In December of 2023 we will be getting the long awaited fourth full length album from Skeptical Minds, Kharon. This will also be part two of their Omega Thanatos Trilogy concept album. This project has see the band work inside of an original concept that is accompanied by a comic book series. The album series acts as a soundtrack to the comic book series, providing a tone, a expansion on the lore and a soul to the story. In this new interview, I speak with vocalist, Karolina and guitarist Michel Stiakakis about their time making this new album, their core ideas for the series and working in both the musical and comic book worlds.
The new album, Kharon will be released in December. Could you elaborate on the mindset going into this record as this is the second album in the Omega Thanatos Trilogy?
Michel: So yeah, the first part of the trilogy, Omega Thanatos was released in 2015. The purpose of the trilogy was to have an album that was also released with a comic book. So, we have to take both album and comic book production in to consideration. We wanted to make sure the story and concept continuation was there.
At the end of the first album we don’t know if our main character lives or dies, she’s only depicted in a hosptial-bed. In this one she wakes up and we’ll continue the story from there. Everything is a little strange for her, because even though she wakes up, the hospital is completely empty. Everything feels a little off and we’ll see that she’s stuck between two worlds, that of our world and the after world. The third part of the trilogy will be exploring the afterworld.
I was actually going to ask if you already had part three planned out but it sounds like that’s already in your mind already.
Michel: Yes, the main scenario was all planned out at the beginning of the project. It was always going to be the three parts exploring the three different worlds. The third part will happen in the dark world of death. So it will be more violent and more aggressive. However, you can still expect all of the same elements from the band, the metal, the electronica, the female vocals. Yet, it will all be darker.
That’s fascinating. I have been reading the comics and noticed the ideas. I was just wondering since the first album was Omega Thanatos and the second album is Kharon. Both seem to include iconography from Greek mythology. I was wondering if that was intentional of if the story lead you to use that ideology?
Michel: Yeah kinda. So, Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and that mean we’re approaching the end of something and Thanatos is the god of death. So we’re saying that something will happen at the end of this life in the realm of death. Of course as we pass from one life to the next we’ll meet some characters like Kharon, the boatman on the river Styx. However, Not all of the scenarios are necessarily taken from mythology. We’re taking a lot of inspiration that leads us to telling our own story.
So, in terms of the story for this concept trilogy. Have the lyrics for the album come first or do the ideas for the comic book come first?
Karolina: So, we had a general sense of where the story was going first, the we made an analogy, then we came up with lyrics for the songs. We wanted to make sure that we knew what each segment of the story was going to be about. Then we had to adapt it to make it functional in a song.
Michel: The first time we tried this with the first album, we had a little bit of bad surprise. So, we had written the scenario and then we spoke to Alain Poncelet (the comic book creator). Everything seemed fine. We had the scenario, we’d written the songs and he had be working on the comic book. While working on the comic, Alain said that what was being made didn’t fit with the music we were making. So, we had to rewrite and rearranged everything to make it fit, so the project felt like a whole product.
So, I write the story in the comics in my words and then Karolina wrote the lyrics for the songs in her words.
It sounds like a fun project. Are there any particular lessons you learned from working on Omega Thanatos that you went forward to applying on Kharon?
Michel: I think mostly it was the way we approached the compositions.
Karolina: Yeah, we no know how to make all of the pieces fit together. Like if you have a piece of cheesecake. All the elements have to be present and done for us to call it a finished product. All parts of the production have to be there, well done and balanced with each other.
Michel: Yeah, I think we started this with the wrong mindset, now we know we have to start with the sketches and then the story and the music will come more naturally. So it no longer feels like an experiment, we know what we’re doing.
Yeah, so in that instance the first album was the experiment and now this album is the more refined product?
Michel: Yeah, this album is much better and the production is of a much higher quality.
In that case, what are your personal favourite songs from the new album, Kharon?
Karolina: Hmm, that’s tough. Each song has a different atmosphere and speaks about different things. Though if I had to choose one, then maybe it would be “Reunion”. I like it because it speaks of reuniting with someone that you haven’t seen in a while, and that you thought you would never see them again. Yet the twist is we don’t really know if we have really reconnected on a spiritual level. It feels like there’s an emotion between hope, hatred and the unknown. It’s like beautiful tears, where you’re happy but are not really sure. It’s like a dream
Michel: Hey, don’t spoil all of the story! Yeah, I was just choosing mine. I think mine would be “Rebels”. I like this one because it starts with some psychedelia and strange elements. Then it shifts to the darker more aggressive elements. Kinda like a Rammstein riff. I like the contrast in that song. It works really well.
My personal favourite on this album is in fact, the opening song “The Awakening”. I like it because it’s very ethereal and spare. I generally like more open and atmospheric songs.
Michel: You know what, I really glad you said that. I was wondering if it was a good idea to start the album with something so slow and atmospheric. As you say it’s you favourite so maybe it was a good idea!
Would you say you have enjoyed your venture into the world of comic books?
Karolina: Yes! This was something completely different to what we had been doing. With this project we had to approach it form different angles. It felt like another step in our art. For me, this has been a very good experience.
Michel: Yeah, it’s been an interesting process to mix the two worlds. I mean, I read a lot of comic books when I was young but I never thought I’d have the chance to work on one and release it. We had this idea in the past but I think it was forgotten until Alain started to work with us in 2011. He said “If you want we can take one song and break it down and we can make a comic book with that song. We can see what happens.”
So we did that and released a soft-cover comic, like the American style comic. That all sold very fast. That rang the alarm bell, well if people seem to like it maybe it was time to do something a little more ambitious. So we spoke to Alain and that started the process. It was mixing a world we knew, music with a world we didn’t, comics.
Sounds like it’s been a lot of fun! However, the first part of this project came out in 2015 and we’re now in 2023 (nearly 2024). Obviously, the world stood still for a time with the COVID-19 pandemic. Have you found it tough to rebuild and get back to the music industry after that, or was the drive and passion there and ready to go coming out of the other side of the pandemic?
Michel: Well, we never completely stopped. This album was recorded in 2019 and we wanted to put it out in 2020, but obviously we couldn’t with lockdown. Then we had another date in 2021 in mind, and hoped things would get better and the same thing happened. Then we just let things be for a while and waited for the situation to get better and back to normal.
We know that some bands released albums during the pandemic. The problem for us is that we couldn’t tour to promote the record. It’s good to play the new songs live on stage. Since we’re a self-produced band, we need the live shows to sell merch and tickets. That’s how we make most of our money back on these albums. So if we couldn’t promote the album properly, that would have been an investment opportunity lost, to a degree. So we wanted to wait for things to get back to normal before we released this album.
Karolina: In my mind, I thought “well, nothing lasts forever”. So it stood to reason that the situation with COVID would also be temporary. As you can see, we’re still here.
Michel: We did practice illegally. We were not supposed to practice in lockdown. Yet, we practiced in Ben Lazzano’s (drummer) garage. We had our in ears and an electronic drum kit, that way nobody heard us. That way we knew how to play the album when it came time to return to the stage. We stayed motivated so we could continue.
Yeah, you were quite prolific for touring prior to the pandemic. Now that the world is opening up again and tours are happening more frequently. Is there any particular country that you haven’t played in that you would love to visit?
Karolina: Well, in all honestly we’d love to play anywhere! Just anywhere were people are happy to hear us play and we can meet after the show and talk about the music.
Michel: If I had to be one, and I know this isn’t one necessarily. I’d love to play in a South American country. I know we have fans there that are very enthusiastic. I think playing there must be crazy. You know, sometimes people here in Netherlands and Belgium, people listen to a show more that experience it. When we have played shows in Netherlands people are just listening to you play and you can’t really tell if they’re enjoying themselves. I mean after the show, they’re like “Oh man that was really cool, I loved it!” but during the show it’s hard to tell.
On a side note, the first time we played in Netherlands. We were tying to make people move and no one would budge. So Karolina, she’s not very tall or imposing. There were these two biker guys, covered in tattoos. Karolina comes off the stage to these two guys and says “are you scared of me?”. They thought she was crazy. She took them and brought them to the front of the stage. After that they started going nuts and started actively having fun at the show. Sometimes you have to promote that atmosphere in a show.
That’s very bold of you! This next question is just a fun thought exercise. If you could only listen to three albums on a deserted island for the rest of time. What would those three albums be?
Karolina: Yeah, that’s quite interesting… For me, a metal album would be Once by Nightwish. Obviously our new album Kharon, because I really like it! Lasty, I would say The Book of Secrets by Loreena McKennitt. I love that one
Michel: For me. I’m a big Motorhead fan, so I would take the Bomber album with me. The next album would have to be Gutter Ballet by Savatage. That was the band that inspired me to get a guitar. I went to see them live and that’s always a band that’s stuck with me. The third album would have to be Raining Blood by Slayer. I love thrash-metal too so that has to be there.
Finally, just to end the interview. What is the hardest thing, professionally or personally, that you have had to overcome and how did you overcome it?
Michel: Honestly, I think it’s your question to be fair! In all seriousness though, it was when my father died. I think you just have to accept that things end and you have to learn to carry their memory with you.
Karolina: I think it was to leave Poland and my family. It’s okay because I’ve managed to stay in contact. I had to do what I had to do, to make my dreams to come true. I mean, nothing changes if nothing is changing. My family are still there supporting me. I think you need to know what you’re looking for in your life. Every difficult emotion that you have, you need to understand where it is coming from and what is it teaching you. Is it actually difficult or is just something that is transforming your mindset? Like in our Omega Thanatos comics, it’s about the transition and changing into something else. If you really want something better in your life then you have to transform from one moment to the next. So you can’t stay at a singular point in your life, always look around for your next step.
And there’s your £50 for the therapy session!