There is a rise in the national heavy/power metal scene of Greece/Cyprus – many bands continue with very nice releases, and at the same time, young bands appear with very interesting albums. Last Saturday, on the 30th of September, we had the chance to enjoy three heavy/power metal bands, which have caught our attention – Subfire, who managed to release their debut album two years ago via Symmetric Records and surprised us much, the mighty Silent Winter, which had given a fantastic concert in Release Athens Festival last summer and the amazing, historic Arrayan Path, this legendary epic power metal band from Cyprus, which is led by the one and only Nicholas Leptos. Let’s get back in time!
We arrived some minutes after eight o’clock at Temple Athens, which was already full of fans, screaming and yelling for Subfire. Yes, the Greek band had entered the stage and started playing its wonderful tunes of top-class heavy/power metal with many symphonic/progressive/epic elements. Subfire are mainly influenced by the American bands of the heavy/power metal genre, something obvious in their powerful, relentless, gritty sound! I liked their guitar work and of course, the majestic vocals – everything was in the right place, in the right way and the audience was warmed up for what would follow.
Silent Winter were punctual at their rendezvous with their friends from Athens, despite the fact that last month their hometown, Volos, had been struck by the extreme rainy weather. They hit the stage with full force and their excellent performance persuaded everybody, even the ones, who didn’t know what to expect! The band’s European melodic power metal came to our ears so superb and gentle, Mike Livas was singing like a maniac with his stunning, high-pitched voice and the guitarists wove a complex music web. The Greek power metallers played some of their best songs, including “Shout”, “Warriors of The Sun” and “Empire of Sins”, whereas they performed a new song, “Burn The Future”, that will be included in their upcoming album. Silent Winter are committed to their purpose, which is to play their power metal with passion and conviction, and that was another concert of the band that everybody could understand that. Kiriakos Balanos and co. are a great team, they belong to the top of Greece’s power metal scene and I am sure that we will receive even better music from them in the future!
Silent Winter’s show was over and everyone was waiting for the co-headliners to appear on stage – Arrayan Path didn’t leave us alone for long and pretty soon they were there, playing in front of us. This was my first time to see Arrayan Path live and to be frank, I had a hesitation about the band’s capability to carry out the complex songs of their albums in concert. Fortunately, the band performed its compositions nicely, without any difficulties or mistakes – they played triumphantly their extraordinary lyrical, epic power metal and satisfied all their fans, who absorbed the Cypriots’ fine music quality and energy. It was like listening to their albums, Arrayan Path were unstoppable and gifted us with some of their excellent songs. The guitarists were shockingly good, impressing the fans with their playing skills, Miguel Trapezaris seemed to be a guitarist, not a bassist (that’s positive, of course) and last but not least, Nicholas Leptos’ charming vocals enchanted us and took us on a magical journey beyond – Nicholas has many influences in his singing style, even byzantine and eastern elements, and that could be recognized during the whole show. Arrayan Path sounded like a sonic war machine, firing at will, like an army, marching on gloriously! We all liked every moment of Arrayan Path’s show, which included many tracks from their latest album (“Thus Always to Tyrants”), but also some older ones. The Cypriots explained without effort why they belong to the first class of the international power metal scene!
The evening came to an end and we left Temple with nice sounds “playing” in our ears! Subfire were captivating, Silent Winter were true heroes of power metal and Arrayan Path showed why they reign on their epic power metal throne! It was a power metal celebration!
Dimitris Zacharopoulos
