Interview:	ELYSION
Title:	Constantly multifaceted

With their energetic blend of Alternative and Gothic Metal, the Greek band led by singer Christianna have built up an extremely loyal fanbase far beyond their national borders over the years, particularly since their 2009 debut album „Silent Scr3am“.

„Identity“, the latest follow-up to the 2023 album „Bring Out Your Dead“, showcases the impressive compositional development of this highly ambitious band, which remains true to its stylistic roots.

It would take a real stroke of bad luck for Elysion not to achieve genuine success with this brilliant fourth album.

„Thank you so much for the kind words and the warm opening, we are certainly beyond excited about ‚Identity’, worked harder for this album than ever before and cannot wait to share it with the world! The feedback from two singles already released has been spectacular but the real celebration won’t start until we hit the stage with the new songs“, Christianna announces this with incredible vigour.

How does it feel for you to know that a lot of people on the globe will soon be listening to your new music?

„Like it always does, makes our hearts beat faster with enthusiasm but also bit of anxiety, crossing our fingers that we’ll manage to get the message across and all the love we put into the new album will find its recipients! Extra anxious about ‘Identity’, I must admit, compared to the previous albums, as this is the most challenging work we’ve delivered so far, including heavier sound, some new entries of experimentation and overall a whole new level of emotions. Can’t believe it’s finally out in couple months!“

As I’ve now discovered during my further research, Elysion was actually formed back in 2006, by Maxi Nil, whom I interviewed many years ago when she was still with Visions Of Atlantis.

I’ve never really been able to give you the attention you deserve amongst all the many releases in the genre, simply because I’d never read anything particularly striking about you before.

Metal Archives doesn’t list you either; I’ve no idea why – did you used to play more Rock-oriented / alternative Metal music?

„Elysion were formed in 2006 by Johnny Zero and yes, Maxi was the singer of the band back then. I joined the band in 2008 before the recordings of our first album ‚Silent Scr3am‘, gosh, it seems like a lifetime away… so much has changed and so much has stayed the same since then. Have no idea why Metal Archives don’t include us, like you say, we have always been very faithful to our sound and apart from the obvious evolution that years bring to any band, we are proud to receive it as one of the greatest compliments from our fans that we have always remained true to our character - thus the title ‚Identity‘ - and never fail to deliver same quality of songs. I’m happy you discovered us now, better late than never!“

I imagine you’re very well known and popular in your home country of Greece - more so than anywhere else? Or do you also have exceptionally loyal fans in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland - where this kind of music is highly appreciate since the beginning - for example?

„Umm… it’s actually the other way around. Greece being our homeland means we are well known here, of course, and can’t complain about popularity, but if you checked out our social media you’d see we are far more popular outside the boarders and that has always been a blessing. For over 20 years we have been a band putting all effort with limited budget and self financed recourses to come up with the best outcome possible, regarding songwriting and production, have had zero promotion and yet we’ve had amazing support from all over the world from day one. We couldn’t have been more grateful for that.It’s not just Europe but also U.S.A., Latin America, Japan - we’ve even released special Japanese editions in the past -, and I want to mention our Spotify account which for many years in a row brings us to top streamed Metal bands worldwide originating from Greece. Forgive me the joy of addressing this but it’s a huge honour and a heart warming accomplishment that we owe to the dedication of the Elysion family. Everything about the album to come is dedicated to them.“

Two decades … I give you respect, appreciation for that … how have you managed to stay true to yourselves in artistic manner over the years?

„Thank you so much! I honestly can’t comprehend how fast time flies, it feels like yesterday that I was entering studio to record the first album! It has been easy to stay true to our artistic self, thank God, because all we have ever done has been to follow our heart and express our dreams and fears through music. No recipes, it all came naturally. It would have been difficult to pretend we are something else, it was the easy thing to do to just be ourselves.“

Did you expect then, to stay such long as a Metal band, and, with such a specific style?

„No one knows what the future holds. We obviously didn’t know either, and we still don’t, not then and not even now. Speaking for myself, it ‘s everything I ever wanted to do, write songs and sing my heart out for everyone, so I know back then I wished that it would last. It hasn’t been an easy ride but I’m so glad it did. And I wish that we are able to do this for the years to come.“

Produced by Fotis Benardo and the band at Devasoundz Studio, mixed by Benardo and mastered by Nasos Nomikos at VU Productions - I wanna give my kudos to each of them!

The sound of the album is wonderful on all (!) levels, it must have been a very demanding and detailed process of work. Please tell a bit about.

„I’m so happy whenever I get the chance to talk about the production of ‚Identity‘ because it has been a true revelation for us! Thank you for the compliments, we are indeed thrilled with the final result. Having completed the songwriting process, we well knew this album required a different approach than our previous work, it needed to be punchier, heavier, more aggressive but yet maintain the ‚Elysion‘ identity, that was the big bet. Mastermind Fotis Benardo stepped in and blew our minds away, we believe this is easily the best album we have ever produced by far, most modern in approach and yet so representative of Elysion in 2006. There is a joke I like to say to describe what the new album sounds like for someone that asks me, I say ‘Well ,if you like Elysion, this album is Elysion on steroids’. So still us but more enhanced and intense than ever.“

How has the musical style of the band evolved since the previous album, and what do you particularly like about it at the moment?

„Luckily not a long time has passed since ‚Bring Out Your Dead‘, and that was the plan because we meant for the albums to have a natural continuity between them. So I guess Identity comes as a level up, in intensity and heaviness but also as a celebration of our 20 years band existence. A lot is new in this album, I get to share the microphone for the first time with two amazing guests so we can’t wait to see people’s feedback on everything. I love absolutely everything about ‚Identity‘, haha, I’m not an objective judge as you can understand… It has been the most challenging work we have ever delivered, definitely so for me as a composer but also as a vocalist and I’m sure for everyone else too. It’s a blessing to be able to become better at what we do and most importantly to write even more beautiful songs. In my humble opinion, this album contains our most beautiful songs ever written, music and lyric wise.“

Your current style is quite distinctive; it draws on melodic, symphonic and, in some cases – as in „Harvest“ – Nu/Alternative Metal in a harmonious yet subtly eclectic way. How does this mix come about within the band, and which of your personal musical tastes influence it?

„Well, we all have very wide musical backgrounds so that allows for a lot of different influences to be blended together with no conflict. I can never recall a time when someone from the band objected to the sound of a song, although we do differ in few tastes, the general vibe is the same. We have all grown up influenced by the very foundations of Rock and Heavy Metal music. My personal influences are so many and belong to different genres that if I had to drop names I’d need a whole page. But I’ll say this. When I first started singing in a band in my late teens, I avoided all female covers in order to avoid subconsciously mimicking anyone else, which is a very common mistake, until I felt confident that I have found my own voice. The ultimate influence for all Elysion, although you might not find it prominent, has always been Iron Maiden.“

How do you see and evaluate this new output within your musical journey and what would you like to say about the new release in direct comparison to the previous longplayer „Bring Out Your Dead“, out of 2023?

„I think I covered that above already, to us Identity is by far our most mature and promising work so far, it did open a whole new era for us and expanded our sound in a way that unlocked new horizons for the band. We cross our fingers that it will meet the success of ‚Bring Out Your Dead‘ and more, there is a deep meaning behind the new album and we can’t wait for everyone to discover it. It’s a call for unity to all lovers of the Rock sound that embrace Rock music as a way of life, a state of mind, a form of character.“

How was the selection of songs for the new album done - was it difficult or rather easy for the band?

„Selection is always super strict, our highest paid compliment is that Elysion never include any fillers in their albums and we promise this will always be the case. Luckily ,we always feel inspired to compose and not just do so when it’s time to create an album so there is enough time to come up with a lot of songs. It’s easy because 20 years later, an album worthy song screams to us from a mile away.“

I like your rich, powerful singing, which avoids the mistake of trying to imitate others, but instead makes the most of her own potential and vocal charisma across a wide range – your soloing singing part in „Do Or Die“ shows it, truly magnificent! It sounds as though a great deal of effort and care has gone into the many emotional facets, each of which has been carefully explored, doesn’t it?

„Thank you so so much for the kind words! I’m so happy to read this because indeed I’d hate to imitate anyone and I always try to sound like myself, yet combine different techniques to serve the feeling of the song. Identity has been my most challenging Elysion album, vocally, and I enjoyed every second of recording to the maximum! Fotis Benardo had so much to do with this, bringing out the best in me and knowing exactly what I have in mind and how to deliver it. ‚Do Or Die‘ is one of my personal favourites of the album, too. Overall, my main concern is for the emotion to be served. Not to ‘over sing’, not to prove myself and skills, but to tell the story. The song is bigger than us, music is bigger than the musician. We are the messenger, the message is above us.“

The new material is multi-faceted, even with some balladesque nuances f.e. in „Nighttime Whispers“ - a very fine, elegant blend, isn't?

„True! It wouldn’t have been a proper Elysion album without the intense ballads and this time I think both of them are really powerful in feeling. ‚Declaration Of Darkness‘ carries the entire meaning of the album so we urge you and everyone to discover it, as for ‚Nighttime Whispers‘ ... what can I say, a bitter personal story coincided in a way that will always bring tears to my eyes. A farewell of a tormented soul flying above the world for the last goodbye.“

How did the guest appearances by Konstantinos Togas on „The Last Ride” and Sakis Tolis from Rotting Christ on „Harvest” come about – and what would you like to tell readers about these two songs featuring the guest artists?

„Konstantinos is the voice of Nightrage, a highly respected Melodic Death band with a 30 year career. As for Sakis Tolis, I don’t even think introductions are in order for the man who practically invented the entire Greek Metal scene and whose contribution to the global Metal genre is huge, so we are deeply touched and honoured for both these collaborations. We felt that both songs called for a duet to serve the meaning behind them and took the challenge to combine the brutal vocals with mine for the first time, we are super happy and grateful for the result. ’Harvest’ is a theatrical metaphor of our fears and regrets as we grow older and the symbolic urge to sign a contact with the devil in order to restore our youth and have a second chance in life. ’The Last Ride’ stands metaphorically, again, as the final battle to protect the last sacred frontier in a world that devours all beauty and innocence. Hope it all sounds intriguing enough for everyone to check it out.“

How can readers picture the process of how you write, develop, and finish one of your new songs?

„It’s a liberating process, to me at least. Usually the way it goes is that Johnny comes up with some new music and lets me perceive a vision of the song, come up with the vocal melodies and of course the lyrics so I just let myself free to feel what the song wants to say. Could also be the other way around, I could have a melody stuck in my head or even an entire song played on the piano and we then build everything around it. Songwriting is such a magical time, and it’s not over until the songs come alive during the gigs-because the crowd adds in the final touch of the song’s energy and beauty.“

And were there any ups and downs along the way this time?

„Of course there were! 20 years is a long time, so not everything can be a bed of roses. However I have to say that these moments have been very few compared to the good ones and obviously that’s what keeps the engine running. We are all very calm and patient people, no big egos, no conflicts, no arguments, no fighting. Obstacles during these year had more to do with objective difficulties we had to surpass, it’s not easy to play Metal when your homeland is Greece, for a great number of reasons. But our love for Elysion always prevails.“

What was your experience of the recording process for the new full-length output from start to finish?

„Haha, I think I said too much about that above as well! Hands down,I had the best time recording with Fotis Benardo than ever before in my entire career, I was so sad when recordings came to finish! Our chemistry worked perfectly and I really hope that the fifth album will allow for even greater things to be created!“

How well do you divide up the work, and how is the chemistry between all the musicians in Elysion?

„I‘m afraid that it might seem like too good to be true, but all my answers are genuine. I feel it all works perfectly, the songwriting core are Johnny Zero and myself and everyone contributes their part around that. Chemistry’s great, we have so much fun when we are all together, rehearsing or travelling, wish we get to do that more. Also as you can see, I’m mostly responsible for the public image and being the spokesperson of the band and the boys handle technical and sound issues, together with our crew.“

Also, how well do you all play together musically - as people, musicians and mature individuals, you’ve surely changed quite a bit over all the years, haven’t you?

„Our lives and responsibilities have changed, most of us have families snd overall so many obligations now in comparison to being in our 20’s … other than that, I don’t think we have changed at all. We are the same romantic fools that want to write real music and support our dream with all we have, giving all our soul, energy and financial resources to do so. That’s why the album is called Identity. It is who we are, it will never change.“

You’re all experienced and talented musicians in the band - given your strong egos, does that make working together more difficult, or is it actually easier because you’re all pulling together toward a shared vision?

„No strong egos here! A shared vision, yes! It’s what keeps us going, we believe in each other and believe in the dream. If it weren’t so, we would have given up many years ago. It’s a struggle to live in Greece, low income, high living cost, Metal music is an expensive sport, a luxury. We are here and we fight for what we love.“

Active since whole 20 years … so, when you look back today on all your experiences—both good and bad - since you started out as a musician, what has changed the most in your attitude toward Rock and Metal and the music industry?

„Well I’m certainly more experienced now than what I was 20 years ago,I’ve seen and been through so much and sometimes I look back and wish for all that innocence and ignorance of danger to come back. I then think again and realise that, like I told you above, I’m the same person, same girl singing old school power ballads in front of the mirror. Wrinkles are kicking in but to the hell with that - long live Rock’n’Roll!"

Anything you would like to add?

„Closing this great discussion and thanking you on behalf of us all for your time and interest in Elysion, I would love to invite all our friends but also new to the Elysion family on board, tell them that ‚Identity‘ is dedicated to them all, to thank them for bringing us here, 20 years later, still standing proud and eager to meet them in a show someday. Enjoy the new album, it’s the best part of our heart!“

© Markus Eck, 02.10.2026

Photo Credit: Dimitris Tzortzis

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