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.
Both: Hello! Good to be interviewed by you! We're both pretty well. We are on our studio right now, gazing towards Attica.
2. As a band that counts five years of existence, which was the strongest and weakest moment of your musical journey so far?
ASTAROTH: I recall hanging out at APOLLYON'S rooftop, having finished with our LP's recording, contemplating about dropping Migul. It was mainly due to psychological reasons but thankfully we never went through with it. That was for the "weakest" moment. As for the strongest, I'd have to say after our first live show, interacting with the people and being congratulated by total strangers.
APOLLYON: I feel like our weakest point in our musical journey was back when we only had released a few singles. We were feeling sort of burned out in terms of creativity, and that's actually why we switched genres when we released the "Kills of Hatred" EP. With that switch we were able to take some time and be more creative with writing. When it comes to our strongest point i definitely think it was during our self -titled album's recordings. In my opinion it was our most creative time.
3. Migul is a duo — how long have you known each other? And how did you discover metal for the first time?
Both: We've known each other for over eight years, since elementary school.
ASTAROTH: I was listening to classic and hard rock until I stumbled upon Behemoth's Slaves Shall Serve. I was probably eight years old.
APOLLYON: I dived head first into black metal actually, having not listened to anything else beforehand. I was intrigued by it's aesthetic , culture and mythos and the rest is history.
4. In general: What fascinates you about black metal music? Is it the possibility to express aggression? Is it the energy which is usually conveyed in this music? Or is it something entirely different?
ASTAROTH: What fascinates me most about black metal has to be the lyrics. In particular, how you can write about certain topics that don't really fit in other genres. Musically, although it may sound strange I like how the guitars in black metal sound like they're singing.
APOLLYON: As i mentioned previously i believe black metal has - and has inspired - the most unique and dark aesthetics in metal , giving that eerie aura and mystery around it. Musically, i find black metal to be insanely inspirational and varied, contrary to popular belief. Looking at original bands and newer stuff , the shift is incredible , sometimes for the worst, admittedly , but there are countless gems. I find it ludicrous that many people still believe black metal is blast beats with fast guitars, with the infinite regional, generation, instrumental and thematic variety.
5. What’s the band’s ideology? Is it connected with some philosophy or something? You know the Greek school was most influential for centuries, and I do wonder if it somehow is reflected in your songs.
Both: When it comes to ideology, we believe most local bands in our area don't really believe in music. They lack passion and work in cliques promoting each other. We have been releasing music since the early days of our band and that's mostly what we care about, and delivering quality shows. Now, Greek philosophy is definitely reflected in our work at a base level lyrically but we wouldn't say it's our main thing.
6. Away from the metal scene, musicians are very often associated with satanism. You are a black metal band - how close are you to religious themes?
Both: Religious themes are present in our earlier releases for sure, much less in our newer ones.
ASTAROTH: Lyrically I look at the Christian Bible as a form of philosophical inspiration, getting new ideas from it's scriptures. It's not your classic "blasphemy" black metal themes though.
7. Your first release was a four-song EP “Kills Of Hatred”, Tell us about the recording sessions and any specific challenges, surprises, or obstacles to get through?
Both: We actually were already experienced in production and recording with our seven singles and covers, so Kills of Hatred was more of a creative manoeuvre we made to think of new ideas.
8. Talking about your latest EP “To the Strongest”, how challenging were these songs to play compared to those on past releases?
Both: Everything we play live is picked by us, after we discuss what we think our own and the people's feelings will be during the show. No songs of ours are particularly challenging for us. On the contrary, we like the human factor and the presence of technical mistakes don't really bother us as much as other bands.
9. What are the most challenging aspects when writing a song and how do you go about the approach?
Both: For MIGUL, writing a song is like painting on an empty canvas. We have full liberty but the challenge is not to stray from our original ideas for songs. We first write lyrics, then guitars and bass, drums and finally vocals.
10. What kind of role do the lyrics play in the concept of MIGUL? How important are they?
ASTAROTH: Lyrics play a MASSIVE role in my opinion for MIGUL , because it's possible for a person to miss our point musically but it's much harder for that to happen lyrically.
APOLLYON: When I write lyrics for MIGUL I treat the process as if an author would when writing his story. It's a sacred time and i put 100% of my energy to it, so obviously our lyrics are of dire importance in my opinion.
11. When you release a record how much attention do you pay to things like track order, lay out and art work? How planned is everything?
Both: We definitely pay attention to track order so there is a sense of a beginning, middle and end in the atmosphere we attempt to create. As far as lay out and artwork is concerned we try to keep things simple and effective while also portraying the themes of the musical contents. Everything is planned accordingly.
12. In ancient Greece, poetry was considered incomplete without accompanying music which united the significance of the words with the significance of certain tones and musical shapes. Is there any relevance of this idea today?
ASTAROTH: Funny you ask that, since most of my lyrics are actually my own poems from my poetic collection. So obviously the idea you mention is relevant.
APOLLYON: A very intriguing question which made me look at things from your interesting perspective. When i write lyrics I'd say the final result looks more like dark fantasy literature. So in harmony with the music, my songs would be more like a very dark metal cosmic battle between deities.
13. Is Greece a great place to be an extreme metal band? What kind of response do you get from the Greek metal fans?
APOLLYON: I don't know if you're informed, but like half of Greece's population still holds beliefs from two centuries ago, so they don't exactly burst with enthusiasm when they learn you play "abrasive Satan's music" according to them. As for the second part of the question, like I previously mentioned most of "metal fans" I've met don't even have actual passion about the music. Local scenes work in cliques with malicious ways towards underground bands. However I have met people who actually loved our work and bought our physical releases out of pure passion and interest.
ASTAROTH: In Greece, personally, it is not such a good place for extreme sound. Especially in the underground scene, most bands don't have the feeling of brotherhood and organize lives with the same line ups essentially just with different band names. This causes the accumulation of bands that don't have their own material and as a result bands with a discography are lost. The same applies to festivals, which are organized among acquaintances and do not accommodate people in the field who are not networked but have an incredible discography.
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?
ASTAROTH: I think that the underground scene in Greece is quite active and dynamic with its own distinctive sound. Nevertheless, as I said above, because there are several bands without material, they prevent others with several tracks from escaping the underground circle and chasing a place on the world stage. Nevertheless, the scene is quite active and I hope it stays like this and even stronger with very powerful lives.
APOLLYON: Again , many people I've interacted with think the opposite , but in terms of bands I like the way the scene is morphing even currently in that Raw Black Metal direction. In terms of the very underground scene, I'll say again that there isn't even a big "scene" , just cliques serving each other.
15. Live performances are an integral part of the black metal experience. Does Migul have any plans for live shows or touring in the future?
Both: We find live performances exhilarating and we like to know we have a crowd to interact with.
We would like to arrange a gig for the winter and participate in some local festivals.
16. In your opinion, black metal went through evolution or revolution since its origins back in the early 90’s?
ASTAROTH: It has evolved since it's origins but currently the people are inactive and the time is fruitless for black metal to get major attention in a cultural way.
APOLLYON: Upon taking a look at 90's black metal and then checking out newer stuff the difference is so vast that i can't help but feel like there has been a revolution. Like i said in a previous question black metal has broken into so many subgenres that it feels like a gigantic fantastical tree with each branch bearing different fruit.
17. Thank you for taking the time to speak to Rotten Pages. Do you have any final words, or anything you would like to add?
Both: Thank you Rotten Pages for having us. We'd like to add that what we love most about live shows is the genuine interaction with the crowd that we'd like to have on an even bigger level, so for our locals in Athens who go to venues like An Club, Bums , Nomads etc. feel free to talk to us after the shows and give us your feedback.
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