EXCLUSIVE: Greek Doomsters Ocean of Grief Talk about their Upcoming Performances at The Room of Doom Fest. and Metal Gates Fest.

In Greece, the lands of Hera and Zeus, the lands of the holy Olympus, the lands of Symphonic Metal masters! Also in Greece, there are fighting, talented Doom Metal groups who bring Greece beloved presence to the European Doom Metal Scene as Ocean of Grief 1- First off , Thank you brother for giving us this opportunity to interview you as one of the best Greek Doom Metal bands, I want to go back to your old days, How did you choose the name of the band?

The pleasure is mine, thank you for contacting me for this interview! So, we wanted a name that describes the music we play.

“Grief” is a really good word to do that and “ocean” is a word we really like not only for its literal meaning but also for its metaphorical one. 

So we figured that those two combined created a picture that suits the music we make very well.
 
 
2- Forming a Doom Metal band in a scene that is better known by its extreme, Symphonic taste, wasn’t that somehow challenging? And how is the Greek Doom Metal Scene?

It was very challenging to be honest! It took us very long to find the right members for this band. You see me and Filippos wanted to make a band composed by members who share the Same love and passion for this genre as us. 

Fortunately we were lucky enough to find them and things are going great since then. Now considering the Greek Doom Metal Scene, things have been going well lately. 

On Thorns I Lay released a great album after many years of inactivity, Decemberance too, and of course there are more great bands like Shattered Hope, Immensity etc.
 
 3-November will be a brighten month for you, you will perform in The Room of Doom and Metal Gates Festival, How did you get a chance to perform at those 2 prestigious events? And what are your preparations?

The Room of Doom festival is a beautiful attempt made by Spyros Hondroyiannis to unite the Greek Doom Metal Scene and we are very happy to be part of it! 

He is a big supporter of the scene and a great guy and he is the one who contacted all the bands, the club and organized everything. 

As for the Metal Gates Festival, the organizer contacted us telling that he likes what we are doing and that he can offer us a slot for the fest. How could we deny playing with some of our favorite bands of the genre like Draconian and October Tide? (haha)

Now about the preparations, we have been rehearsing a lot in order to be in the best form possible but we also wanted to make some improvements in the visual part so we prepared a couple of things.
 
4-We discussed before the hardships of the Metal scene in general especially in the countries that somehow economically suffer, Can you describe to us the status of the rising bands in Greece?

Things were really difficult in the past for Greek bands but nowadays Greek metal scene is stronger than before despite the various economic problems that arose during the past 10 years! 

Technology definitely tore down plenty of barriers as it is less expensive to record an album and also allowed, through the use of web, more bands to reach a wide variety of people who may quite likely enjoy their music. 

However it is still very hard to make shows and tours outside Greece as the transport and accommodation fees are much higher than the actual income of the band.
 

 
5-What are your favorite Greek Metal bands or the bands that are your friends?

Personally I have been a huge SepticFlesh fan since I was a little kid. I remember my brother having this Metal Hammer collection CD that included “Science” from the album “Revolution DNA” and it blew my mind instantly. 

After a lot of research I managed to find and buy the album and I loved it so much that it has a special place in my heart until today. Talking about friendly bands I think we are lucky enough to have a great relationship with many great bands like Aetherian, Decemberance, Shattered Hope and more…

 
 
6-let’s move to your latest album “Nightfall’s Lament”! What were your main influences through writing the album? And what were the thoughts in your head while producing it?

Our main influences as a band are Slumber, Enshine, October Tide, Draconian and generally many bands of this or similar genres. Our main goal as a band is to make music that we, first of all, enjoy. 

In the same time though, we wanted to make the next step and release a better album than “Fortress Of My Dark Self”, so we had to put a lot of effort not only in crafting new songs but also in choosing which of them should be in the new album.

 
 
7-How is your relationship with the Middle Eastern bands or fans?

To be honest I don’t know much about Middle Eastern bands except the discussion we had before, but I have chatted with some fans and they were really warm and supportive and I loved them! I wish to get the chance to meet more of them in person in the future!
 
 
8-What are your near future plans?

We want to make many shows in order to get our music to as many ears as possible, and in the same time we have already started working on new material!
 
 
Thank you guys, and best of luck \m/