Sometimes an album comes out into the world and it takes you on a ride! For me this year that would be the latest record from Greek headbangers, Project Renegade. Their latest album, Ultra Terra is a whirlwind of heavy riffs and bombastic hook lines that just captivate the listener. With the release of this album, I got to sit down with vocalist Marianna to discuss the new album, the challenges of producing an album during the COVID pandemic, memories of touring and a few other fun stories.
With the new album released, what's your personal favourite song on the album?
That is a very difficult question because there are a lot of songs that are very dear to my heart. I love the latest single “Token” because it’s the most recent single. The album closer “No Country For White Flags” is special as it’s the first ballad we’ve done as a band and the first time I was so exposed, vocally. It was a totally different approach from all of our other songs. I also really love the composition of “The Millenial March”.
I was about to say my personal favourite track is also “The Millenial March”, it definitely one that stuck with me. Could you tell me a bit about the writing process on this record, as opposed to the previous album?
I think the fact we wrote during the COVID pandemic, was particularly different. The fact that we had so much time on our hands to make this one, I think our mindset was “Well, there are no live shows to play. We might as well focus on writing and composing new music”. We were able to devote ourselves exclusively to the new album.
It was an interesting way to work, just being in a situation where you had no other distractions. It went really fast from composition to recording. With the previous album, Order of the Minus we just had to find time in our daily lives to write and record, so the first album ended up being a much slower process. On this album, everything was condensed into one month. We were waking up and switching our laptops and we got to work writing.
When it came to recording, it was really difficult to coordinate. This was because, here in Greece during the pandemic, we had really strict curfews. Every time you wanted to leave your home you had to send a message to the government to tell them you were leaving for a specific reason. Every typical daily task had a code. So 1 was for the doctor, 2 was for the supermarket, and 6 was to leave to exercise or walk your dog. It was a really intense time.
Wow, that sounds like a really intense experience to live through and work on an album through.
Yeah, it was a really intense time. I mean generally, you just didn’t know what to expect the next day. I think that’s something that’s reflected in the music and on the album itself.
So have gone back to playing live since the end of the pandemic?
Yeah, so when everything started to open up again last year, we played the summer festivals. So yeah, as of last year, we’re back on track. So we’ve played a few shows now and we’re in summer festival season. We have another show in Switzerland coming up and it’s the first time we’re going to be playing there, so we’re really excited! I think everything is back to normal
Do you feel like the new songs have come out differently when you play live instead of in the studio? Also, what has the general response been to the new material being incorporated into the setlist?
Since the newer material is a bit heavier, more energetic and more up-tempo. I think they’re better live. We’ve been playing ‘My Oath’, ‘Civil Unrest’ and ‘The Fix Is In’ and they slot right into the set. Even songs like ‘Bloodwitch’ and ‘Token’, which have more electronic elements in them, sound really great live. The crowd just adds that energy to the songs when you play them live. You know, songs like “This Fix Is In” just make you want to jump. All of the new material is really high energy, you know, the kind of songs they will make a circle pit for.
Every time we debut a new song live, we always have this moment of “How is this going to feel to the crowd?”. The first time we played ‘Bloodwitch’ live, (November 2022 at a show in Athens) we were really unsure of how it was going to work. That song has so many electronic elements to it and parts where I’m on my own singing. We didn’t know if it would kill the energy of the show or if the audience would lose interest in the song. But it went really well and now we have a lot more confidence in what we can include in our live shows.
The most memorable gig that we ever did was when we opened for Evanescence in Kyiv, Ukraine. That was a big show, I think there were 5000 people there, which is huge for an indoor venue. It was extra special for me as they were one of the bands that got me into heavy metal.
I saw Amy Lee perform as a teenager and that was an eye-opening experience seeing a woman in heavy metal, being so relentless. She was up there sweating, headbanging and just generally not caring what she looks like. Amy gives her heart and soul to the music.
So, getting to share the stage with Evanescence was like coming full circle. I think the fact they are such respectful and down-to-earth people was such a good thing too. It was an experience. I know they say don’t meet your heroes. However, on that occasion, it was amazing.
That’s such a great memory to share. Something like that has to stick with you. Do you have any times were things didn’t go exactly to plan?
I’ve had a funny thing that’s happened to me onstage. So, last year I had my hair in a dread-like style. In the dreadlock style I had, there’s also fake hair woven into it. We were into the show and the fake hair just started falling out. Flowing over the stage. So by the end of the show, I had a hairy ball on my head. I headbanging and everything was so sweaty and it was such a small show. It just felt like everything was falling apart.
Also, because the place was so packed, it felt like the place was falling down. People were throwing beer on the stage too, so it was a big mess.
You’ve mentioned and few times this incorporation of electronic elements into the songs. Where did the influence come from to include them?
Of course, we’re always listening to new music, and that very much informs our style to a point. We really like to mesh with different styles of music and new artists. Like we really try to search for new artists that are out there doing new things. We’re not a band that’s dedicated to the old-school methodology.
I think when it came time to write and produce, Ultra Terra. We were a little more unfiltered as a band. Also, because it was such an intense time to make a new album, and we are intense people, we were willing to be a bit fearless with the production of the new record.
On the first LP, we were trying to cast our net a little wider, to get the widest appeal possible. However, on the new album, we threw caution to the wind a little bit more and just do the ideas that were in our heads. Even if it’s the craziest thing we can think of, we wanted to open the album up to more ideas.
It’s always interesting to see how bands move from one album to the next. If the sound stays the same that means nothing important has happened to you in the meantime for your sound to change.
Where did your passion for music begin? And more specifically what brought you into the world of heavy metal?
Music was always something that filled my life. I’ve been playing the piano since I was six years old. So, the connection to music was always there. When I was growing up and going through my angsty teen years, I wanted to find something that expressed my emotions and heavy music is where I found that. Before that, I didn’t have any connection to heavy metal. I mean my dad listens to classic rock bands, Pink Floyd, Queen, etc.
I remember going to a CD store with him, I remember buying an anthology album from The Ramomes and a Queen album. I like that music just fine. But as I got older and more people came into my life, my exposure to different genres expanded. After I got a taste of the heavy metal, there was no going back.
So, speaking of your initial exposure to heavy metal. Which band that you would love to tour with? What would be the dream band to play with?
Slipknot or Korn would be the dream I think every metal band would want the chance for that. I really love Architects from the UK, that would be cool.
I think though for me as a fan, it would have to be Korn. They are my most, favourite band!
That’s a fantastic shout! If Korn ever read this, I hope they would take you up on that offer. I would say though, and this is not a popular opinion, but my favourite Korn album is The Path Of Totality.
That album is so out of this world, it was so forward-thinking. It still holds up to this day. I mean come on, who else would have done an album like that one? They definitely found something with that album, it was so special. They had an idea and they had the courage to make it.
Ok, so here is a question I like to throw out there. What is the one song you wished you had written?
Oh, this is so difficult! I would like to have written ‘Crawling’ by Linkin Park. I love that song, it’s my favourite Linkin Park song. I’ve heard many covers of it. It’s such a versatile song. I’ve heard sweet soothing ballad versions, to the heaviest version of it and it just works on so many levels.
It’s also my choice because it was a big hit and I would have liked that kind of attention.
It’s something I would like to do as a tribute to Chester because the day we lost him, it was such a hard blow to the heavy metal community. If there was one artist that we could bring back it would be Chester Bennington.
One thing I wanted to talk about with regards to the new album, is the music video for Token. It’s such an entertaining music video. Where did the idea for the music video come from and how was the video made?
That video was the most DIY video we’ve ever done!
We love shooting music videos, it’s one of the best things that we do together as a band. This time, because our guitarist, Philipp is one of the top VFX artists here in Greece. We wanted to do something that would make his talents shine and really do something different. So we thought, why not use Philipp’s skill on the VFX and make the music video around that?
It required a lot of pre-production because you need to know exactly what you’re doing. When you’re putting all of it together as a final product. So if something went wrong, it would have been something we could have corrected. So the pre-production was incredibly important. We spent three months preparing for the video, after brainstorming what we wanted to do. So the whole idea of the video was ours. We had a basic script of what needed to happen in the video.
The hard part for me was learning how to wield a katana because I have no former martial arts or weapons training. Since we were making this ourselves, I had to learn to be as realistic with the sword as possible. If I had to stab something in the video, I actually had to learn how to stab something with the sword. It’s not as easy as it looks. I wanted it to come out as realistically as possible.
Since I’m not a trained actor and we didn’t have a choreographer to tell me the steps. I had to learn how to do all of this. One thing, I did do was watch all The Matrix films and watched all of the behind-the-scenes, just to get into the mindset of how the actors mentally and physically prepared themselves for the role.
I hope I achieved it on some level. It was a really fun video to make and we’re really happy with it.
I have to say, it’s very noticeable that The Matrix was an influence on that video. Honestly, it looks great. I will ask, which is your favourite of The Matrix films? Mine is The Matrix Reloaded.
The first one. Though I like the over-the-top nature of the sequels, I love the philosophy behind the first one. I also love the script! Some of those lines are so well thought out and prepared.
So now I will just end with this question. What is the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome and how did you overcome it?
There were a lot of expectations of me throughout my life. Surrounding what I should be doing with my life. I was going to be a lawyer at one point. I felt like my life was planned out. At some point, I made the decision to change that. So, it was really hard starting from the bottom again and beginning a new life. I found I had to construct my life in a different way. It was quite harrowing going back to the basics again. I had to do a lot of soul-searching to get to where I am.
It’s why I always try to include a song on each album about following your dreams and not being afraid of who you are. Whatever that means to you. On the new album that song is ‘Timewave’. It’s a song, I would have wanted to hear back then when I was making that change. It’s also a song I needed to make now as I still feel I’m going through those feelings.
I definitely feel like I still struggle with those emotions. Those feelings of self-doubt still linger. However, I’m thankful that everyone in my family and my circle of friends is still with me to this day.
I think people need to follow their dreams and find their inner truth. That takes strength and bravery to stay true to who they are, no matter what anybody else says.
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