Interview Arhat

Uncover the mysteries of Arhat's 'Secrets of Ancient Gods' album as we delve into its inspirations, unique genre fusion, social messages, creative process, and future plans.

1. Could you tell us more about the inspiration behind your latest album "Secrets of Ancient Gods"?

The album will tell about initiation into the Higher Knowledge and secrets of Ancient Egypt. More precisely, about the path to acquiring this knowledge, which the adept is destined to take. Each song is a fragment of an adept's journey along the path of ancient knowledge.

2. How did the concept of combining ethnic elements with extreme metal genres come about?

We decided to combine ethnic instruments and extreme metal just because few bands did it before us. It is difficult to repeat oneself here, and therefore there is a wide range for creativity.

Secondly, the ethnic instruments add just the right atmosphere to emphasize the lyrics and help the listeners immerse themselves in ancient times.

3. What specific themes or messages are explored in your new single, "Our Walk Is Unstoppable"?

The main message of the song is related to the spirit and inner feelings, the impulse of which gives the power to change circumstances in favor of oneself.

4. You mentioned that you dedicated "Our Walk Is Unstoppable" to defenders who protect Ukraine. How important is it to you to include social or political messages in your music?

Now for us, Ukrainians, it is very important. For more than two years, we have been repulsing the aggressor who outnumbers us in all types of weapons.

Thanks to the help of all civilized countries and the bravery of our soldiers, we have the opportunity to live a relatively safe life and write music.

Now we have the opportunity to remind the world about the ongoing struggle of humanity, the struggle against global evil, which is currently represented by the russian federation.

5. Can you share some insights into the creative process behind the song "Our Walk Is Unstoppable"?

We had an idea to create a song that would inspire determination and strength. According to the first feedback from the listeners, we think that we have succeeded.

6. How do you think the use of instruments such as Turkish ney, sitar and percussion enhance the narrative and atmosphere of your music?

Here everything seems to be simple: "what I hear is what I imagine". Hope that's how it works:) That's why we selected the instruments in such a way as to convey the atmosphere of ancient times, as we perceive it.

7. What challenges did you face when combining symphonic orchestration with ethnic elements on Secrets of Ancient Gods?

The more instruments, the more difficult it is to combine them into one track, to create a single space. But Dmitry Kim did a great job with this task. We are very satisfied with the overall sound.

8. How has your sound evolved from previous works to this album?

Before "Secrets of Ancient Gods", we made several releases. This is our first full-length album "Dead life" and a number of singles ("Stately ruins", "Symbols" and "The Great Unknown"). Lyrically, they covered mainly social problems of humanity. Musically, it was a combination of minimalist mid-tempo riffs, heavy sound and melodic guitar solos.

In "Secrets of the Ancient Gods" we used more complex musical structures, rich arrangements and a large number of ethnic instruments to emphasize the atmosphere. We had a lot of fast-paced compositions with technical guitar parts and complex drum arrangements.

It's always difficult to talk about our own music in terms of evolution. We'll leave that to the discretion of fans and music critics. Be sure to listen to our new album and leave feedback on it))

9. Are there any particular mythologies or ancient civilizations that heavily influenced the album's lyrical and musical themes?

Yes, primarily the mythology of ancient Egypt and the works of Iamvlich of Halkidiki and Aleister Crowley. They have explored this question to some extent.

All the songs on this album were written under the influence of their works.

10. What do you hope listeners will take away from listening to "Secrets of Ancient Gods"?

We hope that those who will hear our music will first of all get aesthetic pleasure from what they listened to.

Secondly, maybe someone will be interested in what we are singing about there and read a couple of books :)

11. Can you describe the meaning of the album title and how it relates to the overall concept of the music?

The name should be intriguing, right? And what can be more intriguing than a secret? The name also contains the number seven. Seven Arcana of the Tarot were chosen for the texts, and we embodied their meanings in music.