1. Hello to ORTHODOX from sunny Andalusia. I am wondering whether you have ever done an interview with someone from the Czech Republic or is this your first time?

This is the first interview we’ve done for someone from the Czech Republic, but it’s not the first contact we have with someone from your country.

2. The new album is called ''Baal''. Why did you decide to choose such a divine name with more than just one interpretation and inclusion? Is it applied for the whole album?

We use the name Baal because of some personal connotations, but also of its powerful meaning and the epic story and concept behind it. As you put it, its a polysemic word, a divine name whose influence permeated the music and lyrics of the whole album.

3. Musically I would call your new album as an exhumation of your original metal way. Was is it your main intension? Opposite to ''Sentencia', where you almost gave up on guitars, ''Baal'' is very aggressive and heavy. So far what is the feedback like on this topic that ORTHODOX gets?

Obviously, Baal marks the return of a more standard heavy edge that was different, but not absent at all, on the previous album, Sentencia. That was also heavy and aggressive (in terms of creative output for us), but done in a very different way, where the „acoustic“ elements (the instrumentation, the production, the recording process, etc.) were predominant. On Baal, we’ve done an album of songs that we can actually play live (Sentencia stuff it’s more difficult to be played onstage because of logistics); it means an album done with the trio format we’ve used from the beginning. The feedback we have received because of this has been mostly positive; I think that it’s clear we have done a „standard“ album for us, but based on all the elements that have characterized our sound in our previous albums.

4. Is it possible to explain your new album as a return to the time of your debut ''Gran Poder''? The step that followed was surprising and original, especially on the album ''Sentencia''. I think it is slightly possible to track those experiments on the new album. In the end ''Baal'' seems to me as primitive but in the same time very progressive.

I think that possibly it’s the closest thing we have done to Gran Poder because of the full return of the trio format of writing and recording, but it’s also very different. As I said before, Baal is an album based on songs, songs that of course had a concept that makes them a whole, but Gran Poder its different. Our debut it’s a massive wall of epic heaviness, our last one has that mindset developed in the form of songs, but incorporing our experimental way of doing our thing on the process. To combine the minimalist and rough aspects of a primitive concept of music with a free thinking and progressive approach it’s one of the things that we appreciate most in the work of other musicians and artists; people like Captain Beefheart or Black Flag can make songs that sound easy or straightforward but that beneath that lies a creative force that makes them different. It is that alchemical capacity to make the difficult sound easy what makes the real deal.

5. May I ask you for a short remembering of the era of ''Amanecer en Puerta Oscura'' and ''Sentencia''? Those albums are varying so as inspirational and surprising.

Amanecer en Puerta Oscura was done like an studio experiment. We have a lot of ideas that we wanted to develope like they were the song. I mean, if we had a riff, we’ll develope that as a song; If we had a short idea or arrangement, that was the actual song. That experimentation it’s very rewarding in creative terms, but it also can be very dangerous if you cannot have certain control about where are things heading at...In some moments, recording the Amanecer material was a little disappointing because I personally don’t know if we were doing the right thing, or if what we were recording had sense or was a waste of time... But, at the end, I think that the result was good and we’re very proud of it. For some people it’s our best album...

Sentencia was a difficult album in terms of composition, recording and concept. It is the most artistic and ambitious thing we have recorded, a little jump in the void...We needed to record that album, it was a risk but also something that was inside our heads even before recording Gran Poder, but we weren’t able to do at the moment. I think that Sentencia it’s an album that makes the difference for us, it has its errors and moments of doubt, but it’s a statement that cannot be overlooked.
6. Are the evolution, experiments and pursuit of own originality the main motivations that push ORTHODOX forward?

To create our path is what drives us, and doing that means having to take less traveled roads. You do some mistakes taking that approach, but at least they are your own mistakes. I think that trying to find your own voice must be the goal in wherever you do when you’re putting the best you have.

7. Was ''Baal'' being recorded at the Sputnik studio? What phase was the material in when you entered the studio? How far are your motives, riffs, and main vision of the album usually prepared when going to the studio?

Baal was recorded in Sputnik Studio, as well as Sentencia, with the same studio technician. The songs were composed and mostly done when we entered the studio, and the lyrics, titles and concepts too. Just the last song, „Ábrase la tierra“, was the only one where we experiment a little bit...When we enter the studio we usually have a whole idea of what we want to record, in order to better use the studio time and concentrate in our instruments and what we want to achieve. That has been our way of working with all our previous albums, perhaps we’ll use a different approach in future recordings, but I don’t know at this moment.

8. You come from Sevilla - the fourth biggest city of Spain. How big is the part that Sevilla plays in your music - tradition, patriotism?

Almost all members of the band have grown in this city, I came to live here a few years ago. The city‘s roots and idyosincrasies form a large part of the basis of our cosmovision as a band. Living in the south of Europe, touching another continent, means a different persperctive from bands located in other corners of the country. For a band like Orthodox, to be from the South is part of our essence; it limits us in certain things (for example, oportunities for touring), but we can’t have arisen in a different place. In that case, we would be a different band. We came from a musical desert where a few people were in the past and are today doing creative and meaningful things; that isolation is the shadow from which we rise.

9. ORTHODOX has always been associated with religious topics, symbols and links. Are these one of your main cognitive signs?

From the beginning we have taken elements of religion, philosophical and spiritual, adjusting them to our vision of music and life. Those symbols are powerful and help us to give our musical message a trascendental side, and link us with a tradition of musicians and bands that we respect. So I will say yes, those topics and symbols are part of Orthodox.

10. Releasing of ''Baal'' was preceded by EP ''Matse Avatar'', which has been released by the Czech Doomentia rec. How did it happened that you got connected with this firm?

They approach us to make a split album with another band that went nowhere. Lukas from Doomentia was still interested in releasing some of our stuff, so we recorded a couple of songs that pointed to where we wanted to arrive with the next album. That Ep is a sample of things to come with Baal, and I think that the dudes at Doomentia as well as Elena and Iván (drawer and designer respectively) did a great job.

11. On the other hand your 'big' albums are released by Alone records from Malaga. Could you tell me something about this label, or about its place in underground?

Alone Records is a small label from the south, run by Miguel. He was one of the first persons in Spain to release stoner and psychedelic/heavy bands, but also the one who claimed Yawning Man. We have know his label and bands from some time, and Marco from Orthodox and Miguel have been in contact since the begining, so it was a natural thing for us to work with him. Malaga’s very near to our city, and that makes things pretty easy for both parts. Alone Records is the pioneer label in Spain releasing heavy sounds, and Miguel has been working thru the years with us and the rest of the bands to make it happen, something that we are deeply grateful with him.


12. When we're talking about the positions on the scene, what is your position in Spain? Are you respected or do you get more support abroad? As for feedbacks, do you get comments that you're original or innovative?

We are a small band, in Spain and abroad, and we are very conscious of what we play and where we come from. But we have the support of the people who appreciate what we‘re trying to do from the beginning, that see us as one of those bands that fight to make the difference. Perhaps someone didn’t like our music, but if he or she understands our point and our message, then that’s right for me. Obviously there are always people who do not like what we do, and they are necessary for us to forge our path.

13. What is the support of ''Baal'' going to look like? Any gigs or summer festivals?

The promotion is going well, and most people are enjoying the album and understanding its position in our discography. Baal was a very pleasant album to do, and we enjoy playing tunes like „Hani Ba’al“ or „Alto Padre“ live, that was one of our main goals with this album...At this moment we don’t have any gigs or summer dates, just a couple of events dispersed in time with the flamenco dancer Israel Galván.

14. Thank you for your time and interest. It was my pleasure to talk to you at least in this way. Good luck with ''Baal'' and see you next time.

Thank you for supporting us and Baal. Keep the good work with the webzine.