Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you?
H: Hello, I’m Alexander and I’m a musician. I play drums for the heavy metal band Hellpass!
PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.
H: Music was always a love of mine, so I began playing and composing from an early age and got involved with many musicians and bands not only in the metal scene but in a broader sense.
On June of 2022, having met Angelos (our guitarist) I took the decision to form Hellpass with him. Shortly after, Vasilis joined the band. We started out as a three piece and within a couple of months we had composed our debut album, “Gates of War”, in its entirety and in the late summer of ‘22 we entered the recording studio. Meantime, we were searching for a bassist so Vasilis could focus more on vocals. In the early fall of 2022 Nick entered the band and started learning songs and rehearsing immediately. Currently Hellpass are Aggelos on guitar, Vasilis on vocals, Nick on bass, Vaggelis on guitar and Alex (myself) on drums.
From November of 2022 we started releasing material. First we published our favourite song, “Oath to the Metal Gods” as a single and Music Video. Then, on January 2023, our second single and Music Video came out which is titled “Futura”. The release of our debut album “Gates of War” came up on February 2023. “Gates of War” is a heavy metal album with thrash and doom influence here and there. It speaks about the still going on war in Ukraine and the ways governments and states have devised in order to divide the people.
Since February Hellpass has started performing live. We have already played on well known stages of the biggest cities in Greece. Anyone interested can check our live videos on our YouTube Channel(https://linktr.ee/hellpass)We are currently on tour, spreading “Gates of War” our debut album all over Greece and beyond.
We were offered a slot in Over the Wall festival that we have accepted with honour. We are going to play there, on the island of Crete, on the 26th of August 2023 as support for the veterans of heavy metal Virgin Steele!
The event that we are mostly excited about is our European tour with the black metal berserkers Arallu, with our death metal brothers from Athens Among Ruins and our death metal neighbours Gravestone from 11 until 19 of November of 2023.
PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
H: Hellpass is a heavy metal band with thrash and doom influences. Since the list of our influences is very long I’ll give you just three names: Candlemass, Megadeth and Motley Crew.
My personal non-musical interests are culture, art and yoga. I’m reading a lot. I enjoy reading philosophy, from Thales to Nietzsche and everything in between; also I’m studying a lot of non-western scriptures and systems of thought and worship. Since I’m involved in yoga I do keep a close contact with Hinduism, Buddhist and oriental, in general, writings and teachings.
Theatre is another interest of mine. I’m not only going to watch plays but I read playwrights also. Henrik Ibsen is my favourite, and in my opinion, the best play writer of modern European theatre. I admire his writing, opinions and way of thinking.
Α person like me, active in these fields can’t remain uninfluenced by these. They definitely add elements to my creativity in a non-rational and maybe non-cognitive way thus rendering my unable to pin point any of those elements down.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
H: My dream and goal are for Hellpass to tour the world and perform live to every corner of the known and still unknown universe.
PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?
H: Angelos, our guitarist, is the main composer for the songs that are included in the “Gates of War” album. So, basically Angelos came up with all the parts of the stringed instruments, brought them in the rehearsal room and then we jammed endlessly all together until we were satisfied with the end product. Once the musical part had reached its’ final form, Vasilis, our singer wrote all the lyrics and came up with the vocal parts.
All the lyrics are written by Vasilis and are about the still going on war in Ukraine, the ways governments and states have devised in order to divide the people, drug addiction, existential crisis and heavy metal music.
PD: How do you promote your band and shows?
H: Since this question is about promotion let’s do some. Our new music video is out!!! It’s titled “Burning Flags”, is the closing song of our album “Gates of War” and it was shot in ImageNation studios and is available on our YouTube channel (https://linktr.ee/hellpass). “Burning Flags” is a flaming metal song that burns out all the boundaries and unites the people of the world together, so Burn,Burn,Burn the flags!!!
Stay tuned for more videos like this one!
Basically, this is how we promote our band and shows, through interviews (like this one) and through the social media, our fans can find us on many platforms. All they need is the Hellinktree https://linktr.ee/hellpass
Any relative link is on there. Hit it!
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
H: Downloading is a reality for the past 20 years I would say. The first thing that someone has to do with reality is accept it. I’m not going to speak about what is right or wrong. What is important is that metal fans should understand that bands, YouTube Channels, podcasts, radio station, venues, promoters, sound engineers, road crews etc. exist only because of, and to the degree of, the support that the fans show to the bands.
So, regardless of if someone downloads music or not, if anyone wants for a specific band to continue creating music, releasing albums and touring, then this specific band should be supported.
There are many ways to support a band and every one of them is simple!
You, metalhead, who are reading this interview, if you are interested in Hellpass (or any other band that you are into), I kindly suggest that you subscribe to our YouTube Channel, follow us on facebook and instagram, listen to our music on spotify, buy our music, if so desire, on bandcamp and also get your Hell-Shirt. You can pre-order our T-Shirt on our bandcamp page (will be officialy out on June 7th 2023).
By doing these simple things one day you will be able to watch us perform your favourite Hellpass song live and have a great time banging your head with us.
Always remember: music is here to unite the human race and everything starts from you.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
H: I wish I had written all of Death’s discography. Do I need to explain why?
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
H: Taking phone calls in public, face-timing without headphones (especially in public transportation), taking phone calls in public.
PD: What is your proudest moment in music?
H: During one of our shows our frontman, Vasilis, divided the crowd in two halves and had one half screaming “Hell” and the other half “Pass”.
PD: So what are you working on at the moment?
H: We are currently on tour, thus spreading “Gates of War” our debut album all over Greece and beyond.
We already have played four gigs in our city, Thessaloniki, and performed once in Athens. Our next live is also in Athens on the 14th of May this year and then we have already booked shows in Volos and Larisa.
We were offered a slot in Over the Wall festival that we have accepted with honor. We are going to play there, on the island of Crete, on the 26th of August 2023 as support for the veterans of heavy metal Virgin Steele!
I have saved for last the event that we are mostly excited about! I’m referring of course to our European tour with the black metal berserkers Arallu, with our death metal brothers from Athens Among Ruins and our death metal neighbours Gravestone from 11 until 19 of November of 2023.
PD: Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
14/5/23: Athens AN Club
19/5/23: Volos – Argoriders Motorcycle Club
10/6/23: Larissa Skyland
26/8/23 : Crete, Over the Wall Festival
11/11/23:FarářovaSluj, MladáBoleslav, CZ
12/11/23:BossBar, Poděbrady, CZ
13/11/23:RockleKlub, ČeskéBudějovice, CZ
14/11/23: Probaterem, Szentes, HU
15/11/23:Manufactura, Timişoara, RO
16/11/23: Death Covenant Festival, Cluj Napoca, RO
17/11/23: MC Clubhouse, Lugoj RO
18/11/23: Rock ‘N’ Roll Center, Zalau, RO
19/11/23: Gekko Pub, Oradea, RO
Music is about communicating with those inside and those outside. Music is about uniting the human race. Is about uniting the individual with that that seems other and with itself through the dissolution of the personality into the sonic sea.
This is why you should be there to watch us perform your favourite Hellpass song live and to have a great time banging your head with us.
Hellpass links:
Band/Artist location – Thessaloniki, Greece
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp – Merch –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – Last Fm –
Check our page for Hellpass
