Seduce the Heaven
Field of Dreams
Independent Release
2013
Seduce the Heaven were formed back in 2009 by the guitarist Alex Flouros, who is also a member of Fragile Vastness. Determined to move away from the prog metal scene, he enlisted the beautiful lyrical soprano Elina Laivera and it all started. After a while they were joined by the “beast”/growler Marios Mizo, the drummer John Thomas, the bassist Chris Kollias and the guitarist Sinnik Al. At first, they released a promo CD with 5 songs and later a video for the song “Illusive Light”.
Seduce the Heaven are not your ordinary female-fronted band. They have embellished their sound with lots of NWOSDM elements, heavy/power & symphonic parts, atmospheric passages along with a few gothic and a bunch of modern features. The outcome is better than one can imagine as the blending is rather harmonic and wonderful. Maybe some will bitch up for the brutal vocals at times but the truth is that they give a quite nice music diversity to the album. On the one hand we have Elina’s ethereal voice and on the other the death growls. When Elina goes alone the guys are mostly approaching acts like Evanescence and they reveal a more “commercial” side of the band. Possibly, after a while the death growls will go away… who knows but as yet I do like them as I like those Swedish melodeath themes.
Songwisely, Alex has done a hell of a job as he has written all the songs along with Elina who has written the lyrics. Alex is a gifted guitarist but that’s nothing new. All the guys are giving their best here as their performances are great. Elina steals the show. I must say she is one of the top Greek female soprano singers who can actually sing & has a very good accent. Another thing worth mentioning is the heavy, dynamic and punchy production. Wow! This is something that you don’t see in a Greek band every day. The guys did take good care of their sound and the result is rewarding. With such a good sound I assumed the band would have recorded the album somewhere abroad but then I remembered one (and only so far?) Greek studio which has done an excellent job on another Greek band called 4Bitten. Finally, my thoughts proved right. The album was recorded at SoundFlakes Studios, mixed by Nick Papadopoulos & Alex Flouros, produced by Alex and mastered by Nick. I hope that other Greek bands will take StH as an example and stop recording on their pcs or laptops which they call “studios”!
It’s encouraging to come across such good albums from Greek bands in a poor scene where mediocrity and the rock star attitude rule! When most bands in the Greek scene are tryin’ to f@ck various chicks or think they have gone too “big” for their country, it’s hopeful to see that there are bands that work hard in order to make music. Seduce the Heaven are one of the most promising acts from the Greek metal scene. They seem to have a bright future and regarding the fact that this is just their debut release, we expect they will have a lot more to give in the future. If we, the press, do not support such well-made works then what the heck should we support?!
It’s a shame that no European label has released this album. Our fellow Japaneses, who are always a step ahead from the rest, will release it, officially, on the 20th of February though. “Reflection”, “Falling”, “Illusive Light” & the beautiful piano ballad “In Close Distance” are the potential “hits” of “Field Of Dreams”. To sum up, if you are fond of nice melodies, heavy music, female vocals & death growls with a contemporary sound then Seduce the Heaven will seduce you for good! A remarkable debut release by one of the top Greek bands of the last years…
Seduce the Heaven are not your ordinary female-fronted band. They have embellished their sound with lots of NWOSDM elements, heavy/power & symphonic parts, atmospheric passages along with a few gothic and a bunch of modern features. The outcome is better than one can imagine as the blending is rather harmonic and wonderful. Maybe some will bitch up for the brutal vocals at times but the truth is that they give a quite nice music diversity to the album. On the one hand we have Elina’s ethereal voice and on the other the death growls. When Elina goes alone the guys are mostly approaching acts like Evanescence and they reveal a more “commercial” side of the band. Possibly, after a while the death growls will go away… who knows but as yet I do like them as I like those Swedish melodeath themes.
Songwisely, Alex has done a hell of a job as he has written all the songs along with Elina who has written the lyrics. Alex is a gifted guitarist but that’s nothing new. All the guys are giving their best here as their performances are great. Elina steals the show. I must say she is one of the top Greek female soprano singers who can actually sing & has a very good accent. Another thing worth mentioning is the heavy, dynamic and punchy production. Wow! This is something that you don’t see in a Greek band every day. The guys did take good care of their sound and the result is rewarding. With such a good sound I assumed the band would have recorded the album somewhere abroad but then I remembered one (and only so far?) Greek studio which has done an excellent job on another Greek band called 4Bitten. Finally, my thoughts proved right. The album was recorded at SoundFlakes Studios, mixed by Nick Papadopoulos & Alex Flouros, produced by Alex and mastered by Nick. I hope that other Greek bands will take StH as an example and stop recording on their pcs or laptops which they call “studios”!
It’s encouraging to come across such good albums from Greek bands in a poor scene where mediocrity and the rock star attitude rule! When most bands in the Greek scene are tryin’ to f@ck various chicks or think they have gone too “big” for their country, it’s hopeful to see that there are bands that work hard in order to make music. Seduce the Heaven are one of the most promising acts from the Greek metal scene. They seem to have a bright future and regarding the fact that this is just their debut release, we expect they will have a lot more to give in the future. If we, the press, do not support such well-made works then what the heck should we support?!
It’s a shame that no European label has released this album. Our fellow Japaneses, who are always a step ahead from the rest, will release it, officially, on the 20th of February though. “Reflection”, “Falling”, “Illusive Light” & the beautiful piano ballad “In Close Distance” are the potential “hits” of “Field Of Dreams”. To sum up, if you are fond of nice melodies, heavy music, female vocals & death growls with a contemporary sound then Seduce the Heaven will seduce you for good! A remarkable debut release by one of the top Greek bands of the last years…