NAFPLIO, Greece – Nothing about Dionysios Tabakis’ appearance would suggest that he is a rising star of the experimental music scene. He is a 53-year-old Orthodox priest with a long white beard and flowing black robes, and has spent nearly three decades serving the same church in Nafplio, Greece. Yet beyond the church walls, Tabakis has found an unlikely following among hipster music aficionados.
His debut album, “Paradise Metal,” is a 32-minute, reverb-heavy flow of hypnotic Byzantine chants and wavering electric guitar, interwoven with pulsating electronic beats, birdsong and the twanging of traditional folk instruments. As its title suggests, it brings together the sacred and the alternative – although sonically it bears little resemblance to classic metal. Instead, it occupies a singular territory between Orthodox liturgical music, drone-inflected doom metal and hazy ambient.
It was first released this past spring in a small edition of 150 cassettes, and word spread like wildfire across music blogs and social media. The influential music website Pitchfork boosted the album’s profile with a glowing review, saying it deserved to be plucked from “dollar-bin obscurity for at least a chuckle, maybe an epiphany.”
