Diphtheria

As has been mentioned many times before on this site, indigenous Metal bands were indeed a rarity in Cyprus during the 1980s and most of the 1990s. However, the few recording acts that did exist boasted impressive qualities and – perhaps due to the scene’s relative isolation – originality. Among the premier groups emerging from Cypriot soils is Nicosia’s DIPHTHERIA – formed originally as a Death Metal band but soon enough shifting towards a unique blend of Heavy-, Doom- and Progressive Metal.

DIPHTHERIA’s origins can be traced back to March 1993, with the formation of the band by Phivos Papadopoulos (guitars) and Stavros Pamballis (drums), who had both previously participated in UNDERTAKERS. As mentioned above, in the early days DIPHTHERIA played Death Metal (the choice of band name should give a clue) with Stavros as the original vocalist/growler. By the time of the band’s first gig at The English School on May 8th 1993, the band configuration had extended to include Christie K. (vocals), Phivos P. (guitars), Efthymios E. (guitars), Socrates Leptos (bass – ARRAYAN PATH) and Stavros P. (drums) –suggesting that the band might’ve already started to experiment with their style. During the following year, the group went through some further lineup adjustments, with Socrates shifting to guitars and the band employing singer Minos P. for a couple of live shows in the spring of 1994.

When the time had come for the recording of DIPHTHERIA’s debut demo in the summer of 1994, the lineup had finally solidified to what could be deemed the band’s “classic” member configuration, including GANGLAND (and later ARRAYAN PATH) vocalist Nikolas Leptos (vocals – ARRAYAN PATH, ASTRONOMIKON, GANGLAND, PRODIGAL EARTH, WARLORD), Phivos P. (guitars), Socrates L. (guitars) and Stavros P. (drums) – bass duties were at the time shared between Phivos and Socrates. Recorded during a single summer day at Music Works Studio (Nicosia), “Living to Die” (1994) was an impressive work for such a young band. The songs move confidently within a dark Heavy/Doom spectrum, but gains a unique quality in the way the band seems to be telling stories in musical form. It is progressive music not so much in terms of technicality (although they do a good job instrumental-wise, too), but in the proper sense pushing the boundaries of what can be done within the framework of Heavy Metal. Despite of eventual shortcomings in the production field, the response from the underground circuit was overly positive and over 200 copies were distributed. As a side note, it should be mentioned that the band logo as well as the striking colorful artwork (which surely helped selling the tape) was designed by the previously mentioned ex-vocalist Minos P. Funny side note 2: The band also recorded a cover of BLACK SABBATH’s “Paranoid” to be included on the tape, but this song was for some reason only included on copies distributed to Cypriot fans!

More live performances followed in the wake of the demo release, along with features in both underground fanzines and the more widely distributed Greek Metal Hammer. The band was also invited to radio shows, such as the one with Cypriot radio profile Robert Camassa which can be found on Youtube at the time of writing. Moreover, the band recorded a video clip of the demo title-track “Living to Die”, which was aired on Cyprus National TV.

About a year after the recording of “Living to Die”, DIPHTHERIA entered Lumiere Audio Studios, resulting in the equally impressive “Promo ‘95” (1995) – now with a proper bassist in the form of Nicholas Demetriou (ARRAYAN PATH). This four-track tape included re-recordings of “Living to Die” and “As Darkness Casts Its Veil”, along with two new tracks entitled “Sleeping With the Worms” and “God Wanted (Apply Here)”. Stylistically, it moves within a similar musical universe as the debut, but with an increased attention to details in the compositions as well as a superior production – a natural progression, in other words. It also features guest appearances by female vocalist Nikoletta Demetriou (also heard on the debut tape) and sound engineer Andreas Giorgallis behind the piano. Once again, the response was much in favor of the band and seems to have solidified DIPHTHERIA both as a musically unique act and as Cyprus’ premiere Metal band at the time.

Another series of live shows followed, but band activities seem to have grinded to a halt around the summer of 1996, with Phivos entering obligatory military service and Nicholas and Socrates leaving the country for study abroad (eventually leading up to the creation of ARRAYAN PATH). On a more positive note, the band was included on the classic Cypriot Metal compilation “Bloodbrothers” together with other upcoming acts such as GANGLAND and REGICIDE as well as scene veterans ARMAGEDDON. After a brief re-union in May 1997 for a celebrated live show, DIPHTHERIA once again went into hibernation with the temporary loss of drummer Stavros Pamballis to the army.

Except for the (very hard to find!) one-track promotional item “Promo ’99” and an appearance on an Italian-released tribute to IRON MAIDEN compilation CD, band activity seem to have lain low for quite some time during the millennium shift. Fortunately, DIPHTHERIA still had the determination to record a proper full-length album. Recorded in 2003 but not released until 2008, “To Wait for Fire” (2008) features re-recordings of material from the demo years along with new tracks (plus two remastered tracks off “Promo’95”), arguably marking it as the definite release by the band. How this album could remain unreleased for five years remains a mystery, but finally Phivos decided to take matters in his own hands with the formation of Pitch Black Records. Since the premier release of “To Wait for Fire”, Pitch Black has evolved into Cyprus foremost Metal label, with both national and international acts in its roster.

The final live apperance by DIPHTHERIA to date was a gig at the annual Nicosia-based “Power of the Night Festival” back in 2008. As for the future of DIPHTHERIA, it is hard to tell. Their old Myspace site gave mention of “To Wait for Fire” as likely being the final release by the band. Still, as far as we know there have been no official declaration of the band splitting up and several of the band members remain actively involved in the scene (ARRAYAN PATH, Pitch Black Records), so the possibility of some form of reunion shouldn’t be totally ruled out. Patience…

Compilation appearances:
* The Spirit of Metal [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Underground Tapes, 1995]
* Bloodbrothers – A Compilation of Recordings by Rock Bands from Cyprus [CD, Comp: Laughing Stock Disks, 1997]
* Children of the Damned [2CD, Comp, Digipak: Adrenaline, 1999]
* Pitch Black Records MP3 Sampler 2010 [CDr, Comp: Pitch Black, 2010]
* Cyprus Metal Scene United [CDr, Comp, Limited: Cy-Metal.com, 2011]
* Pitch Black Records – 5 Years of Metal – 2008-2013 [CD, Comp: Pitch Black, 2013]
* Cold Steel [Cass, Comp: Self-released, ?]
* Killers Vol. 4 [Cass, Comp: Heavy – Rock Tapes, ?]
* Wild Storm [Cass, Comp: Self-released, ?]