Interview with ViolentorY

“ViolentorY is an innovative metal band, aiming to create and support their own style in music, gear and stage performance. Formed in late 2007, after playing in various clubs in Bulgaria for a couple of years the band decided to concentrate on their own music. All of the band members now live together under one roof and they have finished working on their debut album and, of course, they are performing gigs throughout the country.”

Metal Express Radio: How did you come up with the band name?

ViolentorY: The name ‘ViolentorY’ has a long story, we’ll try to shorten it as much as possible…

Tsvetomir: Ever since I started playing the guitar I also started writing simple compositions (that was around the fall of 1998), my first idea was to become a band member and a composer. Although my first attempts to join a band resulted in a complete failure (well, I didn’t possess any serious skill, after all), I wanted it all and I wanted it now. Therefore, I needed a name, so the first one that came to my mind was ‘Violence Factory’ but I wanted it to consist of only one word, and that’s how ‘Violen-tory’ was born. That’s how my imaginary ‘world-renowned band’ was born! Then I focused on perfecting my skills as a composer and guitar player as much as possible.

Several years later, when I succeeded in the task and when I actually joined a band we all wanted to change the name and the name I have given to my imaginary band came very useful for the task. Actually, it was then when I realized its actual meaning, seeing what we are capable of in order to achieve our goals – unstoppable and overwhelming, violent power – perfectly describing all the six of us.

MER: What are 3 bands that you feel were most influential to your band, and why?

ViolentorY: Symphony X, especially their V: A New Mythology Suite. The outstanding guitar skills of Michael Romeo definitely not only influence our music but even inspire the melodic part of our guitar riffs. Their marvelous melodic and harmonic movements and odd measures pushed our composer to break a bit further (we come from a region, widely known for its folklore music, based extremely on odd-time signatures), so such type of harmony, additionally combined with some classical composers’ ways, delivers us the fullness of sound we need.

Meshuggah – this djenty guitar sound that inspired so many of the new progressive bands and threatens to become a separate musical style. It doesn’t matter who actually developed this technique, it is the way it is being presented. They do it in the best way possible. We believe Meshuggah is the best example for the polyrhythms we play.

Pantera – what can we say about this icon of metal? Well, Mr. Darrell’s playing is simply… simple and clear. Strictly contrary to the previous two bands and because we love the pureness of sound and this simplicity, we attempt to integrate it in our songs in order to give them the pure power they need.

MER: What are the 5 best Metal/Hard Rock albums of all times, and why?

ViolentorY:
Iron Maiden – Fear of The Dark
Metallica – Black album – ‘91
Dio – The Last In Line
Death – Symbolic
Meshuggah – Catch 33

MER: What is the best concert you’ve ever attended, and why?

ViolentorY: A Creator concert in 1993 in Bulgaria. The sound was magnificent. The oldest people among the audience were 25 years old. The moshpit was everywhere. Most of the security people were cops, the stage was low on the ground and the strangest thing ever – there were desks in front of the stage instead of barriers. The audience was so excited that made the cops fight it with batons. There was a lot of adrenaline. This looks exciting now maybe because we were young, and the ages were different.

MER: What was the most memorable gig your band ever played, and why?

ViolentorY: Our gig at Artmania Festival in Romania where for the first time ever on a poster was our name alongside with names like Epica, My Dying Bride, Edguy, Die Toten Hosen and others, and we even haven’t had an official released album. When the festival sponsors heard our songs, they offered us a place on the Artmania stage in a heartbeat.

MER: What is the craziest thing any member of your band has ever done for the sake of Metal/Hard Rock?

Tsvetomir: I put acoustic drums in my bedroom in my apartment and we played For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica. Then one of the neighbours came home yelling that he had turned the TV volume to the maximum but he still wasn’t able to hear it.
Some of the band members even broke up with their girlfriends and came back from abroad to make their dreams come true.

MER: If your band was appointed Rulers of the Metal World, what is the first law you’d make?

ViolentorY: Metal is music, music is an art, and art is all about freedom.

MER: If you could tour with any band, who would that be, and why?

ViolentorY: Rammstein, because they make amazing concerts and we can learn a lot from them.

MER: What do you think your fans and the music industry will say about your band in 10 years?

ViolentorY: We hope our fans will say we’ve never disappointed them for 10 years and we’ve continued to inspire them.

MER: If you could have any wish fulfilled for the band, what would it be?

ViolentorY: We hope we are going to have the opportunity to indulge ourselves in music because as a nascent band we need to do a lot of other things.