The boundaries of Doom-Death Metal has been stretched again, this time by Greek act Hedon Cries. Their self-labeled “Atmospheric Doom-Death” is not quite as funereal or elegiac as expected, and adds a much faster tempo than the genre implies. After releasing two albums since 2001, the band underwent new changes in the form of bassist Stathis Karoutis and vocalist Christos Aidonis, and adding Thanos Lois on keyboard. The band, as a result, has shifted styles slightly into a gloomier Melodeath approach, akin to Novembre’s and Sentenced’s lovechild, with several other smaller influences hidden within The End of the Path is Nigh.

The record kicks off in style with a speedy number; the pounding drums from Papadoulas and Sentenced-like guitar-work of Boufas and Kopsaftopoulos keep the rhythm whilst injecting some melancholic melody in the chorus. The real center stage, and where the band excels, is in the guitar-work, combining a mixture of Tales…era Amorphis, Novembre and a touch of Agalloch circa Ashes… to create many a swirling melody within the songs.

These guys are good! Phase Reverse. I had never heard of these guys before, but I’m glad I did now, despite that they are ”not quite Metal, not quite Rock, but the best of both”. I guess that’ll depend on your point of reference. If you look back in music history and think about bands like Sabbath, this will definitely fall within your definition of Metal. If by Metal the first think you think of is gutturals, it won’t. In any case that band itself says ”our music is just Rock… Heavy Rock”.

In the end I don’t care much, this stuff has struck a chord in me and that’s all that matters. Out of Athens, Greece, these three boys don’t come from where their music would make you expect them to be from. That’s because they have intertwined their Retal / Mock with a thick, juicy, Bourbon-lovin’ Southern influence. How that becomes apparent? Well, music-technically I have no fuckin’ idea. It’s just an atmosphere they breathe and a feeling you get as a listener.

Returning with their second offering after a hiatus, and 8^th in total, Greek Atmospheric Death Metal band Septicflesh have taken a reversed songwriting approach in The Great Mass, and formed the classical foundations before applying the bludgeoning Metal. What results is a neurotic mix of the two which some may consider watered down, and others an innovative approach that certainly beats other recent attempts.

To get an idea of the insanity within this album, take We, The Gods and Lovecraft’s Death from Communion and multiply. The opening track, The Vampire From Nazareth, is a perfect example of this, akin to a symphonic Behemoth that combines an ethereal female vocal and Anton’s own harsh grunt, which has now morphed into a Nergal tribute, while Benardo overpowers most other instruments with his blistering drum patterns.

If there’s one band able to make you close your eyes and drift away into the beautiful melodies they produce, it’s Nightrage. The Greek-Swedish formation that has been active since 2000 has been, although I was already well across the line of liking (Melodic) Death Metal, the band to tighten the noose around my little ignorant neck and violently tug my soul so far into the realm of Melodeath that I could never do with anything less again. Their albums Descent Into Chaos, A New Disease is Born and Wearing a Martyr’s Crown have spent so much time playing on my headphones that they are completely and utterly torn to shreds.

Two years after the band’s last album, Insidious is the one to follow up on a series of well-bred and magnificently shaped albums in the Nightrage line of descendance. And as the band’s vocalist Antony Hämäläinen foretold in the interview we had with him over a year ago, it’s rich with both a pissed-off attitude and sweeping swirling melodies. And that means it sticks like glue to the true Nightrage style and tradition, which in this case is a good thing, as Nightrage is one of the few bands you do not want to see alter their sound too much from release to release.

Yesterday marked what must have been one of the most enjoyable days in my whole fuckin’ life, I shit you not. I haven’t had such a good time in years and the smile on my face was both ridiculous and terrifying. Similarly, the ache in my upper neck muscles I’m currently experiencing is ridiculous and excruciating. All attributed to the efforts of Septic Flesh, As I Lay Dying and Amon Amarth, each in its bigger or smaller share.

Way back, in June of 2010, we had an interview with Anthony Hämäläinen, vocalist in Greek-Swedish Melodeath formation Nightrage. To me, this band has been one of the most marking on my personal musical taste and preferences. It is good news then that their fifth album, entitled Insidious, is to be released on September 26^th (in most of Europe at least). Non-European regions will need to wait a bit longer, while the German speaking nations in Europe are in luck and will have it three days earlier.

Anthony mentioned they had nine songs done at the time. He also said this: ”It sounds really heavy. Stripped down and in your face. The songs are a bit shorter and with fewer acoustic guitars than Wearing a Martyr’s Crown. I think so far, out of the nine songs there are no clean vocals at all. It’s a very pissed of sound, so it’s going to be a really heavy record. Lots of guitar solos and melodies there too of course.”.

We’ve got the first proof of this, with the internet release of the album’s title track just over a week ago. Old news is news as well you know.

Hard work gets rewarded. I’m taking two weeks off and will set my hairy ass on a flight to Greece, the Ionian island of Kefallinia to be exact. Departure is Saturday at 04:15 p.m. Off to save the EU economy and shit like that! Yeah right, by floating my butt in Greek seas, sleeping on their sandy beaches, eating half their sheep and soaking in some culture as well, just for the heck of it?! Hell no, I’m just looking at a good time my friends!

But no worries, I’ve left you well supplied: there’s at least one post a day planned for the coming two weeks. They may not all be equally long, but in the end it’s all about the music, not about the fat man talking like it matters. The other three writers, Byrd36, CroOZza and Angel will keep an eye on things. Maybe even put up an extra post here and there, if their work / exams / wives / girlfriends / kids / and other occupations allow them some time for it. I know they’ve been very busy indeed and already much appreciate the fact that they are willing to take the time to check up on things here once in a while.

Leaves me to say: keep making your comments and sending us your suggestions. I have been able to schedule almost the complete to-do list for publication in the coming two weeks, so we’ll need new ideas again. Cheers lads!

Back in April we hooked you up with the first episode of Demonstealer’s cooking show, Headbanger’s Kitchen. In that episode he cooked some lovely burgers and fed them to Dubai-based Death Metallers Nervecell. Some episodes have been aired in the meantime and recently Demonstealer got up to his fourth episode.

Divine Element is a Greek “Black Metal” band formed in 2002 who’ve released a demo in 2005 and a self-titled full-length in 2010. I quoted Black Metal because that’s what the Metal Archives lists as their genre. However, I don’t think that label does their music proper justice. Sure it’s blackened, but there are elements of many Metals present, including lots of folk/pagan/Viking type stuff and some out-right melodic Death Metal riffing too. I’m not sure what to call it myself, other than awesome, but it’s definitely far beyond “stock” Black Metal.

The other day we featured a brief post about a Greek Progressive Metal band named Winter Crescent. In response to that, we got into contact with Thanos Sgouridis, the band’s bass player. He gave us a link where we found the band’s full 2009 debut demo, titled Battle of Egos.

It’s actually way to good and long – with nearly 35 minutes of playing time – to be a demo, and so we prefer to refer to it as an EP, though one could even opt to call it a full fuckin’ album. Anyway, we downloaded the fucker – you can too, as we’ll provide the download link at the bottom of this post – and checked it out in its entirety.