RECEIVER: Forging Metal at the Crossroads of History

Amid the Mediterranean’s azure waters and the echoes of ancient civilizations, Receiver emerges as a thunderous force in Cyprus’s burgeoning metal scene. Rooted in the island’s rich cultural tapestry yet driven by raw, unrelenting authenticity, this band channels the turbulence of history and the existential weight of modern life into their sound. In this interview, they reflect on their journey, their role as cultural torchbearers, and the powerful duality of vulnerability and aggression in their music. Get ready to dive deep into the psyche of a band unafraid to defy norms while forging connections that transcend borders.

1. Hi, first off thanks for answering to our questions. How’s everything doing in the lair of Receiver?

Hello and thank you for this interview! Everything great in the band’s lair, where we are currently composing new material and getting ready for some live events later in 2025 – with our upcoming performance at the legendary Keep it True Festival being the culmination of our planned appearances.

2. Cyprus is often viewed as a cultural crossroad. How do you think the island’s unique historical and geographical identity shapes the music you create? Do you see your music as a way to bridge different cultural influences or as a form of resistance to certain cultural norms?

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.

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 rancour 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.

3. The music scene in Cyprus is still developing, especially in terms of rock and metal. How do you see your role within that scene? Do you feel a responsibility to push boundaries and open doors for other emerging bands, or is it more about following your own creative path?

The music scene in Cyprus dynamically developed over the course of the last decade. We believe that the band as a whole, and also all the members as individuals, strived towards enhancing the development of the scene either by composing and releasing original material, performing live shows, attending concerts, volunteering for setting up metal concerts and festivals, promoting the Cyprus metal scene while travelling abroad.

That being said, what we set out to do is to indeed explore our own creative path, compose music in the sounds of our favourite genres and share it with our peers and with metal lovers in Cyprus and abroad. If our art and musical endeavour end up positively affecting the Cyprus metal scene, we would of course feel very happy and content.

4. You’ve been vocal about the challenges faced in the Cypriot underground scene. How do you think the local and global underground music community can contribute to creating spaces where marginalized voices can thrive? What role does inclusivity play in shaping the identity of underground music scenes?

Indeed we have witnessed various challenges being faced by our underground metal scene for the past decade, a time for which we have been more actively involved. We firmly believe that unity and camaraderie between the members of the underground community both at a local and global level will help creating that space where everyone can feel included – embracinga scene that resembles a team/sub-society – acknowledging that we all go through similar hurdles.

With that having been said, being inclusive and having a sense of acceptance across the board is the clear way forward.

If the underground scene has the ability to get such strong messages across in unity, then in most cases other marginalised voices within the scene can be heard as well (and possibly thrive!).

5. The global metal scene is often celebrated for its diversity, but it can also struggle with representation and inclusivity. What has your experience been as a band from Cyprus within the broader metal community? Do you feel that there are barriers, whether cultural or geographic, that you’ve had to overcome?

When it comes to barriers in Cyprus, geographical barriers might play a certain role as per the feasibility of travelling abroad in order to perform a live show or the difficulty of other bands visiting the island in order for the local scene to grow.

However, some even greater hindrances that we struggled with (as many upcoming bands might struggle as well), are the barriers of networking and recording, releasing and promoting a studio album.

A band that wants to embark on its debut recording / releasing journey needs to explore and familiarize with certain aspects of the process that among other things include;

Finding a recording studio that can produce a sound – which the band feels content with, communicate with record labels and strike a fair deal, network with people in order to promote the album both on and off stage – either by performing live in festivals or by getting some “air-time” or presence in the media.

At first, when an artist is more or less clueless on where to start regarding the above-mentionedmatters, the struggle for an album release and promotion (and consequently the struggle for representation and inclusivity) will be palpable. However, if a band succeeds to release an album, all the networking and promoting flows along with the accumulated knowledge regarding the recording and releasing process will make staying relevant, representation and inclusivity much easier.

6. Receiver’s sound has been praised for being raw and authentic, but the concept of authenticity is subjective. For you as a band, what does «authenticity» in your music really mean? Do you think it’s something that happens naturally, or is it an ideal you’re consciously pursuing in your work?

For us in Receiver, the notion of coming out as being authentic in our music and compositions is something that is derived naturally we believe. At the same time we do acknowledge that coming out as being authentic is an important factor for the listener to feel connected with our music at a much deeper level.

We note of course that subconsciously many influences do intervene with the process of being completelytrue and authentic (which is practically impossible); nevertheless, we try to embrace our influences as much as possible, bringing out our own take and originality in thefinal result.

Generally, it is a concept that we do keep in mind;however, it is not a constant driver for us whilst composing, since havingsuch conscious barriers might interfere with the bands’creativity. If the final result does not feel right (in the spectrum of authenticity), we are always open in discussing it and revisiting it together as a band.

7. Receiver’s lyrics are often dark and introspective, with an undercurrent of existential questioning. How much of your music reflects personal experiences versus observations about society? Do you feel like the darker, more reflective nature of your lyrics resonates with listeners who might be grappling with their own struggles in today’s world?

Our lyrics are shaped by both personal experiences and observations of the world around us. We draw inspiration from our lives as individuals, as well as from the collective struggles that society faces. This dual influence shapes the themes of our music.

We also believe that song lyrics, like all art, are subjective and open to interpretation. Some listeners might find a deeper connection with our lyrics, especially if they are grappling with their own challenges in today’s world.

Lastly, and while commenting on the subject, we would like to take this opportunity to send strength and good health to anyone going through tough times in our troubled and war-ridden world.

8. In many of your tracks, there’s a noticeable balance between vulnerability and aggression. Do you feel that expressing vulnerability as artists carries a specific weight in today’s social context where emotional openness is often discouraged?

Embracing vulnerability and being open about personal struggles, whilst at the same time making observations about the current status of society is something that we have taken onboard as a band as soon as when we sat down to express our thoughts through our lyrics.

We agree that it is indeed quite important that artistsare in the position (whenever they can)to openly share their feelings and emotions through songs, showing that they can be vulnerable, when society shies away or discourages such notions.

We do hope that through our song we have played a small part in keeping listeners/fans encouraged to be open and express their feelings as much as possible, even when this is hard at times.

9. You’re not a band that wears politics on its sleeve, but there are certain themes in your music that subtly touch on societal disillusionment. Do you see your music as a form of commentary on the state of the world today, or is it more about expressing individual emotion and experience? How do you strike that balance between the personal and the collective?

Humanity is undoubtedly facing challenging and uncertain times, and these collective struggles weigh heavily on us all as individuals. As a result, our personal concerns about society inevitably find their way into the themes of our music.

We are good friends who frequently share and discuss our worries, which naturally influences the way we approach new song lyrics. When we bring ideas to the table, we carefully consider the message and the deeper meaning we want to convey. In this process, we strike a balance between personal perspectives and the broader, shared experience, ensuring that our music reflects both individual emotions and collective sentiments.

10. Songwriting in Receiver seems to have a collaborative nature. Given that the act of creating music is often viewed as a communal experience, do you feel that today’s digital world is making people more alienated from one another, even as it creates new forms of connectivity? How does this influence your songwriting process and the themes you choose to explore?

Although we, as a band, do embrace the technological advancements when it comes to creativity and the new ways to experience/share/connectwith one another in the spectrum of collaboration, at the same time we do agree with the statement that this is increasingly alienating people from their direct societal norms, having an effect in a band’s togetherness.

Currently, we do not see that this “digital evolution” is directly affecting our song writing process as well as the themes explored, since we tend to keep our old-school approach intact. To this day, whenever we want to explore an idea, we still meet in person and we constantly get together in rehearsals to collaborate and create.

11. In a world that’s increasingly driven by instant gratification and viral moments, how do you stay grounded in the idea of making meaningful, lasting art? What’s your personal philosophy on balancing the need for artistic integrity with the realities of the modern music industry?

As individuals, none of us is largely involved in social media or concerned about going viral. However, this is indeed a time of projection extravagance, so an artist has to adapt in order to remain relevant – i.e. do a photoshoot, or keep a healthy social media presence and keep a steady flow of content.

That being said, although we do perform the above, this does not have to affect our music nor do we feel the urge to musically comply – and we would say that this is mainly due to two reasons;

Receiver are a music passion endeavour and not a project for profit.We live for it, but we do not live by it – and this means that we feel no real urge to monetise our art. Therefore, we do not have to comply with any tight deadlines regarding our material nor do we have to shift our song-writing process towards material that will “sell better” if we do not feel like it. Instead, we can take our time while composing and polishing our material and be brave and daring in exploring our sound. Nonetheless, we would like to address a big shout-out to artists of every artistic discipline who chose to live by their art and tread upon this rocky road.

Secondly, as avid metal fans we listened to quite a lot of bands and attended countless live shows while artists presented their material. During all these years, what we can say for certain is that there is an obvious difference between bands that maintain their artistic integrity and bands that prefer to sell better and will marginalise their style for profit – and we certainly would not like to belong in the latter category.

For us, the artists that manage to maintain their grassroots affection for music, that keep their integrity and will explore music out of sincere and not economic interest – are the artists that are more likely to make meaningful and lasting art, as they are less likely to comply to the musical norms of the industry.

12. That’s all from our side. Thanks again for answering to these questions. If you’d like to add some final words; it’s your turn.

First of all, we would like to thank you for this interview and the chance you are giving us to say a few things about the band and our debut album “Whispers of Lore”. These were some of the most authentic and interesting questions we ever answered as a band during an interview!

As for the band’s news, we are really looking forward for our live performance at the mighty Keep it True festival in Germany next year! Moreover, we are currently composing new songs for our upcoming sophomore album.

To you and all the Queens of Steel readers – we really hope you enjoyed this interview, and we bid you farewell with hopes of seeing you soon in the live venues.