It is not often we get to interview kick ass bands from Cyprus but recently we had the privilege with Receiver in this extensive interview! Now if you follow us you will know we covered their latest album a while a go and scored it highly! So get ready to learn more about the band and their awesome album “Whispers of Lore!”

TheNwothm: Hey there guys I hope you are all well! Can you introduce the and where you are from?

R: We are doing great! Thanks for inviting us for this interview and we would like to say that we really appreciate the work you have been doing for exposing the NWOTHM sub-genre and of course for reaching out to us! We are Receiver, an epic/heavy metal band coming from Nicosia, Cyprus. More specifically the members of the band are:

TheNwothm: And you formed in 2011 so how did that come about?

R: Receiver were formed back in 2011 in Nicosia, Cyprus, as a 5-piece band, with the aim of delivering pure heavy/epic Metal with some compositions also drawing influences from various folk styles. After a hiatus period of six years (due to other commitments for the band members – most of the members left Cyprus to study abroad), the band was brought back to life with a new lineup, which came together to bring to fruition some old ideas as well as composing brand new material. 

TheNwothm: You are from Nicosia in Cyprus! I think you are one of the first bands we have interviewed from there! What can you tell us about your country and its culture? 

R: Cyprus is a Mediterranean island situated at the crossroads of three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa. Its unique geographic position has played an important part in its turbulent past since antiquity – as many civilizations historically interacted with the island either as settlers, traders, conquerors or colonists. Consequently, the island has a unique and colourful culture, which was forged in the melting pot of history. 

TheNwothm: And would you say you take influence from the countries culture and history and apply it to your music?

R: We would say that the island’s turbulent history influences our thematology up to a certain point, as lyrics will describe the animosity of war and the rancor of imperialism. Furthermore, Cyprus’ culture greatly influences our music, as we are avid listeners of the island’s traditional music – and our love for it is projected through some of our songs! We would say that the title track of our debut album “Whispers of Lore”, is the most prominent example!

TheNwothm: Considering that you are from a small island country how would you say the metal scene is there? Does it have a thriving heavy metal scene?

R: Considering the size of the island and the number of people associated with the metal scene, I would say it’s doing pretty good. It is indeed growing and we constantly witness newer bands coming on to the scene with very interesting characteristics and sounds. We hope that this trend keeps going, as we want our scene to be as strong as possible – which makes us really happy since we are also a part of it.

TheNwothm: And have many metal bands come to Cyprus to play? If so, who have you seen live?

R: Yes! Local metal scene promoters started being more active in the last 5-10 years and that makes us really happy. We have attended live shows of bands like Medieval Steel, Riot V, Jag Panzer, Domine, Manilla Road (some years back), Helstar, Dark Quarterer and these are just some of the bands which are closer to our style (that also influenced our sound in a way). If we are to take this on a more mainstream aspect, bands like Scorpions, Manowar, Deep Purple, Whitesnake and others also visited our island.

TheNwothm: If I was visiting for the first-time what places would you tell me to check out and are there any good rock or metal bars I could visit?

R: Surely, we would suggest to go out and explore the island as much as possible, since its beauty is unparalleled (ok, we might be a bit biased haha). In terms of metal bars, most cities have their dedicated spot for Metal – for Nicosia it is “Rock City”, for Limassol our beloved “Sober Bar” at which we also hosted a listening party for our album, and as for Ayia Napa it is “Asylum”.  Of course there are more rock bars here and there all around the island, but if someone is looking for the heavier music, the above would be your go-to places.

Last but not least “Downtown” in Nicosia, is a live venue that hosts numerous metal concerts (among other music genres) and someone visiting Cyprus could check it out – and who knows – maybe a metal gig will be going on!

TheNwothm: So notably you formed in 2011 but you did not put out your first released until last year! What happened in those years leading up to your debut album? Were you mostly playing live shows?

R: During the first couple of years, we played live shows but also composed new music and recorded our debut album in Athens (end of 2019). Unfortunately, a short time after the recordings the Covid / Lockdowns period came about. As a band, we were negatively affected by the 3 years of lockdown. Not only were we not able to see each other in order to catch up, rehearse existing music and compose new songs, but the lockdowns were a big drawback for the release of our album as well.

TheNwothm: So before we dig in to your latest album tell us about yourselves? Are you all originally from Cyprus and what do you like to do in your spare time?

R: As we also mentioned above, we are all from Nicosia, Cyprus.  Other than playing music – some of us are also involved in sports, reading, travelling and exploring (going on hiking for example), and our singer Nikoletta is actively involved in art and illustration (she was also the one that illustrated our album cover).

TheNwothm: Do any of you like to travel and if so what places have you been to?

R: As mentioned above, we really like travelling! Well individually, we have been to most of Europe and some of us also explored countries outside our region/continent – countries like the US, Cuba and Morocco are some examples that come to mind.  As a band we have only been in Greece (twice – the first time for recording the album and the second time for performing live at Up The Hammers festival)! 

TheNwothm: I love to throw some fun questions in and the answers are always very interesting! So in the band who spends all the time in front of the mirror, who is first and last to pack down the gear, who is instrument fanatic, who gets all the attention, who is the particular one? 

R: Oh my! Indeed, an interesting question – hahaha – just to note that I have consulted with all band members before stating my comments! :p

Who spends all the time in front of the mirror: I will put myself (Andreas) here in order to avoid any potential frictions within the band hahaha ☺ Maybe I do, maybe I don’t!

Who is first and last to pack down the gear:  First again would be me I guess (Andreas) and last would be Charalambos. Rumour has it, that on one occasion the band booked a rehearsal for 2 consecutive dates, and when Andreas went to the studio on the second day to set up his gear, he found Charalambos who has just finished packing his gear after the rehearsal for day 1!

Who is instrument fanatic: It is either Loizos or me – a tie for this one!

Who gets all the attention: Nikoletta has gotten most praise from people till date, but that is no wonder because she is doing an amazing job in fronting the band. A well-deserved attention!

Who is the particular one: The particular one, is the one with the most particles! Also our drummer Yiannis – you never know what he’s thinking but he is a quiet force, except when he’s smashing up the drums!

TheNwothm:  And as a band do you each have roles like for instance some members handle the online stuff, some are the main writers in the band etc?

R: Although it is not particularly being set – like in a professional environment – some actions are naturally being performed by some members for the more part, while some others less. We try to keep a balance and have an open view when it comes to such matters and roles.  Till date myself (Andreas) and Charalambos have been the main writers of the band, however this is now changing as the band evolves and more members are bringing in ideas for being further developed. Same goes for other band aspects/actions as well.

TheNwothm: So you released your debut album last year titled “Whispers of Lore” which scored a big 8.5/10 from us! Going all the way back to the start, when did you start penning tracks for the record and how did you decide on what you wanted the album to be about?

R: First of all, we would like to thank you lots for the amazing score and kind words for our debut album! Well, as it has been mentioned above, the band was “resurrected” in a way during 2017, when myself and Charalambos were jamming one day and thought to give it a go. At that time the band was in a sort of hiatus, with Loizos being the only member still actively seeking to continue with Charalambos, and after taking that preliminary decision at the said jamming – Nikoletta and Yiannis were also approached to join, and the band kickstarted its onward journey.

The band at that time only had one completed track called “Unite” (which is also the opening track on the album) along with some ideas here and there. I believe it was during the Summer of 2017 that songs started being completed whilst most tracks were fully ready for our debut album at around early 2019 (in the meantime we were actively playing lives in Cyprus to get our act together and be ready), and by the end of 2019 we went to Athens for recordings. For the album’s thematology, this was not pre-decided but some themes came out naturally from our songs, such as the ills of humanity like social injustice and the inhumane degradation of war.

TheNwothm: Did you all write in a room together or share ideas online?

R: It was mostly written in person (2 or 3 people meeting together) and then rehearsing over those ideas as a full band to complete them. Some ideas were shared online, but it was not our preferred way in most cases.

TheNwothm: And what can you tell us about the tracks on the record? Any particular favourite tracks you would like to highlight?

R: An interesting fact is that most tracks on the record feature old ideas and riffs that were reshaped and finalised after the band’s resurrection in 2017. These feature twin guitar harmonies, tasty and crunchy bass lines, pounding drums (and I am not just saying that) and deep melodic vocals. 

R: Although all songs have the classic heavy metal rooted to them, there is also an epic and folk element that can be heard as well. We hope that this combination will interest the readers of this interview, as we already received quite some positive feedback on it, which gives us immense incentive to push forward!  Now for the highlighted tracks, it is really hard for me (and for the whole band as well) to pick out favorites, however since you are making me choose, for me (Andreas) these are: Unite, Starchaser and Arrow.

TheNwothm: For the studio nerds what can you tell us about the setups you used in the studio? Any particular amps or guitars for instance?

R: OK, a hard one since approx. 5 years have passed and our memory is a bit vague haha! However, I promise to provide this type of info (for all the studio nerds out there) for the recording of our 2nd album!

TheNwothm: And who were the team behind your album?

R: Our debut album was recorded in Athens, Greece at “Entasis Studio”, by the one and only Nick Papakostas (Convixion), who also performed the mixing and mastering.

TheNwothm: The album was released via Gates of Hell Records! So how did you end up collaborating with them and how has it helped your album to reach audiences?

R: We knew Gates of Hell by the great releases that predated ours, which were more or less in our style of music, so this label had been a strong contender for collaboration from our side upon deciding which path to follow for the release of our debut album. 

R: So, when the time was right, we proceeded in sending our material over to them. They really liked what they heard, so an agreement was reached for putting out “Whispers of Lore”. The exposure from such an established label certainly helped to reach audiences, since we note that people look out for releases coming out from Gates of Hell and pay specific attention to them.

TheNwothm: The artwork features a castle surrounded by mountains, trees and clouds as well some great little illustrations! How did you decide on the album cover and who created it for you?

R: We all fell in love with the folkloric and mystical concept of the phrase “Whispers of Lore”. We wanted the listener to be able to view this album the same way that it is listened to. As ancient lore that lives on through this unique collection of stories inside a mystic’s book. The Illustration is a combination of the songs and the stories that surround them. As for the creator of this beautiful illustration, it is none other than our very own Nikoletta Kyprianou, who is deeply involved in the art and illustration discipline and she has carefully and lovingly created our album cover for Whispers of Lore! You can see more of her work at her Facebook Page – Nikoletta Kyprianou Illustrations/Artwork.

TheNwothm: And how the album been received by fans? Any places where it has proven particularly popular?

R: Well, due to our close connection through culture and language it had been evident from the feedback received till date that Greek fans appreciated our music the most, but honourable mentions (that we did not see coming) was the US and Germany as well. All in all, we are really happy with the comments we have received till date and fans have shared their appreciation for the songs in many instances.

TheNwothm: So now we are in 2024 do you have any big shows or tours planned?

R: We will be going to Crete in Greece to perform at “Over the Wall Festival” in August and we are planning some more gigs around the island up until the end of 2024.  Now, a big show for us will take place next April 2025 in Germany (our first time there) at the mighty “Keep It True festival” – which we can certainly say that is a heavy metal pillar for us!

TheNwothm: And are there any bands you would love to play with if you had the opportunity to?

R: Too many!! Just to keep the context narrowed to the classic underground heavy metal scene for bands which are still active, we would really love to play with Omen, Riot, Skyclad, Saracen, Heavy Load, Brocas Helm and Heir Apparent! Luckily, we will be performing with some of those great bands at Keep it True Festival next year!

TheNwothm: On the flip side are there any bands you have loved playing with? 

R: Of course, there are bands that we really loved playing with, both for their performing prowess and their great camaraderie in sharing the stage as well! Some of these bands are our brothers and sisters Solitary Sabred, Mirror, Hardraw, RUSTX, Dragonbreath, March to Die, Uncle Filth, Ars Notoria, ΙΔΑΙΟΝ Project. Furthermore, we lovingly mention Achelous, Convixion, Claymorean and Domine, bands that we got the chance to play with in festivals such as Open the Gates (CY) and Up the Hammers (GR).

TheNwothm: Musically what is next for the band? Have you started writing?

R: Yes, we have! It is our aim to commence recordings in the next year or so for our 2nd album and we are really excited about it. We already have completed 2 new songs at rehearsals with other ideas currently being worked on. So, expect news from us really soon!

TheNwothm: Where can fans buy your music and merch?

R: They can buy the digital album via our official Bandcamp page (unfortunately CDs and LP Vinyls are sold-out from our side – there might be a few more copies left from our label). There you can also find our official t-shirts and patches. Link below:

Bandcamp: https://receiverofficial.bandcamp.com/album/whispers-of-lore

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReceiverCY

TheNwothm: Is there anything else you would like to mention?

R: Thank you very much for this interview! We are really looking forward for a series of live performances planned over the next year – for actively promoting Whispers of Lore! Two of our upcoming lives that we would like to mention once more, are at Over the Wall festival – Crete, and at the mighty Keep it True in Germany next year! With that being said, we bid you farewell with hopes of seeing you soon in the live venues!