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PROTEAN SHIELD
Protean Shield

No Remorse (2023)
Rating: 8/10

As if the Greek heavy metal scene isn’t already cool enough we get hit by another good band in the form of Athens-based five piece Protean Shield. The Greeks have an uncanny ability to take 80s metal aesthetics and bring them to the modern but without making the details too glossy or mechanical. As expected from the cover art, this debut full-length outing leans toward a power metal flavour.

The commanding vocals, the epic strategies, the mystical themes and the traditional metal nuances all merge to create a mighty sound. The opening namesake track ‘Protean Shield’ boasts an almost medieval hook to its melody, but the shift between the middle tempos gives one a feel of grandiose statements. From hereon in it’s a case of mythical tales and chest pounding presentation, whether in the form of the darkly clad chugs of ‘47 Ronin’, the speedier ‘Stormbringer’ or the initial doom strains of ‘Sin And Dream’.

Vocally, Harris Stampoulidis is quite the epic crooner with his bellows raining down like cannon balls expelled from enemy ships. Yannis Aktypis and Yannis Tsiligkakis provide plenty of meat, crunch and melody with their sharpened axes, while the drums and bass of Odysseas Pasipoulardis and Petros Vasiliadis are the sturdy backdrop for such theatrics to play out.

There is such a variety of structures in this record. ‘Steel Of Ages’ has such a steady glint, and then there is the truly epic brace of tracks, ‘Dancers At The End Of Time’ and ‘Mariner’s Dream’, which are far from being snoozefests. Instead, they are forever changing clanks of grandiose melodies and winding gallops which never sacrifice their steel.

If you require further evidence that the Greek heavy metal scene is riding high then hop on board this robust vessel that swats away the waves like a gargantuan glove of iron.

Neil Arnold

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