A STORY FROM THE PAST...
A STORY FROM THE PAST...
Hello ladies and gentlemen!
I’m going to tell you a story from the past, where we will travel back 32 years ago, to a forgotten record store in the center of Athens, specifically in Exarchia, on Solomou Street. I have mentioned this particular record store in previous articles. This record store was George Osmak’s GO Underground. This shop started in the early 1990s by printing T-shirts and then expanded into a record store and record label (MOLON LAVE Records), which also had its studios nearby in an apartment building where various bands of the era recorded. In the following years, it was bought by members of ROTTING CHRIST, who changed its name to STORM STUDIOS. Legendary recordings were made there, but that’s another story.
Now, let’s get to the story I want to tell you. Back then, there were only two record stores in Athens that specialized in underground releases: UNISOUND Records on Akadimias Street (that’s a story on its own!) and GO Underground. In fact, we once made an "attempt" with a very noisy band we had, and we wanted to give them our demo. But as soon as they played it on the cassette player, they nearly threw up at what they heard… hahaha. They were polite though and didn’t kick us out… hahaha. Those were fun times -nice and innocent days! Anyway, our routine back then was to visit record stores every Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to check out which records and tapes we wanted to buy. So after a long walk through the well-known record stores of the time, we ended up at GO Underground. Going down the stairs, on your left, you’d see releases from MOLON LAVE Records as well as records from other independent labels that you wouldn’t find in the usual record shops in downtown Athens. They had quite a few CDs, original tapes, many demos at affordable prices, and various fanzines.
So, after making our purchases from that record store (we’re talking about amazing buys back then - think BLASPHEMY, IMPETIGO, SABBAT, and many other cult underground names they had!), we got to the counter where I noticed the demo tape of EPIDERMIC at a very reasonable price. Don’t ask me exactly how much, but it couldn’t have been more than 300 drachmas (yes, kids, we still used drachmas back then, not euros!). The little booklet that came with the cassette caught my attention, so I thought, “Why not buy it? I have nothing to lose.” Back then, we were dying to discover new and obscure bands.
The name reminded me of the Greek thrashers EPIDEMIC with their 12'' EP release two years earlier titled ''Artificial Peace'' - a great band with strong influences from KREATOR and SLAYER.
When I got home, I put the cassette on and read the lyrics in the booklet. I started to realize that this wasn’t just a band; these kids held a grudge, an obsession, and generally exuded a lot of hatred toward the band EPIDEMIC. Reading a column in a metal magazine at the time - the only metal magazine back then - with readers’ letters, I started to understand the story behind this demo better.
Here’s the story: EPIDEMIC played a live show in a London club in February 1993. When they returned to Greece, they proudly claimed everywhere that the concert was sold out and the club was packed, believing that this would boost their band’s reputation. However, the truth was that only five people attended the concert...!!!! Unfortunately for them, a well-known Greek metal musician based in Germany was at the club that night and, unsurprisingly, revealed the truth. This leaked and caused a tsunami of insulting comments about EPIDEMIC.
Anyone who lived through that era will remember and understand this well. The situation had gone beyond a joke - it was like a huge boiling pot ready to explode. On one hand, I understand EPIDEMIC and their youthful stupidity. At that age (early 20s), they massively exaggerated things! Also, for the younger readers, there was no internet back then, so if something happened, you either lived it or read about it in a magazine (with all the inaccuracies and nonsense of each writer) or heard it from someone who was there (whether truthful or not). So, EPIDEMIC, with their naive young minds, chose to inflate the story rather than tell the whole truth about the London concert. Admitting there were only five people there was difficult, so they spun that tale. But as the saying goes, "Nothing is hidden under the sun" - an ancient Greek phrase meaning everything eventually comes to light - and when the truth came out, chaos erupted!
On the other hand, I get that EPIDERMIC wanted to reveal the truth, which is respectable. BUT, in my opinion, they took it way too far, to the point of extreme bullying (what we call bullying today). Maybe other things were behind this and this was just the trigger - I honestly don’t know. Even if I did, I wouldn’t say or write anything more.
EPIDERMIC’s members were familiar faces / members in the metal scene, playing in well-known bands, and they used “nicknames” on their first demo ''Sex Official Piece'' (a misinterpretation of EPIDEMIC’s ''Artificial Peace'' - the cassette actually says “Piece” instead of “Peace”… hahaha). The nicknames were “Mikros Giorgakis” on guitar, “Xespitomeni” on bass, “Giovanni Varvitsioti” on drums, and “Kemal Yusuf” on vocals… hahaha. How did they come up with those? Anyway, musically, the demo was very low-fi thrash hardcore, with venomous lyrics aimed personally at EPIDEMIC’s members, the band, and the London live show. These songs are an homage to that whole drama.
The cassette also included some prank phone calls to the president of a well-known (and very cult) political party on his TV channel, as well as hilarious adverts from Greek Porno movies of the ’80s!
Overall, many people seemed to support the EPIDERMIC phase, as seen by the many hateful letters sent to the metal magazine back then, full of bile against EPIDEMIC - without even knowing them personally or maybe even hearing their music! As I said before, the 12'' EP they self-released in 1991 was really good! But, unfortunately, people love drama, fights, and mockery, and get hooked on it.
The whole thing could have ended there… BUT no! It didn’t end in 1993. After receiving positive feedback, EPIDERMIC came back with a second demo, but before that, they did a live show at ''An Club'' in Exarchia, a year later in 1994! I remember a magazine issue had a report on that show.
Honestly, the EPIDERMIC members were skilled musicians with experience in local bands. The bassist was quite good for his time, and I think it was a shame he wasted his talent writing mocking songs about EPIDEMIC instead of focusing on a proper band. He was a member in a band and they recorded a very good demo in 1993 with a techno-thrash metal band, but I won’t mention the band’s name for obvious reasons. Even though 32 years have passed, it remains a painful story for some people, and I respect that.
Before the second demo’s release, in 1994, they put out a promo cassette titled ''Everyone to K. Barber'' (''Όλοι Στον Κ. Μπαρμπέρη'' in Greek), containing 7 songs (unfortunately, I don’t have this cassette). These songs were also on their official second demo titled ''Cover on Metal Hammer!!!'' (''Εξώφυλλο στο Metal Hammer!!!'' in Greek) . I got this cassette after finding a flyer advertising the new EPIDERMIC demo ''Cover on Metal Hammer''. I was already ordering cassettes from bands and didn’t miss the chance to get this one too. The ad said, “Send us a blank tape and 150 drachmas (for postage and photocopying the cover),” so I sent an old cassette I had (a 90-minute one, of course, for plenty of EPIDERMIC music...!!!).
Within a few days, I got the package at home with the demo, a letter, and many flyers, as was common back then! Honestly, this demo was musically much better than the first, with a slightly cleaner production...well, production was live recording, but still - the compositions were much better (although some songs were re-recorded from the first demo). Like the first, it came with a 12-page booklet with lyrics and special thanks. The cover art was improved with a big insert and nice collage inside. It also contained songs from the infamous live show at ''An Club''.
In 1994, EPIDEMIC released their first full-length album, ''Industrial''. Musically, this album reminded me a lot of KREATOR’s ''Renewal'' (1992). It was released by Molon Lave Records but, I believe, flopped in sales due to the controversy surrounding EPIDEMIC’s name. The album wasn’t good musically, at least not to my taste.
The future looked bleak for EPIDEMIC, and gradually they disappeared from the scene. However, about four years later, they returned to the metal community with some lineup changes and released a CD titled ''Beyond Thy Realm of Throes'' through Black Lotus Records. The band name was DESCEND. The compositions were much better than EPIDEMIC’s ''Industrial'' album, although some songs were from EPIDEMIC’s repertoire. Well-played thrash metal with a somewhat dark atmosphere, many melodies, but also some tough guitar parts. It wasn’t my style then (nor now), but the album is still enjoyable today. DESCEND had the honor to open for DEATH during their only show in Athens in 1998. After that, they disappeared, and I haven’t heard anything about DESCEND or EPIDEMIC since. Only occasional reissues of ''Artificial Peace'' have surfaced; ''Industrial'' never got a reissue.
Just as EPIDEMIC disappeared, so did EPIDERMIC! The joke cooled down, years passed, new generations of metalheads came in, and these demos and this story were forgotten. While going through my things at my parents’ house, I turned back time and wanted to share this story with you. Also, before wrapping up, I want to mention the following:
In 1995, a demo titled ''The Parliament’s Microphone'' (''Το Μικρόφωνο της Βουλής'' in Greek - I’m not going to put the cover because it’s a photo from a porn magazine...hahaha!!) was released by a band called NEKROI BAKOGIANNIDES (Νεκροί Μπακογιάννηδες in Greek). The name is clearly influenced by DEAD KENNEDYS. Bakogiannis was a Greek politician assassinated in 1989. NEKROI BAKOGIANNIDES’ 1995 demo had a layout, graphic style, and even the “stolen” motto from the gods RAZOR: “We Spit on those who choose to Pose - We Thrash with all the rest” (I “borrowed” it myself once in a thrash band I played in). So it’s likely this band was a continuation of EPIDERMIC or that some members formed this band after the joke cooled down. There are some songs on YouTube by a band with the same name, but I’m 99% sure it’s a different Greek band. If anyone has information about this or the EPIDERMIC story and wants to share it, feel free to write in the comments. Until next time, listen to lots of metal, support the true underground and stay metal!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.