Taking it back to the 90's now with the debut from Athens band Kidney Black.
The four piece band say they play "grungy sounds and punk attitude” which is a pretty accurate assessment of the band, this is grunge by way of alt rock with a sprinkling of that punk rebirth that hit in the late 80's early 90's the period of time all of Kidney Black's songs stem from.
Drawing inspiration from as wide of a church as Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, The Cure and even New Model Army (who they have shared a stage with) of you like your Seattle sounds dashed with a bit of jangly British post punk then you'll find a lot to like on Urban Decay.
Formed in 2019 from other well known bands on the Athens scene, they are a band who like to do things live, recording their demo Lychnopolis Sessions at the studio of the same name before following it up with Rooftop Jam Sessions on 2022, Kidney Black want their music to feel raw and vital, playing in the studio like they do on stage.
They returned to Lychnopolis Studio to record Urban Decay and cracked out twelve road weary anthems that brim with vitality and maturity of a band who knows exactly who they are. 90's alt rock in 2025? Kidney Black do it with skill and grit. 8/10
Sons Of Hades - Tombs Of The Blind Dead (Floga Records)
Tombs Of The Blind Dead is an album you could definitely refer to as rip snorting, a ferocious focused blast of blackened heavy metal from the dark dwellings of Athens. Masterminded by veteran of the Greek scene Apostolis K, Sons Of Hades remind me of Hellripper, due to the sheer force of their music. Apostolis snarls and screams, as Vangelis F unleashes the blastbeats that you will recognise from Sacral Rage.
It’s black metal in the vein of the second wave, the riffs from Apostolis K and Vasilis K weave between tremolo frenzies and chunky mixed with the black n roll grooves of Venom or Midnight, while the bass of Alex G gives the classic gallop of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate meets Iron Maiden on a track such as La Maschera Del Demonio.
Having only formed in 2023, they are a new bands to the scene but with experienced members there's no wonder then that this full length debut is packed with great songwriting and skin blistering riffs. I’ve made a few comparisons but if you like Celtic Frost you’re going to love this, and I love Celtic Frost so the mix of ferocious black metal and widdly guitars on this record excites me.
The constant switching between fast, slow and then faster riffs before the solos explode, on final track La Noche De Las Gaviotas for instance, gets the blood pumping, the whole album racing by in a flashfire of speed and Satan. Imagery of B-movie horror fills the lyrics, the perfect fit for this ominous savage set of tracks that make up the blackened speed assault of Sons Of Hades on Tombs Of The Blind Dead. 8/10
Sons Of Hades - Tombs Of The Blind Dead (Floga Records)
Tombs Of The Blind Dead is an album you could definitely refer to as rip snorting, a ferocious focused blast of blackened heavy metal from the dark dwellings of Athens. Masterminded by veteran of the Greek scene Apostolis K, Sons Of Hades remind me of Hellripper, due to the sheer force of their music. Apostolis snarls and screams, as Vangelis F unleashes the blastbeats that you will recognise from Sacral Rage.
It’s black metal in the vein of the second wave, the riffs from Apostolis K and Vasilis K weave between tremolo frenzies and chunky mixed with the black n roll grooves of Venom or Midnight, while the bass of Alex G gives the classic gallop of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate meets Iron Maiden on a track such as La Maschera Del Demonio.
Having only formed in 2023, they are a new bands to the scene but with experienced members there's no wonder then that this full length debut is packed with great songwriting and skin blistering riffs. I’ve made a few comparisons but if you like Celtic Frost you’re going to love this, and I love Celtic Frost so the mix of ferocious black metal and widdly guitars on this record excites me.
The constant switching between fast, slow and then faster riffs before the solos explode, on final track La Noche De Las Gaviotas for instance, gets the blood pumping, the whole album racing by in a flashfire of speed and Satan. Imagery of B-movie horror fills the lyrics, the perfect fit for this ominous savage set of tracks that make up the blackened speed assault of Sons Of Hades on Tombs Of The Blind Dead. 8/10
Honeybadger – Let There Be Light (SODEH Records)
Honeybadger are classed as desert rock and it's easy to see why that is as they are very much inspired by Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age, with the latter probably tipping the scales about more than the former. Much of that comes from Dimitris Vardoulakis' louche, deep, Homme-like delivery on the vocals.
Let There Be Light is their sophomore album, inspired by life and blue collar people doing blue collar things, it's music from the streets, keeping a dark sonic overhaul that the Queens themselves have had in recent years, adopting alternative and boogie style, Honeybadger adding horns from Christos Spiliopoulos and Nikos Tattoo Vlachos on the title track.
Vardoulakis sharing the guitar duties with Dimitris Giannakopoulos, both taking leads but with Vardoulakis the main source for fuzzy, strutting, sultry riffs, the bass playing, shared by Dimitris Giannopoulos and Fogg, matching the pace on tracks such as Filth And Disorder and brings a throb to The Green, while The Joke Is On Me shows off the drumming of Vagg Oikonomou.
Let There Be Light, the man upstairs said, well Honeybadger let that light thine through on this second album. 8/10
Cremate - Ready To Fight EP (Wormholedeath)
Another story of a band from the 90's Greek scene that was almost lost to the mists of Mount Athos. Formed back in 1991 by guitarist/vocalist Christos, Cremate forged death and black metal together, inspired by the nastier German thrash scene, the result was a demo seminal demo in 1993, an EP in 1995 and then through numerous line-up changes a split not long after.
Honeybadger are classed as desert rock and it's easy to see why that is as they are very much inspired by Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age, with the latter probably tipping the scales about more than the former. Much of that comes from Dimitris Vardoulakis' louche, deep, Homme-like delivery on the vocals.
Let There Be Light is their sophomore album, inspired by life and blue collar people doing blue collar things, it's music from the streets, keeping a dark sonic overhaul that the Queens themselves have had in recent years, adopting alternative and boogie style, Honeybadger adding horns from Christos Spiliopoulos and Nikos Tattoo Vlachos on the title track.
Vardoulakis sharing the guitar duties with Dimitris Giannakopoulos, both taking leads but with Vardoulakis the main source for fuzzy, strutting, sultry riffs, the bass playing, shared by Dimitris Giannopoulos and Fogg, matching the pace on tracks such as Filth And Disorder and brings a throb to The Green, while The Joke Is On Me shows off the drumming of Vagg Oikonomou.
Let There Be Light, the man upstairs said, well Honeybadger let that light thine through on this second album. 8/10
Cremate - Ready To Fight EP (Wormholedeath)
Another story of a band from the 90's Greek scene that was almost lost to the mists of Mount Athos. Formed back in 1991 by guitarist/vocalist Christos, Cremate forged death and black metal together, inspired by the nastier German thrash scene, the result was a demo seminal demo in 1993, an EP in 1995 and then through numerous line-up changes a split not long after.
However these things have a habit of someone back around and in 2021 Christos, now on bass reactivated Cremate alongside drummer George and guitarist/producer Akis Pastras (Dexter Ward, Damon Systema, Nightfall). Christos found himself drawn back to that demo and decided to rework the three 'proper' tracks on that EP, (one is an instrumental), and record a new song too.
This signifying that Cremate are aware of their last but want to set in stone the band they are now, 30 years since they split. The reworking comes from these tracks having and much broader sonic range, the death/thrash sound is still there but it's made grander by the industrial synths that twitch and lay down dark atmospherics.
Lusty Apricot (cannot be their real name) brings violin to provide more range while the production means Die As You Lived, Cerebral Pain and Human (originally title Another Pain Born) all hit harder than they would have in 1993. As for the new song, well the title track of this EP exhibits that they haven’t lost any of their abilities to write death/thrash, moving toward some melodeath styles by enticing Marios Iliopoulos of Nightrage to give them a guitar solo.
Cremate seemingly are back, bigger and badder than before, fans of band like Kreator should be tuning in. 8/10
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