DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Aklash
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Aklash sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
You're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Nico: If I knew I would have nothing but time on my hands - but also potentially time to really practice yogic meditation. I’d have to grab Filosofem before marooning myself to a life of solitude.
Marco: I'd have to go with Opeth’s Ghost Reveries. I could probably listen to it every day and not get tired of it.
Yiannis: If I had to be stuck on an island with THESE guys, something obnoxiously fun like Kaomas “World Beat” and have them listen to Lambada at ear splitting volumes all day!
Chris: “Cloud about Mercury” by David Torn, the first track on that always makes me think about being alone on an island far away from anywhere.
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Yiannis: Definitely would have to go with the cover art for Kvelertaks self titled; John Dyer Baizleys art is phenomenal, gotta love a spooky owl.
Marco: Morbid Angel’s cover for Gateways to Annihilation. But it has to be the full thing, not just the front cover crop .
Chris: A Slight Case of Overbombing by The Sisters of Mercy, because it's a funny expression and I’d need a laugh now and then being stuck on an island for the rest of my life.
Nico: The EP art for cradle of filth’s “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh” for its artistic integrity… obviously.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Yiannis: A never ending bottle of something to poison the water supply with so that I end out on top. Whatever the closest to paint stripper is, so a robust Tsipouro or Slivovice.
Marco: Super Bock. Just all the super Bock.
Chris: An endless supply of green tea to fuel the construction of this eventual island micronation we seem to be alluding to. Either that or a robust Côtes du Rhône. All served in coconuts.
Nico: Look, I don't drink anymore… but I suppose if I'm marooned… Guinness please, big creamy pints of Guinness…
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
Yiannis: In an attempt to be rescued, a bright, tie dyed pink Ratt shirt. Another upside to this is that Marco would hate it.
Marco: My 1992 Morbid Angel Domination t-shirt. It's already falling apart so it would also fit the castaway aesthetic.
Chris: My New Order “Substance” t-shirt, it's white so it’ll help with not overheating. I don’t even think I have that anymore, but it's the thought that counts.
Nico: It’s gotta be Burial’s white long sleeve… I’m ginger as Judas and need to keep the sun off me!
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Yiannis: Pirates, obviously.
Marco: Dogs.
Chris: The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation so we can play poker all the time.
Nico: The sea goddess Calypso - Figure out what Ulysses was so hung up about.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Yiannis: Dire Straits: Alchemy Live
Marco: Sepultura live in Barcelona, 1992.
Chris: The Sisters of Mercy live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1985.
Nico: A bootleg live recording of when Necrophagist played a flawless set in Dublin, maybe 2008 or 2009… I just want to listen to the hilarious heckling that went on at that show.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Yiannis: Sting; he understands the method of communication intimately and he also said he'll be watching me.
Marco: As much as I wanna be rescued, I'm just gonna use this opportunity to write a message to Glen Danzig. It's just “MOTHER” in all capitals.
Nico: I’d tell Phil from Andracca to go forth and uphold the sacred duty of wearing the ancient Gaelic mustache.
Chris: Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey so they can fly in with the helicopter out of the Easy Lover video, it probably wouldn’t fit all of us, but we could all hang on to a ladder hanging off it, and if anyone falls off, you get to be stylishly rescued for a second time.
You've been stuck here a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Yiannis: I would be surprised if it wasn't a unanimous decision to eat Nico, plus he'd be the easiest to catch if we had to gang up on him.
Marco: It would have to be Nico, he's the biggest and probably healthiest of all of us. I'm sure me and Yiannis have the culinary skills to make it a feast.
Nico: I’d eat Yiannis. He’s the smallest and easiest to subdue, (But he is an amazingly fast runner, i’d have to surprise him.) Also, he eats well and (mostly) looks after his diet. I’m sure he’d have an exotic, Mediterranean taste. Hmmm… Might not wait to get marooned. I wonder if he’s best barbecued or roasted?
Chris: If we’re going that route, the real question is who eats himself when everyone else is gone? Riddle me that.
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Yiannis: That person does not exist, I've learned valuable lessons from countless talented people but I'd have to say the ghost of Lemmy, I'm sure he'd be a laugh.
Marco: I'd say Jon Nödtveidt, but I'm not sure he'd wanna be saved.
Nico: I’d save Abbath from Immortal. That man is a great source of inspiration and… probably responsible for me spending my life pissing about in bands.
Chris: The two bass players who influence me most are probably Steve Harris and Peter Hook, and I’ve got a magical amulet that combines both of them into Peter Harris, I never set sail without it.
