Classic Rock 8

The Athens State Orchestra collaborates with

SEPTICFLESH

the Greek rock band with a significant international career.

Guest
Piraeus Vocal Ensemble LIBRO CORO

Conductor Koen Schoots

Saturday, September 28, 2024 | 21:00

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

From Japan, Mexico, and South America to every corner of Europe, Septicflesh has been touring for two decades, building a brilliant international career. The band's audience is vast and extends to many parts of the global map.

With 9 albums, countless concerts, continuous world tours, and participation in international festivals, along with 24 years of career in the global rock/metal music scene, the band collaborates with Nuclear Blast Records, one of the largest companies in the rock/metal field. Their latest album, "Modern Primitive," received a warm reception.

The band enjoys international musical recognition. Indicatively, in 2021, scores from 4 of the band's compositions were selected by the prestigious Berklee College of Music and have since been included in its music library for study by its students.

The live shows are a unique aesthetic spectacle. Septicflesh's vision is to present an acoustically and visually perfect result, with an emphasis on theatricality, always trying to incorporate elements from Greek culture in their lyrics and imagery.

The 8th Classic Rock will present a crossover project at the Herodeion where the rock and metal sounds of Septicflesh meet the symphonic sound of the Athens State Orchestra, for the first time in Greece. The Piraeus Vocal Ensemble LIBRO CORO will complement the unique spectacle.

This project has already been presented in Mexico in 2019 at the "Metropolitan Theater of Mexico City" with the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, featuring 140 musicians and a 40-member choir. It was a top-tier sold-out concert attended by more than 3500 spectators.

The international career of SEPTICFLESH and the prestige of the Athens State Orchestra, combined with the unique location of the Herodeion, will certainly attract fans from other countries who will enjoy the unique spectacle.

The execution and production organization of Classic Rock 8 will be undertaken, as every year, by the renowned company Robin 4 Arts.

Biography

Septicflesh was formed in Greece in the early '90s by Spyridon Antoniou (a.k.a. Seth Siro Anton): vocals/bass, Christos Antoniou: guitar and Sotirios Vagenas (a.k.a. Sotiris Anunnaki V.): guitar/ clean vocals. A debut Ep was released in 1991, entitled "Temple of The Lost Race". Their first full-length album "Mystic Places of Dawn" was released in 1994, followed by "EΣΟΠΤΡΟΝ" that was released in 1995.

With the release of "Ophidian Wheel" in 1997, a female soprano vocalist (Natalie Rassoulis) was introduced, as the band moved towards a more symphonic style. "A Fallen Temple" (released in 1998) continued in the same musical direction. In 1999 "Revolution DNA" was released, followed by Sumerian Daemons in 2003, both albums produced by Fredrik Nordström.

Although the band's popularity was growing, the band members decided to disband it, in order to focus on other personal projects and goals. But that wasn't the end of the story... After a reunion, the band returned with the album "Communion" in 2008, again with Fredrik Nordström at the helm of production. From that point and on, the symphonic element (composed by Christos Antoniou, that has a Master Degree in Concert Music) was fully implemented in the structure of the songs, with the collaboration of Filmharmonic Orchestra of Prague. Then followed "The Great Mass" (2011) with Peter Tägtgren as producer, "Titan" (2014) with Logan Mader as producer and "Codex Omega" (2017) with Jens Bogren as producer. In 2020, the recording of the epic and fully orchestrated Live in Mexico entitled "Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX", was released on CD/LP/DVD/Blu-Ray.

Septicflesh joined forces with Nuclear Blast records and now it is time for the next phase in the band's history, with a new album soon to be released. Once again Jens Bogren is responsible for the bombastic mix and sound production. Seth Siro Anton, that is also in charge for the visual aesthetics of the band, has created a really intense cover and artwork. The band further developed its unique sound that combines emotional, symphonic/soundtrack music with Aggressive Death Metal. The songs have many layers, while on the same time they manage to be catchy. Besides the continuous collaboration with the Filmharmonic Orchestra of Prague, the band used a full adult choir, a full children choir and a variety of ethnic instruments.