George Constantine Kratsas: Abducted Cosmos - George talks about the making of his new album

George Constantine Kratsas: Abducted Cosmos
1. Amulet 02:17
2. Siren's Shriek 05:16
3. Deception 04:34
4. Ainigma 05:01
5. Disillusion 06:01
6. Interlude 01:04
7. Samsara 05:57

George Constantine Kratsas: guitars 
Leonidas Diamadopoulos: keys 
Antoine Karpanos (Davanos): bass 
Nikitas Mandolas: drums 

The alum was Mixed and mastered by George Constantine Kratsas @ Anechoic Studios, Patras (Greece)  with special thanks to Nikos Karelis for his pianistic approach in track 06. Interlude.

Promotional Videos from the Release - Described as "Symphonic prog-shred", Kratsas’s style combines 7-string metal grooves, melodic choruses, ethnic elements and other-worldly technical solos, reminicent of artists such as Jeff Loomis, Michael Romeo, Paul Wardingham.


George Konstantine Kratsas : "Sirens' Shriek" [HD]


Manhattan Project - ''Samsara'' [OFFICIAL VIDEO]


George Constantine Kratsas talks about the recording process for his solo album available from bandcamp https://georgeconstantinekratsas.bandcamp.com/


How long did it take you to record the album?
The album took me about a year to compose and about half a year to record. There were breaks in the recording process due to my mechanical engineering studies.


How did you know when you had finished the album?
It was not a planned process. I wanted it to be a concept album, inspired by ancient Greek elements and an ethnic aesthetic. The moment I realised that I had achieved that  has achieved, then I knew the album was complete.

How do you know when a track is finished?
Well, I don't have a standard writing procedure. I just usually have a general musical direction. The track is finished when my ears are pleased! After all the great Yngwie Malmsteen have said it: ''If is sounds good, it's good''

How do you decide what is going into a track and how do you name it?
As I mentioned before, the music is a concept album. So I have built every track according to that concept and so I was trying to come up with a name that best describes this prevailing characteristic.


What equipment did you use in the studio
I have recorded the guitars using my custom-build tube preamp amplifier and some impulse responses, as expected, which I've programmed myself.


How did you record the drums for the album?
I used addictive drums and my custom samples in the mixing process to replace the individual parts of the midi track that my drummer played with his electronic drum set.


Do you approach an album as though it is you meister work?
I've spent a fair amount of time composing this album.  I wanted to be a very compact album, not only in its entirety, but also for each track individually. I think this approach has created my best work so far.


When the album is done how do you feel about it?
I feel proud realising that something that started as an idea in my head took shape into a unique music creation


Did you have a budget for the album?
The album was recorded, produced, mixed and masterd by myself so except from buying the hardware tools for the recording, there weren't any other expences. The budget was relatively low for this album.


How did you go about your promotion strategy?
First thing I planned to do was to film a promo video. An artistic play through of one of my songs. I feel very proud that after that I received very complimenting comments from some guitar-idols of my own such as Paul Wardingham and Attila Voros. Apart from all the web sites and social platforms, I have found that touring and playing live with my music has been a great promotion strategy.


How did you decide what the album title and design would be?
I think the artwork must be the visualization of the album's music content. It's very important so i came up with the title ''Abducted Cosmos'' . I think it describes perfectly a mixture of different music elements of a progressive metal, instrumental album.


What were your musical influences on this album?
Growing up I  listened to a lot of traditional Greek music that really impacted me forming a more phygian dominant-like character.Apart from that I was really inspired by cinematic and soundtrack genres.


Lesson Videos from the release, visit YouTube for links to tab

Shred On - G.C.Kratsas - Siren's Shriek ( Part1)


Shred On - G.C.Kratsas - Samsara ( Part2)


Important links

bandcamp: http://georgeconstantinekratsas.bandcamp.com/releases
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgeconstantine.kratsas
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/gjk200000/videos

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