The truth is that we tend to go wild when we talk about the Greek black metal scene of the early 90s but this is not fair for some new bands out there. Although the veterans (Varathron, Rotting Christ etc) deserve it (there is no doubt about this), there are really good new bands that pay respect to the heritage but they also release some really powerful albums in our days.
Melan Selas formed in 2015 in Trikala, Greece (not far from the mesmerizing Meteora) and this is their third full length. They are actually a duo, Dimitris Kontogiannis (also on blacksters Katavasia but also on thrashers Riffibia) who handles all instruments while Astraea is behind the microphone.
Their black metal is infused with many pagan and epic elements while at other times they don’t mind to go on full thrash metal paths (Trumpets of War is a great example). But in general they are into some classic metal patterns and this way they make their music more accessible, even to those that are not just purists of orthodox black. Some discreet keyboards stand in the shadow without disturbing the general cold feeling while the usual black metal demonic screams become more intense because of the contrast with the clean seductive ones. The later have the form of recitation and the use of greek language there give extra points to the vision of the band as this is not happening the easy way, what I mean is that they don’t just add some exotic flavor but they provide a compact artistic proposal. This way at the end they manage to have a great variety that keeps us busy as the album flows.
Last but not least the main theme in their lyrics is mother nature and the album cover matches nice with the aesthetics of the band so yes, worth to seek for the vinyl edition and get lost with their unique atmosphere of their music.
