1. Hello my friend, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.
Good evening my friend! First of all, let me thank you for having us on your page and giving us the opportunity to spread our name further away from our homeland's borders. This is George speaking, the drummer and one of the original members of the band. Currently i'm at my desk at home enjoying a beer and listening to some music
2. Let’s start with the boring basics. Care to explain to the unknowing precisely where in the world you emanate such an aura of evil from?
We are called Incineration A.D., we play Blackened thrash metal and we are based in Athens, Greece home of many great bands in the extreme sound!
3. Before becoming a musician, were you self taught taking private music lessons at a young age or did you fully learn and adapt on your own from there?
All of the members in the band have taken music lessons to some extend as far as I'm concerned. Me personally i have finished a music school and gotten a diploma and for the past five years or so i have been basically focusing on the extreme side of drumming and doing my own thing.
4. Away from the metal scene, musicians are very often associated with satanism. You are a blackened metal band - how close are you to religious themes?
For us the satanic imagery and the satanic themes that can be found in most of our songs lyrics are there for shock value and because it basically fits the style of music that we play. There is no deeper connection between us and satanism or any religion for that matter.
5. How do you balance your personal lives and commitments with the demands of being in a band?
We basically try to keep a 50/50 balance between our personal lives and the demands of being in band. All of us our college students and so sometimes thats not the case, day to day life is full of ups and downs, but in the end of the day we all have the band pretty high on our priority lists.
6. Your debut studio offering of “Goatfuck Armageddon Blasphemy” was released this past December and is the debut record into the band’s career. Would you say this EP is a new evolution into the band’s career and how the songwriting process all started?
So basically all of the songs included in this EP were written back in the summer and fall of 2021, just a few months after the formation of the band, and, although the EP was to be released in the same year 2021, due to problems that arose inside the band we just kept putting off untill finally in the end of april of 2023 we got our shit together and the recordings began. For us it is a very big first step and, as you say, a new evolution in the band's career since we managed to gain a following especially in our home country and we hope to keep on going. As for the song writing, back then when we composed these songs we just wanted to play fast and aggressive music and pay tribute to our idols whereas nowadays, even though only 2 years have passed, i believe our goals and what we aspire to achieve as a band have taken a turn towards something more serious than just a couple of friends jamming. And the release of this EP has definitely played a big part in this.
7. Is it a collaborative approach with everyone in the band? Looking at some of the production values, they also look like they would take quite some time to produce.
Yes, everyone in the band contributed to the composition of the EP. The production did indeed take quite some time since we knew from the start what we wanted for this EP to become and in the end it was worth it 100%
8. You have played some really cool shows previously, what is one of your favourite things about playing live and touring with other bands?
I personally really like it when the crowd gives off the same energy as us on stage and enjoys the music as much as we enjoy playing it. It really is an amazing feeling seeing your hard work actually pay off at the end of day, and i think everyone in the band would agree with me on this. As far as touring goes we have not gotten the chance to tour yet but it sure is on our to-do-list and will probably happen in the near future.
9. What can fans expect from an Incineration A.D. live show? Do you have any particular rituals or routines before hitting the stage?
Just an all around energetic and high octane performance. We dont really have any special stage theatrics other than some stage props and a backdrop with our logo. We like to keep it plain and simple. Fast riffs, fast drumming and some headbanging to close of the trifecta. We let the music do the talking while we basically bash our heads till our necks can't take it anymore. The old school way as someone would say. As for pre-show rituals i can't say that we have something specific, just some words of encouragement and we just hit the stage with all we got.
10. You're still at the beginning of your career, how do you see the term "underground" in times of pay-to-play festivals and the like and what significance does it have for you?
Although for a lot of people, and especially in the extreme music scene, the term "underground" tends to be associated with a broad circle of artist and musicians that aspire to keep their music away from the masses and only for "the chosen few" and tends to be more like a movement than just a mere title given to the lesser known, for me its just that. Just a way to categorize artists and bands that have not reached the mainstream eye yet and our known by a smaller audience. But of course in times were if you dont have money to spare and pay for a spot in major festivals or shows or whatever, being categorised as underground really makes your life more difficult. The promoters unfortunately tend to care more about money than promoting a new artist and so the title "underground" can be very diminishing.
11. Actually, Greece has many good black metal bands, but the concerts are often relatively poorly attended. What do you think, why is that?
One factor that, i believe, contributes greatly to this is the amount of new metal bands, not only black metal, that pop up every day. I mean its hard to keep up with everything that it's happening right now. We ourselves belong to the new generation of greek metal musicians and, being part of this community, i can tell you that you have no idea how fruitful this music genre is still after all this years. But that of course has some negative affects with one of them being the poorly attended concerts. People, and especially the older generations, i believe, prefer to play it safe and stay with the old and more well known bands instead of exploring, finding and supporting something new. Is it because they believe the scene has nothing to offer anymore or because they've found what they like and that's enough for them? Yeah probably and unfortunately it is what it is. The newer generation tends to be the exact opposite of this but, in numbers, it is far far smaller than the older dogs.
12. How would you define your relationship to local promoters and, more widely, the Greek metal scene in general? What would you like to see emerging in this microcosm?
Since we are a very new band we have yet to establish our name in the local scene but progress is made and in the past few months we have managed to make connections with great people. As far as promoters and that side of the things go we are basically non existent at this point but steps towards changing this are been taken. Slow and steady as they say.
Honestly as far as it goes im happy that this "macrocosm" still exists and that the music we love is still alive and well. Just the fact that new bands emerge every single day and do their own thing is good enough for me.
13. If people from outside Greece would want to travel to a location that has inspired you to write music in your home country, where would they have to go?
Anywhere honestly. Our day to day life sure does play a major role in our music and the way it is composed and so a walk in Athens in any of its major streets will do the trick.
14. How do you feel the black metal scene has morphed in Greece over time? Is there anything you miss from the past, or anything you feel has changed for the better?
For me personally i really like the way that our black metal scene has turned out be. It started from something unique and unheard of and slowly as time passed by it took elements from all the black metal scenes around the globe and became something bigger, more "mainstream" one could say but still having that little something that made it stand out from the rest of the black metal scene back then. You know that ancient greek element, the melodies, the imagery all of that. Some would argue that it might have lost its "Trve-ness" over time and that's ok not everyone will have the same opinion on this matter but for me, i dont think i would change anything. The only thing i wish i could experience is the feeling one would have back then while watching all of this unravel before his own eyes!
15. Let’s finish this interview by looking into the future. What would you like your band to be known for?
Just for putting out quality music that people can enjoy, crack a cold one and bang their heads to. Its the simple things that matter in life!