Δωριείς "Επιστροφή στη Γή"

Δημήτρης Κατής, aka Dimitris Katis (or Demetrios Katis) may not be know to most, but he had his share of success over the years as composer and arranger, in Hollywood no less. Most of his starting fame stems from the Greek band Εξόριστοι (Exoristoi), their first and self-titled album was also the first metal album to be sung in the Greek dialect. It was released in 1989 and made a decent amount of success, one song (a ballad) even managed to hit mainstream, producing a video clip and getting on radio broadcasts. However, Mr. Katis had much humbler beginnings, it's in 1987 that he makes his first mark on the world of music...

Δωριείς "Επιστροφή στη Γή" (Dorians "Return to Earth") is Dimitris' self-produced and self-financed instrumental classical/symphonic metal album (what a mouthful). Calling it metal is a bit of a stretch though, it does have moments where it is, but not nearly enough that I would call it a metal album. Fundamentally, this record is an interesting experiment that borrows a little bit from multiple genres, and although I didn't think too much about this album on the first 5 listens or so, it certainly grew on me, not because of its technical aspects, but because the music itself started to "make sense" and an audio odyssey emerged from this album, one of war and heroism.

It's hard to pick this album apart by it's songs so I simply won't, this album has a natural flow to it that entices you to listen it from top to bottom. Even the title of the tracks accurately reflect its music, take for example "(α) Θυσία (β) Χορός (γ) Κραυγές" ((A) Sacrifice (B) Dancing (C) (Shouts), you can very easily tell that there's a first dramatic part (Sacrifice), followed by an upbeat bluesy section (Dancing) and finally, a slightly intense drum heavy piece to close (Shouts). The music itself is nearly impossible to describe with conventions. The guitar work is definitely not based in riffs and solos are used every now and then, the bass is also very simplistic. There's synths and pianos frequently and they take the spotlight, along with some very pronounced drumming that sometimes goes into tribal/war territory. He also makes good use of sci-fi noises, acoustic guitars and choirs.

When Dimitris is at its best, he can put out some incredibly epic and powerful passages, like in "Επέλαση" (Onslaught), which is meant as a short epic track that keeps delivering, building on a basic melody with choirs and acoustic guitar until it culminates on an orgasm inducing guitar solo. Immediately after, you get an example of Dimitris at its worst, "Ιερός ύμνος" (Sacred Anthem) is a depressing church-like melody on a synth, that's it... "Πρόλογος" (Prologue) is also a good example of meandering pointless introduction that takes far too long.

This album had some serious potential, it's very clear that Dimitris Katis has great talent as a guitarist and a songwriter. Although he delivers some great verses on occasion and awesome guitar solos, he also enjoys wasting our time with boring drawn out harmonies played on a keyboard. In the end, this album still feels like a musical voyage, but it's a shame that sometimes, it feels like the music loses its focus and starts to trail off, wandering on weaker material for minutes, until it suddenly picks off. Basically, it's the lousy glue that holds these triumphant moments that severely weakens the final result.