Cologne's Euroblast Festival doesn't need an introduction for many of you, so I'll put it this way... One of Europe's most mind-blowing metal festivals will unleash all of its energy on the crowd from the 11th til the 13th of October. It seems like this forthcoming ninth edition is going to be another blast!
In fact, the guys at the Euroblast Collective have announced a good portion of this year's line up and two of the headliners. Textures will be performing their only German show of 2013 here. The second headliner is Germany's very own The Ocean. The rest of the unveiled line up is stacked as well, making this an unmissable event. Euroblast 2013 will feature international names like Threat Signal, The Agonist, Twelve Foot Ninja, Arsis, Hacride, Benea Reach, Mnemic, Feared, Xerath, Lifeforms, Aliases, Humanity's Last Breath, Syqem, The Omega Experiment, Deathember, Der Weg Einer Freheit, Dawn Heist, Hord, Overdown, Pomegranate Tiger, Tardive Dyskinesia, Cyclamen, Kartikeya, Heights, and Third Ear.
Last year's line up featured more than 40 bands. This year is currently at 28. So the only thing you need to do is stay tuned for the announcement of the third headliner / rest of the line up, coming very soon. If you live in Europe, you should definitely start thinking about buying tickets. This is the kind of event you don't want to miss!
Greece has a good metal tradition after all... You might know some pretty big names like Rotting Christ, Suicidal Angels, Nightrage, Septic Flesh, or Firewind. But in recent years, a really cool underground, avant-grade metal scene developed especially around the city of Athens.
One of the most interesting proposals coming out of Greece at the moment is Tardive Dyskinesia. They're a great band coming out of Athens, delivering a Meshuggah-influenced math metal melt with some insane post-rock atmospheres. If you're a fan of dark polyrhythmic sounds, this is a band you definitely need to check out. And their popularity just keeps on growing as they'll be playing at Euroblast 9 this October! They've released four albums so far and you can read our review for their latest record "Static Apathy In Fast Forward" right here. Also take a look at the presentation we recently wrote about them right here and give a listen to their new music video below!
Another Grecian band cranking out good material is Mencea. They're an amazing progressive death metal band from Athens. They've released 2 albums so far, "Dark Matter Energy Noir" (2008) and "Pyrophoric" (2012). Their music features some high quality content through powerful passages and dark atmospheres, especially on the second album. They've shared the stage with acts like Gojira, Heaven and Hell, Sepultura, Enslaved, and were invited to play festivals all across Europe, including Inferno Metal Festival, UK Metal Hammer's very own Hammerfest, etc. They've also filled a number of supporting slots in Norway, Germany, Greece and the UK. You can give 'em a listen below or stream their full album on Bandcamp!
Dakrya is another band I wanted to give a shout out to. They're an amazingly weird musical group defined as theatrical metal. Dakrya was founded in 2004 when keyboard player Sophia Charalampous decided to form a band melding a lot of different influences including heavy metal, goth, progressive, symphonic, art rock, and classical music. She aimed to give the whole thing a unique theatrical presentation, making their sound very original and interesting. And she succeeded. If you enjoyed the experimentation of Diablo Swing Orchestra, this is something you need to check out! Go ahead and watch the video for their song "The Charlatan", off their 2010 album "Crime Scene". It will give you a perfect idea of what we're talking about:
It Dwells Within is a solo project from a Greek guy named George Sachinoglou (aka Don). Coming from Athens, he provides some really good instrumental djent. The debut LP ''Relics From A Broken Fair'' was released in February 2012 and featured some solid material. You can actually stream and download it for FREE on Bandcamp! The whole album is self-funded, self-recorded, and self-released as well. So go give it a listen and support DIY metal music! The album teaser is below.
If we step out of Athens, we'll find a very intresting project called Dol Ammad. Coming from Thessaloniki, this band really deserves some recognition with their delivery of awesome metal music through a large ammount of originality and creativity. Formed in 2000 by Greek keyboard player Thanasis Lightbridge, they provide a fast and powerful metal sound with power and progressive elements, but it also features the vocal support of a fourteen member four-part choir!! It's recommended you listen to this project below, where you can find a song off their latest release - the 2012 album "Cosmic Gods: Episode I - Hyperspeed":
Beyond these avant-grade and progressive metal projects, Greece also boasts a strong metalcore/hardcore underground scene with bands like Bewized and The Fallen Within. You can also find a fairly popular and more geographically diffused melodic metal/rock or traditional metal scene with a lot of good bands.
As always, stay tuned for more exploration! Next week we'll step out of Europe for the first time!
Tardive Dyskinesia is one of the household names of the Greek metal underground. They provide a strongly Meshuggah-influenced math metal melt with some
insane post-rock atmosphere. With 4 albums released, they have toured and shared the stage alongside awesome bands like Meshuggah, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Darkest Hour,
Obscura, Cilice, Intronaut, Pro-Pain and many more.
The band has released threeincredible albums, all of which are all available for streaming on their Bandcamp page. These are "Distorting Point Of View" (released in 2006 via
Venerate Industries), "The Sea Of See Through Skin" (Released in 2009
via Coroner Records) featuring a more experimental vibe with lots of polyrhythms
and a sharper guitar tone, and their most recent work "Static Apathy In Fast
Forward" (released in late 2012 via CTS Productions). Their latest record implemented a
more melodic approach without giving up their darker side, which instead was intensely
developed with some new exploration. You can read our official review right here.
These guys are currently on tour around
Greece. They're also staying productive on other fronts. For example, they recently uploaded a music video for the song "We, The
Cancer" on their YouTube channel! So go ahead and check out their music. And if you enjoy, give
them some support with a purchase or even with a simple like on their
Facebook page! \m/
Ohhhhh yeeeeaaah, a band named after a movement disorder \m/ Hailing from Greece, Tardive Dyskenisia are a progressive metal juggernaut to watch out for. The band is currently gearing up to officially release their third full-length studio album "Static Apathy In Fast Forward" on November 12th. However, Metal Hammer Greece is currently streaming the entire album so I decided to jump the gun, listen, and write a review. Glad I did because this album feels great in my ears. You can listen here to see what I mean (the stream may be removed in the future, so get on that!).
Tardive Dyskenisia's sounds like a mix between Textures and Meshuggah while having a creative, driving force of it's own. This combination of sounds yields some really great results. Expect polyrhythmical goodness from start to finish. These are some groovy dudes! Instrumentally, everything is great. The band has displays an interesting use of background ambiance. The vocals provided by the frontman, Manthos, are interesting too as they branch between screamed vocals and his own brand of harsh singing with plenty of layering. The production and presentation of the album are also solid.
Every song has something great going on. "Empty Frames" kicks things off in a big way. It gives you a huge hint to expect big scale and grooves on this record. Easily one of my favorites on "Static Apathy In Fast Forward". "The Chase Home" has such a great pattern towards the beginning. Certainly a rhythmically focused track but with plenty of creativity to break things up. It ends with one of the heaviest segments on the record. "Smells Like Fraud"... yeah, make sure to listen. The large scale of "Time Turns Planets" really stands out. It's a super groovy track. "Prehistoric Man" has an interesting guitar solo towards the second half of the song which leads into an awesome melodic section. Another favorite on this album for sure. Featuring some nice saxophone work, "Indicator" makes for a great, out of the box interlude to break things up. "Circling Around the Unknown" opens with a quick winding guitar before it moves into rhythmic splendor. A wonderful melodic progression carries out the second half of the song. This might be my favorite track on the whole record. "We, The Cancer" is a driving commentary on the expanding population of humans and the limited resources of the planet. Towards the end, the song fades out until you think it's over, only to come back twice as powerful. Good stuff. "Failed Document" is one of the shortest, but most intense tracks on the record. It comes off as a powerful rhythmic exercise. "Limiting The Universe" is last but certainly not least. It opens with a bit of a dissonant build and closes out the album out with ambient beauty.
This album isn't perfect. While largely a great effort, some parts may strike the listener as lacking in energy and variety. Certain segments may sound the same, even if they obviously aren't with closer examination. The band is very rhythmically focused and it may lose some people. Though personally I like it a lot... if you honestly can't tell by now.
To sum things up, Tardive Dyskenisia did a fine job constructing "Static Apathy In Fast Forward". This album is worth your time and money. Your ears will thank you. As stated before, the album is streaming so take advantage of that! We also have some tracks above for your listening pleasure (and in case the stream is removed). If you dig Tardive Dyskenisia and want to grab a pre-order, look no further. Instead, look right here.
