Is it possible for classic Heavy Metal to be modern and relevant even today? MEDUSA’S WRATH have an emphatic answer to that question with their first full length album “Pavor Exitium Mors” that was released a few months ago. It can definitely be modern if musicians put their soul in it and respect their roots. We had the chance to talk to Kristina Paftinou, the bassist and co-founder of the band, for the album but also for their headlining show in Piraeus Academy (June 15).
-Hello Kristina! Welcome to THE GALLERY!
-Kristina Paftinou: Hello! I am glad I am here!
-Since you are relatively new in this business as a band I would like you to tell us a few things about MEDUSA’S WRATH. Who are you, how everything started etc.
-Kristina Paftinou: The band consists of me on bass now, although I started as a rhythm guitarist, Petros is our lead guitarist and founding member like me, Dimitris on guitars as well, Thodoris on drums and George on vocals. The band started in 2015, it has changed names and members but as MEDUSA’S WRATH we started in 2019 again with a different lineup then. Me and Petros are the founding members and now we think that we have completed the band’s line up.
-What you describe is a common phenomenon for a metal band. The constant changes of members. Why do you think this is happening?
Christina Paftinou: It’s not a problem. It’s just difficult to have five different characters with different experiences, ideas or beliefs coexist no matter how well the chemistry between those people matches. It can be something sudden, a health issue, a change in the workplace. For example, in the EP the vocals were done by Vassilis Panagopoulos who is a professor and at the moment he is out of Athens so he couldn’t be able to keep up with what me and Petros had in mind for the band. And it was something he said himself. Vasilis is family, he’s our child’s godfather, so we’ve never had any bad breakups. We don’t make a living out of this to say it’s our job after all.
-What are your influences as a band? Also, as a guitarist, which artists do you admire?
Christina Paftinou: We all have our role models. We move around classic Heavy Metal like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, SAXON… maybe BLACK SABBATH although they are not the typical Heavy Metal band. Personally I love Steve Harris before I even imagine picking up a bass in my hands. I love IRON MAIDEN. I can’t tell you specific bands I admire because there are too many. Everyone personally has their own tastes and this may change thoughout time. We have many perceptions but in the end we all move around what I described to you.
-How do you see Greek metal scene? I don’t know if it’s my idea, but I have the feeling that especially after covid there is a creative orgasm with many new bands appearing, many remarkable albums coming out and dozens of live shows. How do you experience the whole situation yourself?
Christina Paftinou: It’s not your idea at all. It’s 1000% true because of the very long period of lockdown. For better or worse we had more time to sit down and create, compose, think, write lyrics. Maybe we could get our minds out through music. So when that situation finally ended I think we came out more united as a scene, more refreshed, with more appetite and professionalism but also with great songs as you said. In the period of the coronavirus every one of us thought and reconsidered some things. There were some good things about this situation after all. I think it eventually turned into something positive but I wouldn’t want to experience something like that again under any circumstances.
-Originally you had released an EP, “Lifeless Void” and in February you released your first full length album, “Pavor Exitium Mors”. Tell us a little bit about the album. Who writes the music, the lyrics and also who made this imposing cover.
Christina Paftinou: We also love the cover which is the creation of Fotis Fotiou who is a cartoonist. He has nothing to do with music industry, apart from being a fan of that kind of music. We met through a mutual acquaintance, we told him the idea and this result came out. It’s 100% Fotis taste and work. We didn’t get involved. As far as how we write, I would say the old-fashioned way. One of us has an idea, usually Petros, he writes it down on a video at home, sends it to the group chat we have, everyone studies it on their own and then we got to the studio and start figuring out the structure of the track to see how it suits us. So, having a structure we come up with the lyrics. Lyrics are written by me, Vasilis, our old singer and in one song Konstantinos Syrmos but in general it’s me and Vasilis. That’s how the whole album came out. In the beginning there were some obstacles since the coronavirus period was not over but we made it.
-Is this a concept album? If I’m not mistaken, the title means “The Fear of Death”. How does that relate to the songs?
Christina Paftinou: It is not a concept album however because I’ve been told this before, maybe it does feel like a concept album. It just happened. Because the songs were written during a period of lockdown, one song is a continuation of the other since that’s how they were written in the first place. We would finish one and move on to the next. So it may “inadvertently” resemble a concept but it’s not, at least for us.
-Let’s talk about your headlining show on June 15th at the Piraeus Academy together with SUBSTANCE and NOMOS. What can we expect that night? Maybe we will hear some new song?
Christina Paftinou: You won’t hear any new songs but I must admit that we already have new material ready. You will definitely hear songs from the EP, our oldest songs, and you will definitely hear the whole new album. There will be a show but I won’t say more. It will be nice I think. Plus, we have shared the stage with NOMOS before and we always have a blast and a great chemistry. SVBSTANCE will also be with us, a tremendously new band with very strong music, at least for my taste. It’s going to be a dynamic night with energy and fun. All three bands are looking forward to it.
– How important do you think it is for a band to play live shows?
Christina Paftinou: The live shows are very important because they are refreshing, inspiring and charge your batteries. At least for the people who come to enjoy a live show. It’s good for us as well and we want to perform to the fullest because when we have a good time on stage and we see the people having a good time as well, there is an interaction and we fill each other’s batteries. That’s even more important than constantly releasing albums without any contact with the people. I think it’s superior. Of course when you don’t make a living out of it it’s not easy. To be away from your job, to be on tour when there are family obligations. I, for example, can’t be away from Athens until my kid is a little older. If you don’t connect and interact with the fans, it’s a bit lifeless to just release one album after another.
-Talking with other colleagues of yours that begun their career in the last few years, I keep getting the same answers regarding the difficulties they faced to enter the music industry. What are the main obstacles a new band has to overcome before they can, not establish themselves in the industry, but just get on the map.
Christina Paftinou: I haven’t really thought about it to tell you the truth because we happen to be working on what we’re doing a lot so whatever comes up we don’t overthink it. We split everything in five. So we complement each other. It’s definitely hard for a band to make something good and decent. It obviously takes some money to make something good. Homemade or do- it- yourself is nice too but if you want to move forward you have to start with steady and slow steps to slowly rise. Other difficulties of a financial nature definitely exist especially if one is not working or is paid a low salary since the expenses are quite high. Equipment, studios etc. For someone with an income of 500 euros is really difficult as you can understand.
-What do you think about the future of metal in our country but also worldwide based on what we read about new developments such as artificial intelligence? People say that in a few years there will be programs that will write entire songs without the intervention of musicians?
Christina Paftinou: You are right to specifically mention metal because metal is music created by real people who hold real musical instruments. I don’t see all this positively. In general, I think that the abuse of technology is not good. As long as it provides you with some good things like communicating with people all over the world. When abused it never leads anywhere good. The brain stops working and we don’t think. So, I’m very negative about it. However, you correctly mentioned rock and metal because in other genres like techno, this has been happening since the 90s.
-Despite the difficulties, as I mentioned before, we see more and more young people getting involved in music. Music is psychotherapy for me. Instead of giving the 50 bucks to the therapist, I’d rather buy a concert ticket or 2 cds. What is the importance of music for you, personally?
Christina Paftinou: Music is everything to me. I haven’t lived without music for as long as I can remember. I was always wearing a pair of headphones. In terms of playing, music is my outlet. There are some things I want to say but I can’t say them the way I want to. With music I try to make people listen to me. To sympathize with me. If you listen to ‘Street Warriors’ which I wrote the lyrics for, you will know what I mean. I can say the same about other tracks that the otherguys have written lyrics for. It is my outlet, my outburst, the filling of my soul. In general, you see Christina, you see music. Think that in the second lockdown I was in a weird place because I got really bored with the situation. While I could go out for a walk, walk my dogs, I was so pissed off by this whole situation that I didn’t want to see a human being. I used to go out at night so as not to see people. I didn’t want to listen to anything, read. Because I was also working from home, at that time if I didn’t have the music I would have suffered a lot. I don’t know where it would have erupted but surely something bad would have happened if I didn’t have music.
-Besides the show at Piraeus Academy, are you preparing anything else at the moment?
Christina Paftinou: Right now we are waiting for the completion of our first video clip for “Annabelle”. Maybe there will be a second video clip. We haven’t scheduled something specific yet though. Certainly, with the new season we plan a very strong live in November with some awesome bands. I cannot announce anything yet though. That’s all for now. In the summer we will take a break, relax and from the new season many good things will happen. And as I mentioned before, we already have new songs ready.
-Would you like to add anything? A message perhaps.
Christina Paftinou: What I would like to say in general is that we should love artists whether we like the genre or the music they share with us or not. Because the artist essentially shares a part of himself. It’s not easy. It has nothing to do with us, with MEDUSA’S WRATH. What I am saying is a general comment. From time to time we read things about great artists. It’s not like that… love and respect to the artists. If we like something we listen to it, otherwise we move on. It is good not to belittle people who share their souls with us. I, too, may play bass in a band but I am still a fan of this music. That’s what I wanted to say… love to the artists and respect. We read various things in the press and it’s not nice. I’ll give you an example. NIGHTWISH, who I’ve been a fan of since I was a kid, recently released a new single. I didn’t like the song. Okay, fantastic video clip, fantastic production, fantastic Floor Jansen. I have no words for Holopainen, the man is a genius. But I did not like it. I won’t discredit such a great band with such artists because I didn’t like a song. I find it very ugly and since this is getting bigger, it would be good to revise our attitudes a little bit. If we don’t like something, we should just respect a band’s career because every band, no matter how great, had to face great difficulties to reach the top. We must understand that musicians are also human, they are not Gods. IRON MAIDEN, for example, cannot write what they wrote 30 years ago. Different eras, different minds, different situations. That’s why I say respect and love.
-Christina, I think we have covered everything. Once again, thank you for your time and I hope to see you in person at the Academy on Saturday, June 15. You can close the interview however you want!
Christina Paftinou: I will be very happy if you come and share our joy at the Academy and I promise you that we will have a perfect time! We are waiting for you!
Interview: Kostas Boudoukos
Text Translation: Kostas Boudoukos
Design & Editing: Kostas Boudoukos
Photos: Elena Vasilaki
Cover Artwork: Fotis Fotiou
Date: May 29th, 2024
External Link: MEDUSA’S WRATH – Facebook Page
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