Interview With Efi Eva Of Greece's Black Melodic Metal "Euphrosyne"

Setting a stride in the artistically unbalanced year 2021 has been, Efi Eva (vocals) and Alex Despotidis (guitar) united forces under the banner of Euphrosyne. Based in Athens, Greece they shared a common vision for creating dark and adventurously melodic music, constantly breaking the barriers of what post black metal presumably is.

Within that first year, the singles “Thorns Above The Skies” and “Rattus” set the tone of the band, a bleak and twisted amalgam of black and melodic metal with orchestral arrangements and vocals that range from deafening growls to melodic pop lines, steeped in the feeling of depression and isolation.

After taking a while to solidify the band’s line-up and receiving critical acclaim on the 2 tracks, the band was ready to enter 2022 with George Gazis (bass) and Kostas Mamalis (drums) as vital parts of the machine and record their debut EP. “Keres” is the first artistic statement of a band ready to claim their place on the map, with multifarious compositions drifting from the fierce narrative of Deafheaven, Ghostbath and Steven Wilson, to the devastating delivery of Behemoth, Gojira and Gorgoroth.

“With a series of liveshows planned out to promote the digital release of “Keres”, Euphrosyne is introducing a new, focused and inspired force with a strong visual identity, challenging the European post blackmetal scene.

“Keres” is scheduled to be out on November 25, 2022, Check out the below interview with Efi talking on the new album and much more.

The Interview

Greetings from Metalheads Forever Magazine, I’m Keith Clement the head, how are you today?

We’re great and happy to be here in Metalheads Forever Magazine and thank you for that!

Your album “Keres” will be out on November 25. Would you like to tell me about the Songwriting and production behind the album?

First of all, the production behind “Keres” is done by Psychon from Septicflesh and the whole songwriting by Alex and Efi. More specifically, Alex took over the entire music composition and orchestration and Efi the lyrics and the concept of the album.

Any concept that was put behind the album?

Yeap! Keres named after female death spirits from Greek mythology serving the allegory of observers that they narrate the personal psychic battle with our fears and the ancestral instinct of anger that leads even to the emoting of loss. At the end of the battle they await bloodthirsty to devour what ends dead from this war and in that case is Fear. The conclusion of our EP and what Keres narrate is the ascendency of soothing emotions like redemption and acceptance that comes from freedom. That’s why the last lyrics of “Keres” are the following ones : “One day, we’ll be free” (Song: Within the Ages) . What is happening in this war leads to our very own freedom from every hostile feeling that we bravely fought.

7 Pure Black Metal awesomeness, a great piece of artistic work behind this, how do you feel about the outcome of this album?

Extremely excited, although until all the processes of the E.P were completed (from the recordings to the filming of the video clips) we were very stressed both for the result and for the timeline we had set. We wouldn’t have achieved anything if we didn’t have good partners around us (Psychon, Manos Georgakopoulos, Dimitris Tzwrtzis , John Kaps, Foivos Hatz and all the other special people) and for that we feel really grateful.

You released the music video for Sister Of Violence, would you like to tell me about the making of the video and about the song?

Τhe filming of the video clip took place in Universe 217’s studio and everything was completed within 2 days. We had an awesome time and since it’s essentially a playthrough of the whole band we really felt like we were playing it live in front of audience. As far as the concept of sister of violence ,as we stated in the past, is about the handling of fear and anger caused by abandonment, as well as the emotion of betrayal, which can even come from our own selves. Sister of Violence’ indicates a metaphorical person we are attached to in any way and describes our darkest thoughts in our time of need. Using the word ‘violence,’ emphasis is placed on pivotal moments when trust and childlike innocence are lost, as one experiences these described emotions in a harsh and violent transitional phase from adolescence to adulthood. Seeking the way out of emotional exhaustion, the song is ending with the relief of letting all go and reaching the point of inner peace.

Any plans for another video before the release of the album?

We just released a new video of our song “When My Fears Conquered All” which is included in “Keres” and you can watch it on our YouTube channel.

Do you have any special release day plans?

Of course but not the same day! We’re planning a release show to celebrate the release of “Keres” at Temple live stage (Athens, Gazi) on 2^nd of December. Unfortunately, it will be only in Greece although we would like to tour around Europe and ,generally the world, to play our new Album.

How does touring looks for Euphrosyne?

As we said at the previous question is a big YES and we hope we’ll be capable of this soon!

Would you like to tell me a bit about the band and how it all started?

The first idea of forming Euphrosyne dates back to 2019, when Alex and Efi started at working on one of Efi’s personal dark-pop project and composing some random songs. That’s when the whole inspiration of creating this band came from and so it happens. In our first steps we began as a project but after thoughts we had, we decided to set this as a whole band since we work better in a team and we believe that that it offers better and more complete results.

How do you look into the future of Euphrosyne?

We want to be really optimistic and say that we see it full of gigs both in Greece and all over the world, however difficult it may seem, and for sure with a new full-length (this time) album until the beginning of 2024!

What would be some of the upcoming plans for the band?

Οur immediate plans are to do as many live performances as we can and as soon as the Keres release show is over we will go in for the recordings of our new album.

What is the message you want to give to the fans?

As hard as the times we live, keep on making art and supporting the rock and metal community!