Piranha: 'Our music is more melodic and more atmospheric now.'

Our Greek metal band, on the occasion of their latest album 'Arise From The Shadows', opens up to us. All this in an exclusive interview on Fuzzy Hound!

Guys, thank you for being here at Fuzzy Hound. First, tell us a bit about the vision and journey of Piranha, from the very beginning to now. How do you yourselves see this journey so far?

'Good evening! Thanks for the invitation!

Piranha Piranha were formed in 1987 by Giannis (guitar & vocals), Kostas (bass) and drummer Michalis Michalis (from Deviser). This makes them pioneers of Greek metal music. Later, drum duties were permanently taken over by Babis (from Fragile Vastness) and a bit later Denis (guitar) from Acid Deathjoined too. The music the band played was death / thrash metal. They played many shows in Greece, and also took part in several major festivals. During its 14-year run on the Greek metal scene, the band managed to release 3 albums and share stages with big international names such as DESTRUCTION and MALEVOLENT CREATION, as well as many major Greek bands such as SEPTIC FLESH, ACID DEATH, NIGHTFALL, FLAMES, DEATH COURIER, SELEFICE etc. In late 2001 came the band's breakup.

After 16 years of absence, the band was reactivated in late 2017, this time with Andreas from ALBERT on drums, working on new material and playing several shows. In September 2019 they signed a 5-year record deal with the well-known German label 7hard Records resulting in their new cd titled "Arise from the Shadows" which has been released worldwide (worldwide release) since 14/8/2020.

This many-year (over 3 decades) journey of ours in extreme sound, we can only call it wonderful!!!!!!'

You made a really beautiful comeback. What were the reasons Piranha went on hiatus? How did the reunion come about? What were the motivations?

'Thanks for your kind words, indeed after the show with MALEVOLENT CREATION in 2001 we decided to stop. The reason for our breakup was the pressure that had built up over the last 2 years (2000-2001) from our day jobs and family obligations, which meant there wasn't enough time to dedicate to the band the way we wanted to. Of course, all those years of inactivity, the idea of reconnecting was always in our minds, but we were probably waiting for the right moment, and it came (at the urging of our guitarist Denis) in late 2017 when we played as headliners at Extreme Assault Festival. Of course, during all those years of inactivity, some of our members carried on with their musical paths (Denis continued with Acid Death and Babis with Fragile Vastness).'

Your most recent release is the album Arise From The Shadows. What's been the response to this work so far? Are you happy with how things have gone?

'"Arise from the Shadows" is our comeback after many years of quiet, and we were expecting a warm response from people (mostly the old fans). However, what's happening now, a year after its release, is unbelievable. All the Greek and foreign sites and major magazines abroad (RockHard, Legacy, Metal Hammer, etc) have rated it an average of 8/10. Also, the friends who've gotten our cd have had very enthusiastic reactions. Naturally all this makes us happy and gives us strength to move forward and prepare more new things.'

On the album we heard a lot of new and different elements in the sound, compared to the past. Where do you feel Arise From The Shadows differs from your previous work? What's its most distinctive feature?

'Our new work is more melodic and has more atmospheric elements, but at the same time it's even more aggressive than our previous ones, and this is brought out even more by the really good production we managed to achieve. It makes sense that over this long 16-year stretch we were inactive, the way we think and create would change too, because of all the new listening we'd been doing all those years. That listening changed our way of thinking and creating in quite a few respects, but we always keep the core idea, which is our aggressive, fast style.'

You made your comeback at a time when the whole planet is being battered by the pandemic and natural disasters. How easy was it to write and produce an album during this period? How did you manage it?

'Indeed, our comeback came at a very difficult and strange time (pandemic, disasters, etc). However, I believe these difficulties made us more stubborn, and we fought even harder to get our new work released. We worked on the album for about 8 months (from early October 2019 until the end of May 2020). But I have to stress that the last 3 months, when the vocals still had to be recorded and the mixing and mastering done, were the hardest, because of the pandemic that hit the world (and the measures that were taken). But with the invaluable help of our old friend and "comrade-in-arms" Savvas Betinis from Acid Death, everything went well and the result is fantastic. Savvas took charge of the production and final mix of the album.'

You're a band that champions heavy Death / Thrash sound. What are your broader influences? Which bands are role models for you, both musically and as a way of life?

'You put it right. We consider ourselves a Death / Thrash band (with quite a few melodic elements) and I think we've been influenced by bands like Slayer, Possessed, Sepultura, Amon Amarth etc. Among the bands that are role models for us, you could say they are Possessed, Slayer, Venom and Exodus. These are timeless bands that have left their mark on metal music.'

Tell us about the method you follow to write music. Is there some set formula?

'We don't have any set formula, we simply try to bring together the ideas that come to us and create something we like and that expresses us. The main song structures on the new album were composed by Giannis (vocals/guitar) and Denis (guitar). Kostas (bass) and Andreas (drums) of course, add their own elements too. Generally, we're a group of 4 friends/musicians and we try to make music and have a good time. And because each of us has our own musical experiences and views, we have a wealth of ideas we can draw on to build a story (a song).'

As for the subject matter of your songs, where do you draw your inspiration from?

'As for the subject matter of our songs, we don't have anything specific in mind. We just write about whatever sparks our interest. For example, 'Nuclear Disease' is about a nuclear war that wipes out humanity. 'Eternal Night' is a horror story. 'Rotten' is a journey into the paranoid mind of a maniacal killer. 'Dead Boat' is an epic track describing a warrior's journey of no return. 'Haze' is a classic Faustian tale of an individual.'

Live shows have been completely frozen, and of course the situation heading into autumn and winter remains uncertain again. Would you play somewhere that required health protocols, or would you rather wait for things to get back to what we knew?

'Since we believe things will take a long time to get back to what we all knew, we would play a show where health protocols were in place. It's been a long time since we've experienced that direct connection between the audience and the band (even if it's in this "unorthodox" way).'

What other plans do Piranha have from here on out? What should we expect in the immediate future and also in the longer term?

'This whole period we're going through is very difficult for a band to promote its new work and make plans. Concerts can't happen (because of the restrictions). But that's the main way for people to get to know your music. So we've been focusing on the next tool, which is the internet (social media, magazines, zines, radio, youtube, etc). But despite the difficulties, we managed to make and release, 2 months ago, the first video clip for the track 'Arise From The Shadows'. In the near future we'll also make a second video clip for the track 'Eternal Night'. Now that the measures and restrictions are gradually changing and concerts are coming back, we'll start a small tour in Greece as well as some shows abroad (always with the safety of people's health and the band's in mind).'

Guys, thank you very much for the chat. The last words are yours, in whatever way you'd like…

We'd like to thank you, Dimitri and Fuzzy Hound for the opportunity you gave us to present our work and express our views. Also, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us for 3 decades now. That's what gave us the strength to reconnect and carry on from where we'd left off. 

Stay healthy!

Stay metal!