Diabolical Principles

While the lion’s share of DIABOLICAL PRINCIPLES’ creative output is dated post-2007, this Athens-situated Black Metal act is certainly no newcomer. The band was formed in 1999 (in fact recently clebrating their 20 years of existence with a compilation featuring old material) by mastermind Theodosis “Gareth” Nikolopoulos (vocals, guitars – DIVINE BLASPHEMY, MORTUS CAELUM, STELLAR DARKNESS, UNHOLY RITUAL, etc.).

A debut demo CDr called “Charming Whisperings from the Strange Past” was released in 2000, with Theodor on drums. Interestingly, DIABOLICAL PRINCIPLES have their own lyricist, called “Ame”, who’ve done lyrics for many of the band’s releases ever since. With its high tempos, icy tremolo-picked melodies and keyboard pads, D.P.’s music is more likely to recall Northern European Black Metal than its Hellenic counterpart, although the inclination towards Heavy Metal-ized riffing still points towards the band’s Greek heritage.

Following the release of “Charming Whisperings…”, D.P. took a lengthy break in official activities, with mainman Gareth applying his creativity in similar acts such as STELLAR DARKNESS and UNHOLY RITUAL, as well as forming MORTUUS CAELUM in liason with multi-instrumentalist (and future D.P.-member) Giorgos “Geegor” Anagnostopoulos.

In 2007, DIABOLICAL PRINCIPLES returned with the “Investigating a New Dawn” EP, featuring a full lineup which included the previously mentioned Geegor (drums – ARCHAEOS, DIVINE BLASPHEMY and a million of other bands/projects), Drakhon (bass – AHERUSIA, OBSECRATION, UNHOLY RITUAL, etc.) and Q_Snc (keyboards – SHADOWCRAFT, UNHOLY RITUAL, etc.) Offering re-recordings of older material as well as newly written tracks, “Investigating…” pretty much continued on the same course as “Charming Whisperings…”, with a few minor modifications in performance, production and composition.

Several releases (full-lengths, EPs, compilations, splits) has followed since, showing experimentation with minor variations on their core musical principles. Among the highlights of the band’s rather substantial catalogue we find works such as 2009’s “Beyond the Horizon”. But really, if you’ve enjoyed one of the band’s releases there’s a high possibility that the other ones will fulfill your needs as well.

Compilation appearances:
* Gathering the Abyss [CDr, Comp: Nightspirit Productions, 2001]
* A Blaze in the Northern of Transilvania / A Tribute to Darkthrone [2CD, Comp: Azermedoth, 2016]
* Black Metal Hellenic Cult [3CD, Comp, DVD Box: Azermedoth, 2017]