Spanish metallers Outreach just dropped their debut album “Ephemeral Existence”. We reached out to band’s vocal duo Nines Bathory (vocal fry and melodic vocals) and Diva Satanica (screams and growls) on this momentous occasion to get a closer look at this musical piece inspired by the classical mythology character Ariadna. Please enjoy our chat with Nines and Diva below.
MG: Let’s start from the beginning of Outreach. The band was founded in 2015 by guitarist Toni Liz. How did he approach you? Did you know each other before Outreach?
Nines: I received a message in April of 2017 on Facebook from a band member asking if I would be interested in taking part in Outreach as their vocalist. They had listened to my songs and liked them a lot. They sent me one or two instrumental songs, I can’t remember quite well…then I wrote some lyrics and I went to Madrid to their rehearsal room. It seems they liked it, hehe. Before they wrote that message, they were real strangers to me. This makes sense because I live in the South of Spain and they live about 5 hours by car from me…
MG: Your debut album “Ephemeral Existence” came out April 26. How does it feel to have a record finally out? What’s been the response so far?
Nines: It has been a very exciting experience for me. When the songs were still unmixed, I was already very excited about how they sounded. I couldn’t wait for everybody to hear them and the response has been very good so far.
MG: The members of Outreach all come from different backgrounds, and it surely can be heard on the record. The range of musical styles and elements on “Ephemeral Existence” is really varied. Did it come naturally, or did you have this diversity in mind when you began the song-writing process?
Nines: Yes, we have a wide variety of musical styles in the band and I think this is a positive thing. Due to the long distances between each other and for better organization, “Ephemeral Existence” was composed almost entirely by Tony Liz and me. He sent me the instrumental songs and I wrote the lyrics and vocal melodies. Meanwhile, we thought about the style of each one of them [the rest of the band members] so we could make the songs fit into their own taste.
MG: You two have different vocal techniques that complement each other and sound exceptionally well combined. How did you manage to balance your vocal styles on the new album so smoothly?
Nines: Although we are both singers in the same project, we have different vocal techniques. Usually, people don’t realize it, but I can sing both melodic voices and vocal fry screaming as well, while Diva does the growl parts. Our voices fit together perfectly now!
MG: The album was inspired by a concept of a classic mythology figure Ariadna. What’s so captivating about her story that made you take inspiration from it? Are you in general interested in old myths and legends?
Nines: I always write about things I read in books, or articles … and I found the myth of Ariadna’s thread by chance. Strangely enough, I had previously written about the metaphor of Ariadna’s thread in 2 other songs before, so it started to make sense for me to get deeply in this beautiful story. I love myths and legends, I was very good at literature in high school, probably the best in my class!
MG: Diva, you’re best known as a vocalist of death metal band Bloodhunter and as a contestant of a Spanish version of the TV show The Voice. What made you participate in the show? Was it just for fun, or did you have a specific goal in mind?
Diva: They found my profiles through social media and they asked me if I’d like to join the TV show. I thought that it would be a great chance of spreading the word about extreme metal and why not, being the first growler in this TV show in my country would attract more attention to my band.
MG: And what about you, Nines? Would you ever take part in such a competition? Did you watch The Voice when Diva took part in it?
Nines: When these TV shows started, my family tried to convince me to compete in them but honestly, I am not a fan of these TV shows. I [supported] Diva to win. I watched The Voice every day. I was [sending] her all my positive energy!
MG: Nines, compared to Diva, you’re quite a new name and face in the scene. I’m sure people would like to get to know you better. Can you spill some interesting facts about yourself? Your musical background, favourite bands, things besides music you love to do in your free time…
Nines: Some interesting facts about myself…. Ok! I am a social worker who works with elderly people. I love my work but work is not everything in life, so I love to spend my free time reading at home, singing or writing songs. I love running in green areas and watching TV series and movies, traveling … I sang in some alternative metal bands in my city. Music and singing are my passion. I’ve been singing for ten years and then I became a vocal coach for 2 years. After that, I started singing in my first music band. I listen to many musical styles from metal to electronic music. If the music is good enough, I don’t care about the genre. I usually listen to Gojira, TesseracT, tool, Devin Towsend, porcupine tree, Alice in Chains. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Caligula’s Horse, Katatonia…
MG: The first thing that pops up when you google ‘Diva Satanica’ is an Arch Enemy song of the same title. Diva, is this where your artistic name come from? Also, many female extreme vocalists list Arch Enemy/Angela Gossow as their main source of inspiration. Does this also apply to you two?
Diva: Yes, Diva Satanica was one of my fave songs of all times. What people probably don’t know is that this is a song from the Johan Liiva era. I love the symbolism and I thought that could fit perfectly with both sides of myself. Obviously, Angela was one of the first examples that I could hear (and probably one of the better growlers as well). One of my very first approaches to extreme metal was Arch Enemy, but I chose this name because of the lyrics and what they’re talking about.
MG: Back to Outreach. I know most of you are involved in other projects as well, so what are your aims for the band? Do you plan on staying local or take over the world? Any plans for the tour?
Nines: Our aims for the band are ambitious: we’d like to reach as many people as possible, to be able to play in any city and hopefully in any country but moreover, to keep on enjoying music. We have only two gigs planned so far, but we’re working in adding some more in the upcoming future.
MG: Last question. You have recently released a music video for “Delusion”. I think it turned out pretty well, although some people may find certain images quite disturbing. Is there any special symbolism in these scenes? How do they relate to the meaning of the song?
Nines: We knew that these scenes could be quite disturbing that’s why we put them at the end of the video. Kano (the actor) represents the role of the Minotaur and the dark side of Ariadna: all the fears and nightmares that we feel deep inside. On the cover, you can see Ariadna levitating, symbolizing fear or weakness and strength and courage at the same time, so the actor could represent such a difficult scene with his image and performance.
MG: And that’s it. Once again, thank you so much, ladies. Do you have any message for your fans and our readers?
The only message that we could send is: open your mind and delve into “Ephemeral Existence”! And don’t forget to stay happy!
You can stay in touch with Outreach here:
FACEBOOK: Diva Satanica / Outreach
INSTAGRAM: Nines Bathory / Diva Satanica / Outreach
SPOTIFY _ ITUNES _ YOUTUBE
Metal Goddesses 
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