Greek metal act reveal an impressive album, with a blend of genres, and elements altogether, somehow, their music reminds me of The Gathering, therefore, for fans of metal, rock, and alternative too, This I Owe is the best suggestion, and their new album Alchemists, is a must listen album, which I am sure you’ll enjoy like I did.
I had the pleasure of having a chat with the guys from This I Owe, who discussed the new album, the record label they signed with, touring plans, and more.
It’s my pleasure having this chat with you, guys. How are you? The first time I heard your debut, I was simply mind-blown! Alchemists is, without a doubt, in my top albums this year. First of all, congrats on this album!
Chris: The pleasure is all ours! Thank you so much for your kind words! We are very happy that you enjoyed our debut album. It means so much to us! Well, for the time being, we are enjoying our summer after a very busy and demanding period! We are planning our next moves and there are many goals we would like to achieve in the next months!
What is the story behind Alchemists?
Tod: Alchemists is a story about grief and navigating through the turmoil it brings. The album’s protagonist has lost someone of value, and he is trying and failing to adjust to this new reality. The cause of grief in this case is the loss of Isobel. Isobel, on the surface level, is a person, but she could also pose as a placeholder for anything of value that has been lost, something desirable that has been taken from us forcibly. So one could say that the album is both portraying grief in its most literal sense, as well as a loss that carries significant value, to the point it becomes akin to the former.
I like the album cover, it’s very interesting. What can you tell me about it, directly linking up to your music?
Tod: The art on the cover conveys the basic principle of the album, grief and its stages. Denial, anger, bargaining, and depression stand on the sidelines, and Isobel, posing as the final stage of acceptance, stands firmly in the middle as the goal. I wouldn’t say it progresses the narrative of the album. However, it sets the tone and theme for the listener before the music starts playing.
Generally, your music is a blend of elements, from heavy metal to rock, and alternative too. How did you approach the sound in the first place?
Chris: To be fair, we didn’t have a plan on what sound we were going to approach. We wanted to play “heavy” stuff, but we also enjoyed writing ballads. Moreover, our music influences, while they have some things in common, are quite opposite. Some of us prefer more “old school” stuff over the extreme sound of the 2000s and vice versa. So, in terms of writing music, we tried incorporating these influences in our songs and seeing if they work. For the time being, it has worked great for us!
You teamed with Wormholedeath Records in order to release the album. So far, how is the experience with the label, and what is the feedback received from the media and the fans on Alchemists?
Chris: Teaming with Wormholedeath Records was an important step for us! We had already released Alchemists independently, but even in the early stages of our collaboration with Wormholedeath, the album was promoted a lot and in a way that we reached bigger audiences, thus getting great feedback! We gathered loads of good comments about our songs and our sound. People found our mix of old school metal, progressive, doom, and modern metal really cool, which is a great compliment! We really think that the re-release of Alchemists by Wormholedeath Records. which is about to happen any day now, so stay tuned! It will help us to be heard in every corner of the world and prepare us for what we are planning to do from now on! We can’t wait!
Not sure if it’s too early for this, but are you guys already working on new music?
Chris: Well, it’s never too early to work on music! During the recordings of the Alchemists album, a lot of material came up while we were rehearsing or jamming, but we put it aside so we can focus on releasing the album. After that, we wanted to revisit those ideas and see if we could transform them into new songs. Moreover, while rehearsing for our Greek mini tour and for the subsequent album release live show in Athens, we wrote some cool stuff that we think has potential, but we are trying to be patient. We are still processing our listeners’ feedback on our first album and we are listing things that we want and that we don’t want to do for our next release.
Can you name 5 bands/artists that influenced you personally, as well as This I Owe?
Chris: And here comes the funny part about common influences… It seems almost impossible to name bands that influenced the whole group! We may think about bands that influenced 2 or 3 of us, but that’s it! From a personal perspective, I have been influenced a lot by bands like Metallica, Black Sabbath, The Smiths, etc. These bands, although different from each other, have played an important role in my growth as a player, thus forging our sound.
Tod: My personal 5 picks have to be Muse, Korn, Death From Above 1979, Yes, and also Motorhead. I’d pick those not just because they’re great bands and I have been listening to them since my early teens, but also because I think all of them have great bass players that have had an actual impact on the way I learned to play and write music, which, of course, in turn impacted the band in some way.
Jerry: The 5 bands I would say influenced me the most have to be Sleep Token, Northlane, Motionless in White, Architects, and Bring Me The Horizon. A bit more modern than my bandmates’ picks, but our common ground was never our influences.
Mariel: It’s so funny to see the bands that the guys have chosen because it’s so clear that each one of us has chosen the bands that have mostly formed us not only as people, but as parts of this band! For me, I tend to value the art of performing as much as I value musicality, if that makes sense. There are so many bands that have influenced me, way more than I can even remember right now, but if I had to choose five bands that have made me the musician/performer that I am today, I’d probably say Savatage/ TSO (these two hold a special place in my heart as one), King810, Manowar, Epica and Nightwish. Even though these groups may seem incohesive, all of the bands that I mentioned have not only shaped the way I approach my feelings and the way I express them in the lyrics I write, but beyond that, their live shows have truly shaped the way I perform and shown me the show-woman I aspire to be. Can anyone even imagine what these bands would be without their astonishing shows?
Great choices! Touring-wise, do you have any plans outside your country? It would be amazing to see you live someday, somewhere!
Chris: We would be very happy to meet you too! The truth is that there are some plans for organizing live shows abroad. We have always dreamed of playing live in different countries, and it looks like the time when we will achieve this is getting closer. The Greek mini tour gave us great lessons about organizing back-to-back shows in different cities, time and stress management. It’s about time we practice what we’ve learned so far! We would love to share more, but we think that it’s best to keep the suspense going!
I’ll ask this too: what are the dream bands you would like to share the stage with?
Chris: We have played along with so many great bands, and it was an honor sharing the stage with them, but there are so many huge bands we would like to play with! Numbering all of them will take years, we are sure of it! Of course, we would love to share the stage with all the bands that influenced us. They are the reason behind all of our efforts as musicians! But our dream bands or artists are not only so famous worldwide, like Metallica or Savatage. There are lots of other bands, which are still underground or are close to worldwide success, that we admire, and we would love to play with them, like Sumo Cyco, Guano Apes, Bang Camaro, and many more. Having the chance to see them live and be seen by these bands means so much for us.
Tod: I’d like to note that each of us definitely has different dreams about the bands we’d like to play with, but none of us would ever miss a chance for a good live show. With so many great musicians out there, the possibilities are endless. We just listed a few that came to mind immediately.
To end this interview, is there anything else that you want to add? Thanks a lot for your time!
Chris: We would really like to thank you for your time. We enjoyed answering your questions! We hope that we will have the chance to talk to you again! Stay heavy!
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