first album was highly appreciated and easily accepted by our fans so we wanted to take advantage of the momentum and move on to the second album in a short period of time.
-Most reviews I have read about your album agree to one thing. That your first album was great but the progress you made in “Spirit Invictus” is amazing. What are the differences between the two albums?
A.V.: For me, the difference is quite small, but of course, for most listeners, it is quite noticeable. The compositions are more direct. In “Storming The Walls”, we have more detailed compositions, more progressive passages with very dark notes, more doomy. In the end, it has more elements. “Storming…” is richer as an album, but in “Spirit…” we became more direct, we kept the elements we wanted and liked and they suited us better and we developed them in a shorter period of time, more carefully. So, it is obvious that there is more consistency, and there really is. The album is more compact, but it is a matter of taste. Someone may want a more balanced album, so he will definitely like the first one more. Someone wants a more direct album, where I think there is more progress, so he will like the second one more. That’s all. Anyway, I hope we kept a steady quality when it comes to the compositions. That’s the most important thing.
-What is the main concept of the album lyrically?
A.V.: “Spirit…”, like the first album in general, is based on the Greek grammar. So, we take themes from the Greek grammar and we translate them in our own way, so that they fit the style of music we play. We could talk for hours about the concept of the album but in general we present various heroic forms, figures. The album is an ode to heroism and to how heroism transfers, how it creates a character in a person, how it builds him, in order to convey the solutions, he seeks. Both in the philosophical background and in the credentials, everything has to do with “Spirit Invictus”, and that is why it belongs to the spirit.
-Who are credited to the album?
A.V.: I generally deal with the aesthetic and the creative part. Also, I compose about 70-80% of the music. But this time, the rest of the band’s members contributed to the creative process. I set the basic idea about a song and the other guys add their ideas and we build the final outcome. As for the lyrics, I write the whole album. Moreover, George Emmanouel was in charge of the production and the recordings took place in his studio, Pentagram Studios. He knows exactly our sound and what we want to do with our songs so we trust him totally. After all, the winning team doesn’t change.
– The main reason we are doing this interview is the album release show on the 25th of December in Kyttaro along with ACHELUS supporting you. You will also have two great musicians and guests. Sakis Tolis from ROTTING CHRIST and Anthony “Abbadon” Bray from VENOM. How did these collaborations come to life?
A.V.: First, I would like to talk about Anthony. Some friends from Newcastle were friends with him. When the “Storming…” was released, they immediately got their copy of the cd and they happened to be in his house and they were so passionate about it. Tony liked it very, very much and they brought us in contact with him, started talking about music and we were thinking of doing something together. Maybe a mini tour in England. When we decided to arrange the show in Kyttaro we invited him, he said yes and that was it. It is a great honor for us.
-So, in the future, we may have a collaboration on another level apart from this show?
A.V.: Very likely. If our programs allow it, why not? It would be nice.
-How about Sakis?
A.V.: Sakis has been following the band from the beginning. I mean, he was one of the first people that got our album even before it was officially released. I wanted to know his opinions because he is a friend. Also we all grew up with ROOTING CHRIST so we wanted him to be part of the show in order to honor him.
-I imagine you can’t tell us what we will see on stage with the two gentlemen.
A.V.: I would like to tell you but let’s not ruin the surprise.
-Apart from this show, are you planning anything more for the near future?
A.V.: We have arranged a live show in Patras in February and later on in Larissa and Thessaloniki. Also we have booked a show in Hell Over Hammaburg (28/2-1/3/2025) festival. We have a full program and we are trying to make everything happen.
-Let’s talk about the Greek Metal Scene. How do you see it especially after the pandemic? It seems to me that there is a boom in quality released and live show. What is your opinion?
A.V.: Yes, I see that too. The Greek scene always had opportunities especially in the last 20 years, especially the extreme sound that has always been in the core of the Greek scene. But I believe that in the last years we have made progress on all levels and bands are constantly emerging. They like it a lot, they work hard and more professionally in terms of production. New album are high level and can stand out even abroad. I believe that after the coronavirus there was a big explosion and there is still given that we see how it is going with the live shows, what is going to happen and I hope that all this over time will start to give other musicians the incentive to work even more. The more seriously the Greek scene sees itself the more people will follow and I believe the audience will grow even bigger.
-One last question, which I generally like to ask lately. What is your opinion about artificial intelligence in music or art in general? I mean, there is the possibility that in few years we will listen to a song and won’t be able to tell if it was composed by a musician or by a computer. How do you see it? As an opportunity or as a threat?
A.V.: Look, in every era, there are things that make things difficult for art. Art has to surpass these difficulties and show character. As you can see behind me (he shows me the wall behind him where there are paintings), since I’m an artist, I hate AI. I hate it. Of course, I’m not the kind of person who would spend all day on social media in order to tell people to stay away from AI. Whoever wants to try it, whoever wants to see it, there’s no problem. But art is eternal, it doesn’t change, it’s the one that has a soul. No matter how good AI can be, how fantastic and perfect it looks it cannot create true art with soul. You can’t take something that has been made by a program and put it in a show. It’s impossible. There’s nothing in it, there’s no soul. So, there’s nothing to be afraid of about AI in regards to true art. Surely, there may be a time when the work of artists may decrease, I understand that. But art is so generic that people will get tired quickly, and the bands that use it will get tired quickly. And I’m not talking only about music, which is, at least from what I’ve heard so far, ridiculous. I don’t think there will be an AI that can reproduce the soul of the first MAYHEM album, for example, I don’t know. It seems impossible to me. Actually, we can’t get a deep understanding of the AI. In fact, there is no AI. There is no artificial intelligence. Because it is not an intelligence. There is a lot of information collected, which, under a specific program, gives you a result. But there is a lot of information that already exists. I asked my brother who is a programmer a very important question. Will the AI ever ask a human a question? And he clearly answered me, no. And I believe it too. We will never be asked by the artificial intelligence. If we are ever asked, we will have reached the point where we will have created life out of nothing. I believe that there is nothing to be afraid of. Neither music, nor art, nor painting, nor cinematography from the AI.
-To be honest, I have heard many answers to this question. AI is something that is already in use in other music genres but most agree that it is difficult this to happen in metal music. Metalheads are still quite traditional. We like to buy our cd or vinyl and go to live shows and meet the musicians.
A.V.: I categorize metal as a superior form of art. In general, as you know, as everyone knows, art has levels. We can say that everything is art. Everything. I can bring in front of you a bottle with the bottle cap upside down and name it art. We all understand that it is not raw art. The raw art is usually the one that combines image, meaning, philosophical content along with the technic of the artist. We are talking about the non-classical, superior art. Then, ok, there are endless levels. I certainly don’t believe that AI can reach and make superior art, that is, to put soul. If some people like to listen to it and have a good time, to have fun, I don’t find any problem to that.
-I think we covered everything! I would like to thank you once again for your time. You may close this interview as you like.
A.V.: Thank you and The Gallery for hosting me. I hope to see you all in Kyttaro in the 25th of December.
Interview / Translation in English: Kostas Boudoukos
Design & Editing: Kostas Boudoukos
Date: December 16th, 2024
External Link: TRIUMPHER – Facebook Page
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