Excalibur

With a history reaching back to 1983, Ioannina’s EXCALIBUR counts among the very early examples of Heavy Metal/Hard Rock in Greece. Among the ranks we find veteran Greek rocker George Gakis (vocals, bass – GEORGE GAKIS, NARCISSUS), George Haidopoulos (guitars - NARCISSUS), Stavros Hatzis (guitars), Vangelis Kazioumis (drums) and Sotiris Gakis (backing vocals – GEORGE GAKIS, NARCISSUS). While being something of a household name in their hometown of Ioannina – earned through frequent gigs, for sure – EXCALIBUR unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to release their material in physical format. Thankfully, through the magic of Youtube, we can still enjoy the band in a live setting in which they blended cover of classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal tunes (MAIDEN, RAINBOW, SCORPIONS, etc.) with self-penned material.

After the break-up of EXCALIBUR in the mid-1980s and following relocation to Thessaloniki, George Gakis, Sotiris Gakis and George Haidopoulos would team up with Kostas Tzounis (bass – KONAN) and Andreas Apostolou (keyboards) to form the melodic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band NARCISSUS (see separate band page for more detailed information) – which in many ways can be seen as the direct continuance of EXCALIBUR. Contrary to EXCALIBUR, NARCISSUS did in fact record a full-length album, although it remained unreleased for many years to come. But thanks to the good people at B-Otherside and Vinylmania Records, we can now enjoy this album in its full vinyl glory, issued in a limited edition of 300 copies.

In addition to his work with EXCALIBUR/NARCISSUS, George Gakis has also recorded a string of albums with his solo band and remains active in music to this day (once again, see separate band page for more information).

Compilation appearances: