Smorodina Reka are hailing from Moscow, Russia and they are relatively new to the scene. This album means Foreshadowing in Russian. The music of Smorodina Reka can be described as a mixture of acoustic, symphonic and dark folk atmospheric ambiental music with combination of Slavic and Nordic folklore in the song structures. That means fantastic song arrangements, bombastic almost symphonic grandiose passages mixing with beautiful and proud voice delivering us, the listeners back to the times when things such as pride, honor, belief in yourself, warrior s heart and Nature meant something. I think we all lost a bit of ourselves in these modern fast times and we never stop to reflect and think why we do the things we do and what can we achieve to make our hearts and ourselves better and more in tune with ancient beliefs and that we find ourselves again. Well, the music of this band is doing just that for me. Lyrics are in Russian, but we Slavic brothers and sisters can understand each other well enough. If you read this one and are looking for restoring ancient pride in you, go listen and check this one out.
Bob Katsionis’ Symmetric Records proudly presents the return of an underground cult legend: VALIDOR!
Having already released three studio albums: “In Blood In Battle” (2011), “Dawn Of The Avenger” (2012) and “Hail To Fire” (2016) and the re-issue of their debut album in 2020, it is about time to move on to their next chapter. “Full Triumphed” continues the epic journey of VALIDOR! The band is led by guitarist/singer/songwriter Odi “Thunderer” Toutounis and once again we get 9 new chapters telling stories of War, Ancient Greek Heroes, Roman Gladiators, Gods & Demons and even iconic 80’s culture legends like the “Silverhawks” or Robocop on the track “Man Of Steel”! Musically we got the epic storytelling of bands like Virgin Steele and Bathory, the raw power and big sound of Manowar are here combined with the galloping guitars of Iced Earth, plus the Dorian melodies of Running Wild and Blind Guardian and even some thrash and speed metal passages to form the truly unique sound of VALIDOR:Blood Metal!
In the words of Bob Katsionis: “I’ve been working with Odi since 2009. While looking like a guy who listens to nothing by Manowar, Odi carries a background of musical influences spanning from early Black Metal to Greek composers like Manos Hadjidakis or Basil Poledouris and from King Diamond to Death, Kreator, and Megadeth!So, making music with a guy with such an open mind and a clear target of what he wants to achieve, is nothing but a pleasure. His sense of melody and groove is also second to none! I also admire his desire to sing the songs all by himself even if he’s not your typical “epic metal singer”. The way he spits out every word is so meaningful and powerful that it could not be replaced by anyone. And for me, this is what makes projects like Validor so special through time.”
Producer Bob Katsionis handles the lead guitar, bass, and keyboard duties once more and the line-up is completed by drummer Apollo Giannoulis.
Artwork was once again made by Kostas Tsiakos (www.papergoblin.com) also responsible for some great art behind Warlord, Born Of Fire, Dexter Ward and many more.
Following the policy of other Symmetric Records releases, “Full Triumphed” is not going to be fully available through any streaming service (like Spotify or iTunes etc.) and can only be ordered directly from Symmetric Records’ Bandcamp website in digital or physical form on a Deluxe Digipak CD with an 8-page booklet and for the first time on a fiery-red CASSETTE to please even the most old-school fans and can only be found here:https://validor.bandcamp.com/
“The Ten Thousand” [Lyric Video 2022]
(Watch it here)
TRACKLISTING: 1. Dawn Of New Age 2. Son Of Steel 3. Man Of Steel 4. Strong Winds 5. Blood Metal Legions 6. Silverhawks 7. Gladiator 8. The Ten Thousand 9. Conquest Of Steel All Music & Lyrics by Odi Thunderer LINE UP: Odi Thunderer: Vocals, GuitarBob Katsionis: Lead Guitar, Bass, KeyboardsApollo Giannoulis: Drums & Classical Percussion CREDITS: Produced and mixed by Bob KatsionisRecorded Jan-Feb 2021 at Sound Symmetry Studio, Athens, GRMastered by Nasos Nomikos at VU Productions, Piraeus, GRArtwork by Kostas Tsiakos (www.papergoblin.com)Logo by Odi Thunderer
Mburns predstavljaju spot za novi single ”Bystander“, drugi sa nadolazećeg albuma koji bend planira predstaviti u bliskoj budućnosti.
Spot je nastao u produkciji benda, za viziju je zaslužan bubnjar Igor Klanfar dok se u ulozi snimatelja i montažera spota još jednom našao gitarist Luka Filipan.
Ovim putem bend se zahvaljuje svima koji su pomogli u ostvarivanju ovog projekta, na prvom mjestu Mateo Antić i Olympic Fitness Rijeka na udijeljenom prostoru. Posebno hvala na podršci svima koji prate i slušaju.
Single je snimao i producirao Igor Klanfar dok je za mix i master bio zadužen Josip Pilipić (Silversound Studio).
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 