Death Courier, formed in 1987, have been one of the first death/thrash metal bands in Greece. After releasing their debut album ‘Demise‘ in 1992 (Psychosis Rec) establishing their presence in the scene, the group was put on hold in 1993 due to personal and financial reasons. In 2009 the only remaining original member of the band Bill (vocals, bass), revived the band and released their second album ‘Perimortem‘ in 2013. On May 12th Death Courier will perform live at Horns Up Festival at Trikala, Greece.
Death Courier had a tough journey in the past. Since your second release, are things better? How do you see the future of the band?
All the bands in the old days had a tough time starting from zero to create what is today the Greek metal scene, for example in the old times long hair was no fashion like today, we couldn’t find rehearsing rooms, there were no magazines to support metal, only fanzines, and no places to play live and so on. We adore every one of those bands especially those who did the breakout and became big in our country and worldwide and look with nostalgia and respect those years of creation. Our second release ‘Perimortem‘ brought us back from the dead after many years of fooling around. Now the things with Ilias and George are solid and great in creativity as bigger things are coming soon in 2018. A contract with a great record company done a new material ready to be released and many concerts coming.
The first split of Death Courier in 1993 was due to departures for personal reasons and obligation. If I am correct, you didn’t want to disband, but it was difficult to find musicians. Was that because of the genre you belong or the commitment needed to be in a band?
Both happened at the same time after the release of ‘Demise‘ in 1992. We were one of the leading bands in the Greek death metal scene and we suddenly had no guitar player. Nick Flesh Tangalos from Sadistic Noise purposed to help with the guitar but long distance from our hometowns left this scenario uncompleted. We abandoned our rehearsing room…in the band we were friends first and after band mates so we stopped there in the middle of 1993 although we had new material to work on….the songs we released in the ‘Perimortem‘ release.
The last change in the line-up was after the release of ‘Perimortem‘. Since 2014 Ilias is on drums and George is on guitars after the revival of Death Courier in 2009. What kind of gain do they receive from Bill who is more experienced in the early stages of death metal, and what from them to Bill?
I am grateful I have found and played metal with George and Ilias as they are very talented and a great help to me to make music in the old spirit of Death Courier…There is chemistry between us and that makes creativity easy to come. I hope they gain and enjoy the experience of creating music meeting new and old friends and playing in concerts as much as I do…that’s all we seek.
Are you working on new material? Is there a chance to have a new release soon?
New material is ready to be released we have a contract with a great record company very supportive and flexible about our music… Announcements will come when the artwork is ready hopefully to come out in 2018.
As Death Courier you have a DIY logic. Did this work easier in the past, taking into consideration the difficult last years in Greece?
In the past DIY logic worked very well as many friends were involved and we tried to keep our releases and merch in low cost and sometimes even free when we could afford it but unfortunately our government destroyed all the political and social occupations of buildings in Greece so in Patra our hometown it’s hard to support our music like that but we always declared our support to all of them…
How do you distribute your work?
In the past mostly through good distros and Facebook… But from now on for the new release with the help of our record company there will be worldwide distribution and support….
On May 11th-13th you will perform at Horns Up Festival. Will you include old and new stuff in your setlist?
We are looking forward to playing at one of the best festivals in our country. Horns Up Festival is taking place in the beautiful town of Trikala a great city to live and it’s the first time we will visit and play there… Our set list includes old and new material from the 2 full length albums ‘Demise‘ (1992) and ‘Perimortem‘ (2013).
Thank you very much for your time! Add anything you wish to close this interview.
Support the Greek metal scene as festivals like Horns Up Festival makes our metal world turn. To play with friends and meet new friends is what we always seek in events like these, so be there join the Couriers and stay brutal. Thanks to Mary Kalaitzidou for the interview and the music webzine Last Day Deaf for their time and support. We wish the best.
Photo credits: G.McReedem (1st one), Svart Søstrene – Photography (2nd one)
Mary Kalaitzidou