Melodic death metallers Purification Path discuss their dark new single “The Spell,” cinematic orchestration, creative evolution, and the debut album that promises to deliver pure intensity.
1.
Purification Path was formed in 2020 with the vision of combining aggressive
death metal with powerful symphonic and orchestral arrangements. How did the
band originally come together, and what inspired you to pursue this particular
musical direction?
It actually
started by pure chance at the Dead Sea. At the time I was managing a jewelry
store, and Sergey was working in the marketing department of the same company.
One day we just started talking, and it turned out he was a guitarist — a bit
rusty, since he hadn't played for a while. I'd been playing bass in different
bands for years, with some breaks to raise my kids, and now that they were a
little older, I had this idea of putting together a band of my own. So we said:
let's get together, try it, and see where it goes.
Like most
bands, it started as something pretty undefined, but we had the same goal from
day one: we both wanted music that was melodic, fast, powerful and heavy. From
there the band slowly grew. Sergey brought in our first drummer, I found our
first vocalist, later we added a second guitarist, and over the years we went
through quite a few lineup changes — new vocalists, a new drummer — until the
band became what it is today. It's been a real rollercoaster, but every change
pushed us closer to the sound we were looking for.
As for the
symphonic side, it was part of the vision from the very beginning. We never
wanted to be a keyboard-driven band built around orchestration — the foundation
has always been death metal. But we always wanted symphonic elements to
embellish our melodies and give them more depth and atmosphere.
2. Your
latest single, “The Spell,” explores the darkness hidden behind religious
devotion. What inspired the song’s lyrical concept, and what message or
questions did you want to leave with the listener?
“The Spell”
is about the hypocrisy and filth that can hide behind religious devotion. On
the surface you see piety, prayer and innocence — but underneath there can be
something completely different. The darkest and most perverse fantasies of a
person are often hidden beneath a mask of deep innocence.
That's
exactly what the story of the song shows: a nun prays before the cross like any
devout believer, but when a demon comes to claim her, she doesn't resist — she
welcomes him. We didn't want to preach or give ready answers. We wanted the
listener to ask themselves: how much of what we see as purity is real, and how
much is just a mask? And what do people really desire when no one is watching?
3.
Musically, “The Spell” balances fast, aggressive riffing with sweeping
orchestral arrangements. How do you approach combining these elements while
ensuring that the symphonic components enhance rather than overshadow the death
metal foundation?
For us, the
riffs always come first. Sergey writes the guitar riffs and brings them to the
band, and then we all work on them together — changing parts, moving things
around, shaping everything around the vocals and what simply feels right to us.
One head is good, but several are better. I write the bass lines on top of
that, and for me it's very important that the bass works as a real
accompaniment to the guitars, not just something that doubles them.
Only when
the guitar and bass parts are finished do we move on to the symphonic side. We
use the orchestra as a beautiful melodic layer that accompanies and supports
our heavy riffs — never as the main foundation. Interestingly, the orchestral
parts are often built on the bass lines and bass movements, and you can really
hear that when the arrangements come back to us.
On “The
Spell,” the orchestration was written entirely by Christofer Swahn, who also
mixed and mastered the track. We just explained to him what we wanted, and he
understood us perfectly. We hope to keep working with him in the future, and we
can honestly recommend him to any band — he's a great sound engineer and a
brilliant producer.
4. The
music video for “The Spell” tells a disturbing story involving a praying nun
and a demon. How did you develop this visual concept, and what role did you
want the imagery to play in communicating the song’s themes?
This time
we wanted to do something different. Our previous video, “Price of Freedom,”
was shot outdoors, so for “The Spell” we wanted a closed, indoor space —
something darker, more intimate and theatrical. I found the location, and once
we saw the place, the whole concept started to take shape around it.
The imagery
was meant to tell the story of the song directly. The nun represents innocence
and devotion on the surface, and the demon is everything hidden beneath it.
Even the mask our vocalist wore fits that idea — the song is about masks, about
the face people show the world and what they hide behind it. The red light, the
smoke and the heavy curtains were there to create a feeling of a ritual,
something sacred and forbidden at the same time.
5.
Bassist Svinoslav handled the concept, art direction, and production of the
video, including building the set and creating the props and costumes. What was
the most challenging part of bringing this ambitious vision to life, and how
did the experience compare with working on the music itself?
Honestly,
the hardest part for me was painting the runes on the performers' hands. I did
all of them myself, and it was something completely new for me — I had to come
up with my own system for how to do it so it would look right on camera. It was
similar with “Price of Freedom,” where I did all the makeup myself and even
cooked the fake blood on my own.
Another big
challenge was the timing. The video was supposed to be shot at the beginning of
the year, but then the war started — which, unfortunately, happens here quite
often — and the shoot had to be postponed by almost half a year. Only then were
we finally able to put everything together.
Apart from
that, pretty much everything went through me: finding the location, building
and hanging the set, the props, the costumes and all the organization around
it. And of course a huge thank-you to Kirill Hershberg, who was responsible for
the filming and editing — he did an amazing job, in our opinion.
Compared
with the music, making a video is a completely different experience. A video is
mostly about organization — a lot of logistics, a lot of running around and a
lot of headaches — and much less pure enjoyment. With music, whether you're
performing, writing or even arguing about a part, there's always pleasure in
it. With a video, you depend on time and money, and you have to be extremely
responsible and alert all the time, keeping everything under control so that it
all goes the way it should.
6. Your
previous singles, “Revolution,” “Redemption,” and “Price of Freedom,” each
introduced another chapter in Purification Path’s musical journey. Looking back
at these releases, how has your songwriting and overall sound evolved since the
band’s beginnings?
That's a
great question — but I think our listeners can answer it better than we can.
Just listen to our releases in order, from “Revolution” and “Redemption” all
the way to “The Spell,” and you'll hear how much has changed over the years.
It's a bit
like going to a good restaurant, having a meal there, and then coming back a
few years later to eat again. You can taste what has changed, what has improved
and which direction the flavors have taken. We'd rather let the music speak for
itself.
But if I
had to name one thing, I'd say our drum parts have become much more interesting
— and for that, a big thank-you goes to our drummer, Ariel Lior.
7. After
several lineup changes, Purification Path welcomed Or as its new vocalist in
2026. How has this change influenced the band’s chemistry, creative process,
and direction as you prepare your debut full-length album?
Or is still
very new in the band — he joined us quite recently, and we're about to play our
first show together. He's been doing a great job at rehearsals: he has a really
interesting vocal timbre, a lot of energy, and he fit into the band perfectly.
We truly believe we have a long and strong future together.
Our first
concert with Or will take place on November 12, 2026, at Tmuna Theatre in Tel
Aviv, together with Voidcord and Panogea. There he'll also perform a brand-new
song that hasn't been presented anywhere yet, along with some new material. So
it's an exciting moment for us — a fresh start with a new voice.
8. Your
music combines the intensity of death metal with cinematic orchestration. Which
bands, composers, or other artistic influences have helped shape your sound,
and are there any musical territories you would like to explore further?
That's a
tough one, because our influences are really spread out. Sergey, for example,
is a big fan of Mors Principium Est, August Burns Red and Shadow of Intent. As
for me, I've been listening to metal since I was a kid, and one of my all-time
favorites is Dark Funeral — that's probably why it's so important to me that
the riffs are always clearly heard in our music. Of course, we both love
melodic death metal — At the Gates, Children of Bodom and so on. Personally,
I'm also into the heavier side: Aborted, Decapitated, Dying Fetus and grindcore
in general.
But
influences don't only come from bands. Take “Redemption,” for example — I think
it was influenced by the heat and atmosphere of the Dead Sea, where Sergey and
I first met. That song has a very Eastern sound and Eastern melodies, and that
part of our surroundings definitely left its mark on us.
As for the
future, we'll keep moving in the same direction and continue working with
orchestral and symphonic elements. For example, the song we're working on right
now is much faster than anything we've written before, and it leans more
towards old-school Swedish death metal — but with an orchestra on top. So stay
tuned and keep following us!
9. You
formed Purification Path in Arad, Israel, and have continued developing the
band through different stages and challenges. How has your local environment
influenced your identity as musicians, and what has the experience of building
a melodic death metal band there been like?
Honestly,
it's really tough. As you probably know yourself, metal isn't widely accepted
in the Middle East, and it's the same here. There is a scene and there's an
audience that loves this music — there are bands, festivals and regular
underground shows, and sometimes bigger events too — but the audience is much
smaller than in Europe or the US. Israel is a small country, and there just
aren't many people here who truly love metal and underground music in general.
For us
personally, it's even harder. Arad is a small provincial town, far from the
center of the country, and when it comes to metal it's very quiet out here —
almost dead. Sergey and I live in Arad, while the rest of the band lives in the
center, so we travel to Tel Aviv for rehearsals, and we go wherever there are
shows and festivals across the country. When they call us, we go.
I think
that's also what shaped us as musicians. When it's this hard to keep a band
going, you only do it because you really love it — and that dedication is part
of who we are.
10. With
your debut album currently in the works and the band actively performing live,
what can listeners expect from this upcoming chapter of Purification Path? How
do you hope the album will establish the band’s identity and set the stage for
your future?
We take our
material, our sound and our music very seriously. Whenever we release
something, it's the result of long and hard work — we put a lot of effort and
care into every song. With the album it's the same, if not even more serious.
We haven't
decided on the final number of songs yet, but there will definitely be no fewer
than eight or nine, so there will be plenty to listen to — this won't be one of
those 20-minute albums. We've intentionally never released an EP and have been
working with singles instead. When we feel the album is truly complete and
fully closed, we'll move on to recording it in full and releasing it.
What can
listeners expect? Something that will blow their heads off — something people
won't just pass by. We want them to keep humming these melodies and riffs long
after the album is over. And we hope it will show exactly who Purification Path
is, and set the stage for everything that comes next.
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