When I see the words “Greek metal,” the first act I think of is Rotting Christ, the great Athens black metal band that’s been making sacrilegious, lightly Satanic music sound ancient and tribal for decades. But now, a very different metal warrior has emerged from the nation of Greece: Father Dionysios Tabakis, a 53-year-old Greek Orthodox priest who makes devotional microtonal drone music at home and who has never played a live show. Earlier this year, he released his debut album Paradise Metal, a strange and expansive record that has become a bit of an internet sensation.
Father Dionysios Tabakis plays a number of instruments, but he largely recorded Paradise Metal on the perdesiz, a fretless Turkish guitar. The album finds a certain resonance between traditional Byzantine music and classic drone metal, and it’s just fun to think about this guy rocking out in his black robes and his big white beard. Paradise Metal came out on the Heat Crimes label in April and found an audience on Bandcamp. Grayson Haver Currin big-upped the album on Pitchfork, as did Brad Sanders in last month’s Stereogum metal column. Today, Father Tabakis is the subject of a New York Times profile that digs into the man’s fascinating story.
For the past 30 years, Father Tabakis has served at the Church Of Panagia, which was built in the 15th century in the coastal city of Nafplio. (The Times profile has some photos; it looks incredible.) The furthest that he has ever traveled is to Turkey, his ancestral homeland. He has long experimented with music as a hobby, and he launched a YouTube channel in 2012. Nikolas Rafael, founder of the label Elhellhel, found that YouTube page on a deep dive and wanted to turn Father Tabakis’ music into a record. That’s what led to the initial small-run cassette release of Paradise Metal.
Father Tabakis tells the Times, “I don’t consider myself a particularly talented musician. I’m just doing what I love, what feels meaningful… I just want to create a big mix of everything — Heaven and Earth, West and East, today and the past.” He says that the only person who’s ever heard him play live is his wife Fotini and that she regularly takes away his instruments and asks him to stop making so much noise. In September, however, Father Tabakis will play Philadelphia’s Making Time fest, where he’ll share the bill with acts like Kim Gordon, Bicep, Smerz, and Avalon Emerson. He laughs that he’s “in big trouble.” Read the Times story here, and check out Father Tabakis’ music below.
