(Today Season of Mist is releasing the monumental 11th album by the Greek metal band Nightfall, with cover art by Eliran Kantor, and in anticipation of that Comrade Aleks conducted an extensive interview with founder and frontman Efthimis Karadimas. It is an excellent read, and we have it for you below.)
Nightfall was always one of those charismatic Greek bands that had its own identity despite all the changes in style. Once they were neck-deep into a rebellious seething stream of death and black metal, then they entered territories of doom and gothic metal. Always on the move, always searching. It’s not a surprise that Efthimis Karadimas (vocals, bass) is the only original hand of Nightfall who has stayed with his creature since the day it was born back in 1991.
However, the band returns with its eleventh album – Children of Eve – full of power and boiling artistic intention. This epic album carries on traditions of ancient Greek metal and keeps its grim identity untouched. However, I find it stupid to tell a lot of pompous words about the band, as we have Efthimis here, and this interview turned out to be a pretty in-depth one. So enjoy Nightfall.
Hi Efthimis! Thanks for your time and the chance to discuss Nightfall’s forthcoming album Children of Eve. Where are you now? On which stage of promotion does the band stand?
Hey Aleks, we are at the talking stage now, and I love it. Talking with cool people like you about our new album is the best.
My thanks! Didn’t this part turn to be a routine after all these years in the band? Questions tend to be repeated, same stuff like “what did you want to express through the lyrics” and so on?
I love the entire process. After all, it’s about my band’s new album. I am honored. Despite some cliché questions that are absolutely welcomed by me, in the end it is the entire talk that makes the difference.
You’ve run Nightfall since 1991; how much has your perception of the band changed through the years?
Not much. I still run the band as an artistic vehicle with utmost respect to my band mates and fans. Sound quality now is very important both on stage and in the studio, and we never cease to invest more on new gear. Back in the days, attitude weighted more than music.
And the band’s soul? Is it the same? Like… I don’t know… a Lesbian show? Is your world still a “Lesbian Show”? Or rather “Poetry of Death”?
It is the same yet more mature and wise. For many years I felt like my Life and Fate had abandoned me, thus the story of Lesbian Show; like Homer I used Life and Fate as two young ladies falling in love with each other, leaving me out in the cold. Nowadays however, I feel better. Talking openly about my depression empowered me to focus on the creative side of things instead of the nihilistic. Hence, I promote my story as a good example of how one can be in good terms with depression and be active and generally ok as a human being at the same time.
I still consider Lesbian Show’s concept a great story; I remember I was thinking about the title back then. I knew it was provocative for metalheads. But that’s ok. Art is art and one of its tasks is to challenge people thinking about stuff. Provocation is part of it. If I named the album something like Satanic Spawn or Satan’s Claws it would not have had the impact it still has today.
How much does the band’s touring schedules differ from ones you had in the ’90s or, let’s say, before the Covid pandemic? Did the pandemic really change the rules of the game or scene and the industry stagnated anyway? How do you see it?
The stage nowadays is full of people who try to make it through by using any way possible. Most of them do expose themselves heavily in the social media in a futile effort to ride the next wave of the algorithm that decides what is to be seen more and what less. Consequently, live music has been affected as well. I see big packages of cool bands that under other circumstances would have toured individually, all gathered together under a single club tour. It’s obvious that touring costs have been skyrocketed, esp after the pandemic, and everybody is trying to secure more income from the profit generated by the band. Where all this will lead, none can say for sure. As an artist I just try to get along with it all messed up.
How far did you aim to get with Nightfall in order to perform the new songs live?
As far as it can goes Aleks. We are an old band thirsty for action after many years “locked” in studios.
You recorded bass for the previous album At Night We Prey (2021) yourself, but Vasiliki Biza joined you the same year and he’s the only new member since then. Was it necessary to perform bass on your own back then, as you hadn’t played it since 1998 or so?
I love bass guitar, but it is just not convenient to play it live, as I am the front man; I am working hard to improve my stage performance with moves and gestures that add a dramatic tone to our performance. But I do play my 4-string beast with The Slayerking, that trio project I ran for some time prior to At Night We Prey.
By the way, how did you share your duties during the composition of Children of Eve? Did Nightfall turn into your solo project totally?
I embrace teamwork with all my heart. I am not into solo acts or duets that employ musicians with limited access, only for shows, and allow them to do nothing in the studio. They present themselves as bands, but they are not. In Nightfall we all are equal, and all have to put our energy into it for the mutual benefit of the band. All members are free to question my input, to propose alternatives, to discuss and try new things. Through this process we become better musicians and better persons too. Crushing our egos is imperative.
Crushing the egos on the altar of Nightfall? Do you see the band as a separate entity? And maybe the entire scene as a kind of egregoire?
The spirit of the team is a great thing to believe in. I’ve always liked to dive deeper and explore how the dynamics of different persons correlate behind the scenes. This is where the true magic is made. I know this might sound “Greek” to some, but this is the “spirit of the underground” we used to refer back in the ’90s. The first time I realized a metal band will take a decision based on financial reasons, was disappointing. I liked Helloween up to Keeper 2. I liked them very much. And then, Kai left to form his own band because he couldn’t stand sharing his income with two more guys. That’s not a good thing.
The press release states that, and it’s easy to find indeed, how epic and on a large scale the album sounds. Did you feel such an epic, intense, and charged delivery was a better way to shape your message?
Absolutely. It’s the epic moment where one realizes that others are taking advantage of him for their own benefit and grabs his sword to slay them and set him free. The main ingredients of Children of Eve are epicness and aggression.
A lot of top bands changed their style through their entire careers, and Nightfall isn’t an exception. Did you consider some of such changes in your discography a mistake or are you proud of all your albums now?
The element of surprise is a key factor in art. Otherwise, it becomes a commodity, where the buyer wants to know beforehand what exactly he’s gonna buy. Each time we enter the studio and have new stuff to play ball with, we are not afraid to let it take us on a journey far from where we stood previously. I know that sometimes fans might get annoyed a bit. However, once your discography grows big, in excess of 10 releases, fans appreciate the journey from debut to latest. They get into all changes the band went through and all the challenges those changes brought along, and that’s how these people become part of the process and get to love and appreciate the band more.
Do you feel that the way At Night We Prey has been developed is natural and comfortable or at least optimal for you?
Yes. It serves the purpose. After years it will well remind me and all fans of Nightfall about how important the topic of mental health really is. The fact it got released during the pandemic makes it more special.
It’s said that the At Night We Prey concept was built around your struggle with depression; how does the new material change from it concept-wise?
At Night We Prey is about depression. Children of Eve is about cutting ties with things that suck your blood, your energy, your own life. The common ground between the two is the social reaction we challenge. The message is to stand united and share our fears to make them look small.
How did you come to this conclusion? I mean to see all the distractions, like things that suck energy and resources from you?
I play with the meanings and the words and I tend to create bridges to bring places that seem distant, closer to us. Homer has had a big impact on me about how to create junctions between different meanings, using metaphors, allegories, parallelisms to give a certain depth to these very meanings. Many things that seem to be different at first, share the same roots.
You launched an initiative “Metal Music Against Depression”. What is it? How does it work?
This initiative is aiming to assist the metal community to break the social stigma about mental health. Anyone in the scene, who believes he or she has a personal experience with such issues, is welcome to make a small video and send it over to @metalmusicagainstdepression. My aim is everyone will one day talk openly about his or her state of mind, without fear of rejection, stigmatization or isolation from the rest.
For many bands it’s a kind of trademark to project depression – be it natural or artificial. And I think a lot of us resonate with this idea on different levels. Where do you see the line between real depression and an “artistic” one?
Yes, I got to face that misconception about what depression really is, during the pandemic. I heard people saying they were depressed because they were not allowed to play live or going out. This is not depression. Feeling sad, moody, blue, even devastated, is a phase. Depression is clinical. It requires support from professionals and most of the times, medical treatment. And that’s exactly where things go wrong.
The problem starts when the ones who suffer from depression and oughta see a doc and get some medical prescription are put in the same basket with those who pass a moody phase. The latter think they fought their problem alone, portraying themselves as real strong ones, independent, medical free, practically jeopardizing the former who tend to stop talking about their true problem, and eventually keep it secret, and doing nothing out of fear of rejection and stigmatization by others. It is an unfair situation. We need to address it and fight it collectively.
The video for the “I Hate” song carries this anticlerical position, or so it seems from the first (and second) glance. But do you see after all these years that it’s the church or Christianity that cause the bigger damage to humanity?
We are referring to the three Abrahamic religions and not only Christianity. However, since we grew up in a Christian place, it is this very authority we ask to modernize. I am not seeing things as plain white or black in my life. I don’t despise people who believe in a god or others who decide not to believe in anything. I am not here to blame poor believers who act in extreme ways in the name of their faith; they are humans and they make mistakes.
My problem, and I assume yours as well, is the devious role of religious leaders who let atrocities happen, and never try to teach their followers about true love and acceptance. It’s obvious that they let them cause havoc to reap the benefits afterwards. It’s a global power game. In the West, we have political systems that protect freedoms of speech, arts, science, and everything religious leaders feel uncomfortable with.
What I simply say is that I don’t have any problem with fellow Christians, Muslims, and Jews themselves, but their radical leaders who call for holy wars against others. The ways these religions deceive people have to stop. It’s 2025 and there are still people who ban women from their right to abortion. This is nonsense. Let’s solve today’s problems in today’s context.
And most of the time religion serves as another branch of state power or government, but it’s rare for an extreme metal band to make a statement against that. Is it because religious symbolism speaks better and more colourfully to people?
It’s true. Regretfully, most extreme bands go as far as putting Saint Peter’s upside cross in display and call it a rebellion against the opposite. Popularity of the genre grew big mainly thanks to the “bad” image rather than a true call about how things should change. Manifestos are long, and boring to most people. Whether it is music, literature, movies or any other form of art, people want it simple.
Nightfall is an integral part of the Greek extreme metal scene, like Necromantia, Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh. How do you see this “Greek” element in Children of Eve?
Riffing, arrangements, lyrics, everything in there comes from that Greek culture we were grown into. One of the biggest influences few have noticed through the years is how much we are influenced by Homer’s poems in our lyrics. Metaphors, allegories, parallelisms, analogies, are so familiar in our Greek culture, but not everywhere else. The same goes for our melodies and lead parts. It’s all Greek music my friend.
Great to hear it indeed! It’s almost funny, but somehow the Greek myths, Iliad, and Odyssey were well-known in my country. We even had a killer cartoon series based on Herculean Labours (much better than Disney’s grotesque caricature) and more. However, how do you see this ancient heritage – as an integral part of cultural background in wide sense of the word or do you see it as some mysteries which we may never discover?
Homer could easily describe anything in few words. However, he drew an oral painting where all things hidden in normal life, would come up front. And that’s for the reader to get the full effect of the story, from every angle possible. It’s pure art.
You started with Holy Records back in the ’90s and changed among a few labels since then. Do you stay in touch with those bands and labels with whom you collaborated in those years?
With most of them yes, we do. I divide Nightfall’s career into four seasons. In each, the band enjoyed a fresh lineup and a new label. Holy in the ’90s, Black Lotus – which exists no more – in the ’00s, Metal Blade in the 10’s, and Season of Mist now. Of all, I well prefer working with the French. We have so many things in common and they know well how to keep the right balance between art and business.
Do you have any news from The Slayerking side? There was nothing from it since the release of the second album.
I love that project, but it’s too expensive to maintain and its fan base not big enough to support it. We’re gonna record a third album sometime in the future. For the time being though, we are fully committed to Nightfall.
What are your plans for Nightfall till the end of 2025?
Touring, playing live, and promoting Children of Eve everywhere!
Enjoy your life Aleks and always remember, I hate the cannibal lurking inside my head, seeking revenge for the expelled ones, the traders of anathema with outlandish desire to disobey the makhaira of the deceiver: Christian Svengali.
Thanks for the interview Efthimis! It was pleasure to talk! I wish you all the best in spreading the word about Children of Eve!
https://www.facebook.com/nightfallband
https://nightfallofficial.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-eve
https://nightfall-cult.bandcamp.com/