Hellenic Metal

Bullethole plays an angry and brutal mix of Thrash Metal and Hardcore. Incarceration is their debut album and it was released in 2003 by Black Lotus Records. Their music is not very original, but heavy and explosive as hell and they even got guitar solos. I can imagine a bloody moshpit on their concerts, īcause thatīs the right music for that! The riffs are energetic, reminding sometimes angry Slayer, Pantera, or even Bolt Thrower. The vocals are good, typical Hardcore-screams. Due to perseverant songwriting, all songs are equal good and easily enjoyable. The sound is powerful and the artwork is done by Set<H>. Of course the band hasnīt found its own style yet, many things are already heard before. But weīre talking about a debut album here, so theyīll have enough time. This album is recommended for everyone who likes energetic music in the vein of Hatebreed and Slayer!

       

 

Written by Skariotis

Cielo Drive was founded in the year 2002. This is their first self-released output (released in 2006), simply called Cielo Drive EP. Itīs a promotional CD and contains eight songs. The band surprised me with their material, it is not really common to listen to a sound like this coming straight from Greece. After extensive listening, I will try to describe the music: Cielo Drive are mixing different styles of music, not only metal, and they have a lot more variety integrated in their music, than a normal metal-head is used to. Their sound has influences from the american Nu Metal scene, from bands like Linking Park and System Of A Down, but they do not stop here. Another influence of their sound is the alternative Hard Rock scene, with softer bands like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Tool coming to my mind. Cielo Drive took these influences, mixed them and the outcome is a surprising fresh sound. From calm acoustic parts to catchy, punkish melodies and to aggressive Nu Metal attacks, from clean vocals to angry rap and brutal screams, everything is possible. Due to the good songwriting, the band managed to combine all these ingredients without sounding too diverse. You donīt even think that all these different styles do not belong together, īcause everything fits perfectly well. The band members seem to be talented guys, even little details of the songs are executed well. You can hear that the band spent four years in the rehearsal room until they recorded their first EP. But all the talent of the guys on the instruments would be worthless, if the vocalist would not be able to make the muscial vision of the band come true. In this case, the vocalist John not only can stand equally beside his band mates, his vocals make the songs even better, despite the difficult challenge on this kind of music. His vocals have a broad range, he can turn in one song from clean singing to fast raps and to angry screams. Really great vocals, he can sing like Anthony Kiedis and Corey Taylor, and he uses his clean voice much more than the angry screams or the rap parts. Very unusual for a Greek guy is, that he doesnīt even has that typical Greek accent, which made the life of many greek Power Metal vocalists very difficult. If you wonder about the bandīs name, in the year 1969, in a house at the Cielo Drive in California, Charles Manson and his gang murdered several people, among them Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of Roman Polanski. Itīs not necessary to mention any song as highlight, everybody will like a different song, it depends if you are more into Slipknot or the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. A last remark: the Nu Metal hype of the last years is almost gone,  most bands disappeared, it would not be very clever from the band to emphasise these typical rap metal parts. But I really hope that a label will be so clever to sign Cielo Drive!

 

 

Written by Skariotis

Epidemic is a Thrash Metal band which released its debut album Industrial in 1994 by Molon Lave/Soundphaze International. An ex-member of the band is Efthimis Karadimas, who left to form Nightfall. Epidemic plays US-styled Thrash Metal, typical for the late 80īs. All in all, Epidemicīs sound is obsolete for 1994. Songwriting is just too harmless to compete with bigger bands like Sepultura or Pantera, which hit the scene with a new brutality. Also, the vocals are not good, singer Jimmy is always screaming the same, without any feeling for the songs. These vocals may fit for punk bands. And so heīs destroying the good moments of the songs, which are all not bad, but, as I mentioned above, too harmless. Good Thrash Metal must be a kick in the face and Industrial is not. I listened so many times to the album and canīt name you any highlight. Songs are more or less regardless for me. After this album, Epidemic changed the name in Descend and released an album which has all the ingredients, which lack on Industrial. Thrash Metal with aggressiveness, with better vocals, and better songwriting. I recommend that album instead of Industrial!

          

 

Written by Skariotis

Flames is one of the oldest Thrash Metal band in Greece. Their debut album Made In Hell was released in the year 1985, Merciless Slaughter was the second album and came out in 1986 through the Greek Famous Music. The cover artwork is one of the most brutal metal covers from the 80īs, a real photo from a severed, putrified head.

The music on that album is old-school Speed Metal with some normal metal parts here and there. This band could also have been from the San Francisco Bay Area scene! The opener Murder, the confusing Moorgle, Werewolf On The Hunt and Infidel are pure Thrash Metal grenades. Especially Moorgle is a very cool song, it begins with a classical part played on the guitar, then it turns into a real  thrasher and in the middle there is also a blues part! Legend, Beloved Dead and CocksuckinīSlave are slower and prove, that the band can also write and play Heavy Metal. The beginning of Infidel sounds too much like an old Metallica song, this is the weakest song on that album.

The production is for todayīs standard average, but for Greece in the 80īs this was a good production. All the band members have good musical skills, the vocalist Nigel Foxxe sounds for 80īs Thrash Metal standard good. The lyrics are all about Horror/Sex. This album was re-released in the 90īs from Unisound Records, of course there was no remastering or some kind of professional care. On the CD you can hear the scratches of the vinyl (yes, this CD was just copied from vinyl, NOT from the master tapes...) There are also three bonus tracks on the re-release, taken from a live EP, but these tracks are all on the normal version too, so you can listen the same songs again. Unisound...

    

 

Written by Skariotis

After their second album and the live EP Live At The Slaughterhouse, the line-up of Flames changed rapidly. Vocalist (and guitar player) Nigel Foxxe and the drummer Gus "Creep" Collins had to go (or leave voluntarily?). The only remaining members were Andy Kirk (bass) and Chris Lee (guitars). New members were Alex Ossek on vocals and George Adrian on the drums. Summon The Dead was released in the year 1988 from Famous Music.

With the new line-up, Flames had become more aggressive, especially the vcocals from Alex are almost Black Metal. Flames sound now like they were one of Germanyīs leading groups, like Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Tankard. The Bay Area influence had gone with the voice of Nigel Foxxe. The opener Eastern Front would be a great Sodom song! Very fast is also the second one, the title track. Iīm getting nostalgic when I hear this music, really great Thrash Metal! Next track, next fast attack, Kill For Mummy kicks ass too! The band discovered not only German Thrash Metal, but also German folk music,īcause some songs begin with German folksongs like Hänschen Klein or the bavarian beer hymn, Bier her, Bier her, oder ich fall um (bring the beer, bring the beer, or Iīll drop dead...). Next song is also a "booze song", called Alcoholic And Beer. The speedy Thrash Metal overdose continues (Slaughterhouse is played almost on blastbeat-level), until the last "song", Ballad Of A Skinbeating Maniac. Very nice Ballad (sounds like drunken Carcass...)!   

The sound is not really the best, but still OK. The new, aggressive direction made the band better than ever, especially when you like German Thrash Metal. Thatīs good headbanginīstuff for sure. Unisound re-released that album on CD, together with the Last Prophecy album. Amateurish release, but sadly the only version you will find on the market!

 

Written by Skariotis

Only one year after the Summon The Dead album, Flames released 1989 the next Longplayer through Famous Music, called Last Prophecy.

The musical changes are not very big this time, the band still plays fast, aggressive Thrash Metal in the German tradition. The songwriting is more matured, the songs more elaborate and well-thought and a bit more complex. Great songs as Revenge, Deathra, Agnostic Front, Red Terror and my personal highlight, Drinking All Night (intro is a bavarian booze hymn!).

The production is the best, that Flames ever had to that date, making the band competitive to the German scene. With this album they stand nearly in the same line with German titans Sodom, Kreator or Tankard (just millimeters behind). Try to find that album, it is worth, even if it is the lousy Unisound re-release of the two albums, Summon The Dead and Last Prophecy! Get ready to thrash!

 

Written by Skariotis

Less Than Human was a modern Thrash Metal band from northern Greece, with influences from bands like Machine Head, Sepultura, Pantera etc. Today the press would call it Thrashcore or something like that. To Breed True was released in 1999 from the Britsh Yperano Records. The significant thing is, that To Breed True is one of the most powerful records out of Greece. The band delivers us hateful, aggressive music with a great sound. The job is done with great professionality. Every single riff kicks ass! Just one small complaint: the vocals of Dimitris Traskas could sometimes be a bit more brutal. Songs like Mega Fool, Perfect Time To Explode, Keep Your Distance, Trigger Happy, Broken By You, More Or Less Human, Suffer In Silence, Tooth Broken and It Is Hell, It Can Be Heaven will put a big smile in the face of every Pantera, Machine Head or todayīs Metalcore fan. I just realize that I mentioned almost every song, so imagine how I like that album! After this album the band made an EP for promotional reasons but split up some time later. I donīt know why and itīs really sad that such talents are almost unknown. Check the album, it is worth!

              

 

Written by Skariotis

Negative Creeps is a Thrash/Hardcore band from Athens with a touch of Death and Black Metal. Therefore they call their sound Satancore! In Uterus Rebirth is their debut album and it was released from Black Lotus Records in 2002.

After the intro Magnetic Fields, the album kicks off with Code, a high-class song of modern Thrash Metal with brutal vocals. Vocalist Makis has a strong voice, a little bit like Max Cavalera, but he also do growls. Next comes Son Of A Shot Gun a heavy mid-tempo groover. Cool are also the guitar solos, which are quite unusual for that genre. Next Song, Bored, is OK, but too much Pantera. Highlight is the title track, which begins as a slow neck-braking stomper and then suddenly turns into a hyperspeed Black Metal song with evil vocals! Reincarnation is like an intro, and actually since here the album becomes Black Metal. Last Of The Ancients starts fast as hell and the vocalist is screaming like a maniac. The refrain is even better, Sakis of Rotting Christ is doing a guest appearance. Even if the songs turn into Black Metal, the sound remains heavy. Next song, Nipple Torture is also a good, warlike song. At the end, the band turns into the slower Metal/Hardcore direction (even if the appelation Metalcore would fit, I do not write Metalcore, īcause Negative Creeps do not sound like these new American bands, which play this certain style of music). The sound is good, but for this kind of music it needs to be really brutal, so thereīs an improvement to do for the next album. Nevertheless, Negative Creeps does a unique mixture of modern Thrash and Black Metal and the band has a good songwriting! Horns Up!

 

 

Written By Skariotis

Negative Creeps returned in 2004 with their second strike called Mutual Annihilation (released through Black Lotus Records again). Right from the first song, Inflammatory Scourge, the band presents us their effective, brutal music, with strong riffs, clear sound and without the Black Metal elements, the band sounds more compact than ever. The songs sound more Negative Creeps than on the last album, where they  had two different styles and their influences (Pantera, Sepultura) sounded out. Of course Mutual Annihilation walks the same path, but it sounds more independently. The vocals are even more brutal, Makis is doing a great job. Picking out a highlight is very difficult (maybe Lateral Losses), the songs are all equal good. This is Thrash Metal as it should be in the year 2004, modern, catchy, brutal, great!

 

 

Written by Skariotis

Nigel Foxxe was the vocalist of the legendary Greek Thrash Metal band Flames. After their second album Merciless Slaughter and the live EP Live At The Slaughterhouse, Flames and Niggel Foxxe parted ways in 1987. He then formed Thanatos Inc, but changed the name to Nigel Foxxeīs Inc. Under that name he released just one album, War Of The Godz. It came out in 1988 through FM Records, but there is also a CD-release from Unisound in the market. With him as vocalist, Flames had influences from the US Thrash Metal scene, after his departure they got more brutal and played Thrash Metal like German bands, Sodom, Destruction or Tankard. Listening to Nigel Foxxeīs Inc. is like listening to the lost identity of Flames. This is pure US Speed Metal in the vein of the very early releases. The voice of Niggel Foxxe sounds almost identical to the voice of Bobby Blitz Elsworth on the first two Overkill albums. Also, the musical direction is more early 80īs Speed Metal, which has a strong touch of traditional Heavy Metal. So this album from 1988 sounds like an album from 1984. This means, that as it came out it was already obsolete, īcause other bands from Germany and the USA had already moved on. War Of The Godz features eight songs of traditional Thrash Metal. The first three songs are part of one big song, the title track War Of The Godz. Although there is no single weak note on that album, it fails to impress me. The songwriting and the musical abilities are OK, but too average, so there are no songs which are worth to remember for long. There is a factor X which is missing, to make this a good album. Nevertheless it is a significant sign of an early and steady approach to the international metal scene. I donīt know why there is no other album of them, so they will never prove that they had more to give to the Greek metal scene.               

 

Written by Skariotis

Olethrio Rigma (Fatal Discrepance) came to life as two Athens-based hardcore/punk bands, called Olethros and Rigma united and formed Olethrio Rigma. This homonymous album is their debut and it was released in 1996 via Wipe Out Records. It is not a pure punk record, īcause the band added lots of metal influences into their sound. The songwriting has very little in common with punk, itīs more a mixture between Thrash Metal, Hardcore and normal metal. Only the lyrics and the vocal style of the two vocalists and guitar players Nikos and Emi are very punk-influenced. The lyrics are all in Greek and against modern politics, war for profit and unsocial state behaviour. The vocals of Nikos are deep and powerful, but the vocals of the female guitarist Emi are a bit annoying, cause sheīs just screaming the most time without any sense for the song rhythm. And in almost every song these screams are absolutely in the same style. The album is not bad if you forget about the few nasty vocals. Of course they do not invent something new, but nobody expects this anyway.

      

 

Written by Skariotis

After their debut album, Olethrio Rigma signed to Iron Palm Produxions, a subdivision of Black Lotus Records. Their sound remains the same, but lyrically they expanded and have now lyrics in Greek, English and even in German! Even their album titles are now translated into English, īcause no non-Greek-speaker would be able to read it. The original title is Polemise Gia Tous Athoous. The band still screams against social disparity, world hunger and the unfair capitalism. Musically some songs are a bit more aggressive than the songs on the debut album. Strangely enough, these songs are the English songs, If You Gonna Try To Kill One God, Dead World/Stop The War and Donīt Touch My Hate, all sung by Nikos. The German songs are Generation and Blutende Schatten, Vereiste Blicke (Bloody Shadows, Icy Glance), both sung by Emi, the female guitarist. Her vocals changed not since the debut, strange screams, which do not fit to the music. The music is still a mix between newer Thrash Metal and Hardcore. There is also a new recording of the older song Olethrio Rigma, which is on their debut album.

     

 

Written by Skariotis

Olethrio Rigmaīs third album (M.G.D. stands for Cops Pigs Murderers) was released in 2000 by Black Lotus Records. Musically itīs the most aggressive to this date. The guitars are much heavier, reminding newer Thrash Metal giants Sepultura, Machine Head or Pantera, but of course the songwriting is 100% Olethrio Rigma. The increased aggression fits good to the band, so their angry lyrics can be performed better and the songwriting has tightened as well. The sloppy vocals of Emi are still there and it seems that they become some kind of trademark for the band. I still prefer the deeper voice of Nikos, but Emi is giving the band its uniqueness, like it or not. There are some lyrics in English language, but not in German anymore. The last song is something like a hymn of aggressive punk, itīs called Bastardokratia (Bastardocracy). Itīs pretty catchy and less metal, but has a cool riff. Unlike many other albums, this album deserves the term Thrashcore!

   

 

Written by Skariotis

Olethrio Rigmaīs fourth strike begins powerfully with the intro Spawning Our Revenge, but already the first song, Akolouthontas Tin Skia Mou (Following My Shadow) shows us another side of the band. Itīs slower, more melodic and atmospheric than any other song of the band, which still writes songs in both languages, Greek and English. Next song is I Hate The Nation, which could also be on a newer Sepultura album. But again the band do not show the aggresivity and speed of the last album and this continues on the whole CD. This one is mainly mid-tempo-oriented and less thrashy. The guitar riffs remind the 90īs, as many Thrash Metal bands turned to a slower direction, but adopting a strong and powerful guitar sound. The guitars and the whole album has a really energetic sound, and this time the guitars are surrounded by keyboards, which are used by many Greek bands in the same way. One song is twice on the album, once with Greek title and lyrics and once with English title and lyrics. Itīs the song The 13th Floor. Wouldnīt it be better to combine both languages in one song? Why should the listener hear the same song twice? Last song is the title track, as every song a mix of mid-tempo metal and Hardcore with keyboards. The slower speed and the keyboards are the new elements, the sloppy screams of Emi and the deep voice of Nikos are the old trademarks of Olethrio Rigma. The band evolved with this album, but sadly thereīs no single highlight to be remembered of these ten songs.

 

 

Written by Skariotis

Olethrio Rigmaīs fifth album was released in 2004 by Black Lotus Records. The title means The Terror Of Authority. The album starts as any other of their albums, with a heavy instrumental called Into The Fucking Death. These instrumentals are not only intros, but often the best songs on their albums! This one is also the only song with an English title, the remaining material is in Greek language. Why? Letīs take a deeper look at their lyrics, they are full of hate against the politics of the USA and their ass-lickers, the British politicians. The cause of these hate-lyrics are the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are in the bandīs opinion crimes against humanity, especially against women and children. Maybe the band didnīt want to write songs in the language of these warpigs? Who knows... The musical direction is different from the last album, the punky edge and attitude returned and the keyboard has gone. Their label calls their music metalized punkcore and this fits somehow. The sound is again minimalistic, but well produced. Lyrics are anti-governmental and anti-authority and I still think that their vocals could never reached their music. In a strange way, thereīs a qualitative difference between the performance of the vocals and the music. The faster, punkier songs (Skatokosme, O Tromos Tis Exousias) fit to the vocals of Emi and Nikos, but the slower metal songs need more variable vocals, which fit better to the rhythm and the melody. But maybe thatīs exactly the way the band want to perform, otherwise they would have changed something within five albums. Last song, the title track is the most furious and therefore the best Olethrio Rigma song in a long time! That way should be the whole next album!          

 

Written by Skariotis

Psycho Choke was formed in the year 1999 and the debut album Choke On This was released by the band in 2001. I listened to a couple of mp3s some years ago and I was amazed and I wondered if the whole album could be of the same quality. Now, some years later I know it. Choke On This is a fist in the stomach! The bandīs music combines the power of the bands who dominate the modern side of todayīs metal. Bands like Slipknot, Machine Head, Soulfly and System Of A Down. The album has eleven songs and none of them is a filler or of lesser quality. Donīt matter if you listen to Faces (which remind System Of A Down), Psycho Choke, the Thrash Metal bomb Piece Of The Pain or the grooving Gallactic Groove, the band always sounds aggressive and offensive, remaining diverse at the same time. On the last song Shrink, Psycho Choke prove that they can sound 100% like Slipknot, but luckily itīs just this one song. They also incorporate great guitar solos into their sound, something that these big "New Metal" bands do not do, so the band has also a traditional side of metal. The riffs are all kicking ass and the singer Billy Paralis sounds like a bastard of Corey Taylor and Rob Flynn. The sound is strong and fits well to the bone-crushing music. Fotis Demertzis, who did some work for Homo Iratus mixed and mastered the album. Greece changed in the last years, today there is the possibility to make a strong album production in Greece! What did not change is the possibility to get a record contract, it is absolutely not understandable that the band could not sign a contract with such a killer CD, which was already recorded and ready for release, where in the same time the metal market is flooded with average releases from clone bands.

                

 

Written by Skariotis

Velocity is a Hardcore/Oi/Metal band. All members played in other Punk/Hardcore bands before, but Velocity has a lot more metal elements than these bands (listen to the guitar work, it īs often pure Thrash Metal!). Their music is very oldschoolish, not modern Metalcore at all. Their riffs and speed remind the first Slayer album, but of course there are other influences as well, like Punk and Oi music. The vocalist Giorgos is a pure Hardcore/Oi performer, not a metal vocalist. The mix is well done, not really original, but the music is quite catchy, so it makes fun to listen. The lyrics are all in Greek, except the track Athens Crew, which has English lyrics. Themes are typical Hardcore lyrics, like criticism to modern politics and modern society. There are also links to the skinhead-scene, but of course they mean the Hardcore-skinheads and not the fascist skinheads. Axia Kai Dynami (means Value And Strenght) is their second album and it was released in the year 2002 from Black Lotus Records. For non-Greeks this could sound a bit exotic, but it sounds  well!

 

 

 

Written by Skariotis