Photo: Marios Theologis / Math Studio
Legends in the Greek extreme metal scene, Nightfall continually inspire others through their dynamic approach to the genre. Children of Eve is the group’s 11th studio record – another fine collection of tracks that can be as heavy as it can be thoughtful, incorporating black, death, doom, and gothic elements with a Mediterranean, exotic twist that has always kept them unique. We reached out to vocalist Efthimis Karadimas to discuss the work behind the latest record, single/video choices, the importance of strong imagery in the modern scene, favorite album / show memories, concerns regarding radicals infiltrating European countries, the friendships between the band with Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh, and what’s in store for the band down the line.
Dead Rhetoric: Children of Eve is the latest record for Nightfall. How did the songwriting and recording process develop this time around? Did you have any specific elements or aspects that you wanted to emphasize that differ from previous releases?
Efthimis Karadimas: We started working on Children of Eve during the pandemic time, because there was no touring option for the previous album At Night We Prey. I started to come up with riffing, and then the riffing became songs. The good thing is since I openly spoke about my depression with the previous album, I felt some sort of relief, and that really empowered me to focus and become more active, and feel like an excited child that goes out into the world for the first time. Also getting angry about some wrongdoings and bad things that I see over there. It’s a good situation from the previous situation, it carries the confidence this time of somebody who is on good terms with depression, and he’s trying to inspire others positively, people who may struggle with this issue.
Dead Rhetoric: Were there any songs that were a bit more of a challenge or developed in a different way from the initial writing to what we end up hearing on the final record?
Karadimas: “Seeking Revenge” was a big surprise to us. It’s based on an analog keyboard riff that I had written many years ago, back in 2002 or something. I found it in my database, and I thought it was interesting enough to build something around it. We love how it turned out – it’s explosive and powerful. “Christian Svengali”, the outro song of the album, that turned out to be much more epic than I thought it would be. Both songs serve their dual purposes perfectly.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you find that you have to be in a specific mood or atmosphere when creating the best music or lyrical content for the band? Are you able to capture inspiration as it strikes in the moment, even if you are out in nature or travelling?
Karadimas: The latter is the truth. You find inspiration everywhere, 24 hours a day around the clock. Yes, sometimes you may feel doomy a little bit, blue, down so to speak. The music writing process, it’s a long process. It includes every aspect of life in it.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you find yourself more creative in a specific time of the day?
Karadimas: I am a bit of a nocturnal person I would say. I prefer to create when the sun is setting down for the day.
Dead Rhetoric: Tell us about the video / single choices for this record – and where do you see the importance of visuals and strong imagery to tie into the brand or concepts Nightfall convey?
Karadimas: Nowadays, the images have become much more important than previously. Especially with the younger generation. People want shorter stories versus longer writing passages. That’s something that we need to take into consideration when we are promoting our music. We started with a big production video for the single “I Hate”. It depicts the story in a symbolic way of a soldier that got killed in a battle, he comes back in life to take revenge as an angel, he promises to this guy life. It’s about cutting ties with the past. We put a lot of money into the production of this video clip, and we love how it turned out. We will try a second video soon. We also have a lyric video for “The Cannibal”, this is really nice when I look at it. We will have some live in the studio videos that are going to follow.
It’s all ultra important to get out the right images nowadays. Unfortunately, this is the digital truth, and we have to face this.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you place just as much importance on the cover art, because of wanting to put out the right first impression before pressing play on a record?
Karadimas: Yes, of course. It’s a part of the artistic work. I don’t take front covers very lightly. The cover has to reflect the lyrical concept behind (the record). I am not into AI art; I want real people and real souls contributing to the artwork. This time we were fortunate enough to have Eliran Kantor, he did this amazing front cover. We are very proud of it. Eliran is a friend and has followed the band for a long time – he walked the extra mile for us, and that shows in the final product.
Dead Rhetoric: In a previous interview I saw online, you mentioned that Nightfall is not typical in terms of a recording schedule as you only release material when the band has enough inspiration or purpose to do so. Does this explain the measured output of the band in releasing now five studio albums over the last 21 years compared to the earlier productivity generated in the 1990’s to early 2000’s – and would you say it’s harder the longer a band has been together to produce fresh material without repeating yourselves too much?
Karadimas: What counts most is the reason why you do something – the intention. I started this music as fun when I was a kid. I needed this music as a way to express my feelings, and get on good terms with the life around me. We felt out of the social norm, especially back in the 80s and early 90s. As soon as we got the first contract, we were enchanted but we had no clue about the business side of things. It was 2000 when I stopped thinking about treating my art as a commodity. I was never into numbers, likes, or stuff like that. I have always been an introvert, so it’s always been difficult for me to get on social media. However, things have taken on a new way of their own when it comes to the decisions with Nightfall. We lost a little bit of clarity, and the younger generation doesn’t seem to know about Nightfall as well. We are reinventing ourselves, and doing things that we should have done much earlier. With the maturity and the wisdom that we do carry right now.
We are not young anymore (laughs), which is a good thing because we have managed not to get burnt out by heavily touring, promoting stuff, or recording an album every one to one and a half years. It’s very important to stay focused, to express art as a beautiful tool, not to try to reach stardom. Metal is not for this kind of medium.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you feel that Season of Mist is the best record label for Nightfall, and understand your position about this?
Karadimas: Absolutely. I would take it one step further; the entire French scene has supported the Greek metal scene since day one. Without that support, most of the Greek bands wouldn’t exist right now. The reason is the French people understand how to combine the romanticism of the art and the business side of the art. While, for example, when we were on Metal Blade, it was very difficult for us, we had to come up with a strict business plan for what we were going to do that exceeded the artistic part. The German labels on the other hand, they have protocols they put in place, and you can’t go beyond that. We are very much closer to the French mentality, being a resident in the Southern part of Greece. That’s very important and I praise that.
Dead Rhetoric: When looking back at the long career of Nightfall, what do you consider some of the personal highlights where you knew you were making an impact with your art? Are there specific albums, shows, tours, festival appearances or other activities that come to mind?
Karadimas: The most important part was the debut album Parade into Centuries, because I know that from the business side, if we had failed, there wouldn’t have been a second chance for anybody. We managed to get bigger, and that was big for the Greek scene in terms of being booked abroad. Each album carries it’s (own) special meaning. I would say the next album that was important was Lesbian Show from 1997. I pretend to myself to be (the Greek author) Homer, I was in a bad mental mood back then, I played with words, and I made my life and my faith as woman figures that fall in love together and forget about me. It was more of a theatrical act and I’m very proud of it. It was difficult for the masses to understand – the story is amazing; the parallelism and the analogies are still there. It was a moment I will remember forever. The third album is At Night We Prey. We wanted people to feel like they would have a good reason to wake up in the morning, start talking to people about how they could become better with themselves. This is a very big thing to me; it gave me the courage to go on.
A memorable show of mine has been recent – the last Hellfest festival. The promoters asked us to play there after being idle for almost 20 years or more. They offered us a really great slot and we played in front of 20,000 people. It was amazing, everybody was into the music, that was a real boost to us.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the evolution of the metal scene across Greece? If you had the opportunity and means to improve anything regarding the bands, fans, venues, promoters, labels, and so forth, what do you think needs to be worked on first?
Karadimas: It’s a small scene, so it cannot sustain so many bands here. Unfortunately, there are no big or strong record labels here – and that is at the heart of the scene, not the bands, but a record label who has the finances. Right now, it’s a cooperation between Greece and France, Greece and Germany to get stronger exposure. We need individuals that are willing to put their finances on the line to get the Greek scene promoted. The later generation will soon say goodbye, and the newest one will be coming in. Otherwise, younger musicians will have to seek some finances and promotion from abroad.
Dead Rhetoric: Would you say Nightfall has a good relationship with the other veteran Greek bands that have global reach like Rotting Christ and Septic Flesh?
Karadimas: Yes. After all, we are three bands that grew up together. There are individuals that have stayed together – we have slept over each other’s places, exchanged a lot of ideas. We do influence one another, not as much as a band but more as a culture. It’s inspirational, the sources that we have, the same education. We grew up in the very same neighborhoods. It’s very important, and that’s why we are called the pillars of the Greek metal scene. What would I like to see is a tour together – the three of us being able to hit the road together.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you consider a pivotal or critical moment when it comes to the development of your musical career?
Karadimas: We started as a reaction to the wrongdoings of society that I saw as a young person. Other people find their way out through other activities like sports. I found my way out through music. As an introvert, it was very convenient to me to make music on my own for my own pleasure. Then I started little by little exchanging some ideas with other people, and that created a small community. That’s what started me into the underground, sending snail mail, with the envelopes, stamps, etc. It convinced us that we were doing something that is normal, these normal outcasts of society which is what people called us back then.
There was not a single moment – it was a long, painful process.
Dead Rhetoric: How important have band chemistry and your business relationships been for the longevity of Nightfall?
Karadimas: Very important. I don’t like bands that are one solo guy or two people and then they hire session musicians to call themselves a band. There are plenty of them right now. I never considered a band the project of one or two guys. A band is a band. Everybody has to have input in the band, everybody has to contribute, every idea has to be challenged. Everybody needs to prove that what they say is rational, and it can work. The final result is unbeatable when it’s a process of a collected work. I see that many people lay down their hands, don’t have the intention to fight in order to keep a band alive, or keep everybody in the loop. If you remember back in the day, we used to embrace bands – not solo artists. Solo artists were for pop music. Why is it now that the music world is full of individuals? I do not like that.
Dead Rhetoric: Another problem can be it seems like the younger generation embraces single songs from their music rather than full-length albums… the story that happens with albums. Is this another aspect to you that’s difficult to overcome?
Karadimas: Absolutely. Especially with Nightfall, we used to have long tracks, and that was a problem for Spotify and YouTube videos. Our new album does not have long tracks, but we did that on purpose. I know people that try to come up with shorter songs in order to have more repeated listens. Everybody can decide what way to go. Back in the 50s and 60s with vinyl, the music scene was coming up with one or two tracks. It was a technical problem to come up with bigger recordings because it was more expensive. Right now, it’s not.
Dead Rhetoric: What concerns you most about the world that we currently live in today? Where do you think the leaders of the world need to put more energy and attention into for the future improvement of society as a whole?
Karadimas: I’m very concerned about the autocratic momentum that is being raised right now in the so-called Western Hemisphere. Back in the day we used to talk about the radicals in the Middle East, and how their leaders would take advantage of people and take them to get killed in the name of a god. We thought that problem was far away from us. We see now in Europe for example, there’s an influx of people from those countries and it’s an excuse for domestic radicals to prove to themselves and to us that we could practice this degree of intolerance to a bigger degree. That starts to concern me, because whenever there is a big influence of religion on society, you see this is against freedom of speech, science, art, etc. Just remember what happened to Judas Priest back in the 80s – they had to go to court because of the two kids who committed suicide. The court had to find the real reason behind things – but the parents blamed the band, and it was backed by some religious leaders. This is annoying, and not a good thing.
The debate about abortion. Instead of letting women decide what to do with their bodies, we have some crazy radicals telling us that we should not kill someone in your belly, no matter how they are conceived. It’s crazy, it’s outdated. The best we can do right now is to try to shake people a bit – let’s put a basis down to see what respect is. We can all live here together in harmony.
Dead Rhetoric: What does success mean to you personally? And has that definition changed from when you first started as a musician to where you are at in your career today?
Karadimas: Success is that I am here talking with you, having the same background, and the same brains – despite having never met each other for so long. That is a big thing to me. Communication among people who have the same ideas, the same dreams, the same fears – it’s the key to a good life.
Dead Rhetoric: What is left on the bucket list for you to accomplish with Nightfall – or any other musical aspirations – that you haven’t been able to get to as of yet?
Karadimas: Now it’s time for us to tour extensively. To bring more of this atmosphere out on the stage. We haven’t been able to do that for many years. We have the appetite, and now the time is right. We have the best lineup to deliver on stage. I’m totally looking forward to our future live gigs.