Voyer

VOYER was a Thessaloniki-based Thrash Metal act, who started playing in the late-1980s (around 1988 or 1989) and releasing at least two demo tapes in 1990 and 1991 respectively. Allegedly, the band went through numerous lineup changes before settling as a trio consisting of Christos Savvidis (vocals, guitars), Panagiotis Zahos (bass) and Pantelis Athanasiadis (drums – EXHUMATION). These were the members present on both demo recordings, although an old zine photo portraying the band suggest that there was a fourth guy involved at some point – if you know anything about this (very important!) detail, please let us know.

The band’s first demo, “Just Like Hell” (1990) haven’t surfaced yet, so we cannot provide any tangible comments on this recording at the moment, except that the band played some form of SLAYER-influenced Thrash Metal (at least that’s what interviews say). Their second demo, “Falsification of Brain” (1991), on the other hand is thankfully available (see our Youtube-link below) and offers frantic Thrash Metal verging on Death Metal intensity. Although the songs occasionally threaten to implode as the players have a hard time performing some of the intricate passages, the songs are actually quite progressive at times, with sudden tempo shifts and some really twisted riffing. The band mentions CANDLEMASS as an influence for the slower sections, but perhaps CELTIC FROST would be a closer reference. Either way, “Falsification of Brain” is definitely worth a listen for those into other Salonican bands such as MEDIEVAL DEATH.

In addition to the afore-mentioned demo recordings, VOYER material also made it onto a handful of compilation releases, with the most widely distributed being Molon Lave’s “Screwing the Sane” compilation LP, issued in 1991. In addition to his contributions in VOYER, drummer Pantelis Athanasiadis was also a long-term member of EXHUMATION, from the demo days and up until 1999’s swansong album “Traumaticon”.

Compilation appearances:
* Screwing the Sane [LP, Comp: Molon Lave, 1991]
* Metal Coma [Cass, Comp: Self-released, 1992]
* Braindamage Vol. 1 [Cass, Comp, Numbered: Self-released, ?]