Nightfall | |
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Origin | Athens, Greece |
Genres | Gothic metal, melodic death metal, symphonic black metal |
Years active | 1991–2006 2010–present |
Labels | Holy, Black Lotus, Metal Blade |
Associated acts | Nile, Rotting Christ, On Thorns I Lay |
Members | Efthimis Karadimas Stathis Kassios Evan Hensley Jörg Uken Constantine Stathis Ridis |
Nightfall is a Greek extreme metal band from Athens. Formed by vocalist/bassist Efthimis Karadimas in 1991, the group is currently signed to Metal Blade Records. They are widely considered the forerunners to a "mediterranean way to black metal" together with Inchiuvatu and Moonspell.
Nightfall was formed in 1991 by frontman and bassist Efthimis Karadimas. Within a few months of existence, Karadimas had produced Nightfall’s one-and-only demo tape, Vanity. The 4 track demo was noticed by Holy Records, a new French record label that was looking for an act to use to help introduce itself to the music business worldwide. A deal followed and gave birth to the debut release of Nightfall and Holy records, Parade Into Centuries, in 1992. The release proved a successful pioneering step as time went on for both Nightfall and Holy Records. This paradigm was followed by many in both countries, establishing a tradition for French labels to release Greek metal albums.
Nightfall stayed with Holy Records throughout the decade, resulting in 1994’s Macabre Sunsets, 1995’s Athenian Echoes, 1997’s Lesbian Show, and 1999’s Diva Futura, backed by European tours. Line-up changes were effected in almost every release, with Karadimas remaining the only constant. The early days saw Chris Adamou on rhythm guitars and Costas Savvidis on drums, while later Jim Agelopoulos and Phil Anton would take the guitar spot; Bob Katsionis would join on keys for their summer of 2001 Wacken appearance, with Mark Cross on drums, and Mike Galiatsos coming in on lead guitars. Katsionis would later handle guitar duties as well, and both himself and Cross would later go on to perform with Greek power metal outfit Firewind (the main band of guitarist Gus G, who became Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist in 2010).