During August of 2017, after exploring the music of symphonic black metal band, Carach Angren, and symphonic death metal band, Fleshgod Apocalypse, I kept seeing a band by the name of Septicflesh being constantly recommended to me on my YouTube account as a similar artist. The same thing would happen on Last.FM, The Metal Archives, and many other places online where I happened to look up music either for listening purposes or for gathering information on my favourite artists.
The first song I checked out from this band was the track Prometheus from their 2014 album, Titan, and at first I wasn't very impressed by the music of this band. Although they carried the title of being a symphonic death metal band, I was initially disappointed to hear that they weren't as fast and technical as Fleshgod Apocalypse and there was something about the mixing or tempo of the song that simply did not resonate with me upon my first hearing. So, I initially dismissed the band and continued on listening to the other bands that I had recently discovered. However, towards the end of August, I saw that the band had released a new music video for their new single, Portrait Of A Headless Man, from their then upcoming album, Codex Omega, and the video had garnered a lot of attention on the various metal Facebook groups and magazine websites that I follow. Then, after much hesitation, I eventually caved in and decided to give the band another chance and now I can happily say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I immediately fell in love with not only the extremeness and heaviness of the song, but, the video looked as though it came straight from a dystopian cyberpunk movie or tv show like Ghost In The Shell, The Matrix, or Texhnolyze. I was then immediately sold on getting my hands on this record the moment it dropped.
Though, upon my first listening, I initially found their music to be far too extreme for my tastes. The opening track, Dante's Inferno, certainly gave me bad memories of the original old black and white film Li'Inferno and many others just left me feeling unsettled and for a short while, I actually couldn't listen to the album all that often without getting chills down my spine and flashes of horrific imagery going through my mind. However, as the months went by, I eventually began to fall in love with the rest of the album and even checked out a lot of their older stuff too. Now, I've become one of their biggest fans and after experiencing all they have had to offer, no other extreme metal band seems to give me the same feeling that these guys are able to and that's saying something coming from someone who is usually irked by most kinds of dark music.
Septicflesh, for those of you who aren't aware, are a symphonic death metal band hailing from Athens in Greece and they have been around since the early 1990s. During their career, they have released a total of 10 studio albums and ever since they first broke into the metal scene, they have really set themselves apart from most other bands in the death metal genre. Not only in terms of songwriting, composition, production, and sound, but, particularly in their lyrical style. The band started off their career by playing a style of death metal that contained a lot of atmospheric and doom elements which eventually evolved over time to the more orchestral and symphonic based style that we have now come to know them for since the release of 2008's Communion. Despite their evolution in sound, their lyricism has always remained consistent and different from most death metal bands to this very day. Unlike a lot of death metal bands, especially in the early days of the genre, the band chose to base their lyrics on themes such as occultism, fantasy, mythology, and the works of horror author, H.P. Lovecraft as opposed to the usual blood, guts, and gore themed lyrics that are a standard of the genre.
Also, even though they have constantly evolved their sound, they have always managed to maintain a level of excellence and consistency with each and every single album they put out which are generally met with both critical and commercial acclaim.
Now, you might be asking yourself, what is it about this band that just seems to captivate music lovers and what is it that makes them so great and successful with what they do? How can a band that produces such dark and sinister music be one of the most prolific and recognized names in the metal and orchestral music scenes?
There are several reasons, I believe, to be behind their success and I thought it would be a great and fun topic of interest to cover in a video. So, sit back, pull out your music sheets, and dust off those ancient scrolls and tomes as we dive into Why Septicflesh Are The Masters Of Extreme Symphonic Music.
1. Songwriting, Composition, & Arrangement
Septicflesh have always been masters of their craft. Even before they found their current sound. They have always, without fail, been able to write dark, mystical, otherworldly, and haunting melodies that add a feeling of dread, horror, and unease to their music that keeps the listener engrossed and immersed with each story or concept they are attempting to tell.
This because the band's lead guitarist and main songwriter, Christos Antoniou, is a classically trained musician who obtained his Masters Degree in concert music from the London College Of Music and was taught by legendary teachers and composers such as Martin Ellerby, one of Britain's most celebrated composers who headed the course, and Adam Gorb, who is the head of composition at The Royal Northern College Of Music and another celebrated and respected British composer.
The skills that Chrisos has equipped himself with, shine through with each and every song that he has composed and even more so since 2008's Communion. This is because with every album from then 'til present day, the band have always worked with the renowned Prague Philharmonic Orchestra as the unseen, unspoken, yet, important and vital fifth member of the band.
With every song that Christos writes and composes, he is always careful to make certain that both the orchestral parts and the metal parts balance each other out and both get an equal chance to shine without either one completely dominating or stealing the spotlight from the other. He is also careful to take the lyrics into account when writing the music as well as each melody and every instrument has to not only match what is going on in the story, but, has to create a certain mood and atmosphere to immerse the listener into the world which the lyrics are describing.
Another thing that is important to note about Christos songwriting is that, unlike a lot of other symphonic extreme metal bands who tend to go overboard with the orchestra and choirs and use them as a crutch to support their sound, he will often write parts of the music to use absolutely no orchestral or choral elements at all and will instead let the instruments that the band themselves play dominate the main idea behind the music which is the brutality, extremeness, and darkness of the sound. Christos also has the uncanny ability to write elements of black metal, gothic metal, and industrial metal into the songs while still allowing the band's overall sound to still retain the brutality and heaviness of death metal.
Christos, however, is not the only important member of the band nor is he the sole and only reason behind the band's success. Each member of the band, although different, specialize in something that is unique only to them as individuals and it is these elements that are vital to the band's ability to work as a group.
2. Lyrics
As I mentioned before, what has not only separated Septicflesh from their peers within the death metal genre, but, has remained consistent without any sort of alteration during the course of their 28 year long career is the kind of lyrics, themes, and subject matter that they choose to focus on.
The band have always focused on tales drawn from real world mythology, fantasy epics, occult knowledge, and literature from the most renowned and acclaimed of authors, poets, and other literary contributors. However, the band don't simply cut and paste these stories and add a musical element to them which is often done in most cases. The band's clean vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Sotiris Vayenas, is the band's main lyricist and he has a unique talent in taking these subjects and either putting unique spins on the stories or make them draw parallels to current events. He can even make seemingly everyday phenomena, like black holes in space or the light of the moon, have a feeling of supernatural horror and dread behind them and how they occur. In doing this, Sotiris is able to provoke the listener's thoughts and let them experience the fear and the horror that could potentially be happening around us as we continue on with our daily lives, completely ignorant to the possible realities of our universe. To illustrate my point, I shall use the lyrics to the first track off of Communion titled Lovecraft's Death.
Lovecraft's Death is a song dedicated as a tribute to acclaimed horror author and godfather of the cosmic horror genre, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, and his renowned Cthulhu Mythos. The lyrics are as follows:
The cold comes,
The rats in the walls break the deadly sound of silence,
As time decays,
You try to name the unnameable, a whisperer in darkness
Our hound smells you,
The haunter of the dark will take you to our realm,
Your life, your books,
March in front your closing eyes, beyond the walls of sleep
Lovecraft in the realm of the dead,
Lovecraft in the realm of the dead
Obsessed with Necronomicon,
The Arab's wicked dream,
You found the path to Azathoth and walked in Dagon's realm,
Your friends were haunted too,
Do you remember Charles?
Or haven't you heard the music of Eric Zann?
The call of Cthulhu we disguised with notes and raving rhythms,
To spread the seed of lurking fear into the heart of man
Lovecraft in the realm of the dead
Lovecraft in the realm of the dead
Your time is out, you saw too much, you used the silver key
You know too well that minds like yours can never rest in peace
You stared at the abyss
You'll never rest in peace
You'll never rest in peace
The reason why the lyrics for this song are genius is because of the fact that Sotiris uses them in a way that implies that perhaps Lovecraft's stories were more than just fictitious tales meant to entertain, but, actual events that Lovecraft either experienced himself or uncovered while researching sources to fuel his creative endeavors.
Sotiris uses a mixture of the titles and characters of Lovecraft's most popular stories including the ever popular Call Of Cthulhu, Dagon, The Rats In The Walls, The Music Of Eric Zann, The Hound, Beyond The Walls Of Sleep, The Curious Case Of Charles Dexter Ward, among several others. If you would like me to make another video in the future analyzing the lyrics of this song in depth for those of you who are maybe unfamiliar with the works of Lovecraft then be sure to let me know in the comments below. Anyways. the way the lyrics are written makes it sound as though Lovecraft, as he lies on his deathbed and as his life is starting to fade, his soul begins to enter the realm of The Elder Gods and The Great Old Ones. While this is happening, he is reminded of the signs he experienced before coming to the maddening realization that he was right all along before he is hit with the revelation that he will not be able to rest in peace. Then, as the final line of the song is repeated for the last time, Spiros, the lead vocalist, let out a scream paints a ghastly scene of Lovecraft witnessing the unnameable, indescribable horror of the creatures and abominations that inhabit the realm of The Elder Gods and screaming with dread as he goes completely and utterly insane as his life abruptly ends. We then hear the sounds of church bells ringing in the distance which not only signify that Lovecraft has passed on from this world, but, creates a contrast between the paradise that our earthly religions promise us after death and the possibility that people like Lovecraft with high levels of intellect have discovered this to not be the case.
It is with this kind of ending that Sotiris manages to provoke the listener into confronting their deepest and inner most fears of mortality, death, and the fact that none us actually know what or if something awaits us beyond this life regardless of our personal or religious beliefs.
Sotiris lyrical writing style is one that truly enhances the feel, the tone, and the atmosphere of the music and without them, the music would lack that extra level of creep factor that makes the music of Septicflesh extreme and dark.
There are plenty of other great examples that I could use such as The Vampire Of Nazareth, Portrait Of A Headless Man, Pyramid God, Science, Persepolis, War In Heaven, Dante's Inferno, and The Order Of Dracul. However, if I went through all of them, this video would probably be well over twelve hours long and I would have surpassed Digibro's records when it comes to 'who can make the longest analysis video of all time on the internet along with shit tons of other content for a billion side channels.'
Jokes aside, my point is that if one wishes to truly appreciate the music of this band in full, one would have to be somewhat familiar with at least the basic stories, history, and names of the figures or locations being referred to in each song. It is not very often that I would stress the importance of lyrics. My usual view on lyrics has always been that as long as they aren't stupid, unintelligent, annoying in repetition, or the only selling point of the song to mask the overall poor sound and songwriting, then I don't usually care what they are about. However, bands like Septicflesh are one of those exceptional cases where the lyrics are just as important as the music itself. This leads me to the final reason as to why I believe this band have been able to garner as much success and recognition as they have despite the Greek metal scene not being one of the biggest or most well known in the world.
3. Visual Aesthetic
Septicflesh have, without a doubt, one of if not the best imagery and visual aesthetics in the entire metal scene if you had to ask me personally. While most bands and movements in metal tend to imitate, draw inspiration from, or copy one another, Septicflesh drew the inspiration more from comic books and movies than from other bands or movements known for their makeup and costumes. In a recent interview with Banger TV, Christos stated that instead of looking to figures like King Diamond, black metal bands, or shock rockers like Manson and Cooper, they instead got the idea for their costumes from movies and comic book characters like Batman, Hellraiser, and various others.
All the member's costumes all look as though they were made by a professional studio in Hollywood and the very polished, high quality look of the materials used in these outfits immediately give the impression that these guys mean business and aren't here to fool around. You can immediately sense that these people are driven by their passion and are determined to make it to the top despite having the odds stacked against them when it comes to their local scene and the competition in surrounding countries or abroad. Although they only began to use the costumes since their reunion, it has become extremely difficult to imagine or even remember the band in their early days when they wore nothing but your typical metal band fashion wear like band t-shirts, sunglasses, leather jackets, etc.
It is here that I am reminded of an interview with Venezuelan born bass metal DJ, Zardonic, who once said in an interview that image is important for your marketing and this couldn't be any more true considering how many metal musicians and their fan base tend to think and believe that image is not important and is used more as a gimmick to cover up bad music. For example, most death metal bands tend to go with the usual oversized band or street wear shirts and baggy jeans look, but, Septicflesh not only want their music to stand out, but, they also want to their image to give the listener an idea as to what their music is all about. There are far too many bands who, while being great musicians, don't care much for having an image outside the album art. While I understand that not every band makes or has the money to afford certain resources, there are still plenty of cheaper and cost effective ways to create a more simple yet elegant 'gimmick' so to speak. On the other side of the spectrum, there are also far too many bands who lean way too much on their look to hide the quality of their music, but, Septicflesh are one of those few bands who are able to balance out the visuals with the music.
The band's image, however, is much more than just the costumes. Spiros 'Seth' Antoniou, the bassist, harsh vocalist, and elder brother of Christos, is the band's main artist and has always done the album art and booklet art for the band. Not only that, but, he has done art for many other big names in the metal scene such as Decapitated, Kamelot, Paradise Lost, Ex Deo, Moonspell, and Soilwork to name a few.
Spiros work, according to him, and I quote:
“I consider my art, a dark portal to things forbidden, freed from the safeguarding valve of Reason. My works are distorting dream mirrors of the body and soul. When I am painting, I am trying to emulate the conscious state of lucid dreaming. Besides, a dream is actually a canvas filled with images (and much more) from the subconscious, with responsible artist the Hyper Ego.”
This statement perfectly reflects the entity that is Septicflesh and all of Spiros work that he has done for the band and always reflects the concept of each album they release along with the overall dark and extreme atmosphere of their music. The best and greatest example that I can use for this is the album art he did for their 2011 album, The Great Mass. The concept of The Great Mass basically boils down to the idea that the word 'mass' has many connotations and different meanings depending on the context it is used in. The word mass has four different meanings.
1. A large body of matter with no definitive shape.
2. A large number of people or objects crowded together.
3. Involving or affecting large numbers of people or things.
4. Assemble or cause to assemble into a single body or mass.
Each individual track, though they may appear to be separate, actually represent each meaning of the word 'mass' in some way, shape, or form. This is further reflected in Spiros album art titled 'The God That Wants To Kill Himself' which basically asks the age old question of 'is man a god and if so is man a suicidal god?'
The art piece basically depicts the horrific and shocking image of a god practically cannibalizing himself with all the various depictions of himself falling out of his now mutilated body.
The album explores this concept by telling it's tales through the lens of 'the pursuit of knowledge', so to speak, and how that pursuit can often result in dire consequences that almost make it feel as though we, the human race, are forever being punished for simply searching for the truth and whether we will ever be ready to face or understand it when and if confronted by it.
The fact as well that Spiros art is done in a way that tries to emulate the conscious state of lucid dreaming which, funnily enough, ties in to the fact that our quest for knowledge or success always starts with a dream, and, it's often that those dreams will drive a person to reach that goal no matter the cost, only for them to awaken from the dream and realize that what they had been striving for all their life until that moment was not all it was made out to be.
Out of all the death metal bands I have listened to over the years, I have never encountered a band that actually plans it's work out in full and in such meticulous detail like this all the while utilizing the strengths, skills, and talent of each individual member to create a working unit that is able to produce such masterful work.
If there is anything at all that new and upcoming bands should do to ensure a long and successful career, it's to take a page from bands like Septicflesh as this method of teamwork has always proven to yield results and bear fruit while keeping your music and your brand interesting and relative no matter the trends in art or in music.
It is safe to say that the theatrical elements of Septicflesh's visual aesthetic has definitely succeeded in selling the idea on that their music is most certainly dark, heavy, but most of all, extreme.
In conclusion, Septicflesh are definitely the masters of extreme symphonic music because extreme music relies on dark themes, motifs, subject matter, and sound in order to create it's idea and purpose of being able to create something beautiful out of darkness and tragedy. Septicflesh tick all the boxes and meet all the requirements when it comes to such things in their sound, lyricism, and image. Now, Septicflesh are most certainly not the first band in the world to cover such subjects or have a visual gimmick to market themselves, however, they are most certainly one of, if not the best modern examples of how to do it right.
Septicflesh are able to show they mean business and that, if you are someone who isn't used to hearing heavy music that covers dark subject matter and has extreme imagery, then you had either get yourself mentally prepared or go home.
This band have clearly shown that if you want people to take the ideas and extremeness of your music seriously, you have to give people the theatricality that they want and are looking for and you should be able to do this with both your image and your music.
The band's music is not only extreme, but, is also innovative and is able to convey it's themes clearly and precisely while allowing the listener some room to add their own interpretations to the lyrics and the stories being told. Their ability to blend the brutality of death metal, the cold soundscape of black metal, the eeriness of gothic metal, the polish of industrial metal, and the haunting atmosphere of dark orchestral music with exquisite and high quality visual elements is something that really adds a lot of depth to their work and should be applauded. There are very few extreme metal artists who are able to blend various elements from other genres as well as this and there are even fewer who manage to balance them perfectly. This, my friends, is why Septicflesh are the masters of extreme symphonic music.
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