Escape

ESCAPE was a highly promising Heavy/Power/Thrash-combo from Thessaloniki, formed in June 1991 by future HORIZON’S END members Vassilis Topalidis (vocals, bass – CROSSWIND, HORIZON’S END, etc.) and Stergios Kourou (drums – DEATH FROM ABOVE, HORIZON’S END, WARDRUM, etc.), together with guitarist brothers Dimitris and Thomas Froutis (both of them subsequent members of MINDLOSS).

Combining the forward momentum and grit of Power/Thrash Metal with the melodicism of Heavy Metal and a slight Progressive bent to the song structuring, ESCAPE entered Rover Studios to produce one of the high-points of the early 1990s Greek underground scene: the four-track demo tape “Unfulfilled Dreams” (1992), recorded live in the studio. The carefully packaged demo (including a favorite cover motive of Greek bands: Dali’s “The Temptation of St. Anthony” along with a lyric insert) was received favorably by both fans (they sold about 200 copies within a few months) and the underground press. [As a side-note to the collectors, it’s worth mentioning that the band also released a shortened version of the demo under the title “Break the Chains”, which only included two of the tracks. This tape was probably released earlier than the four-tracker, but we haven’t been able to confirm this yet.] In addition to a handful of compilation appearances around this time the band also performed live, including a spot at the third festival arranged by the Thessaloniki-based Radio Acropolis in September 1992.

A lengthy public hiatus seems to have followed in the wake of “Unfulfilled Dreams” (military service, perhaps?), but the band emerged again in 1995 with an altered lineup including the old garde of Vassilis Topalidis (vocals, bass) and Stergios Kourou (drums) along with guitarists Christos Kostas (HORIZON’S END) and Michalis Valasakis – the Froutis brothers had left the band, moving on to form the Heavy/Power Metal act MINDLOSS. The band recorded a five-track promo tape entitled “Paint It Blood” with this lineup, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to locate this recording yet. Anyway, this recording seems to have scored them a deal with the domestic Dark Side Records label and the band began studio sessions for their debut album. With FOURTH DIMENSION’s Panagiotis Baxevanis replacing Christos Kostas on guitars, ESCAPE managed to recorded the instrumental parts of at least seven songs (two of which were re-recordings of demo material), with only the vocal tracks being left to complete the album. Sadly, the recording sessions were terminated as Dark Side collapsed, and so the album remains unreleased/unfinished to this day.

More membership rotations occurred after the failed recording sessions, with a new guitarist duo found in Manolis Pilides (HORIZON’S END) and the returning Christos Kostas. The band made their final live appearance at the Ticherock Festival on Tychero island in 1997, including in their set the band’s final composition (allegedly never recorded) entitled “I Need the Sun”. Finally in 1998, core members Vasilis Topalidis and Stergios Kourou chose to merge ESCAPE into HORIZON’S END. Alas, the ESCAPE was put to rest.

Compilation appearances:
* Power Feast Vol. II [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Self-released (Mass Dementia Zine), 1993]
* Killers Vol. 2 [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Heavy - Rock Tapes, ?]