Perseverance is something that doesn’t elude Cypriot epic heavy metal band Receiver. Well over a decade since the band first started playing together, their incredible debut album ‘Whispers of Lore’ was finally released in late 2023. Singer Nikoletta Kyprianou and guitarist Andreas Kyriacou tell us more about the past and the future of the band.

“The band has actually been around since before the two of us were in the band”, Kyriacou explains. “The initial band has been around since 2011, during the high school years of Charalambos (Vassiliou, guitarist) and Loizos (Koukoumas, bassist). But there was a hiatus for the band that for four or five years. Everyone left Cyprus to study, so the band was put on hold.

What happened than is that myself and Charalambos, who had been friends for many years, met up and jammed. During those meetings, the question came up whether it would be feasible to kickstart the band again. I was really pushing for it, because they had really good ideas in the past. There was an interest in that, and when we started playing, we noticed there was a chemistry between us.

So we said: okay, let’s give it another shot. Loizos was on board, then we found Nikoletta, and eventually Yiannis (Xanthou, drummer). We started music that was mainly based on old ideas that the band already had, and also some ideas that we brought in at that initial stage. ‘Unite’ is the only song that remained from the earliest days. We had another one, but it wasn’t developed as much, and when we started pitching our new ideas, we didn’t move forward with it.”

For the Fun of It

“We were all friends since long, long before Receiver ever came about”, Kyprianou adds. “We knew the guys from a young age; we have even seen them perform live with the old band members. They were amazing. They had released ‘Unite’ as a single back then, which we all fell in love with. In Cyprus in general, not just us. So as soon as Andreas and Charalambos kickstarted this thing, it was a really easy decision for everyone. We were all friends, so we just did it for the fun of it. And then it just sort of took off.”

Still, it wasn’t always a given that Kyprianou would be fronting the band with her powerful alto. “We knew her for many years”, Kyriacou explains. “She was hanging out at live gigs. Then at a certain point, we started organizing a festival called Power of the Night along with friends from other bands, and a part of that was organizing tribute shows. Nikoletta showed up one day, and she wanted to sing Black Sabbath. I was the guitar player in that tribute band, and I was very impressed by what I heard. Since then, she started singing with Receiver.”

“To be honest, I was always singing, so I didn’t expect this kind of reaction”, Kyprianou laughs. “I really thought people knew that I could sing. Maybe not as well, haha! But apart from the Power of the Night festival, we also had this metal bar in Nicosia called Rocka Rolla, which we all went to. You know, there’s loud music, there’s drinking, there’s fun, and I was always singing quite loudly. But apparently, everyone was so drunk that they couldn’t listen, haha!”

Better in Hindsight

‘Whispers of Lore’ didn’t just come long after the band was founded; its recordings at Entasis Studio in Athens, Greece took place in late 2019. “The recording was finished in December 2019”, says Kyriacou. “Then we mixed it in March, and then covid kicked in, which was a bit of a setback. At that time, we weren’t able to do any live shows, we weren’t able to promote anything, so we took it at a slower pace in order to see where this was going.

But we were still planning things, we went out and took photos; we did what we had to do during those times, it’s not like we just stopped. Luckily, we were able to get a deal with Gates of Hell and Cruz del Sur music just in time. We could have released ‘Whispers of Lore’ earlier, but a lot of other releases at our record label also got postponed at the time. All in all, we don’t regret it.”

“It might even have worked better for us this way”, Kyprianou suggests. “Yes, it was nerve-racking to live through this whole process, but looking at it in hindsight, it worked better, because now we were able to perform the album live, and we could do other things to promote the album. If it had come out during 2020, I think it would have been a lot harder to promote it well.”

It also gave the band the time to start writing material for the next album. “As soon as we were allowed to get around for a few hours, we started writing music”, Kyriacou nods. “Just to let you know: we are currently working on new material.”

“I think we are much more confident in our skills now than four years ago”, Kyprianou admits. “For me, at least. The guys are all accomplished musicians, Andreas has played music for many years, but I think I will sound much more confident when the new album will come.”

Realism in Epicness

Lyrically, Receiver is quite an anomaly in the epic heavy metal scene, generally eschewing fantasy themes in favor of more realistic subject matter. “Our lyrics capture matters around war and the fate of humanity”, explains Kyriacou, who is one of the band’s main lyricists. “Some of our songs have a storyline, but generally, we try to get across a message about social injustice that is witnessed around the world. While we were working on the songs, some wars broke out that also inspired some of the lyrics. The same thing is happening now. Some ideas for ‘Whispers of Lore’ also came from personal experiences.”

“We come from a tiny island that has been through hell and back over a few thousand years”, Kyprianou adds. “We hear stories from older generations, so the subject matter of being against war, and the ill fate of humanity, is something that is close to our hearts. But we also have mythological stories to tell, like ‘Falling to Dust’, which is about the Greek myth of Daidalos and Ikaros. ‘Arrow’ is also based on a true story that Charalambos’ dad told him.

We try to put all these things that we hear together and combine them to have the history of our land included in the lyrics. We always go for realism, even in the whole epicness of it all. It’s not just dragonslaying and all that, haha!”

From a Different Place

The history of Cyprus isn’t just reflected in Receiver’s lyrics; there are subtle folk elements in the music as well. “There are songs that we are composing right now that have even more prominent folk touches”, Kyriacou reveals. “I don’t think it has been overdone, because we still have our classic heavy metal edge and epic sound. But this is an element that we are keeping. This is what we like. I think it’s due to some influences that mainly Charalambos and Nikoletta have, more than myself and the other members.”

“Yeah, we really love our folk music”, Kyprianou smiles.

“Because they listen to that music, it naturally comes out in their ideas”, Kyriacou continues. “Charalambos might come up with a riff, and it’s not something complex or whatever, but it’s just a selection of notes that never would have entered my mind, because it comes from a different place. It’s folky. The traditional music of our island has these elements as well.”

“If you listen to the song ‘Whispers of Lore’, it’s a completely Greek type of melody”, says Kyprianou. “But we’re avid music listeners. All of us in the band. We all love all these different genres. Not just folk; we love progressive rock, we love all these different subgenres of music. Hopefully it shows in the music.”

Like an Ancient Book

Apart from the lead vocals, Kyprianou is also responsible for the characteristic artwork of the ‘Whispers of Lore’ album. “We wanted it to be a bit more folky-looking rather than have a classic heavy metal album cover”, she explains. “My profession is that I’m an illustrator and a graphic designer, so I wanted to bring what I do into the music. We figured out a way to use some of the elements from different songs on the album, and combine them to create that seventies-style folkish album cover that you see.

Basically, we wanted it to look like an ancient book that you open, and you get to unravel all these stories that are being told, all these messages that we are trying to get across. But I did not want it to be very obvious. When you pick up the album and listen to it, you see these images, and hopefully you will understand which song represents which.”

A quick glance at the various social media of Nikoletta Kyprianou Illustrations/Artwork reveals that the pronounced line work is typical of Kyprianou’s style. “I really, really love my old vintage etching style”, she smiles. “I adore that style. So I really wanted to bring that to Receiver. And I really love the hand-drawn process as well. I wanted it to be organic, and having that feeling that it’s otherworldly, and it has a story behind it.”

Familiar Territory

Given the size of Cyprus, which has a population of just over a million, Receiver might have achieved everything they can achieve within the metal scene of their home country. Fortunately, a nearby country has embraced them as well. “Our album was mostly praised in Greece”, Kyriacou says. “Also, it’s the place where we went to record it, it’s the place where we have the most contacts in the metal scene, so it’s generally easy to do something there due to the relationship that we have. Our heavy epic style and classic heavy metal are something that the Greek fans like, as well.”

“Working with many, many bands from the Greek scene for many years has helped as well”, Kyprianou emphasizes. “Due to the festival we had, we had all these contacts. And we have friends in Greece as well. We also go there for concerts all the time. At least one or two people from the band are in Greece each year for a concert. So yeah, it’s familiar territory for us. That makes it easier to promote our music there.

Coming from an island, it’s really hard for us to have many gigs abroad. So being able to perform outside of Cyprus in a whole different venue, in front of different people: that’s a huge deal for us. We have a couple of venues here, and we play in front of the same people, who really, really love our music. And we really appreciate it. But at the same time, you want to be able to reach out more. Playing at Keep It True next year, for instance, will give us that chance. So yeah, we’re coming!”

An Even Tighter Community

“From what I noticed, especially after covid, is that there is a whole new generation of people, a new generation of bands, who are hungry to get to know more music”, Kyprianou says. “Including us. So I wouldn’t say that it’s easy to get your music to many countries, but more people are more open to it than before. I think there is a whole new generation that is looking for the newer bands. There seems to be an even tighter community of metalheads all around the globe than before.

We’ve had very good reactions to the album, and that makes us extremely happy. We were hoping for it, but when you actually get to see it happening, you’re being humbled by all the love this record produced. So we are really ecstatic about it.”