Nightfall - Athenian Echoes

Since the\r\nMonuments section of our website is meant to host admirable releases coming\r\nfrom all genres of the extreme sound it would be unjust on our side not to\r\nwrite a few words for the album "Athenian Echoes" of the Greek Nightfall.\r\nYou might wonder why we didn’t choose the album "Lesbian Show", since it has been the reason for\r\nmany fans to notice Nightfall. Of course it was a great success for Nightfall and it has been one of the brightest\r\nmoments in the Greek Metal Scene. What is also true though is the fact that "Athenian\r\nEchoes" - 12 years after it’s release- remains classic and the listeners\r\nstill are excited by it’s sound. It is the album which carved the trade mark of\r\nNightfall’s sound for the years to come. It’s an album which left the fans in aw for its sound, production but also the esthetics of the tracks. The Greek Metal Scene has many reasons to be proud within the\r\nchaos of the music industry. One of them is "Athenian\r\nEchoes". So let’s trace back everything that makes this album exceptional but also useful information provided by Nightfall’s main man and founder Efthimis Karadimas.
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\r\nThe album was recorded during the summer of 1995 at "Praxis Studios", as had the debut album of the band in 1991 "Parade Into Centuries". The budget the band had was bigger than previously but still not big enough to afford a recording outside Greece, which happened later on in "Lesbian Show". Recording\r\nsessions lasted 2 to 3 weeks and during that period of time Efthimis had to\r\nwrite many of the guitar lines himself, as well as the bass and of course the\r\nvocal lines while also handling the production. On the cover of the album you\r\ncan see the Acropolis, which is a symbolic tribute to our Athenian ancestors\r\nfor creating one of the most important and wonderful monuments ever. \r\n

\r\nMusically the album combines influences from many\r\ndiverse genres. You can make out, of course, many Death Metal elements, many Gothic\r\nstrokes, and keyboards with their own unique contribution to the final effect,\r\nwhich creates the atmosphere of a soundtrack. At times the album carries you to\r\nthe deep East with the melodies it has while other times you are set back into\r\nthe land of the Gods with heavy riffs which are a trademark of the Greek scene.\r\nIt’s important to say that Efthimis says that he isn’t influenced by the music\r\nhe listens to and that he writes his melodies and lyrics without getting ideas\r\nfrom others. The strongest proof of his claim is the album "Athenian\r\nEchoes" both musically and lyrically. \r\n

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\r\nSince I mentioned the\r\nlyrics, let’s take a few lines to discuss the band’s attitude to that, not only\r\nfor this album but generally. In the particular album the lyrics are mostly concerns of a young man who is expressing his innermost tribulation on whether he will be able to find his part in this world which is neither ideal nor warm. "Athenian\r\nEchoes" lyrics are a personal quest of Efthimis which began from\r\nphilosophy and arts in general casting back in the ancient times of Athens. You\r\ncan find in the album the comparison of the ancient and the modern city of Athens which was both\r\ndifficult and interesting, as it also helped him grow as a person himself. Notice that in the song "Iris", the\r\nlyrics in the booklet aren’t the ones you listen in the song, as the booklet\r\ncontains the full poem Efthimis wrote uncut so that the listener and reader can\r\ncreate his/her own images out of the words. \r\n

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\r\nToday "Athenian\r\nEchoes" is food for thought, influence, inspiration and emotion. It can\r\nalso captivate new listeners even from the first touch so long as they give it\r\nthe required attention both in music and lyrics. I personally have gained much\r\nfrom this album and I don’t feel I am the only one. I know that there are many who\r\ncriticize Nightfall for their approach towards lyrics and attitude, but there\r\nare also many who follow them because of albums like "Athenian Echoes",\r\nand will continue to do so in the years to come. Closing I would like to say a couple\r\nof words taken from the booklet and I’d like to believe that Nightfall haven’t\r\nsand their last word... \r\n

\r\n"Truth is\r\nmultidimentional; the point is who has this charismatic power to make me\r\nbelieve his own rather than mine! We’re different, indeed, unless we are part\r\nof the mob, trying desperately to enter our idols’ placebo words"...\r\n

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\r\nVassilis Mazaris\r\n

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\r\nTranslated By: Helena Mihailidou \r\n

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