Blade of Spirit

So, this is the initial demo release by what must be Kozani’s longest running Heavy Metal act, BLADE OF SPIRIT. Back in those days, the band operated as a trio, with Manolis Kompos as vocalist, Yiannis Kaltirimtzis on guitars, while Makis Kavoukas handled keyboards along with programming both the digital drums and bass (!).

“Odes to Carpathian Tales” (1997) appears to be some kind of concept work – at least that’s what the song titles suggest. Musically, this demo falls neatly into the “Weird Metal”-category and in many ways stands out as the black sheep in the BLADE OF SPIRIT discography. Take note that this is not meant as an insult, but rather the opposite! “Odes…” really doesn’t sound like any other demo I’ve heard before or since. It’s fundamentally Heavy Metal, but expressed in a highly idiosyncratic manner – perhaps partly due to the conceptual basis, but maybe also because this was the first release by a young band without too many pre-concieved ideas of how Heavy Metal “should” sound like.

At the basis of the compositions we find a backbone of churning rhythm guitar riffs –less Maiden-esque than on later releases by the band – while the keyboards and vocals work as the main providers of melody (conventional lead guitars are mostly absent). The predominance of the keyboards along with Manolis’ attempt to sing in a somber voice gives the music a certain Gothic vibe, which fits naturally with the Dracula concept. The instrumental handling is of course not as proficient as on later releases by the band (by far) and tends to stumble from time to time. One could also raise a finger of critique against the somewhat muffled production although it could just as well be praised as an enhancer of obscure atmosphere. Allegedly, the demo was recorded with the aid of a plain cassette player!

It would be easy to write off “Odes…” as too odd or too amateurish on a first encounter. But the unique “dungeon” sound, unconventional structuring of songs and the strange atmosphere makes this demo a far more fun and engaging listen than your average, run-of-the-mill Heavy Metal band.

Trivia: the band actually made a re-recording of the demo’s premier song, “Dracula” many years later (in 2014 to be more precise).

Written by Johan Pettersson

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.

Yet to be reviewed.