Metal-Hammer-#366_2-(201506)

DECEPTOR – “Dome of Wrath” (από το “Demo ’89” demo – 1989)
Dimitris Asteriadis answers the questions

MH: Word of mouth has it -and I agree- that, after this extraordinary demo, Deceptor could proceed to the recording of a full length album, something that unfortunately never happened. Which reasons led to that?

DA: This question cannot be easily answered on its every aspects, since the reasons, and all the factors put together for a certain result are so many. And this leads to wrong conclusions by many who are not able to know them all. Let’s say that, in my point of view, the preventing circumstances at the time in our country, combined with the inexperience of our young age, led to our failure of handling all the known parameters in order to attain a fair result which, in our case, would be a studio album and a continuance of the band’s existence.

MH: What was the audience’s reaction towards your demo back then?

DA: People were very positive and “embraced” Deceptor’s demo. Furthermore, the surprising fact for us was that they asked us to play our own material instead of cover songs at the shows. We were impressed by the audience’s excessively positive attitude on us. Due to our perfectionism, we didn’t consider that our efforts were worth such attention. We spent most of the time focusing on what to fix rather than on our “narcissism”, hehe!

MH: In your opinion, which are the essential elements and features for a Greek band that starts today, in order to distinguish itself?

DA: Most important are energy, spirit, a good chemistry and communication, musical skills, originality (as much as it can be), hard work above all, cooperation and a positive attitude for endurance against time, something that can be the band’s ally in the statistic scale of chances! Another important element is the existence of someone outside the band who would believe with a full heart at its vision and potential and would be able to cover everything apart from music – himself, not the musicians. No matter how exaggerative this may sound, it is essential for the creation of a healthy and equal atmosphere among the band members, so that no one complains about doing all the boring works – something usual in many bands.

Comment by Dimitris Kartaloglou (Sacral Rage):
“Dome of Wrath” is the enclosure of the epic demo Deceptor delivered in 1989. A band from Thessaloniki that time and space were against it, and after two promos, came to its end. Deceptor are not just another chapter of Greek heavy metal that, due to aggravating circumstances, didn’t manage to do something. They are probably the most unfairly gone band of our country. The perfect compositions, their musicianship, their touch, their influences and the genre of metal Deceptor chose to play, were not just ahead of their time back then, but even today it’s very difficult to find any release of such level in our country. Another great advantage of this band was the outmost voice of John Koutselinis, which, in my opinion, is also the most important ever to emerge from Greece. Those of you, who didn’t notice them until today, you now have the chance. Take a closer look to one of the most shining diamonds of Greek heavy metal.