LLOTH (Black Metal – Greece 🇬🇷) – Interview with the band via Angels PR Worldwide Music Promotion #lloth #blackmetal #heavymetal

Thanks to Angels PR Worldwide Music Promotion for conducting and sharing this interview with KAF!!!!

Black Throne feels like a manifesto of power and war. What does this track represent within Archees Legeones?
CHRIS VAELOR:
Black Throne represents a personal ascension through darkness. It’s about standing alone, confronting inner coldness, and transforming pain into strength. The throne is not a symbol of domination over others, but sovereignty over oneself. Within Archees Legeones, it marks the moment of renunciation and rebirth, when what has fallen rises again, stronger and untamed. In conclusion, the war in Black Throne is internal. It’s about spiritual strength and self-mastery.

The album has been described as “ancient” rather than nostalgic. How do you define that distinction?
ANTIPOPE:
 “Nostalgic” implies you’re looking backward, maybe missing the “good old days” or trying to recreate a sound that’s already dead. We aren’t interested in a cheap trip down memory lane. For us, “ancient” is a state of being—it’s about something timeless, heavy, and still very much alive. Nostalgia is a ghost; “ancient” is the surviving monuments where the ghost lingers on. When we play, we aren’t trying to sound like 1995 just for the sake of it. We’re tapping into an energy that existed long before us and will exist long after. Being 40+ gives you a different perspective. We don’t have the frantic energy of teenagers, but we have the weight of experience. Being part of the Hellenic black metal scene since its founding feels ancient. It’s a slower, more epic burn. It’s about realizing that the old gods and the old spirit never left, they just evolved.
 

Greek black metal has a very specific legacy. How consciously do LLOTH engage with that heritage?
NICOLAS MAIIS
Lloth started with Tristessa, and after her loss, I decided to continue the music that we started. Always, Lloth will be linked with Astarte. This year, 2025, we released the Archees Legeones with Lloth and Blackdemonium, the last opus of Astarte. This was a very important issue. Now we continue to the next album, as we already have ten fresh songs with a lot of different styles.

The video for Black Throne is highly cinematic. How closely did visuals and music evolve together?
THANOS:
Thanks for the comment! To be honest, the idea was to give a more epic dimension to the sadness that the song evokes, through dark images and videos. Of course, the theme of the song helps with this.

Your sound balances chaos with epic structure. How do you maintain control without losing ferocity?
THANOS:
This was the basic idea from the beginning for the album. We wanted to give it a more epic style while still keeping the band’s identity. The truth is that we worked a lot on it, and judging by the public’s response, I think it worked well.

What lyrical themes dominate Archees Legeones, and how personal are they beneath the mythic armor?
CHRIS VAELOR:
The dominant lyrical themes in “Archees Legeones” revolve around spiritual strength, forgotten divinity, discipline, and the eternal tension between chaos and order. The mythic imagery is intentional; it creates a symbolic framework through which deeper truths can be explored. Beneath the armor, there is personal experience, but it is transmuted rather than exposed. The mythology does not conceal reality; it elevates it into something timeless.

And above all, there is presence. Tristessa remains with us — not as memory alone, but as a force. In the spiritual realm we evoke through this album, she walks among the ancient gods. Her spirit is woven into “Archees Legeones”, guiding it from beyond

How does the concept of “Ancient Legions” function symbolically for the band?
ANTIPOPE:
For a band with our history, “Ancient Legions” isn’t just a cool title; it’s about survival and bloodline. Most of us are 40+ now. We aren’t the same kids who started Lloth in ’95, but we carry that same Hellenic fire. Symbolically, the “Legions” represent the legacy of Tristessa. She is the heartbeat of this band. By reclaiming the name Lloth and moving forward, we are gathering the “legions” of her fans and her spirit.  At our age, you realize you’re part of a lineage. We represent the veterans who stayed true while others dropped out. We are the “Ancient” ones still standing on the battlefield, keeping the original ’90s spirit alive. It’s also about our Greek soul. Using titles like Archees Legeones connects our music to the literal ancient history of our land. It’s that epic, ritualistic feeling of an army that never truly dies, it just waits to be summoned again. It’s about standing your ground, honoring the fallen, and proving that the march never stops.

What role does ritual play in your songwriting and live performances?
NICOLAS MAIIS
In live performances, we have a certain way that we want to present our music on stage with different elements. We have our custom clothes, we use some organic instruments, and we try to have a serious live act for the fans. About songwriting, there is nothing that I do except when it’s time to write; I am getting more isolated to be in the mood to express my music.

How has the response to the album influenced your perception of LLOTH’s path forward? How did Theogonia Records help?
NICOLAS MAIIS
We have very good reviews and responses from all over, and this gives us the strength to continue with more focus. Thegonia Records is an excellent label, and we are very happy that we are on the roster. They made a very good promotion, so more people became familiar with LLOTH.

What separates LLOTH from other contemporary black metal acts?
NICOLAS MAIIS
We try to keep the HELLENIC Black metal sound, but with good production and songs that have feeling within the darkness. We put our influences within our music most positively and honestly.

In one sentence: what is the essence of LLOTH as a band?
Passion for music and a way of life!

LLOTH ARE
NICOLAS MAIIS (MELANOMORFOS) – VOX
CHRIS VAELOR – GUITAR
THANOS – LEAD GUITAR
ANTIPOPE – BASS
NAXASH – DRUMS

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