Interview with Giorgos Palandris of Disoriented

We will move into more groove territory this time with guitarist Giorgos Palandris from the Athens Disoriented who recently released their debut album Crossed the Line independently. In this one
interview we will get a sample from the members themselves what Disoriented is from all aspects of a band and also then we will see their future plans and ambitions.

Welcome to Metalourgio! Thank you very much for your time.

Starting this interview… When and how did you meet and decide to
form Disoriented?

Good evening from us too, thank you very much for the hospitality. We were created in 2016 following the initiative of our guitarist Giorgos Palandris who loved Groove Metal and wanted to see it flourish in Greece with his own effort, as at that time Greek Groove Metal bands were few, which unfortunately still tends to be the case. After much searching he found George Karett (Vocals) and Tassos Vassilakis (Drums) with whom they started writing their own music. Now, after 8 years, we found on our way and Kyriakos Constantinou (Bass), who, which is also the last addition, completes the Lineup.

What was the inspiration for the band's name?

When we started the band, we were still students, and as students, we were in οur little world. We had no idea what to do with our future, but what we did know was that we wanted to write music and lyrics that expressed our disorientation. So we thought "what more fitting name than "Disoriented", a groove metal band where their lyrics would represent us and through them we could convey to our audience exactly what we feel.

Reading about how you define yourself sonically, I saw that you say you play a mixture of death and groove. What influences did you have in terms of approaching the two particular genres?

Our main influence, as can be heard from our songs, is Pantera. However, we have embraced the sound and ideas of many more bands in the wider metal scene, such as Lamb of God, Gojira, Jinjer, Devildriver, Parkway Drive and Sepultura, from whom we have also inspired our lyrical style. However, musically and compositionally we love Death, especially Kyriakos, as we think that Chuck's compositions were unique and could stand as well in a metal band as in a symphony orchestra, which is clever, from there and our micro-Death Metal influences .

 Now let's get into the realm of track and album production shall we? Can you tell us what your sources of inspiration are and how you then frame them to create what you want?

The main songwriter is our guitarist, Giorgos Palandris, who has written the majority of our songs, so we all have blind trust in him. Definitely our main source of inspiration sonically is Pantera but also the various situations that happen every day and affect us either positively or negatively. From then on, everyone writes their part on it
to George's ideas thus giving flesh and bones to each piece.

In terms of the lyrics, who would you consider your main influences and what messages would you like to convey through them?

Very nice question. Definitely one band that we can confidently say has influenced us lyrically is Sepultura. From there on, our verse moves mainly in socio-political messages, without this being absolute and being an obstacle to writing verses with other themes that touch us equally.

As I mentioned in the introduction of this interview, you recently released your debut album called Crossed the Line. Could you tell us a few general words about it?

We are very happy for the release of our first Full Length Album as for every band it is a milestone since it is the basis for a band's journey. "Crossed The Line" is a record that we have been preparing for a long time as we wanted it to come out exactly as we envisioned it and we finally did. Our basic approach regarding our album was that we didn't want to have anything on the record that we couldn't perform as is in our lives, so we ended up with a more minimal production. In addition, from a production point of view we moved more into a Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake phase as we consider these tones to represent us
more, something which is not 100% in line with today's productions. Our record was produced by our bassist Kyriakos and Soundsculptors Studios, for which we are very grateful.

You have very nice artwork on your album and in your other works. Tell us
a few words about them as well as who designed them?

Our Artworks so far have been designed by Antaios Graphics as well as Vaso Arkou whom we thank very much for bringing our visions to life with their talent and passion for what they do.

What do you consider to be the most important moments in your career so far?

Certainly one of the most important moments in our journey so far is our appearance at Schoolwave Festival, since this specific event gave us the opportunity to suddenly play to 2000+ people, something that for us is and will always be a special experience that will not never forget However, we can't help but include our disc presentation in the
An Club as we mentioned above, "Crossed the Line" is the result of very hard work and mainly love for what we do.

Do you have any sort of set routine before you go out to play somewhere together?

I wouldn't say a specific routine, but we always take some time to focus and relax. From there, we look to have fun and convey our joy to the audience!

Unfortunately metal is losing its connection with the new world and therefore aging with all that that entails. Why do you think this is and how could it resonate more with young people today?

We couldn't say we agree 100% with Metal losing its connection with younger people. Sure, Metal could and deserves more appeal to younger ages, but music is subjective and sounds different to every ear. It would help a lot if Metal was more "politically correct" if we were allowed to express ourselves, and we heard it more often in
major global events (see Gojira – Olympic Opening Ceremony).

Giving a bigger picture now... How do you personally see the current state of the domestic scene and specifically groove and death where you are part of? By the way, what assessment would you give as Disoriented as to its future course?

The Greek metal scene is at a very good level musically and there are very good and remarkable bands that have nothing to envy from their counterparts abroad who have a long career. However, we believe that Greek bands should support each other more so that the scene rises as a whole and makes its presence much more noticeable abroad. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, there is not the necessary promotion and help from the domestic media, which makes the whole effort of the Greek bands much more difficult, so the bands have to be not just good, but perfect, if they want to do something serious and big (see Full House Brew Crew, Suicidal Angels etc).

Artificial intelligence and music… A hotly debated issue… Which one is yours?
opinion on this?

Certainly AI is a convenience that entered our lives very dynamically and can provide many solutions in many areas. However, in the field of art, let alone music, it cannot and will never compete with the human hand and human expressiveness.

Finally, what are your future plans as a band and what are your ambitions?

We are already creating new material for our next album which, SPOILER ALERT, won't be too long. Our ambitions are to go as high as possible with hard work and humility and make the Greek scene proud.

Which big festival would you ideally like to play at and with whom?

Our undisputed dream is Hellfest which is the biggest and best Metal Fest in Europe where we would like to share the stage with Pantera, Lamb Of God and also Jinjer who are our idols and it would be an honor to play with them .

In closing, would you like to say one last thing to our webzine readers?

We would like to thank you all for being with us all these years and close with a promise. The best is yet to come. Stay Tuned.

The interview was conducted by Michalis Antonopoulos