WAR ANGEL Interview

 

Genre: Heavy/Thrash Metal

Country: Iran

Questions by: Nick Parastatidis

Answers by: Mani Kewmars (Vocals)

Site: Facebook

Big Thanks to Pooyan Ahmadi for helping me contact the band

1. Hello again. How are you at the moment? Which band consumes your creative time at the moment?

Hello and hail to you from Iran, my only band is war angel right now and it has been for years so most of my time and creativity goes to WAR ANGEL.

2. Let’s talk about the birth of WAR ANGEL. When and how did you decide to form the band? Which is the current line –up of the group?

We formed the band back in 2013 with an old friend of mine and my own brother nima kewmars, we were called Demonic Ritual back then but we changed the name to WAR ANGEL for not mistakenly be seen as a satanic band, our current lineup is

mani kewmars : vocals (me)

nima kewmars: guitars

farhad mottaghi: guitars

pooyan ahmadi : bass

faramarz mottaghi: drummer

3. How would you describe the sound of WAR ANGEL? Which are your influences? From what I listened to bandcamp I noticed some ICED EARTH touches, do you agree?

War Angel is metal, that's it, pure metal, you can describe it from black Sabbath to Slipknot and every band that stands between them, even rock and punk rock, I mean why not? it's metal and we do what we like, and about that iced earth vibes you mentioned, yes iced earth, king diamond's storytelling and even modern sound of 5fdp and slipknot is included, we take everything and then we tell our tale, this is what you call heavy metal.

4. Why did you name the band WAR ANGEl? Is the band name based on a fictional or religious entity?

Neither it's fictional nor religious but both of it actually, it's only a symbolic name and maybe a reference to supernatural beings and occult but in a warrior way, maybe something like old mythology or something like between thor, odin, gods of war and biblical archangel Michael.

5. From what things you draw inspiration? What kind of lyrics you like to write about?

As I mentioned before my role model in lyrics and storytelling is king diamond, he's one of a kind and so good at it, so my inspiration comes from anything dark and supernatural in the world, it can be a murderer or a true crime or it can be a gothic horror Novel or maybe a ritual or occult gathering or summoning, you can say all the things can inspire me but it's better be scary and dark most of the times.

6. What is your usual composing process as a band? Do you write the lyrics and adapt the music on them or vice versa?

Both, some music is already written before lyrics and I search for the feeling of it, it's like a magical process, you will listen to song and something will flash into your head as an idea and the lyrics will be there for it and some music is intentionally meant for some lyrics.

7. Which are the reasons that someone should listen to your album “Tales Of The Damned” and is there something on it that you would like to do different or improve?

No I like it the way it is, every album has its own soul and energy and i won't change anything at all, it's like a living entity telling a tale of its own and every track has a different story and back ground, I think people should listen to it because it's a tale that they haven't heard and it's awesome by the way of music and it has one or two great secrets inside it too, even one of the songs is hunted by a ghost and I mean it.

8. Are there chances for the Iranian metal bands to play their music live in your country? Also how easy or difficult is for an Iranian metal band to make its music known around the world?

We have played two times live before back in 2017 for the war angel's debut album, but since then the government is getting more harder on us day by day and it's illegal to make or play metal music in here, and of course it’s difficult for us to be known to the world because we're trapped here and it's like making music in jail already.

9. What kind of response did you receive so far for “Tales Of The Damned”? Is there a comment that impressed you about your music and you would like to share here?

Yeah of course, the Greatest moment was when many great artists and idols approved us and shared our song "Tomb of the Pharaoh"

zoltan bathory, gary holt, schmier, petroza, stu block, tim owens, rob dukes, bill hudson and so many others, it was like wow, all our idols are sharing our song and that was the great moment for us till now.

10. Did you confront any prejudice because you are a metal band from Iran?

Yes all the time people keep thinking we're Satan worshipers and we drink blood every night and maybe we rape maidens and then sacrifice them from time to time but no, we're just metalheads and we don't even believe in Satan or any other religious nonsense, another thing is people always trying to keep us down in Iran, they're always trying to destroy our music and potential only for their own bands or music to succeed, Iranian metalheads are such great enemies to metal music itself because of their habit of being non supportive and toxic to each other.

11. Is there something else that you would like to add in thins interview and I haven’t asked you about it?

Thank you for your support and kindness and thanks to all of our fans and friends who believed us and helped us in our way, though the road is so long and the night is young for us, but we're full of surprises! Wait for us and our big surprises soon.

12. Thanks for your time answering my questions. I wish you the best of luck. Please close the interview in any way you like….

Thanks for your support and we wish you all the best.