Pic courtesy of: Burial Hordes "We do not proclaim to have unique sound because this is impossible for any band now days in the black metal scene"

CR: Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Cthonos: I’m Cthonos, the person that spits the evil propaganda and one of the four parts of the Burial Hordes Hellish war machine.

CR: Well, Burial Hordes was created back in 2001, now 6 years later you guys have your first full length album, do you feel like your career has “officially” started, and I mean because before this you guys had a couple of demos and a split album, but this is your first full length effort, what those the first album represent for a band like Burial Hordes?
Cthonos: Actually it has been because our debut album was released in 2006, but it is ok. As for your opinion I don’t agree. Burial Hordes Journey started in 2001 and not in 2006. In our opinion to have demos and splits are the natural course before a debut album. During this journey Burial Hordes became stronger and stronger and when we felt that it was the right moment to create our debut album.

CR: Recently I got your promo album with three songs in it, if I’m not mistaken this Promo is only for the press right? How many of those copies have you guys distributed? How did you pick which tracks to include in it?
Cthonos: Promo 2007 includes 3 new tracks from our 2nd up coming album “Devotion to Unholy Creed” in a rehearsal pro-recording versions and it’s only for the press and labels. Our second album is ready and we want only to record it. We planned to record it in April, but unfortunately our drummer joined the Greek army for 9 months. This is an obligation in Hellas. Therefore we cancelled it. Now we plan to record the album in January, but before that we will record in September 2 new tracks for a 4 way split release. 200 copies were pressed for promo 2007 and I am still spreading these to zines and webzines. We did not have a specific idea to choose tracks for the promo because we like all the tracks that are included in our new album. We only put 3 tracks on the promo to show the face of Burial Hordes in this new attack.

CR: “War, Revenge & Total Annihilation” has a very good balance between a good sounding production and the dirty layered sound that old school black metal has to offer, are you guys satisfied with the production or there is an element that you think could be improved in your next album?
Cthonos: Yes, you are correct that is our purpose for the sound of War and Revenge. We wanted raw, but strong sound and I think we succeeded on this goal almost two years after recording our debut album. Some things could be better, but these are the natural progression of things. For our new album we will follow a little bit different direction. We will try to make a more powerful sound and stronger drum sound because this is important. The good is that we know how we want our 2nd album to sound and we will not try to find it during the recordings.

CR: The first two tracks of the album sound pretty similar, I mean the speed and aggression on them are similar, then suddenly “Beyond Thy Mortal Sphere” introduces some nice tempo changes, and from that song on the album becomes a nice rollercoaster of blast beats, sharp guitars and evil vocals, when writing and arranging an album, what approach do you guys take in order to select the songs that are eventually going to make it in to the final cut, to what standard do you guys measure the songs before considering them worthy of been involved in the album?
Cthonos: “Beyond thy Mortal Sphere” is the first track that Burial Hordes created and it is included in our first demo. The album is played faster and of course with better production and that is why it is a little bit different than the other tracks. Necro and Psychaos are the composers and work a lot on each track so we are completely satisfied and do not cancel any of them. We discuss the direction we want each release to go in and we each have same thinking and ideology.

CR: How long were you guys working on this record?
Cthonos: We began in Summer 2006 and we finished in March of 2007. The new tracks are now complete of course and we only want to change some small details.

CR: Necrotormentor and Impaler are in a couple of other bands, how does that affect the writing for Burial Hordes? What’s there main project?
Cthonos: Necro is in Enshadowed and Psychaos is in Dead Congregation and these facts cause no problems with Burial Hordes.

CR: Some reviews that I found on the web state that the album sounds like old Mayhem and Carpathian Forest, what do you think of this comparison? It sounds pretty promising to me, to tell you the truth!
Cthonos: This comparison is an honor of course. We respect this band a lot and for sure it is one of our influences. If your read more reviews for our debut album you can see that they do not have the same opinion about our influences and the reason for this is because we have variety in our sound. We do not proclaim to have unique sound because this is impossible for any band now days in the black metal scene. The most important thing is to feel and be completely into the black metal philosophy. If you are truly into darkness it will come our of your music and it is easy to separate your from the fake ones.

	Pic courtesy of: Burial Hordes "Here in Hellas we live in an extremely Christian society; they have power and infect people’s brains at a high level"

CR: What about promotion for this album, have you guys played many gigs to promote it? How’s the black metal scene in Greece, I ask because in recent years I have been hearing a lot about Greek black metal rising in Europe?
Cthonos: The promotion for the war was made using the good old ways: writing, writing and writing. This is the way that we learn all these years since the early 90’s when we were kids to do promotion. Now we have email and myspace and we use that, but the true way is to continue writing. As for gigs we have participated in some underground festivals here in Hellas and we had a couple of offers to play in some European countries, but because of some problems we couldn’t do it. Now these things are changing and we are very positive about this opportunity when we release our second album and it will be great to find some friends to keep in contact with. Now for the Hellenic black metal scene hmmm, it is a big subject. First of all in my previous interviews in zines and webzines I was very positive for the Hellenic scene. As time passed I realized that all my positive thoughts were only my true desire to have a strong and united scene and they were not the truth. The good bands, people, zines and webzines truly understand the black metal philosophy and these are a minority in Hellas. All over the country we also do not have any serious venues for lives shows. I think when you understand the whole situation is sad, but true. These are the true facts about the Hellenic scene. Only for the great past can we be proud.

CR: The last song on “War, Revenge & Total Annihilation”, Glorious Inferno, is a complete change on the entire album, it closes on a very depressing or reflective atmosphere, like a rest after the battle, do you think the tempo that carries this song helps the listener understand a little better what Burial Hordes is all about, it also helps the album loop right, same sounds at the first track?
Cthonos: Yes, you understood that Glorious Inferno is a very important track for War and Revenge. Glorious inferno paints a picture of the end of humanity and the rising of evil forces just as we proclaim this in the beginning of our album. Majestic Black Dawn arise is forever Burial Hordes music and philosophy and are straight in your face. So if you like our sound you understand totally what Burial Hordes stands for.

CR: How close would you say the relationship between medieval battles and black metal is? I can see some imagery on the album booklet as well as a lot of mentions about battles on the lyrics. Is the topic, the era a fascinating force begin black metal?
Cthonos: Not only Medieval Battles, but all the wars in the history of mankind. All of these have a close relationship with black metal philosophy and is the great desire for a universal war against all religious scum. They want to control our thoughts and our free spirit. Here in Hellas we live in an extremely Christian society; they have power and infect people’s brains at a high level. People like us that do not follow their pathetic and stupid Christian path must battle every day personal wars. We use this everyday to feel our hatred and pain. Burial Hordes is the perfect weapon against all the religious worms until the great final war and the great destruction. The time shall come.

CR: What’s the single best thing about black metal?
Cthonos: It is very difficult to answer this question. Black metal is an important part of my philosophy and I cannot find only a single best thing. Sorry, but some things you cannot describe with words. I am sure that some unholy souls understand me very well!

CR: This may sound like a very stupid question but here it goes… is the hate towards Christ and the Catholic Church a MUST for any black metal band? Is the hate for Jesus a hate directed to the specific historical figure of that man that many call a messiah or is he used to display the hate for the church as an institution? (I was raised catholic but now I really don’t believe in god or heaven or miracles or the 10 commandments…just so you know)
Cthonos: Christ is the most important tool of Christian propaganda, we do not fucking care if he existed or not, but through his fucking face and his fucking name, Christians receive our blasphemical bullets. I think it is very clear.

CR: How was the whole “Inner Circle” church burnings in Norway received by the Greek metal community, did that phenomenon inspired many young bands to pick up a guitar and get into black metal or was it condemned by many? Do you support church burnings?
Cthonos: These actions inspired a lot of people in many countries and in Hellas too. These have good and bad results. The good is that these actions work to inspire some young people to discover the negative energy that they have concealed deep in their souls. Then with a lot of inner searching and reading they become strong enough and take the right path and spit in the face of fucking religious slavery, but this is true for only a few. Most of them try to join the black metal circle for totally the wrong reasons. They do this only for teenage rebellion against mom and dad. Most of them reject the black metal philosophy in three or four years and become fake fucking worms like most of the population of humanity. I support every action against Christianity, nothing more and nothing less.

	Pic courtesy of: Burial Hordes "We are totally against any kind of church or religion, we do not want to take orders from anyone. WE each have our own philosophy and we follow each our own creed. On my throne I command and obey"

CR: Does any member of Burial Hordes have a direct relationship with any sort of church or religion?
Cthonos: No, we are totally against any kind of church or religion, we do not want to take orders from anyone. WE each have our own philosophy and we follow each our own creed. On my throne I command and obey.

CR: What does evil mean to you?
Cthonos: Evil for me is my powerful negative energy that is spread deep from my dark soul and feeds my eternal hatred.

CR: What sub genre of metal do you think is UNWORTHY of the title metal and why?
Cthonos: Sorry my friend, but you asked this to the totally wrong person. I respect, but I do not listen nor do I care for other types of metal. This is true for me since 1990 and I am 30 years old now. I am totally dedicated to black metal. I am a closed minded person and I do not have any problem saying this. Some other things that I listen to are death metal, thrash, and some old legendary heavy metal bands and that is all. So I do not have an answer for your question.

CR: What’s the greatest black metal band that has existed?
Cthonos: I started to listen to black metal from the Bathory album “The Return” and for me that’s the most legendary band from our cult. Of course Celtic Frost /Hellhammer have the same important part in the history of black metal.

CR: Are you guys full time musicians or do you have “day jobs”?
Cthonos: No, it would be impossible to make it and we do not have such a dream. Our music is totally underground and it is only for the few true black metal maniacs. We all have our daily jobs to pay the bills. We are not fucking rock stars and our only need is to spread our negative energy and this is the reason why Burial Hordes exists.

CR: OK man thank you very much for this opportunity, I really enjoyed “War, Revenge & Total Annihilation” if I miss something or if there is something that you will like to add, please fell free to do so!
Cthonos: Thanks a lot for the honor to be in your webzine and your support to Burial Hordes!!! If anyone wants to contact Burial Hordes.
Contact address: Burial Hordes
Gorgopotamou 35
13671
Acharnes, Athens , Hellas
Email: burialhordes@mailgr
www.myspace.com/burialhordes