As a mastermind of one (by the moment) solo-project myself, I truly support and encourage the one-man band format, as, since I discovered Greifi Grishnackh in the mid '90s, I think it's the only way to express with no boundaries the creative freedom of an artist. I also used to be in a proper band, but if you have your own ideas and the desire to keep control over your artistic production, you should be ready to struggle against others! The art of compromise if often needed in a social environment, but when one individual wants to express himself, it's quite hard to do so in league with other musicians: the one-man band is the perfect format for a "lone wolf" artist, even if requires a lot of effort in order to reach a good level of confidence doing all the duties on your own. The reward is, at the end, really priceless, as you are projecting you and your mind and ideas, alone, in the immortal realm of art: as an individual of flesh and bones you will cease to live, as everything on earth and in the universe, but, since there's someone liking your art and thinking about your messages and ideas, it's like to continue the journey of life, in others' minds and hearts!
I truly think that the afterlife is not an over-mundane question, but it's the nesting of one's way of thinking inside one other's mind: it's like, in my view, as a piece of your mind models the neurological circuits inside one other's brain, thus it's quite like there's a new piece of "you" continuing to live outside and beyond your biological unity. I find this idea very fascinating, and I think it's the ultimate goal for every artist at the end of the game! The solo-project here presented is from Greece, thus you could assume that it is about that particular style of black metal related to that country: it is not completely the case! In fact, we are far from the rules forged and followed by the likes of Rotting Christ, Varathron, or even Necromantia, in the '90s: it's more of a Swedish sharp and melodic black metal with a little spice of Hellenic flavor. Tremolo-picked guitars, on top of perfectly executed traditional blast-beats, are the key formula for a fluid and frenetic sonic assault, very different from the more percussive, hammer-blast quality of Hellenic black metal, and even the mid-paced sections are very different from the doom metal influenced shades of the traditional Hellenic style.
So, this is basically a Swedish black metal album, but written and performed masterfully by a Greek musician! Nothing to blame about it, for instance, I like a lot the proposal of the also Greek band Lunar Spells, even if it not falls into their country black metal style, but fully embrace a kind of Finnish black metal, only in a different geographical location! Back to this album in particular, the one and only real hint of original Hellenic style is rooted in the title track: along with the usual Swedish sound, you can distinctly hear a lot of references to the style pioneered by Rotting Christ, among others! 44 minutes of really great black metal: while there's nothing very innovative or personal, it still displays a strong will to present well crafted black metal, and a way maybe even better than a lot of full bands with a complete line-up. Production is perfect, sounds and tones are clean, powerful, but not over-edited or compressed, and, keep in mind, this is an independent and unsigned project! Full support at the maximum level!
Sample:
&t=564s
