Kawir - Exilasmos LP

Since 1993, KAWIR have been one of the unsung pillars of the classic Greek black metal sound with the 'To Cavirs' MLP, being the first truly pagan-oriented record to hail from the Greek black metal scene. With that mini-album, KAWIR set about on a Hellenistic crusade to celebrate their native gods and mythology in their lyrics and sartorial presentation. Now with the 2017 album,  'Exilasmos' which is puncy & restless accross its six characteristically cascading tracks, KAWIR take a decidedly darker and more aggressive turn, racing into the fray in a manner most mid '90s (or To Cavirs, as it were) but never losing the inherently heroic aspect so crucial - and so engaging, after all these years - to their Hellenic sound. Supplementing that dark heroism is the addition of a fulltime keyboardist in Aristomache, who lends mystical light and shade to the band's surge 'n' swell. Further coloring the windswept wildness of Exilasmos are an endless supply of dramatic solos from guitarists Melanaegis and founder Therthonax.  But, as ever with KAWIR, the sonic portrait they paint is imbued with a deep lyricism hailing the Greek pantheon. In the case of Exilasmos, the record is conceptually about the tragic dynasties of the house of Lavdakides (Oedipus Tyrannus) and the house of Atreus. Both dynasties nearly exterminated themselves, and all these violent and inhuman acts brought forth the wrath of Zeus and the curses were consequently laid upon the whole bloodline. "Exilasmos" in Ancient Hellenic Language means calming down the gods' wrath, so it perfectly describes the tragic events featured in the namesake album.