Kollektiva – 3/6/2023
Song of the day by 3V01_

The track Υγιείς (Healthy) by Millions of Dead Tourists (third 12” vinyl LP homonym ”Υγιείς (Healthy)”) delivers an intense and immersive listening experience. With a sound that mixes elements of experimental,industrial and minimal synth music,the band creates a unique sonic landscape that is both unsettling and captivating.
The track’s driving beat and eerie melody draws the listener in,while the band’s use of industrial elements contribute to the track’s gritty unsettling atmosphere. The hypnotic vocal performance adds to the trance – like feel,pulling the listener deeper into the band’s world.

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Musicshockworld 

Essential sensations take to the road, in turmoil, in fear, in tension, planting the flag of victory within four extraordinary compositions: they will be crammed into the corner of vibrant, rough-skinned emotions, between implants of electronica and seductive, drool-filled experimental techno, in a nightmarish atmosphere kept at bay by this crazy Greek line-up. Almost thirty-three minutes of continuous explorations, with variations, in a tribe of thoughts kicked up by EBM semblances and ideological mutations, in the narrow sound of the nightmare that flexes the landscapes of our needs. The heart stutters and we are catapulted into a place from which we will quickly be thrown out: because the joy of this music must die quickly. We will have no choice but to listen again and again to catch all the nuances of notes and images that will make us live, for hours, the desire to be conscious microchips…

Alex Dematteis

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SIDE-LINE Industrial electro music magazine

Genre/Influences: Minimal-Electro, Electro-Wave, EBM, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Millions Of Dead Tourists is a Greek project releasing their third album. “Υγιείς” which means ‘healthy’ has been written and recorded during the lockdowns and reflects the dystopian situation.

Content: The work features 4 extended cuts which are characterized by repetitive structures with little variations. The sound stands for a mix between different genres but is mainly minimal. You’ll notice passages with Greek vocals.

+ + + : The repetitive structures create a transcendental effect. It works the best at the title track which has been accomplished with an EBM touch on top. The Greek vocals create an exotic and mysterious touch.

– – – : The opening song is less inspired so you’ve to be patient to discover the best cut of the work right afterwards.

Conclusion: This album has something original although I get the feeling there’s more potential hiding behind this project.

Best songs: “Υγιείς”, “Το Χ​έ​ρ​ι π​ο​υ Π​α​ί​ρ​ν​ε​ι”.

Rate: 7.

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ElektroSpank

Millions Of Dead Tourists is a Greek band which started out in 2016. They are based in Athens and Thessaloniki,having released 3 EPs so far. “Υγιείς (Healthy)” is their last one and came out on 23rd March of this year.

They  use and abuse two bass guitars, a drum machine, various synthesizers and electronic devices, four humans and lately, a mic. It’s another work produced during the hard times of the global pandemic. Quoting their BC note to help you understand the state of mind and feelings under which these tracks were created.

“The health coup of 2020 has imposed a series of unprecedented conditions: the mutation of human rights into privileges; the extension of digital surveillance on every facet of life; the transformation of the body from the ultimate property of the individual into a problematic biological construct that must be opened wide to state and biotechnological interventions. The initial concern that the new paradigm that was striving to be imposed was inspired by dystopian science fiction scenarios was soon transformed into the horror of the realization that the actual instruction manual of our time is 1984.

It was during this bleak three-year period of confinement, mandates and the establishment of a permanent state of emergency, that this album was recorded.”

A hopeless cry or should I say scream for the path mankind was led to; a path where no rights,no personal 

choice,no individual action was recognised as “healthy” . There are 4 tracks on the EP, the instrumental “Αλλεργικό Σοκ (Allergic Shock) ” opening the door to welcome us to the sounds of this collection . Electronic, ambient with guitars and synths; an instrumental piece to slowly introduce us to the music identity of Millions of dead tourists.

“Υγιείς (Healthy)”, “Το Χέρι που Παίρνει (The Hand That Takes)”, “Κόκκαλο (Bone)”. These are the following tracks wandering in the same soundscapes as the instrumental,but with sharp , sarcastic and deep lyrics to give us a poetry set to music experience.

My favourite track is “Υγιείς (Healthy)” for its fast and vigorous tune . It’s a quite long piece of music lasting more than 10 minutes,but it’s so well put together musically wise which can only uplift your energy. The lyrics full of irony about what really is healthy after all.

Maria P.

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Mic

Η πολύφερνη έννοια του ‘underground’ είναι λίαν νεφελώδης –πόσο μάλλον όταν αναφέρεται σε ήχους- τη στιγμή που η πιο ουσιαστική της νοηματοδότηση αφορά άποψη και στάση απέναντι στην εξουσία, ει δυνατόν σε κάθε είδους εξουσία. Τούτο το σχήμα που ήδη με το όνομά του φέρει αιχμηρές συμπαραδηλώσεις, είναι εκ των εγχωρίων από τα πλέον κοντινά σε αυτό, τοποθετούμενο απέναντι σε μια καταθλιπτική ομοφωνία, οι κυκλοφορίες του συνοδεύονται από μανιφεστικά κείμενα, οι στίχοι δεν κρύβουν λόγια, η μουσική ακολουθεί δρόμους ηλεκτρονικούς που αρδεύονται από το techno σε διαφορετικές ρυθμολογικές προσεγγίσεις, στον δε εν λόγω δίσκο εστιάζουν στο ξεχασμένο (πόσες θυμούνται πια την εποχή που για να κυκλοφορήσουμε στους δρόμους των πόλεων χρειαζόμασταν ‘Παπίερεν’ από την ανώτατη αρχή;) «υγειονομικό πραξικόπημα του 2020», όπως το χαρακτηρίζουν, και όλα τα κατάλοιπα εσωτερικευμένης υποταγής και εξουσιαστικού αυταρχισμού που αυτό άφησε. «Απόφυγε τον θάνατο. Πήγαινε διακοπές. Ζήσε σε ένα δωμάτιο γεμάτο υπολογιστές. Μείνε νέος για πάντα. Ένα αρχείο που ανέβηκε στο σύννεφο. Γιατί να είσαι άνθρωπος και όχι κάτι καλύτερο; Πλύνε τα χέρια σου, μείνε ασφαλής. Αν δεν πεθάνεις πώς θα μείνεις υγιής; Απόφυγε τον θάνατο». Καλά τα «πήγαμε» (κι ας λένε άλλα οι αριθμοί). Ασφάλεια και τάξη πάνω απ’ όλα. Α, και υγεία…

Αντώνης Ξαγάς

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Against The Silence #12

Η μουσική των MODT συνδέεται σε απόλυτο βαθμό με τα νοήματα που επιθυμεί να μεταδώσει. Από τον τίτλο γίνεται σαφές ότι το νέο τους άλμπουμ δεν είναι απλώς μια ενδοσκόπηση που εφόρμησε των χαμένο καιρό των καραντίνων, αλλά μια απάντηση απέναντι σε ό,τι υποβάθμισε τις ζωές μας σε ολοκληρωτικά σχέδια επί χάρτου.
Ως εκ τούτου, η δυστοπική επέλαση τους ακούγεται συνεκτική και εύστοχη.

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 Δισκορυχείον

Οι Millions of Dead Tourists δεν είναι καινούρια μπάντα, ούτε πρωτοεμφανιζόμενη. Υπάρχουν τουλάχιστον από το 2016 έχοντας τυπώσει έως σήμερα τρία άλμπουμ. Βασικά λέμε για ένα σχήμα που ομνύει, σε πρώτη φάση, στα ηλεκτρονικά και τα εφφέ, καθώς και τα τέσσερα μέλη του ανακατεύονται με αυτά. Πού είναι ποια (τα τέσσερα μέλη); Σημειώστε: Yiannis μπάσο, εφφέ, Iason σύνθια, σαμπλ, ντραμ-μασίν, Sotiris μπάσο, εφφέ και Nikolas φωνή, εφφέ.
Παρατηρούμε, επίσης, πως δύο από τα μέλη του γκρουπ είναι μπασίστες – κάτι όχι σύνηθες, και κάτι που παίζει επίσης πολύ μεγάλο ρόλο στον τελικό ήχο. Συνεπώς έχουμε αυτά τα δύο πρώτα και βασικά δεδομένα.

Τώρα, τα κομμάτια του πιο νέου CD του γκρουπ, που τιτλοφορείται «Υγιείς (Healthy)» [1000+1 TiLT / WON TON Records, 2023], είναι τέσσερα, δύο μέσης και δύο μεγάλης διάρκειας, έχοντας τους εξής τίτλους: «Αλλεργικό σοκ», «Υγιείς», «Το χέρι που παίρνει» και «Κόκκαλο». Εκτός του πρώτου track όλα τα υπόλοιπα έχουν ελληνικά λόγια. που σπηκάρονται πάνω στις ρυθμοδομές.
Έτσι, το 11λεπτο «Υγιείς» είναι ένα up-tempo κομμάτι, στα όρια του techno, αν και electro στη συνολική αφήγησή του, ενώ mid και με προοδευτική αυξανόμενη ένταση είναι το 7λεπτο «Χέρι που παίρνει», με τον λόγο να δηλώνει και πάλι παρών, όπως και στο 9λεπτο «Κόκκαλο» εξάλλου, επίσης ένα βαρύ electro track, που ακολουθεί περισσότερο electro-punk λογική.
Ένα από τα βασικά γνωρίσματα των Millions of Dead Tourists, που σχετίζεται με το λόγο τους, είναι η κριτική τους διάθεση σε σχέση με όσα συνέβησαν την περίοδο της νόσου covid-19.
Γραμμένο μέσα στις καραντίνες το «Υγιείς (Healthy)» είναι επηρεασμένο από το γενικότερο ζοφερό κλίμα «των εγκλεισμών, των υποχρεωτικοτήτων και του καθεστώτος έκτακτης ανάγκης», όπως αναφέρουν οι ίδιοι, στο μέσα μέρος του cover τους – κάτι που σε γενικές γραμμές αποτυπώνεται και στις μουσικές τους, που είναι σκληρές, δύσθυμες, μονότονες και ζοφερές.
Υπάρχει μια συνάφεια και μια συνέπεια, λοιπόν, σε σχέση με όλα τα επιμέρους του «Υγιείς (Healthy)» των Millions of Dead Tourists, κάτι που οπωσδήποτε δρα δημιουργικά (για το ίδιο του γκρουπ πρώτα-πρώτα).

Το υγειονομικό πραξικόπημα του 2020 επέβαλε μια σειρά από πρωτόγνωρες συνθήκες: τη μετάλλαξη των δικαιωμάτων σε προνόμια∙ την επέκταση της ψηφιακής επιτήρησης σε όλο το εύρος της ζωής∙ τη μετατροπή του σώματος από έσχατη ιδιοκτησία του ατόμου σε μια προβληματική βιολογική κατασκευή που οφείλει να ανοιχτεί διάπλατα στις κρατικές και βιοτεχνολογικές παρεμβάσεις. Η αρχική ανησυχία πως το νέο παράδειγμα που πάσχιζε να επιβληθεί εμπνεόταν από δυστοπικά σενάρια επιστημονικής φαντασίας, μετουσιώθηκε σύντομα στον τρόμο της συνειδητοποίησης πως το εγχειρίδιο χρήσης της εποχής μας είναι το 1984.
Ήταν στο διάστημα αυτής της ζοφερής τριετίας, των εγκλεισμών, των υποχρεωτικοτήτων και του καθεστώτος εκτάκτου ανάγκης, που ηχογραφήθηκε το παρόν άλμπουμ.

Περισσότερα

THE ATTIC Staff Picks – March 2019

Millions of Dead Tourists are an intriguing music trio from Greece who ”uses and abuses synths, pedal effects, 2 bass guitars, laptop, sequencer.” Their second album, “Helicoide”, was released on the 1000+1Tilt label and bring into forefront 4 electronic pieces. An intense listening experience, walking through dark sound spheres reminiscent of early electro and evokes post-apocalyptic scenarios. Somehow, without any expressed activism, the sense of the protest is here and can be felt throughout the album. ”Recorded in Athens and Thessaloniki, January to March 2018, while both cities were being sold to airbnb.”

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VITAL WEEKLY No 1179

The name of this band is surely inspired by the punk band Million Of Dead Cops, I would think, and like that this band has a political side that is firmly on the left-wing side of the political spectrum. The band name is a response against what they call ‘Airbnb-ed cities’, but also they have a song called ‘Social Media As A Concentration Camp’ (inspired by Culturcide’s ‘Consider Museums As Concentration Camps’?) and a song about “one of the tragedies of our times is the colonization of the human imagination by economics”. The music is very far removed from the world of punk music, however. The line-up is Iason (electronics, which I believe are a synthesizer, such as the Yamaha CS20, Erebus, Nanozwerg, audiomulch) and Sotiris and Yiannis, who both play bass guitar and effects. One song has “vocals, lyrics and tapes” by Alyssa Moxley. I gather that still doesn’t say much about the music they play, which is an excellent form of electronic music, with lots of rhythm and lots of synthesizer sounds. The opener is a fine melodic piece of arpeggio’s synths, a steady fast rhythm out of a box and the two bass guitars playing along in a fine post-punk modus. ‘Nothing Is Possible’ is a much darker beast, with a more complex rhythm, many taped voices and vocals. A similar layer of voices is in the song ‘Social Media As A Concentration Camp’, but with the basses again driving the piece forward, synth locked down and slowly going into a multi-tone colour with the bass drum in mid-tempo ticking time away. In the final piece ‘The Long And Sufficiently Agonizing Death Of A Chicago Boy’ we find the group in their most experimental form, with the basses doing much of the work, going through various effects and the synths in a more supporting role. The sequencer decides upon a rhythm but it stays pretty abstract throughout the twelve minutes this piece lasts. It is the end of a much-varied disc, clocking in forty minutes, which is too short, I think. I understand the time constraint for this as it is also available on LP but I would not mind a bit more. All of this brought to you by the guy who brought you P.S. Stamps Back before, operating in a similar field of very leftfield techno music. The political message is there but not preached too much in the songs, which is a good thing I should think. (FdW)

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SIDE-LINE Industrial electro music magazine

Genre/Influences: Experimental, electronics, industrial.

Background/Info: Millions Of Dead Tourists is a Greek formation, which has released their second album. “Helicoide” only features four tracks.

Content: The songs have been progressively built up, which partly explains why the songs are all going over 7/8 minutes. The tracks are bringing different influences together, which can be easily resume the sonic fusion between minimal- and experimental electro and industrial music. There’s a hostile sphere emerging from a few cuts while spooky, whispering voices are accentuating the mystery around this band and album. It’s not an easy thing to precisely define what this band is actually doing, but they clearly reveal to have a nose for intelligent music formats.

+ + + : I’ve been always fascinated by some minimalism in the composition. This approach has been mixed with haunting vocals and overwhelming, vibrating atmospheres. It’s not an easy job to define the real style of Helicoide, but in the end it’s easier to speak about a mixture of influences where electronics and bass guitar are coming together.

– – – : The recording and mixing could have been better –or more professional.

Conclusion: There are several great ideas running through this album, but Millions Of Dead Tourists has something unique and therefore fascinating.

Best songs: “Social Media As A Concentration Camp”.

Rate: (7)

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THRESHOLD MAGAZINE

Os Millions of Dead Tourists – trio oriundo da Grécia – formaram-se em abril de 2016, ano no qual lançaram o seu primeiro disco de estúdio homónimo, um documento composto por cinco temas a explorar os limites da música experimental com os campos da dark electronics. Três anos depois a banda regressa aos holofotes da música underground com o seu mais recente trabalho Helicoide, um disco de quatro longas faixas que incorpora os mais hipnóticos sons e ritmos condutores e capta, de forma imersiva, a atenção do ouvinte. Num registo baseado nas mesmas estruturas musicais que o seu antecessor, mas na formulação de um trabalho ainda mais enriquecido, os Millions of Dead Tourists apresentam-nos a sua eletrónica escura submersa em camadas condutoras.

Helicoide é ainda um trabalho que vai ainda além do seu resultado como produto sonoro. A banda afirma em press-release que este novo disco foi gravado nas cidades de Atenas e Salónica entre janeiro e março de 2018, enquanto ambos os lugares eram vendidos ao Airbnb. Avaliando o desígnio pelo o qual o projeto recorre para nomear o seu trabalho, encontra-se inerte, portanto, uma ténue crítica política e social, esta última inclusa na exploração dos temas que incorporam este novo registo. O disco abre com o tema homónimo “Helicoide” que nos apresenta a primeira interseção resultante entre os sons sintetizados em loop, os efeitos de pedais e uma dose de experimentação altamente narcótica. Através de um desenvolvimento moroso que abrange a introdução de cada vez mais elementos (incluindo os primeiros vocais), os Millions of Dead Tourists vão-nos mostrando uma interessante evolução relativamente às sonoridades que já nos tinham exposto no disco de estreia, com um som ainda mais aditivo.

Além da tradicional abordagem eletrónica, em Helicoide os Millions of Dead Tourists destacam ainda a sua veia influenciada no movimento kraut-rock sempre com o característico ponto de foco no baixo e na emulação de ritmos potentes que abordam os mais divergentes ambientes da música eletrónica de traços essencialmente negros. Se em temas como “Nothing is Possible” somos introduzidos a um ambiente soturno – onde o baixo nos conduz a um ambiente sonoro que consegue soar a industrial, fantasmagórico, sinistro e altamente dinâmico -; em “Social media as a concentration camp” somos absorvidos por um techno mais colorido com um ritmo altamente demarcado, ao mesmo tempo que somos confrontados com algumas ténues questões do foro social, descritas na nominação do próprio tema.

Antes de se despedir, o trio grego recorre ao tema final “The long and sufficiently agonizing death of a chicago boy”, que chega para abarcar o ouvinte a um porto de abrigo completamente divergente dos padrões de conforto a que este está habituado. Um ensaio sonoro que aporta um terreno explorativo entre os elementos da “avant-electronics”, dark ambient e o confronto existencialista de se ser humano. Difícil de consumir, mas altamente engenhoso do ponto de vista da produção e como produto final.

Através de um conjunto de quatro temas produzidos com recurso a sintetizadores, baixo e efeitos eletrónicos, os Millions of Dead Tourists constroem em Helicoide um disco com uma duração aproximada a 38 minutos, onde as suas experimentações eletrónicas conduzem a um efeito altamente imersivo. É quase tão instantâneo quanto o café solúvel. Ora experimentem a clicar no play.

Helicode está disponível nos formatos vinil e CD – este último com recurso a um packaging esteticamente apelativo.

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VITAL WEEKLY No 1072

You may remember P.S. Stamps Back? The project of Iason working the electronics to create a more dance oriented beat, with ‘Half Life’ (reviewed in Vital Weekly 1028) being a highlight so far. Here he teams up with two bass players, Sotiris and Yiannis (all of them come from circles in which last names don’t matter; ‘copies have no rights’ it says on the cover as a tell-all), who are a member of hardcore/grind band Ksera. They formed an alliance under the guise of Millions Of Dead Tourists in April 2016 and apart from two bass guitars, the other equipment is played by Iason, and that includes ‘audiomulch, nanozwerg, erebus synths, pedal effects and sequencer’.
The five pieces on this self-titled CDR were recorded from May to September 2016. I had no idea what to expect really, and I was thinking something along the lines of Millions Of Dead Cops. That it is not. To me, but I’m sure this trio will see things entirely differently; Iason is the man who leads the troupe. There is quite a lot of sequencers and synthesizer sound to be noted in this music, and perhaps not a lot of bass guitar. It has not much to do with the world of hardcore or grindcore, and all with the alternative leanings of techno music. The bass guitar might very well be going through a bunch of sound effects, making it all light and thin, but it works well within the music. Should one not know this is a trio of musicians playing together, it could as easily pass as a one-man electronic army with a bunch of lo-fi apparatus, producing a wackier form of techno than one usually hears in a sweaty club. I very much enjoyed this crude take on techno, and towards the end, ‘The Day 1.71 Billion People Died And Went To Facebook” (which says probably they aren’t a laughing bunch) they go for some excellent minimalist guitar sound, acid synth, bass sequencer and a fine slow rhythm. I am not sure about the political side of all of this, but the music sounds quite all right. You should see me leaping up and down in the VW HQ.
(FdW)