Sorrowful Angels

 Sorrowful Angels is a Greek/Polish gothic metal band that almost a year after the release of their debut album "Ship In Your Trip", Dion gives an interview to Subexistance talking about their past, present and future plans. 

SubX:  Hello Dion! Getting started, I would like you to tell me about the creation and the development of Sorrowful Angels.
- Greetings Xtina! Sorrowful Angels started back in 1999, gigging and presenting their early goth/atmopheric material in the greek underground scene up until 2002. At that time the band split and any plans of releasing our material of that time were abandoned. During the winter of 2008 the idea of reviving the band, sounded better than ever as we felt that we had something really unique to offer. We decided to make a fresh new start and began to write completely new material which resulted in the making of “Ship In Your Trip”, our debut album! 
SubX:  Your musical style was totally different. Will we ever see Sorrowful Angels turning back to their initial sound?
-Sorrowful Angels sounded quite different back then than what it does nowadays. Heavy atmospheres, female vocals, the use of violin where some elements that constituted the early Sorrowful Angels sound. Personally I doubt that the band would make any drastic moves to return to their early sound.  We are always open in experimenting and expanding our sound and it is more than likely to borrow elements of the past era but I feel  that as musicians we have moved on to other directions that we are very eager to explore.
SubX:  Are you pleased by the final result of your album "Ship In Your Trip" ? Is there anything that you'd like to change?
-Myriads of stuff and details! But after countless hours working on your material you reach at a certain point that you must say to yourself “Enough!”  We would certainly have offered different stuff and material if we were about to write the record right now.  But that is the beauty of music, it captures a certain moment time, whether good or bad and when you look back at it later, you sometimes wonder, how on earth did you do that!
SubX:  Which song of the album would you point out as the most representative of Sorrowful Angels?
-If I was to choose only one, I would say “Denial” which is our first videoclip as well, made by Bob Katsionis. It feels like it combines most of the elements that you would find on this record. Dual vocals, clean and brutal. Solos, alteration between different atmospheres and of course the piano, which has been a major inspirational factor in “Ship in your trip”.
SubX:  You took part in Metalmorphosis Festival in 31 July in Cyprus. Which are your impressions?
-Unbelievable experience.  We really had a great time along with Rotting Christ while spending these 3 days on the island. Everyone received so much love and support in what we do, that literally our jaws dropped. People there love heavy metal and show it .It was exciting to play in the packed Lakatamia’s theater  in front of all of these headbangers! We hope to visit them again really soon!
SubX:  M. H. magazine included 5 songs from your album in October 2009. Do you think that it helped to your future path?
-Undoubtedly, it was a major help for us to present our material to a larger audience. Things in Greece and in general are really hard, and most of the time it takes enormous efforts to reach out to people that might be interested in what you do.I’m really happy that our music was found to be interesting enough to be included in the magazine and we want to thank all of them for their decision.
SubX:  How positive or negative can a band be affected by good reviews and comments?
-I believe that this is a very tricky aspect when you come to present some form of art to an audience. When you create something, is like giving birth. A song that you have made, feels like a child of yours and might include meanings, sometimes, very personal.When you come to present that creation, you have to detach yourself by the emotion and must be ready to face the critique. By  listening carefully and paying attention to the flaws of your art being pointed out, you become a better musician in the end.  So it is necessary to have reviews that do not only appeal to your ears but also remind you that there are aspects on which you can improve to present a more solid outcome on your next efforts.
SubX:  Have you started working on new material for your new album? 
-We are currently in the process of gathering material that will lead on our next record. Already there are plenty of fresh new ideas and about ten new songs under construction that show a very different direction than in “Ship in your trip” and a major move forward. Hopefully the new material will be ready until October and after that there is a whole process of finding a label that will release the, yet untitled, album..
SubX:  What are your plans for the near future?
-Right now our focus is on the making of the new album, and to be pleased by the final outcome as much as we can. Our next gig is in Volos at 10/9 on the “Golden R Festival” along with Rotting Christ and Antidrasi. At the same time we are planning some shows around Europe, the only two confirmed at the time are  in Belgium on November 5th and 6th along with Corpus, a Belgian band and friends of Sorrowful Angels..Many things are discussed right now so all the news are constantly posted on our website and myspace.
SubX:  Thank you for your time! Anything else you'd like to say to Subexistance readers?
-Keep Rocking and supporting the underground. Don’t listen to the hype and stay true, no matter what “true” means to you!
Goth_Xtina