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Heavy Metal Thunder Greek Black Metal

Genres Heavy Metal Black Metal (First Wave) Second Wave (Norwegian) Greek Black Metal

Greek Black Metal

What the genre sounds like when it grows up somewhere warm — slower, more melodic, and built on real riffs rather than a wall of tremolo.

Active years
1990 – present
Origin
Greece (Athens / Thessaloniki)
Family
Black Metal
Bands here
13

Start here

Three records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Thy Mighty Contract Rotting Christ, 1993 The landmark

    The best place to start in the whole Hellenic scene. Slower than Norway, built on actual chord progressions rather than tremolo, and Sakis Tolis writes hooks — which in 1993 was close to heresy.

    Listen to Thy Mighty Contract

  2. His Majesty at the Swamp Varathron, 1993

    The other founding Greek record, released the same year and the murkier of the two. Keyboards used for atmosphere rather than grandeur, and a pace closer to doom than to black metal.

    Listen to His Majesty at the Swamp

  3. Crossing the Fiery Path Necromantia, 1993

    Two bass guitars and no rhythm guitar at all, which sounds like a gimmick and is the reason this record sounds like nothing else. Occult in a scholarly way rather than a theatrical one.

    Listen to Crossing the Fiery Path

What it sounds like

Black metal that grew up in the Mediterranean, and sounds like it. Tempos are mid-paced rather than blasting, keyboards carry real melodies, and the riffs are built from actual chord progressions instead of tremolo washes — closer to Bathory and heavy metal than to Darkthrone. Vocals are a rasp rather than a shriek. There is warmth in the production where the Norwegian records are freezing. Compared with the second wave it is slower, more melodic and far less hostile, and it developed in parallel rather than in imitation: Rotting Christ and Varathron were working before Norway had a scene, and the Hellenic sound owes it almost nothing.

  • Heaviness 3 out of 5
  • Speed 3 out of 5
  • Aggression 4 out of 5
  • Technicality 3 out of 5
  • Darkness 4 out of 5
  • Melody 3 out of 5

Where the name came from

The 'Hellenic' tag — from Hellas, the Greek name for Greece — distinguishes this scene's distinct character from Scandinavian black metal. Developing independently of Norway in the early 1990s around Athens and Thessaloniki, the Greek scene is characterised by slower tempos, Hellenic mythology themes, and a more melodic approach. Rotting Christ and Varathron are its founding acts.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Rotting Christ Greece
  • Varathron Greece
  • Necromantia Greece
  • Kawir Greece
  • Zemial Greece

And 8 more

  • Thou Art Lord Greece
  • Astarte Greece
  • Nocternity Greece
  • Acherontas Greece
  • Dodsferd Greece
  • Naer Mataron Greece
  • Agatus Greece
  • Macabre Omen Greece

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

  • Athens Hellenic Black Metal 5 bands
  • Greece Hellenic Black, Death & Power Metal 7 bands

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.