I was thinking for many days what to write and how to represent in front of you this band in order to depict exactly their fantastic music and create some curiosity for checking them. Well, the simplest is better and try to put them as top priority in your further metallic buys. Surely you won't regret it.
Their background starts back in 1998 with the formation by the two guitarists Lefteris Vourliotis and Michail Vlavianos that are present in this lineup. After some researches for a vocalist, they found Dimitris Koutsouvelis and together with bassist Yiannis Moraitis they created the demo Heathendom in 2005, a very good work (containing War & Pain that is also present here). Three years after and together with George Tsinanis they complete their debut album that is able to create an earthquake to your room via the Metal On Metal label.
In a few words: their music has many Doom elements like bands as CANDLEMASS, SOLITUDE AETURNUS with an extra Swedish touch of MEMORY GARDEN and MEMENTO MORI. Include many references to KING DIAMOND in vocals and music - mostly like in albums as The Graveyard - together with NEVERMORE in their soul pressure moments, and you will be 'in'. Nescience starts with a paranoid intro named Oranges & Lemons that looks like a lullaby; and then the bomb, the self-titled track. A killer riff, reminding a lot of USA Heavy Metal, unbelievable vocals with many changes and plethora of expressiveness faces create an atmosphere where the sun starts to fall down and the candlelight becomes your company. Esoteric lyrics of inside exploration together with some religious or society topics fit perfectly with the whole musical 'building'.
Things will become more surprising with songs like Burn. What to say, what to write! Just listen to it. The refrain will melt your brain, a groundbreaking composition with a titanic doomy bridge and some out-of-this-planet vocals. Mirror Of Memories starts like you are in an ancient city with dusty buildings around you, a place that is forgotten by time while you travel searching for yourself. Such emotions and feelings very few bands can provide, like SOLITUDE AETURNUS etc. It must be also mentioned that their work in the structure of their songs is remarkable; each part and moment fits so good with the other and every little detail is meticulously written. Their NEVERMORE influences can be noticed easily in Scenes Of Old (killer lyrics), a song combining wonderful vocal performance with very skilled musicianship, that upgrades the whole track. The serial riffage assault of Hell Within makes it one of the highlights, and the last one will create a metallic lust for endless banging.
I cannot find something so good in this genre that has been out recently and definitely this album has something to give in any fan inside the previously mentioned bands. On the other hand, I don't know what to think, if this is the beginning what can be the future era for HEATHENDOM. For now, enjoy and travel into the Nescience dimension.