WEAPONIZED

1. In today’s interview, we’re focusing on Weaponized, a new metallic hardcore band from Athens, Greece. Welcome! Would you please Introduce yourself and what you do in the band?

First of all thank you for the invite. We appreciate it very much. Weaponized is a four piece band, my name is Paris. I play guitar and do some backing vocals in Weaponized. George is the vocalist, Nick plays drums and Fotis plays bass.

2. I understand you just returned from France. How was that?

Me (Paris) and George also play in Malignant, we had the opportunity to play with Malevolence once again at the last show of their most recent European tour and we decided to make a vacation out of that trip so we stayed in Lyon for a week. The show was amazing, easily one of the best shows Malignant has ever played. Also we got the chance to see Gridiron, Contention and Clique the day we landed in Lyon which was a treat, tours like that rarely come through Athens and we are big fans of those bands.

3. What’s the scene like in Athens and Greece more broadly?

The hardcore scene in Greece isn't the strongest, although the last few years have definitely been an improvement. You can feel that things are slowly moving in the right direction and we especially noticed it at the first show our collective (210 Hardcore Bookings) put together. There were so many young kids moshing and getting involved, and it was really inspiring to see. There's still a lot of room for growth, but it's up to all of us to make this scene something special. We have to give a shoutout to My Turn, Runs Deep, Ripping Wounds, Conceive and Fat Face, some of the best bands in Athens right now. Up north in Thessaloniki there’s also a cool scene that’s been going on for years with bands like Overpain, Notation Must Die, Swarm Of Rats, FOA and Going The Distance.  It's important for people to start bands and use them as a way to speak their minds about what's happening in the world. Hardcore has always been about more than just the music, it's about the message behind it, creating a space for expression, and giving people a voice. A stronger scene comes from people getting involved, sharing their ideas, and contributing to something meaningful.

4. How did you all find each other and form Weaponized?

Weaponized started with me putting together some riffs during Covid. From the start the goal was to make it an actual band but that took a long time to happen. Me and George have been playing in bands together for years (Malignant, Never-Trust, Detestment) so having him be in the band was meant to happen. We met Fotis from sharing the stage with his other bands (My Turn, Final Daze, Censored Sound), also our whole friend group used to hang out at his Vegan cafe (rip Bamboo Vegan). Nick is a well known drummer in the local scene, he’s played in bands like Cursed Blood, Krause, Vulnus just to name a few. Like in most scenes around the world drummers are hard to come by but we got lucky with Nick.

5. How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard the band? What influences are you pulling from?

We are pulling stuff from a bunch of bands both old and new. Bands like Merauder, All Out War, 100 Demons, God’s Hate, Abrasion and Whispers just to name a few.

6. How did you find hardcore in the first place? What was or were your gateway band(s)?

Paris: Like most people I started with metal at a young age when my dad got me into bands like Metallica, Black Sabbath and Anthrax. Naturally through the years I got into more and more extreme stuff.  I remember getting into Avenged Sevenfold though Call Of Duty Black Ops 2; after going through their older stuff, I knew I wanted to hear more breakdowns, and after obsessing over Slipknot, Machine Head and Sepultura I came across Hatebreed and Terror and that’s where my journey into hc began.

George:  I came into hardcore from a metal background, growing up on bands like Lamb of God, Gojira, Slipknot, Slayer, Machine Head, Cannibal Corpse, and Sylosis, so I was already drawn to aggressive riffing and extreme vocals. When I discovered Hatebreed and later bands like Knocked Loose, Malevolence, Jesus Piece, Sanction, Vein and Simulakra, the mix of metallic riffs and heavy mosh parts instantly clicked with me.

7. Let’s talk about your debut EP Hell on Earth. First of all, the artwork is sick. Who did that/where did it come from?

We put the EP together ourselves. Paris handled all the audio stuff with some help from George Christoforidis on the drum tracking and George did the artwork. He also has an Instagram page called shatteredesigns and plans on making more content soon so make sure to follow him.

8. Can you walk us through each song on the EP?

Even though there wasn’t a clear goal for any of the tracks other than writing cool mosh parts, each song showcases a different side of our sound, exploring a range of moods while maintaining the aggression and intensity. When it comes to the songwriting, we always try to keep things fresh and memorable, making sure every track has its own identity while still feeling cohesive as part of the record.

“Survival Is Not An Option” opens the EP, and when it came to sequencing everything it was the obvious choice to kick things off. It starts strong with a driving double bass section that quickly drops into a breakdown. Compared to the other songs, it’s a bit more of a riff salad, constantly throwing new riffs at you. “Built With Blood” follows and is built around its verse riff, which became the foundation for the rest of the song. To top it off, we had Aimilios from Malignant contribute guest vocals, adding another layer of aggression to the track. The third track, “Karma,” leans into a more straightforward, hard-hitting style, with a clear influence from Abrasion, which is one of our main influences, especially for this track.

Closing things off with “Means 2 An End,” it shares a similar feel and structure to “Built With Blood,” but what really ties it together is its closing breakdown, which ended up becoming one of our favourite moments on the entire EP.

9. What are some upcoming plans for the band (shows, etc)?

All of us are busy with other bands or just with everyday life so we are taking it one step at a time. At the moment there are no plans but we want to start playing shows.

10. Okay, last question: there’s a tour package being put together and you are going to be on it. What would be the other three current bands you’d most want to tour with (dream as big as you want haha!)?

Let’s go with Merauder, All Out War and Hatebreed.