Blind Side

BLIND SIDE was a relatively short-lived but very charming Heavy Metal act, formed in Athens during the summer of 1990. The original vision sprung from core members George Valvis (bass – FLYING MERCURY) and Antonis Venieris (drums – SILVER R.I.S.C., HYPERFUEL, etc.), who allegedly named the group after a stanza in IRON MAIDEN’s “Aces High”. After a couple of months, the first BLIND SIDE lineup was completed with the arrival of Alexis Daskalakis (guitars) and the group set to record their debut demo tape “Act of Despair” (1991) with Antonis taking on the vocal duties as well as handling the drums.

The demo was recorded at Peripou Studios (Athens) and featured two original compositions in the NWOBHM-school along with a cover of BLACK SABBATH’s “Paranoid”. Overall, it offers a delightful listening experience, brimming with a youthful, almost Punk-ish attitude and is graced by nice lead guitar parts supplied by session player Thanos Chionos of the mighty SACRAMENT.

Having built up momentum, BLIND SIDE hit the iconic Molon Lave Studios later the same year to record a second tape, entitled “Prophecy Tales” (1991). By now, the lineup had expanded to a quintet, with Michalis Dimitriou taking over the vocal position and Kostas Psallas joining as second guitarist. The result was a more refined yet ferocious piece of steel that ocassionally bordered on Speed Metal in terms of intensity. Although gaining some attention in both domestic fanzines and the more widely circulated Greek Metal Hammer, as well as being included in several contemporary compilation tapes such as the seminal Power Feast series (put out by the guys behind Mass Dementia zine), BLIND SIDE unfortunately met a premature end and split up in late 1991.

Besides bashing skins in BLIND SIDE, Antonis Venieris also played drums (he’d been a member since 1989) on melodic hard rockers SILVER R.I.S.C.’s LP “Anything She Does” and is currently working on a second S.R.-LP. He’s also recording and performing with the more recent Athenian Progressive Heavy Metal act HYPERFUEL – who released their debut album “Planet Panic” in 2019 – as well as DANGERANGEL. The other founding member of BLIND SIDE, bassist George Valvis is currently active in a band called FLYING MERCURY.

Compilation appearances:
* Metal Darkness Compilation Tape [Cass, Comp: Metal Darkness Zine, 1991]
* Metalmaniac Vol. 1 [Cass, Comp, Limited, Numbered: Self-released, 1991]
* Metal Power [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Heavy – Rock Tapes, 1992]
* Power Feast Vol. I [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Self-released (Mass Dementia Zine), 1992]