Hellenic Metal

When we talk about Hellenic Metal we must talk about the bands who "invented" this sound, by analysing their work, that stand for this kind of Metal.

The bands that made the typical greek sound were mainly Black Metal bands,so the nature of the sound is a very dark one. But they did not sound like the Norwegian bands, like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Satyricon, Emperor, which began to make music in the same period of time (late 80īs, early 90īs) and so they could not be a direct inspiration for Hellenic bands. The Greek Black Metal was more into Heavy Metal, the riffing and not the speed was the main aspect. Strong Heavy Metal riffs were combined with a dark voice, anti-religious lyrics and the use of keyboards, to create a dark and mystical feeling. On this page I will mention the LPīs and EPīs that are the best examples for Hellenic Black Metal, the first one is:

Rotting Christ - Passage To Arcturo

This is a mini album that Rotting Christ released in 1991 through the Greek label Unisound Records. The sound is not very good, but the music is much better! After a demonic Intro the band starts with The Old Coffin Spirit, which has Thrash Metal riffing and speed but more aggressive vocals, great opener! Then comes an alltime classic, The Forest Of NīGai. Here you find all trademarks for the typical Hellenic sound, a killer riff, slow speed and keyboards for evil atmosphere. Of course the keyboards do not play happy plastic sounding melodies or such stupid things, but they remind the Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son album from Iron Maiden, an album with a great and evil atmosphere. Then comes The Mystical Meeting, also a slow song with keys and lyrics in an unknown language. The next track, Gloria de Domino Inferni, is not really a song, more an intro in the middle, based on the piano. But then the slow guitar starts and a spoken word part, a prayer to the devil in Latin begins. A really wonderfull break, very mystical, GREAT! The keyboardplayer on this EP was Morbid, better known as Magus Wampyr Daoloth from Necromantia. The last song on the EP is Inside The Eye Of Algond. Like the whole EP this song is slow but evil as hell! On the CD version there are two bonus songs, Feast Of The Grand Whore Live and Forest Of NīGai Live). For me, the best description for early Rotting Christ music is Mystical Black Metal. I took the mystical from their song The Mystical Meeting, because it is representative for the whole music!

One of the leading groups in Greece in the early 90īs were Varathron. They had released some good demos and EPīs at that time (like the split with Necromantia...). In 1993 they released one of the most influential albums of the Hellenic scene, His Majesty At The Swamp, on dutch label Cyber Music. After the short intro speech (which is also the "title song" and which was composed from Morbid/Magus Wampyr Daoloth from Necromantia) the battle begins with Son Of The Moon (Act II). Itīs a slow, braingrinding riffmonster! Like the most other songs on this album this is midtempo, almost reaching doom metal levels. The dark voice of the vocalist Necroabyssious fits perfectly to these slow killers. Then comes Unholy Funeral, it begins in the same mood, in which Son Of The Moon ended, the slow speed allows the riffs to spread their unholy devastation. If you thought that this could not be topped, then listen to the next song, Lustful Father. Killer riff, (this is pure Heavy Metal) but this time the song becomes faster at the end. When the music is mainly slow, the few fast parts are really great, because they donīt get boring. Song five, Nightly Kingdoms, is a good song too. When Varathron becomes fast, they also become melodic, like on the next song, Flowers Of My Youth. Very good to see, that they can play not just slow riffs, but fast melodies as well, making this song so great and unique on that album. The last song and a true epic composition is The Tressrising Of Nyarlathothep. This one was released the first time on their Genesis Of Apocryphal Desire demo in 1991! Back then it was the slowest song of Varathron (they played fast Death/Thrash Metal on their early days), it appears also on the split EP with Necromantia. So this was the beginning of their turn to slowness, if I can say so, this marked the influence for the whole Greek scene! His Majesty At The Swamp was re-released in 2001 by Polish label Pagan Records, with one bonus song, The Grim Palace and different artwork. What made this album so great is the participation of many musicians from other Hellenic bands. The bass player was Mutilator from Rotting Christ, the guitar player was Necroslaughter, better known as Archon Vorskath from Zemial and Agatus, they played (and still play) an important role in the Hellenic metal scene. Necroslaughter was also the main composer of Varathron on this album, a fact which is almost unknown for many fans! After His Majesty At The Swamp, the line-up changed (except the vocalist Necroabyssious), so Varathronīs music changed naturally too, but luckily not very drastically.  

Whatīs important is, that this release is the quintessence of the Hellenic Black Metal scene and the typical Greek sound of Heavy Black Metal!

After the succesful mini album Passage To Arcturo, Rotting Christ signed to the French label Osmose Productions and released Thy Mighty Contract in 1993. This album is not only a milestone of Hellenic Black Metal, but for Black Metal generally. It starts with The Sign Of Evil Existance, a very fast song with evil riffing, which make you to listen to this song over and over again. It is short in duration, only two minutes, but one of the greatest openers of all time! Second song is Transform All Suffering Into Plagues, a very multidimensional song. It starts slowly and atmospheric and then it gets really fast in the middle. Then comes Fgmenth, Thy Gift, what a fuckinīgreat riff! Could have been on Kill īEm All from Metallica! In the middle is a whispered voice part, which is also typical for the Hellenic scene, whispered voices create a dark and mysterious atmosphere. Then comes His Sleeping Majesty, another good song, but not as great as the last one, or the next one: Exiled Archangels! Fast beginning, suddenly a break and then the best Black Metal riff ever!!! The following whispered part gives proof of the bandīs philosophy: "SINCE NOW, I NAME YOU UNDER OUR CULT"! Next song is Dive The Deepest Abyss, again with amazing guitar riffs (I canīt get enough of `em...). After this come the last two songs, Coronation Of The Serpent and The Fourth Knight Of Revelation (I & II), which are both really good songs. On the re-release of Century Media from 1997 there are two bonus songs, which were released on the Apocathelosis EP 1993 on Osmose Productions. The songs are Visions Of The Dead Lovers and The Mystical Meeting (a new version, not the Passage To Arcturo version). But the re-release has not the old Osmose artwork, which is one of the best Black Metal covers ever made. Rotting corpses crucified on the cross and beneath them a GIANT goatīs head with a pentagram on his face! CULT!!! Again, we have all the elements, which are characteristic for the greek scene. Great riffs, useful and decent keyboards, whispered voices and very dark antireligious lyrics (not stupid things like Fuck Me Jesus or bullshit like that...). The lyrics are also in Latin and other eastern dead languages (sumerian, babylonian???)

After that album they made the first European Black Metal tour together with Immortal and Blasphemy. I got video material from the bands, Rotting Christ was the best band from all three. Blasphemyīs music was just bad (and kind of funny...) and Immortal had only a few good songs (and a cheap circus attitude...) at that time.

A masterpiece!

This album was released in 1994 from the Greek label Hypervorea Records (pre-Black Lotus Records. Man in charge was Necromantiaīs Magus!). It competes easily to the old material from other greek bands at that time (Rotting Christ, Varathron...). But due to bad record contract/label (rumors say that only 500 copies were released), there are not many people who know this masterpiece of Black Metal! This was their debut album, but nevertheless, the songwriting is really amazing. Agatus plays Black Metal which can be described as a mix from Greek and Norwegian bands, with a strong influence of traditional Heavy Metal!

The battle begins with Under The Spell of The Dragon. This song is over seven minutes long and got lots of guitar melodies, atmospheric keyboards, slow riffing, hyperspeed passages and shows the talent of the band, who are two brothers, Eskarth The Dark One (main man, guitar, bass, vocals) and Archon (Emperor) Vorskaath (drums). These guys also are the band Zemial, where the drummer is the vocalist and main songwriter. Song number two, Demons Of The Great Kingdom, is a grim Black Metal piece, very cool riff and midtempo drumming, for endless headbanging! Emerge... Through My Diabolic Posession is the next song and itīs almost fast all the time, with an atmospheric keyboard part in the middle. Song four is Black Moons Blood, short in duration, but fast as hell. Just another killer song, for endless, evil headbanging! After that comes a calmer song, played on acoustic guitars, it has a very ancient-sounding melody, good song to slow a little bit down... for the next song, Spirits From The Depths Of Earth. Great guitar work and varying speeds make this song a masterpiece of Black Metal! I want to say that the two brothers are both very good musicians and the songwriting and guitar playing from Eskarth is just amazing! He has his very own style, black but still heavy! Memories Of The Cold Ages is another very good song, which becomes stronger and stronger at the end. Force Of Desecration is like Black Moons Blood a short song of three minutes, very fast, taking no prisoners. At the end of the album there is another masterpiece, King Of The Forest. Nine minutes long with a very epic beginning (sounds like the trumpets of Jericho). Pure fuckinīBlack Metal, I canīt say anything more... The last song is more an outro than a real song, it is a calm acoustic song, a perfect end for an almost perfect album!

It is very difficult to get Dawn Of Martyrdom. The first pressing is sold out since 1994. Some years later, the record label No Colours bootlegged it without permission of the band. The result is a CD, that has a bad sound and false title tracks! You will see the difference of the bootlegged version on the front cover, it is black/white. The CD also contains as bonus the Night Of The Dark Ages demo. It is sad, because the only version you will find on ebay is the bootlegged version, but it is maybe the only chance to get this album, so buy it! It is worth!! There is also an official picture LP, released from their current label Iron Pegasus with the right track list, but it is limited to 333 copies, so watch out!

Necromantia are Magus Wampyr Daoloth (alias The Magus, alias Morbid, alias George Zacharopoulos) and Baron Blood. Both are bass player. The result of their collaboration is the very unique sound of Necromantia, combining two distorted bass guitars. Their songs are not very easy to listen at, īcause the members have a very own style to compose songs, so Necromantia not only differs from other European Black Metal bands, but also from other Greek Black Metal bands! The guitar is only used for solos. The image of Necromantia is very satanic, with references to the Church Of Satan. Crossing The Fiery Path was their debut album, they had released some EPīs before, including the split-EP with Varathron, which became a much wanted EP (and still is!). The album was released in 1993 under the banner of Osmose Productions. 

Crossing The Fiery Path starts with The Vampire Lord Speaks, a spoken invocation in praise of the devil, with evil keyboards in the vein of the Psycho/Dracula movies and a laughter at the end, that makes your heart freezing. A perfect start for a Black Metal album. The first song is The Warlock, which lasts over 13 (!!) minutes. The riffs of this songs stand for Necromantiaīs music, nobody sounds like them. The speed is varying from slowness á la Varathron to hyperspeed Black Metal, the keyboards (played all by Magus himself) are creating a mystic atmosphere. The composition is epic (you need much stuff for a 13-minute-song...), in the middle of the song there is a break, the music gets replaced by some strange sounds (this kind of strange stuff is also typical Necromantia). Track three is Last Song For Valdezie. Itīs an instrumental, based on undistorted bass, a very calm interlude (and that after a 13 minute song!!). Next comes Unchaining The Wolf (At War), a typical Necromantia song, combinig all elements of Hellenic Black Metal. Track five is only a short choir of greek-orthodox chants, but it fits perfectly to the weird stuff. Next comes Les Litanies De Satan, which contains lyrics that are not written by the band but from C. Boudelaire in the 18th century. The music is mainly midtempo, the vocals are partly some kind of a diabolic invocation. The duration is again long, almost ten minutes. Song seven is Lord Of The Abyss, the only song which was recorded two years before the other material and it was released the first time on the Necromantia/Varathron Split EP, The Black Arts/The Everlasting Sins. A great song, with a slow Black Metal riff in the typical greek way. Just a killer! The last track, Tribes Of The Moon, is an outro based on piano/keyboards, the vocals are all spoken words.

The long duration of the songs, the unique bass sound and many interludes between the songs make this album so difficult to listen. But if you have patience, you will discover a good record, with some really unique musical elements and some great songs. If you cut the instrumental interludes, you have only four songs, the most of them are pretty long. But they are so multi-faceted, that you will not notice their little number, on the contrary, you will be blown away by a huge Black Metal monster!