Death Courier

In spite of being one of the largest cities in Greece (its third, to be more precise), the town of Patras didn’t develop a Metal scene comparable to what went on in places like Athens, Thessaloniki or even Larissa back in the late-1980s/early-1990s. One major exception however was the mighty DEATH COURIER. Formed in late-1985 as a three-piece consisting of perpetual mainman Vassilis “Bill” Soulas (vocals, bass), Theodoros “Theo” S. (guitars) and Mitsos “Jim” Trousiotis (drums), DEATH COURIER inscribed their name into Greek Metal history as one of the country’s finest exponents of old school Death/Thrash with strong individual character.

In the early days, DEATH COURIER (their name allegedly lifted from the debut demo of the Danish Death Metal band SAMHAIN/pre-DESEXULT) performed a noisy and rather Punk-ish take on 1980s extremity à la SODOM, DESTRUCTION, KREATOR and BATHORY. This can be heard on the band’s first demo tape, which was recorded in March 1989 under the title “Deny Your Destiny” (1989). The demo basically consisted of five studio tracks, but the band eventually decided that the fans should get more value for their money and thus included a handful of additional studio recordings along with a live performance recorded at AN Club (Athens) on May 2nd 1989 for later copies of the demo. Already at this early stage, many of the main signatures of the band was put in proper place, as heard on the opening track “Lunatic Messiah” (later re-recorded for their first album): full-on-barrage Euro-Death/Thrash with little time for recuperation, yet interspersed with plenty of hooks to make each song separable from the other. Perhaps most importantly though – and this would become more evident on later releases – was this eerie sense of melody that permeates the entire DEATH COURIER discography.

Following the release of “Deny Your Destiny”, which was met with very favorable response across the global underground network and sold over 500 original copies, DEATH COURIER performed some legendary gigs in both their hometown of Patras (along with ROTTING CHRIST, among others) as well as a concert in Athens together with VOMIT and PORPHYRIA. Moreover, the members of DEATH COURIER seemed quite insistent on recording whatever they were up to, so there are some very cool live- and rehearsal tapes to dig up from this time period.

Eager to keep developing their sound (and instrumental skills), Bill, Theo and Jimmy kept busy during the coming months, writing a bunch of new songs that would really take the band’s sound to the next level. That they succeeded becomes evident when listening to either of their two 7” releases dating to 1990 – their split 7” with fellow Greeks COULD BE WORSE, NEUROSIS and SEPTICEMIA (released and distributed by Decapitated Records/Zine) and the classic three-track 7” “Necrorgasm” (1990). Especially the songs included on the latter release shows that DEATH COURIER evolved a unique form of high-velocity, semi-melodic and rather complex Death/Thrash, as heard on songs like “The Haunter of the Dark”. Thankfully, there were no signs of the band mellowing out either. On the contrary, the second track off the EP, the not-so-subtle “Copkiller”, gravitates very close to Hardcore Punk levels of intensity and visceral expression. Originally issued by the band themselves in 1000 copies, “Necrorgasm” soon became a sought-out item and was subsequently reissued on cassette in 1991 by Wild Rags with one bonus track.

More gigs followed (we know there were plans for shared bills with DANGER CROSS, SEPTICEMIA and SADISTIC NOISE, for example), both in Patras and in other places around the country. They also participated in the legendary Molon Lave Festival in 1990, and judging by the two of the songs (“Copkiller” and “Haunter of the Dark”) included on the “Just Thrash!” (1990) live compilation tape, it must have been one hell of a show. Around this time, negotiations took place between the band and the previously mentioned Wild Rags for the recording of DEATH COURIER’s debut full-length album, but this deal fell through for some reason and the LP was instead released by the very small but very cult Greek label Psychosis Records (who also released HORRIFIED’s classic 7” EP “The Ancient Whisper of Wisdom”). Although receiving some bad remarks about its muffled studio production (the recording took about six days), “Demise” (1992) must be regarded as one of the cornerstones of Greek Death Metal. In addition to its strong song material and relentless performance, one of the main strengths of this ten-track LP is that it never gives in to mimicking the styles of other, more popular Death Metal acts. Take time and listen to the music in-depth, and you will notice that this is truly a one-of-a-kind album, and arguably the band’s finest moment so far.

Just like many other high-quality releases issued during the Death Metal boom of the early-1990s, it seems like “Demise” kind of slipped under the radar – perhaps due to limited promotion and/or distribution, the band’s relative isolation vis-à-vis for example the Floridan, British or Scandinavian scenes or the fact that the album was originally a vinyl-only release. Either way, the original LP has become something of a rarity these days. It was also around this time that the band members got their call for obligatory military service, which didn’t exactly further their cause. After the departure of long-time guitarist Theo after the release of “Demise”, Bill attempted to piece together a second incarnation of the band with Nick “Flesh” Tangalos of SADISTIC NOISE as the new guitarist, but geographical distance made the endeavor difficult to realize. Alas, DEATH COURIER was eventually put to rest in mid-1993 for many years to come.

Fast-forward about 15 years or so, and DEATH COURIER was finally back in action. With vocalist/bassist Bill taking the helm as the sole remaining original member, George Petousis and Stathis Kotsoris was recruited on guitars and drums respectively – both members of the Patras-based Death Metal group VERMINGOD. Together they set out to finalize some of the previously unused material dating back to the mid-1990s, along with a couple of re-recorded tracks from the old days. The first signs of life came in the form of a rehearsal recording entitled “Immune to Burial – Rehearsal Sept. 2010” (2010) and a split 7” with the Greek Thrashers in CONSPIRACY. Judging by these recordings, the band obviously still had the spark left in them. In 2013, the second DEATH COURIER album was issued in the form of “Perimortem” (2013). Here we can hear DEATH COURIER in their most “Death Metallic” shape so far, infusing their old material with a relentless sonic attack that bear similarities to old school MORBID ANGEL if transferred through the DEATH COURIER prism.

To be continued…

Compilation appearances:
* Blasphemous Harmonies Volume 1 [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Blasphemous Harmonies Distributions, 1989]
* Blasphemous Harmonies Volume 1 [Cass, Comp, Numbered, UK Edition: Criterion Tapes, ?]
* Morbid Noise – Abomination 5 [Cass, Comp: Septicore Fanzine, 1990]
* An Alternative Solution… Against Sound Pollution [Cass, Comp, Live Numbered: Megamosh Zine, 1991]
* Just Thrash! [Cass, Comp, Live, Numbered: Metallic Slaughter, 1991]
* Nuclear Disaster Compilation Tape Vol. 1 [Cass, Compilation, Numbered: Self-released, 1991]
* Disincarnate Volume 3 [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Disincarnate, 1993]
* Hellas - The Black Death Anthology [2CD, Comp, Limited (1000): Kyrck Productions, 2006]
* 80’s Greek Metal [CD, Comp: Metal Hammer & Heavy Metal, 2015]
* L'Insidieuse Compilation - 1er Acte [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Jusquiame Productions, 2020]
* Braindamage Vol. 1 [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Self-released, ?]