“Black Monday”: Our Tribute To The Lost Ones

Legionnaires,

Today is a very special day for us. It marks five years since that Black Monday of 2018, where 103 people lost their lives during the summer wildfires in Mati, Attica, Greece. Therefore, we decided to pay our tribute to those people and we dedicated this song in loving memory of them. This is our fourth single and third video taken from the new album “Nuances of Life” released in May through Scarlet Records. You can watch it below.

You can also watch the cover art of the single, made by Nikos Siglidis, below.

You order it through our official store.

“It is by far the most personal track I ever wrote as a lyricist. Five years ago, on July 23rd of 2018 during the summer wildfires in Mati, Attica, Greece 103 people lost their lives and this track is dedicated in loving memory of them. This was one of the biggest disasters that I ever experienced in my life so far and it really affected me as a person and as a human being. You never know what’s going to happen the very next moment, so to me you have to live it like it’s going to be the very last one. I am really thankful that in this track Nikos Sarbanis and Michalis Rinakakis delivered such beautiful melodies that helped embrace my vision about it. It is a way that we mourn together with those families and pay the ultimate tribute to the lost ones. It’s also the track that Bob Katsionis (Stray Gods, ex-Firewind) is taking part in by performing his characteristic performance on keyboards, for which I can’t be thankful enough, since it has given a special tone in the whole track. Of course, one major element is the singing of Michalis in this track, who really got himself into the whole atmosphere and gave a proper feeling of the mourn the song describes. Another fact is that when time came to record my solo part, I was really touched by the passing of a person that had died a few weeks earlier and had a huge impact in my life. Performing my solo part in this song was meant to be another small tribute to a guitar player and a band that I really miss. This man was Miika Tenkula (RIP 1974-2009) and his band was Sentenced”, Nikos Siglidis comments.

“This song was one of the most emotional songs that I had to compose the music for. Nikos Siglidis was very concerned about this tragic fire accident and he decided to make a dedicated song. Later, he told me to write some music for these lyrics, and immediately took the guitar and started composing. By the way, this was a very emotional moment for me as well, as I was about to lose my hometown’s house because of a devastating fire accident in 2015. Even Though I was very furious about these accidents (which were human-made accidents in order to make profit from new buildings, wind turbines etc), I had to write tones for a ballad. About the solo, I wrote a Pink Floyd style crunchy – mellow solo. It is a huge inspiration for me and I wanted not to try to make something impressive, in terms of technique, but something more melodic and atmospheric”, adds Nikos Sarbanis.

At this very moment we would like to take a minute and thank Nikos Palaiologos of SOOC Photo Agency for the letting us use images from that day in our tribute, lyric video. We can’t thank you enough! Also, Stefano Mastronicola for working together with us a second time and doing a tremendous job with the video. Kudos to you, our friend!

Those wildfires devasted Greece and every year since then, wildfires happens again every year. We are living in a never-ending circle that cannot break. Even now, the state of Attica where 4 out of 5 members of the band live, is burning again. Thousands of acres of forests and wildlife turning to ashes, giving no sign of hope for the future. Our only hope is that there will be no more loss of human life to be mourned, no more wildlife to be lost, no more burning soil.

With honor,
The Silent Rage