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Known for its powerful sound and symphonic influences, Enemy of Reality recently released the song \u2018Den se thelo pia\u2019 (I Don\u2019t Want You Anymore). Steelianos Amoiridis, Iliana Tsakiraki and Thanos Murrika are seen performing in this still from the music video.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cDen se thelo pia\u201d (I Don\u2019t Want You Anymore) offered the perfect canvas for transforming a classic rebetiko song into something darker and more modern.\u00a0\u201cWe weren\u2019t just going for a remake with major interventions in the harmony and orchestration, but also introduced melodic paraphrases so that it would sound like it\u2019s never sounded before, while still respecting the original,\u201d says Steelianos Amoiridis, a musician with the homegrown heavy metal band that recently released the new version of the song.<\/p>\n
Enemy of Reality was formed in 2013 and has since earned a reputation for its powerful sound and the way it incorporates influences from classical and symphonic music. In its most recent release, it has replaced the acoustic guitar, oud and saz with electric guitar, bass and drums in a successful marriage of two seemingly incongruous genres that resonates equally with metalheads and rebetiko diehards.<\/p>\n
At 120 years old and actually regarded as \u201cpre-rebetiko,\u201d \u201cDen se thelo pia\u201d is one of the oldest songs in the rebetiko canon. It has been treated to countless variations, including a gypsy jazz version performed in the United States. It is, nevertheless, regarded as a quintessentially Greek song even though its roots lie in Smyrna and Asia Minor and it originally evolved from an Italian canzonetta.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that \u2018grafting\u2019 different genres and influences is how music effectively evolves,\u201d says Amoiridis, pointing to a strong trend in the Greek music scene. \u201cThere\u2019s no need for labels; the nature of artistic output entails the creator\u2019s memories, which stem from the music that shaped their sound,\u201d adds the band\u2019s drummer, Philip Stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enemy of Reality is not consumed by the need to appear original; this is just something that happens through hard work. The philosophy that brings this group of musicians together, they say, can be summed up in the lyrics by fellow metal band Nevermore: \u201cWe are the nothing grating against the norm, we are the something that will not conform.\u201d<\/p>\n
The music video for \u201cDen se thelo pia,\u201d which was released just a few days ago, is different from most of the band\u2019s previous work, but maintains the overall spirit of this philosophy, showing the band in a studio, where folklorish elements are injected into the clothes and decor. \u201cDownfall\u201d and \u201cNeedle Bites,\u201d in contrast, were decidedly darker and more stagey. All of their work, however, has a powerful element of storytelling, inspired by ancient Greek literature, history and mythology.<\/p>\n
Their first album, \u201cRejected Gods,\u201d for example, is based on the myth of Orpheus and Euridyce, \u201cArakhne\u201d is inspired by the mythical character of the same name, and \u201cWhere Truth May Lie\u201d is set in a fictional ancient Greek period.<\/p>\n
Even though most of the band\u2019s songs are in English, \u201cDen se thelo pia\u201d is not the first time that singer Iliana Tsakiraki has performed in Greek. In May 2021, she gave us \u201cTin patrida pou echasa\u201d (The Homeland I Lost), with lyrics by Christos Antoniadis, which was released to mark the Pontian Genocide.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we feel the need to talk about a specific issue that is expressed better through Greek verse, we\u2019ll do it again, but this is certainly not a fixed recipe for us,\u201d says the singer when asked whether Enemy of Reality will be doing something similar with other rebetiko or laiko songs in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n