Eight years and there are new battles to be fought as the veterans of the Greek heavy metal scene Reflection come back with fifth studio album The Battles I Have Won.
Has much changed since their previous record Bleed Babylon Bleed? No but then as Reflection have been leading the charge of the Greek heavy/classic metal revival since 1992, the brothers Pavlantis still the captains of this unit Stathis on guitar and George on drums they are not unlike Rotting Christ's brother combo, anchoring what Reflection do. With this album they still have long term bassist John Litinakis steering the epic metal gallops while behind the mic there has been a change as Kostas Tokas is the clarion call of these battle anthems.
Hand Of Fate - Five Heartbeats (Self Released)
Thessaloniki based symphonic metal band Hand Of Fate deliver their second album Five Heartbeats, their debut Messengers Of Hope was released in 2017 and we commented then that the band would have to improve their songwriting with any future releases, but also that not long after the release of that record they gained a new drummer and a new singer, so I approached Five Heartbeats with a mix of cautious anticipation.
The perfect word for these tracks is anthems, as they seem to expand their scope with their fifth record leaning on their experience as a band, the cinematic production techniques from Stathis aided by the orchestrations of guest Kostas Rekleitis. Reflection's epic heavy metal will appeal to fans of Iron Maiden, Manowar, Manilla Road, Virgin Steel and Cirith Ungol, glorious, chest beating heavy metal. Only The Swords Survive begins with speedy gallop, histrionic vocals and full speed metal prowess, leading into the epic title track which goes down the route of Dio in a mid-pace metal though Grand Magus would also be a great comparison.
Lyrically there's inspiration from Greek mythology in March Of The Argonauts, Homeric epics on City Walls Of Malta - The Great Siege and a general love of battles, fantasy and warfare driven by some fists up high riffs and melodic leads. A document of their power and passion, The Battles I Have Won is a heavy metal in the purest form. 9/10
Black Path - Of Paint And Ash (Self Released)
Dark Souls (the videogame) inspired heavy metal, more specifically for all you game nerds, Of Paint And Ash is inspired by Slave Knight Gael and the Painter who is at the end of the Dark Souls Trilogy of games. Athens band Black Path use this extremely difficult, dark and bloody series to inspire their music, the themes of despair, desperation and the pursuit of meaning are all part of the record and the game, the overall atmosphere creating the often miserable world of Dark Souls with harp (Maria Malafi), keys (Angelos Maniatakos) and female vocals (Iren Engel) used to swell their musical offerings into the semi-theatrical.
What's interesting to me is that Black Path is comprised of two men: Kostas Mexis (vocals/bass) and Jon Kaneris (guitar), they wrote, composed, produced, engineered and mixed this album with George Nerantzis mastering and Defkalion Dimos playing drums, though the bulk of the work comes from the two Kostas and Jon and has done since they formed in 2011, though they have only released one album and one EP to date, so with this second full length the band look to cement their reputation as a strong new force in the technical/melodic death scene.
Leaning heavily into the tech side of things with the odd time signatures of Cynic, mixed with the virtuoso melodic flourishes of Children Of Bodom (Born Of Betrayal) and the aggression of At The Gates meaning a track such as Endless Madness will get tech metal nerds salivating, all thick bass runs, fast changing riffs and savage, adaptive gutturals (Evermore). Clearly the duo are both gifted musicians but the way they use their abilities within the songs themselves is what makes it more than just finesse for its own sake.
Of Paint And Ash steps up the sonic attack of Black Path, brimming with low end intensity, melodic ferocity and even some sax on Izalith, it's a technical masterclass from start to finish! 9/10
Black Path - Of Paint And Ash (Self Released)
Dark Souls (the videogame) inspired heavy metal, more specifically for all you game nerds, Of Paint And Ash is inspired by Slave Knight Gael and the Painter who is at the end of the Dark Souls Trilogy of games. Athens band Black Path use this extremely difficult, dark and bloody series to inspire their music, the themes of despair, desperation and the pursuit of meaning are all part of the record and the game, the overall atmosphere creating the often miserable world of Dark Souls with harp (Maria Malafi), keys (Angelos Maniatakos) and female vocals (Iren Engel) used to swell their musical offerings into the semi-theatrical.
What's interesting to me is that Black Path is comprised of two men: Kostas Mexis (vocals/bass) and Jon Kaneris (guitar), they wrote, composed, produced, engineered and mixed this album with George Nerantzis mastering and Defkalion Dimos playing drums, though the bulk of the work comes from the two Kostas and Jon and has done since they formed in 2011, though they have only released one album and one EP to date, so with this second full length the band look to cement their reputation as a strong new force in the technical/melodic death scene.
Leaning heavily into the tech side of things with the odd time signatures of Cynic, mixed with the virtuoso melodic flourishes of Children Of Bodom (Born Of Betrayal) and the aggression of At The Gates meaning a track such as Endless Madness will get tech metal nerds salivating, all thick bass runs, fast changing riffs and savage, adaptive gutturals (Evermore). Clearly the duo are both gifted musicians but the way they use their abilities within the songs themselves is what makes it more than just finesse for its own sake.
Of Paint And Ash steps up the sonic attack of Black Path, brimming with low end intensity, melodic ferocity and even some sax on Izalith, it's a technical masterclass from start to finish! 9/10
Hand Of Fate - Five Heartbeats (Self Released)
Thessaloniki based symphonic metal band Hand Of Fate deliver their second album Five Heartbeats, their debut Messengers Of Hope was released in 2017 and we commented then that the band would have to improve their songwriting with any future releases, but also that not long after the release of that record they gained a new drummer and a new singer, so I approached Five Heartbeats with a mix of cautious anticipation.
That caution disappeared when the first strains of Distant Shores began and I was whisked away to those early days of Nightwish and Epica where the riffs were potent and metallic but the bands were popular due to the orchestral moments and the operatic vocals of the singers. Hand Of Fate have both with Harmonic Madness and No More showing the range of singer Alexandra Anagnostopoulou while the latter thumps with buzzing electronics to which are which also permeate on the brooding duo of The Other Me and Evergrey which has a chuggy riff worthy of the band it shares a name with.
Five Heartbeats then is an improvement on the debut, the songwriting is at a higher level, as are the performances as Hand Of Fate make a great throwback record that fans of Nightwish, Tristiana and Enemy Of Reality will enjoy muchly. 7/10
Kokkinià - The Last Are Lost From The List (Bitume Records)
Kokkinià are a heavy prog band from Piraeus, they're a four piece live but a trio on this record consisting of Savvas on drums, Vangelis on vocals and Marinos on guitar/keys, and The Last Are Lost From The Lost is their debut album. They recorded the this with engineer/mixer/masterer David Prudent who plays the bass on this record, but Andreas Moutsis is their live bass man.
Kokkinià - The Last Are Lost From The List (Bitume Records)
Kokkinià are a heavy prog band from Piraeus, they're a four piece live but a trio on this record consisting of Savvas on drums, Vangelis on vocals and Marinos on guitar/keys, and The Last Are Lost From The Lost is their debut album. They recorded the this with engineer/mixer/masterer David Prudent who plays the bass on this record, but Andreas Moutsis is their live bass man.
Kokkinià's sound is progressive but has a lot of danceable grooves with plenty of hand claps and lute (from Manos Kateris) as they often shift between post punk drive and psychedelic moments that begin as soon as you press play on the grungy Whoami. Inspired by their industrial surroundings the band have delved into existentialism, fractured identity and their disconnect with modern Greek culture.
Stachtee takes Mellotron that bleeds into the percussive beginnings of Blue On Black which slow burns into doom-like riffs that has distorted riffs and harmonic moments too. Like bands such as Deftones, Soundgarden and even Tool, Kokkinià's style of prog is downbeat, introspective lyrics with lots of low end groove which is ripped from the alt metal scene, check out the dissonant Shelt3r or the oddly grooving Arboreal.
On the other hand they have blissful passages such as Syopee or the acoustically laced Lethe which also has lots of Mellotron to it. So Kokkinià's debut shows a load of promise of you like your music experimental, heavy and filled with groove. 8/10
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