AN NCS INTERVIEW: CHURCH OF THE SEA

(Comrade Aleks brings us the interview a member of the Greek clean-singing band Church of the Sea, whose second album Eva was released this past April by These Hands Melt.)

The second album of the Athenian band Church of the Sea, Eva, follows the same direction as their debut, Odalisque (2022). The trio consists of Irene (vocals), Vangelis (guitars), and Alex (synths and samples), and together they continue their dive into the hypnotic depths of doom metal with a hypnotic female voice and atmospheric samples.

In Eva, this doom-gaze serves as a frame for the story of the biblical Eve, reconsidering her role in the original canon, where she is shown as the first sinner, guilty of corrupting man. Eve is a rebel through Church of the Sea‘s perspective: a seeker of knowledge, accepting what religion or society considered “forbidden”; this is not a story about the fall of man, but about the rise of woman.

A modern take on an old story and a modern approach to the choice of musical means of expression do not detract from the weight of the album. Moderately heavy, pumping doom Church of the Sea wants to merge with drone lethargy, but the band controls its evolution and adheres to a creative approach to creating moderately unusual and attractive material. They have become skilled in working with the chosen style and, with the general smoothness of the material, even managed to record a sheer radio hit, “Garden of Eden”, with a confident doom-rock swing, an attractive keyboard melody, and a charming female voice.

The cinematic quality of Eva melts the half-hour of material to coalesce into one mesmerizing composition, a subtle play of colour and shadow. We organized an interview with Church of the Sea, because it seemed to be a good idea.

 

 

Hail Church of the Sea! How are you? Who’s online today?

Hello No Clean Singing! This is Alex, synths and samples from Church of the Sea. Really a pleasure to have this conversation with you!

 

Glad to hear you Alex! So you founded the Church back in 2017; what drove you to start working together? What was your vision from the very start?

Despite founding Church of the Sea in 2017, the three of us have been making music since 2009. Our sound back then was more alternative, so in 2017 we decided to try something darker, heavier. Quite the turning point actually, but our creation now feels far more unique and personal.

 

How did you find that doom metal may serve as a proper foundation for your ideas? What kind of examples did you have before you?

As a matter of fact, we took our time asking ourselves what direction we should take when we formed the band in 2017. We just kept asking ourselves and each other what is it that we really want to do? So it wasn’t like we formed the band with a clear vision of which exact genre to play, it was more like stepping into a new playground and figuring out which new toy to play with. One day our singer Irene suggested bands like Chelsea Wolfe and King Woman, and I remember smiling from ear to ear from thinking how awesome that would be.

 

What did you put in the band’s name? It’s a great image, which can be interpreted in different ways, and yet the first thing I thought of was SepticFlesh and their song “Our Church below the Sea”.

Being in the same conversation with the mighty fellow Greeks Septicflesh is nothing but an honor. Your description is actually very accurate. We wanted our name to invoke images relevant to the atmosphere of our music. How you interpret them is all up to you.

 

The first album Odalisque was recorded in 2022. Was it comfortable for you to work this way – developing your style without hurry? Did you embody all of your ideas in the album back then?

That album was the three of us finally figuring out our sound, finding our voice and bringing together a few songs that felt cohesive and true to what we wanted to say. As for the timeframe, it was a combination of the pandemic bringing everything to a pause and us taking our time (i.e. being lazy!)

 

Odalisques were enslaved chambermaids or female house slaves attendant in a Turkish seraglio — why did you choose a name like this for the debut album? How was this concept expressed in your songs?

It seems that using female figures that are traditionally oppressed or ridiculed in society or religion is a bit of a recurring theme in our music, and I can assure you that we are not doing this on purpose. Odalisques were in fact slaves and members of a sultan’s harem in the Ottoman Empire. Again, in our record, the term gets twisted a bit and our odalisque uses her sensuality and sexuality in a more empowering way. But in our first album, that concept was very loosely spread throughout our music, more of a general aesthetic rather than a strict storyline. It was with Eva that we decided to really concentrate on a very particular concept, and it was then that we realized that there is in fact a recurring theme and Odalisque was the first step.

 

Now, three more years after the release of Odalisque you release your second album Eva. Well, foremost, how did you spend this period between the albums?

The reception for Odalisque really exceeded our expectations, so we spent that time promoting it, until we felt it was time to work on something new. Once the concept of Eva was fully conceived, the album took only a few months to be fleshed out.

 

Your new album Eva has a similar mesmerizing, almost ritualistic vibe as Odalisque has. Do you find this approach most suitable for you?

Atmosphere and mood is the backbone of our music. It’s not only suitable, it’s the fundamental principle driving this band from the start.

 

 

Eva is a concept album loosely based on the Bible’s core story about the fall of man, as I understand it. Why did you choose it as a fundament of your own story? What did you want to fix in the original plot?

Eva has been portrayed in modern religion as the original sinner, the one at fault for corrupting man after being foolishly deceived by the serpent. That’s a very shortsighted and puritanical approach if you ask us. So in our view, Eva is defiant, a rebel, a seeker of knowledge, embracing what religion or society deemed ‘forbidden’. So it’s not about the fall of man as you put it, more like the rise of woman.

 

Hah, okay, but how did it come that everyone (both of them) were banished from Eden and this whole mess started? 😀 Where does the album’s plot stop?

That’s a very good question, and it actually brings us to the very point that we are trying to make. That seeking knowledge was the sole reason for their exile from the Garden of Eden. Our plot doesn’t have a different ending, our any ending per se. We just want to give a different viewpoint to an already established story, and the listeners can just do whatever they please with it.

 

Here we have the combination of different elements in Eva: drone, doom-gaze, stoner, some industrial touch too. How easy was it to embed all these parts in your music?

We have been trying to combine these different elements from the very beginning of this band, and it was a slow process of trial and error. We decided early on to deviate from the classic industrial, electronic sound and create more atmospheric textures. So we ended up using weird stuff like samples of destroyed piano strings or ethnic percussions with crazy effects on top. The guitar tones took quite some time to nail down as well, combining the ethereal drones of shoegaze with heavy, doom riffs. We also had to make sure all this would work in a live setting as well. We feel pretty confident about the final result.

 

And yet there are some nice rocking tunes in your songs, the new “Garden of Eden” is a good example. How did you compose this one? It would be a proper radio hit, if you could make it to the radio.

Thank you very much for that compliment. I highly doubt we are radio-friendly material, but stranger things have happened. As to how it was composed, while the core of our sound is based on a more ritualistic vibe, you can’t say no when a good groovy riff is brought to the table. If it feels right to us, then it’s Church of the Sea material, simple as that.

 

 

How long did you build Eva’s sound? Did you have a hard time balancing guitar-based sound with ambient / industrial tunes?

The Eva sound was the evolution of our sound from our previous record, Odalisque. We wanted this to feel natural, to keep what elements worked but to sprinkle it a bit too, keep things moving forward. The most challenging part was incorporating Greek lyrics and traditional music, which may sound odd to you, but it was actually the first time we attempted to dive into our native background and heritage. Surprisingly, all that stuff was embedded in our DNA all along and the title track Eva, with heavy influences from Greek traditional music, just flowed out of us.

 

Why did you choose to write lyrics in Greek this time?

It all started when we decided to delve into our musical origins and traditions. Like I said, we had never tried it before and although it seemed fascinating, it was also unknown territory as well. But if you are going to go down that route, you have to do it with Greek lyrics, there’s no other way, for us at least. Irene brought the lyrics and vocal lines, and it just struck a chord in all of us, and the song was finished effortlessly in a matter of days. It seems that we do carry the traditions of our ancestors, sometimes without us realizing it.

 

By the way, your music has a kind of both cinematographic and industrial touch, and both these elements work well and efficiently in the case of the new songs. What were your personal influences?

You are spot on with the cinematographic reference. Soundtracks are a huge influence on us — a good example are the works of Hans Zimmer. Bands like Dead Can Dance also played their part in shaping our sound. Then you have artists like Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle, heavier stuff like My Dying Bride, or even pop stuff like Oasis. We have been characterized as pop Sunn O))), and we absolutely love that remark.

 

 

How do you see Church of the Sea’s prospects from the position of evolution? Do you see where to turn next time?

If anything, we know our rhythms and when to make the next turn. We don’t have a clear picture of what our next destination is right now, but we’re confident we’ll get there eventually.

 

What are your further plans for the rest of 2025? And when do you plan to return back to the studio work again?

We are focusing on promoting Eva at the moment, and we have a few nice gigs lined up. The reception is amazing at the moment, and we’re excited to bring that energy in a live setting. Making an album is fulfilling and draining at the same time, so we are not in a hurry to get back in the studio just yet. As always, we will feel when it’s time to do so.

 

Okay, thanks for the interview Alex! Did we skip something important in the process?

I think we covered everything. Thanks for allowing us to talk about our music in such depth. We wish you all the best in all your future endeavors and that we get to talk again on our next release. Cheers!

Church of the Sea

https://www.facebook.com/ChurchoftheSea/

https://churchofthesea.bandcamp.com/album/eva