Okay Sup Forums it’s that time of the year again. In November we celebrate traditional cold black metal music to fit the weather and the season. Now with the coming of the summer season, it’s time to celebrate the often-overlooked warm black metal of Greece. So grab some grapes and a palm frond fan, and let’s have a Hellenic black metal thread.
The Hellenic black metal scene took place from the late 80’s and early to mid 90’s in Greece at about the same time that the Norwegian scene was thriving. Unfortunately for most, the popularity of Norwegian black metal overshadowed the material that Greece was putting out at the time. Because of this, I feel that it is a very under appreciated subgenre of metal.
Unlike it’s frostbitten Nordic counterpart, Greek black metal conveys a sense of the country’s warm, humid climate. Instead of focusing on the grim, barren tremolo picking and lightning fast blast beats, it finds it’s own swampy niche within a territory of mid-paced tempos, heavy, chugging riffs, and melodic tendencies. Hellenic black metal wears its traditional heavy metal influences on its sleeves. However it was the juxtaposition between these traditional roots, and the utilization of more modern (at the time) elements such as atmospheric synthesizers, harsh vocals, and occult imagery that defined the classic Hellenic sound.
Rotting Christ, Varathron, and Necromantia were the main three bands within the scene, and they essentially created the template for what became known as the Hellenic sound, which was used and expanded upon by various other Greek bands. Rotting Christ is the most well known of the three, partially because they befriended and toured with well-known Norwegian bands such as Mayhem and Darkthrone.
ITT I will be sharing some of the most essential Hellenic releases along with some personal favorites. Please feel free to discuss HBM or anything else related
Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract (1993) >Hellenic black metal, melodic black metal this is the most well known album to come out of the Hellenic scene. It’s very melodic with some legitimately catchy riffs and hooks. It reminds me of a slower, less frostbitten dissection album. Despite it’s apparent accessibility, it’s still extremely punishing and evil. Fenriz of darkthrone called this album kvlt so you know you’re getting something good.
Varathron - His Majesty at the Swamp (1993) >Varathron is probably my favorite band to come from the hellenic scene. it shares a few of the same members as Rotting Christ and as a result the two bands sound similar stylistically. However, Varathron focuses even more on chugging, heavy metal riffs rather than blasting tremolos. This album is very riff-oriented, and the lyrics are Lovecraft-mythos themed. Along with Thy Mighty Contract, these two albums essentially invented the hellenic sound.
Not sure how it fits to the old-school style of greek Black Metal, but I absolutely love Nocternity. My favourite band from Greece, probably. Onyx, recorded in 2003, is their best release, in my opinion.
Necromantia - Scarlet Evil Witching Black (1995) >hellenic black metal, symphonic black metal This band has two bassists and no guitarist (although this album features the occasional guest guitar solo). The unique instrumentation creates an atmosphere as fiery and hot as the album cover suggests. It is surprisingly technical and symphonic for the time. It oozes heavy riffs, and demented, orchestral synthesizers. it even has a saxophone solo at one point. The composition here is masterful, and I would say that this is objectively one of the most technically impressive black metal albums to come from Greece.
i'm loving this so far. never heard of them before but thanks for the rec.
good eye friend
pic related. even Sup Forums knows what's up
James Russell
Dont forget to mention Septicflesh,mpanta aptis liges
Colton Hall
i was planning on getting to septicflesh eventually. haven't heard of the other one before though. feel free to share anything you think might be relevant
Jaxon Diaz
Agatus - A Night Of The Dark Ages (1993) >Hellenic Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal
This is an early ep from greek black metal group Agatus. These guys blend traditional folk with black metal, which results in a very engaging listen. Within these short 15 minutes you find acoustic picking, soaring triumphant synthesizers, tremolo picking, blast beats, and of course the classic mid-paced hellenic riffing style.
>expecting people on Sup Forums to know anything about black metal and not just parroting things they read on pitchfork
Mason Carter
Black metal sucks
Dominic Cruz
varathron - procreation of the unaltered evil (1989) >hellenic black metal, blackened death metal
this is the first demo that varathron recorded in 89, and one of the first Hellenic bm releases in general. It is a crusty, lo-fi monster which features insane modulated vocals and classic heavy riffing. This one is a personal favorite.
why do you think it sucks user? if you prefer traditional heavy metal, then you might actually really like hellenic black metal youtube.com/watch?v=d0FWs74UQzA
Elijah Cook
sure thing blackie
Anthony Russell
thanks m80
i don't expect much. that's why i've tried to include some background information and descriptions with all of the music:3
Samuel Clark
>why do you think it sucks user?
The image is repulsive and they're by far the worst /memetal/ posters, but will try I guess, thx for the share
Adrian Lopez
Why would you want that?
Nolan Allen
Rotting Christ - Satanas tedeum (1989) >Hellenic Black Metal One of the earliest rotting christ recordings and along with procreation of the unaltered evil, one of the earliest hellenic bm recordings. also apparently the earliest use of a timpani drum in black metal.
not sure why but this share got deleted for some reason. guess i'll try again
Rotting Christ - Satanas tedeum (1989) >Hellenic Black Metal One of the earliest rotting christ recordings and along with procreation of the unaltered evil, one of the earliest hellenic bm recordings. also apparently the earliest use of a timpani drum in black metal.
>why would i want what? Nobody on Sup Forums cares about music, they want instant gratification, this won't do anything, just quit.
Bentley Peterson
why would i want what?
see
Ryder Gray
:( as much as i believe this is true for the most part, i'm hoping i can at least share some nice music with a few cool people who might be into it. you're right that most of the people here only care about music with good p4k reviews, but i'm confident that there are at least a few anons who might be able to take something from this.
well thanks for being open minded user. i hope you don't find the music to be as repulsive as you find the poster (or pic related most likely)
Wyatt Powell
Agatus - Black Moon Promo (1994) >Hellenic Black Metal This is a brief promo that Agatus recorded in 94. It consists of two songs played in a more conventional black metal style with blast beats and tremolo picking. However it has a certain ferocity to it that sets it apart from many other black metal releases of the time.
Varathron - Walpurgisnacht (1995) >Hellenic Black Metal, Gothic Metal second full length album by varathron. this time around they play in a more typical black metal style, but they also incorporate elements of gothic rock using spacious, echoing drums a la joy division, and brooding synthesizers that at times will make you think you're listening to the cure.
well to be fair, it came out in 1993. that was before transylvanian hunger was even released
Hunter Harris
Good thread OP, but don't forget to add modern Greek BM classics such as Spectral Lore, Thy Darkened Shade, Hail Spirit Noir, Order of the Ebon Hand, Macabre Omen, Kawir, Zemial, Ravencult, Deviser, Nightfall, the list goes on.
They are often as good or even better than their classic counterparts.
Wyatt Murphy
I was hoping to get to the modern stuff towards the end of the thread once i finish with all the oldschool shit. but thanks for the recommendations. i only know about half of those bands, so please feel free to share any that you deem worthy. spectral lore is the shit
Gavin Wood
i love bulldozer but i'm not familiar with the other two bands. i'll check them out though. thanks for sharing! but yeah necromantia is something else. they just really had their shit figured out compositionally.
Carson Howard
Could you maybe give a description of some of these bands? I love Spectral Lore and I'd like to find more stuff like it
Daniel Sanders
>black metal >warm I wonder why it never caught on...
Angel Wilson
Varathron/Necromantia - Black Arts Lead To Everlasting Sins (1992) >Hellenic Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal An infamous split between two of the hbm greats. This is a primordial insight into the vile, black corridors of these musician's minds. this split sounds more like a recording of an occult summoning ritual. especially demagia vetrum on varathron's side. The lyrics on here just scream Lovecraft worship. One of the songs is even named after Nyarlathotep.
Thanks for posting these and starting a thread. Greek BM is very good and underrated. This demo is really good, both songs are amazing. Agatus is my favorite Greek BM artist and really worth checking out.
Austin Diaz
Hey, that's pretty good.
Dylan Diaz
i like to think of black metal as a very territorially inspired genre. people wonder why nationalism is such a prominent belief in black metal, but it's because the music is so inspired by the land that it comes from.
the norwegian stuff sounds cold and barren because it's a reflection of the country which inspired it. black metal in general, is so commonly perceived as being cold because the nordic second wave is the most popular (due to the media coverage of the crimes.)
on the other hand, Greek black metal is just as much a reflection of the hot, humid country and region that it came from.
it's not that it didn't catch on because black metal has to be cold. it didn't catch on because there were no widely publicized murders within the scene
Owen Diaz
appreciate the MTG artwork.
Adrian Allen
>be me >be Jesse >see "Hellenic Black Metal" thread >think 'oh boy, time to shitpost' >see several shares, of some quality You get pass. This time.
Basically an American tribute to Greek black metal.
Hudson Russell
Why are cool aesthetics always wasted on black metal trash? Hellenic folk, shoegaze, or even just hard rock would be interesting, but black metal takes anything cool and makes it sound generic.
Robert Long
>Hellenic folk, shoegaze, or even just hard rock would be interesting Pitchfork, please leave.
Nolan Hill
>Hellenistic Shoegaze
Jonathan Garcia
why even 3rd rate norwegian acts are better than 1st rate greek acts
Zachary Ortiz
>tips trucker hat
Blake Butler
>I like comparing apples to penises They create different atmospheres mate, you might prefer one over the other.
Wyatt Powell
Sure
>Thy Darkened Shade - Liber Lvcifer
Often hailed as the saviour of modern bm in /metal/, this guy writes rifftastic, fast paced and melodic oriented tracks with god tier songwriting and choruses. It's as if Greeks took the best parts of Dissection and made them all better while Greekifying them at the same time. Oh and seriously some of the best basslines in the entire metal genre. Easily my favorite bm album of the 10s, not even Paracletus can touch this. The only problem people might have is the length of the one album this guy has put out so far, which combined with the complex song structures, might prove too much. The quality of the music is enough to make the most demanding of customers keep listening to the end.
Easton Hall
maybe you should just open your mind to the music. because the aesthetics fit it perfectly. much better than any of those other genres you listed
thanks for the share. this is awesome and i never would have found it otherwise
>why even 3rd rate norwegian acts are better than 1st rate greek acts they're not though
Gavin Green
Agatus - Dawn Of Martyrdom (1996) >Hellenic Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal Full Length debut of Agatus. Expands upon the sounds that they used on their previous demos and pulls it all together into a great, surprisingly clean album. It’s extremely melodic and reminds me of windir at some points youtube.com/watch?v=7TzgWFPaOWo mega.co.nz/#!KVAAFJwC!N_WgMl1jxRViNAVdXfHJqkS5D7cnWRqRMH1pfwLSs38
Thomas Fisher
thanks man, that description sounds dope
Nathaniel Jenkins
I need a download for this desperately
Dominic Murphy
>Macabre Omen - Gods at War
Imagine the most epic tunes of melodic black metal with none of the cheese, with themes from Greek mythology, about ordinary men overcoming the odds and becoming Gods, accompanied by traditional Greek instruments and triumphant battle cries that will get your blood pumping like no other melodic bm record (with the exception of Windir).
Great thread OP, lots of material to listen, thank you very much.
Josiah Allen
Kawir - Προς Κάβειρους/To Cavirs (1997) >Hellenic Black Metal Kawir is a hellenic pagan bm band. There are plenty of traditional, folky segments here, which nest themselves nicely within some riffy black metal with exceptionally desperate sounding vocals. These guys seem to be the band that’s most concerned with preserving the traditional folk sounds and lyrical themes of their Greek heritage. They also sing in all Greek, as implied by the album title.
I'm hesitant to recommend this band just because of how ridiculously derivative they are while being a new band and Greek themselves, but this a Greek black metal thread so whatever. I'm sure some of you will dig it anyways.
A lot of Mediterranean black metal in general is characteristically warm. Italian stuff like Mortuary Drape, Spite Extreme Wing, Janvs.
Owen Lewis
Are there any Hellenic war metal bands? I'm into bands like revenge and I'm curious if anyone makes music like that but with the mediterranean atmosphere?
Cooper Price
How did this get so many replies without Acherontas ?
Kevin Miller
Not war metal, but listen to Dead Congregation anyways. Crushing Greek death metal.
Hudson Rogers
Thanks for the rec. Still not fully into death metal but I'm using war metal as a bridge between death and black
Levi Taylor
Horrified – In the Garden of Unearthly Delights (1993) >melodic death metal, Hellenic black metal Although this Greek band is usually labeled as melodeath rather than black metal, I’m not quite sure why it isn’t considered Hellenic black metal because it’s extremely sonically and aesthetically similar to the other Hellenic bands of the time. And considering how similar Hellenic black metal and melodic death metal sound in general, I think that the exclusion of the Hellenic black metal tag may be a bit misleading. It still has the heavy metal influence with blackened occult vibes, and mystical synthesizers. it sounds like a cross between varathron and necromantia, so essentially everything you could hope for from a Hellenic album.
congratulations on making a fucking fantastic thread OP. i never knew about Hellenic Black Metal, and have like six albums dling rn. this is possibly the most informative thread ive seen on mu, this is pretty cool. wish we had more of this
Elijah Lewis
Yeah today OP is not a fag
Jayden White
You killed /memetal/
Not sure if to congratulate you or hate you
Tyler Gutierrez
great thread OP, thanks
Zachary Lopez
Necromantia - Crossing the Fiery Path (1993) >Hellenic Black Metal, symphonic black metal Similar to their sophomore album, scarlet evil witching black. IMO not quite as developed, but it has it's own lo-fi charm to it. Also the album cover was taken from dungeons and dragons artwork just like our good old friend varg.
thanks user! i'm glad you were able find some good stuff from it
Adrian Powell
Thanks guys, this thread was just what I needed. The only Greek BM I've heard is Nocternity and Macabre Omen, but I've been stockpiling names of good Greek BM bands as I am going to binge-listen to them all sometime.
I've heard Legion of Doom (Greece) and Necromantic Worship (Netherlands) are also supposed to be good.
One of the greatest things about these classic Hellenic bands is that like half of them are still making music, and GOOD music at that. Rather than losing energy and putting out shitty new releases like most old metal bands, rotting Christ, varathron, and kawir have spent the last 30 years refining their sound to make it sound heavier and more modern. Half of the charm of Hellenic black metal is to appreciate the obviously dated sound of the music from a historical perspective. However, if you want something that sounds more up to date by today’s metal standards, yet still retains the integrity of the classic Hellenic sound, be sure to check out these modern albums from these legendary bands.
Varathron - Untrodden Corridors of Hades (2014) >Hellenic Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal I really don't even know where to start with this beast. You would think that after all these years, these guys would be beginning to lose steam, but this album proves quite the opposite. It is an intricately orchestrated masterpiece that was disappointingly overlooked in 2014. I can't do this thing enough justice so please just give this thing a listen for yourself.
(unfortunately this is the best download i could find. it works, but it's kind of slow)
Asher Myers
Rating some stuff I heard already, all of it is excellent but I still need to hear some of the rest 10/10 10/10 8/10 9/10 10/10 8/10 8/10 10/10 10/10
Elijah Turner
thanks user!
Nathaniel Garcia
Out of the Unholy Triumvirate of Greek Black Metal (Rotting Christ, Varathron, Necromantia) Varathron is the only band to remain fairly consistent and still produces fantastic albums. Rotting Christ pretty much sold out and Necromantia, unfortunately, haven't been relevant for years.
Dominic Wood
Rotting Christ – Rituals (2016) >Hellenic Black Metal the most recent rotting christ album from this year. This thing proves that these guys somehow still have it. The production here is absolutely perfect and the music is a cross between some traditional folk chants that wouldn’t be out of place in a LOTR movie, and straight up relentless black metal. This thing is HEAVY
>This thing proves that these guys somehow still have it it's literally blackened groove metal with random tribal shit, they've lost it.
Leo Torres
This is by far their worst, sadly.
Charles Ortiz
haha maybe i should have worded it differently. they certainly don't still have the classic sound that characterized their earlier work, but i still think this is a good slab of tribal black metal. it's the hard-hitting production that really does it for me. it feels so thick and opaque, like it could crush you. as for the music, i enjoy it, but i could see how a fan of their older stuff would be kind of disappointed by it though
Angel Bailey
Not Greek, but the first 3 albums from Switzerland's Samael are also highly-inspired by traditional heavy metal like Rotting Christ's and Varathron's earlier albums.
ok guys well i have to go do something for a few hours so i'm going to stop the shares for now. if you can keep the thread alive until later tonight when i get back, i'll share some modern greek black metal that i enjoy. if not, i hope you were able to find some music that you enjoyed here, and thanks for making it a good thread.
hail hellas!
Joseph Davis
If the thread dies before you get back you should make a modern thread anyway. This thread is great and I'd be up for more stuff like it
Ayden Martinez
+1
Andrew Martinez
great thread guys, congrats
Brayden Howard
>implying the distinct decline of music quality isn't an artistic statement about the parallel decline of Greece
Don't forget that Sakis Tolis is a visionary, an artistic genius.
