Nightrage - Talk about their albums with Music Trespass!

May 5th 2018

Internet (Online)

Getting to know Nightrage's Marios Lliopoulos!

Joe Denby catches up with Nightrage mainman Marios Lliopoulos to talk about the bands new album 'The Puritan' and his career up to date.

Music Trespass: How are you today?

Marios: I'm fine, I'm doing alot of interviews today about our new album 'The Puritan' and I'm very excited. The album came out just last Friday worldwide on Despotz Records. We've got some great feedback and everybody seems to be getting into the new songs and I'm very grateful for that.

Music Trespass: So lets talk about the new album. I listened to it twice today and it's certainly some of your most accessible work to date.

Marios: Looking back at three and a half years since the last album 'Insidious' we're hear with a new album which was recorded in a new studio with Daniel Bergstrand and George Nerantzis. We are also on a new label Despotz. We're excited about the new album we feel it's our best so far, it has very simplistic arrangements. We went with our feeling, we didn't want to make a complex album. We wanted to make it a real easy listen. We have a new singer Ronnie Nyman. We wrote the songs together, this easily is the best effort so far from Nightrage.

Music Trespass: It's certainly an easy album to get into. It's full of hooks and melody.

Marios: Hooks is part of what we do. Of course we are 100% metal but we to combine brutality and melody. It's part of what we do and are known for and 'The Puritan' is no exception. We just concentrated on writing good songs. We are still doing what we have done before but this time we feel it's a bit more mature.

Music Trespass: How did your new Singer Ronnie Nyman come into the band? He had some massive shoes to fill didn't he?

Marios: Yeah well at first we had Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates), I heard of Ronnie through a mutual friend. He has a hardcore back ground. He understood Nightrage and got what we were about. It felt like it was meant to be. Things really fell together.

Music Trespass: I really like the artwork too.

Marios: I gave the artist some tips for what I had in mind. What I wanted to say with the lyrical themes and stuff and he came up with the cover and I loved it. The title 'The Puritan' is a strong title and it matched the feeling of the title. It's strong, pure and honest and I feel the artwork showcased that mentality.

Music Trespass: The band have had it's share of line up changes. Obviously it's nothing new but in today's climate revolving line ups are more common. You always still manage to retain your sound and quality.

Marios: Well it's not the best thing that can happen to your band. When your trying to get your name out there and achieve your musical goals, it's not a good thing but at the end of the day you have to move on. With Nightrage I am emotionally connected with each band. Of course I'd love to keep the same line up but it's just not been possible because people change. Lives go in different directions. People want to follow their own dreams in music, So you do the best you can and move to the next album. Thanks for saying that, we try to keep things going through all the ups and downs. We never let down our fans.

Music Trespass: Well perseverance is key isn't it!

Marios: Yeah, otherwise Nightrage would have been dead by now.

Music Trespass: I'm also a fan of your former band Exhumation.

Marios: Exhumation was great I'm really proud of what we did.

Music Trespass: Any chance of a reunion?

Marios: Unfortunately no. I lost contact with some of those guys. Things change you know, you can't wait for people.

Music Trespass: So when Exhumation split you moved to Sweden and started Nightrage.

Marios: Yeah that was in 2000, I met Gus G and we started Nightrage. I felt we had more opportunities if we moved to Sweden. I knew Frederick Nordstrom because he recorded Exhumation so he helped alot in the formation of the first album, Moving was a risky move but I'm so grateful that I made that moved.

Music Trespass: What else is in the pipeline for Nightrage?

Marios: We are doing a lot of planning for tours in Russia, America, two European tours this summer, some Greek shows. We are looking for a session drummer and guitar player. I'm hoping to get back to the UK it's been a while.

Music Trespass: I'm in to every kind of music not just Metal, I like Blues and Hard Rock, of course I'm listening to all the metal bands. There's always something to listen to especially today.

Music Trespass: What's your top five favorite albums?

Marios: Metallica 'Master of Puppets', Iron Maiden 'Powerslave', Testament 'The New Order', Merciful Fate 'Don't break the oath' and Venom 'Black Metal'.

Music Trespass: Iron Maiden or Judas Priest?

Marios: Iron Maiden!