Interview by Kris Peters
Greek metal masters of mayhem Suicidal Angels tomorrow release their eighth studio album Profane Prayer, reaffirming their growing stature as one of the leaders of the next phase of metal evolution.
Since forming Suicidal Angels at just 16 years of age back in 2001, Nick Melissourgos (vocals, guitars) has overseen a changing of the guard of sorts, kicking things off with the band's debut album Eternal Domination which set the musical landscape ablaze.
After being invited by Sakis Tolis of ROTTING CHRIST to do their first European tour soon after, Suicidal Angels quickly found their stride and set about laying a decimating sonic landscape in their wake, forcing people to sit up and take notice.
Landing the support slot with KREATOR set about a fresh chain of events that saw Melissourgos strike up an enduring friendship with Mille Petrozza, and since then Suicidal Angels have made every post a winner.
Four years in the making, Profane Prayer is already being lauded by fans and critics alike, with HEAVY spending some time with Melissourgos earlier this week to document the rise and rise of his band.
"We're a thrash metal band from Athens, Greece," he declared proudly before we begin talking about the album. "We are about to release our eighth studio album and in a couple of days we hit the road for the first European tour for this album. Afterwards we go to the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal. The whole booking process for the concerts is taking place, so we hope we can get to other markets as well. We had some plans for 2020 to come to Australia, but due to the COVID situation we couldn't make it."
We ask Nick how the nerves are kicking in just days out from release.
"A bit, to be honest," he admitted. "Before this pandemic stopped the whole planet… it actually hit us quite hard because we had just released our previous album Years Of Aggression on August 2019, and we were about to do a huge, extensive tour. As I said before, we were even planning on going to Australia and the USA and Canada markets, places we hadn't been before. Two and a half years we were off the road, and then we tried to do some small tours mostly here and in America to promote the Years Of Aggression album and gradually and slowly came back to the reality of the after COVID situation. It took longer than usual to release a new album, but it was because of the situation, and now we're quite anxious and nervous but also excited with this release. We really hope to get back on the road and the life we used to have."
In the full interview, we ask Nick to go deeper into the musical side of Profane Prayer, how much they experimented with their sound on the album, how it differs to previous releases, how much growth Suicidal Angels have left in them, the early days of the band and how serious he was about it, what things he has learned about life and music over the journey, upcoming shows and more.