Album Review: Distorted Reflection, "Doom Rules Eternally"

Well, it turns out this here DISTORTED REFLECTION band might be new, but its founding member, guitarist/singer Kostas Salomidis, ain’t no spring chicken, already having spent a collective twenty four years in another Greek doom metal band called SORROWS PATH. 

Then, in 2022, he formed Distorted Reflection with VANGELIS!!!

Oh, it’s not THAT Vangelis, eh? Well, THIS Vangelis plays bass guitar in addition to synthesizers, and, though he may not have done the music for Chariots of Fire or Blade Runner, and though he’s actually alive, he already recorded four albums with a band called FRAGILE VASTNESS, a progressive metal band with a hot chick singer! So, hazah! And the drummer, Stelios Pavlou, was in a few bands with names like RHODIUM and SORROWFUL ANGELS, among a couple others that don’t have a link on www.metal-archives.com.

Colin told me not to "overwrite," and to just give a few words, thoughts, and reflections on the debut album from Distorted Reflection. So, I’ll give him as few words as possible. 

Distorted Reflection sounds like Sorrows Path. If you like one, you’ll like the other, and vice versa. That’s all, thanks!

I keed, I keed, I’ll talk some more about the album ‘n sheeyit.

This is big, epic, CANDLEMASS inspired doom with big theatrical gestures and pretty keyboard textures. Kostas Salomidis brings his terrific, chugga-chugga-wah-wah-with-expressive-guitar-solos-that-sounds-like-two-guitarists-playing style over from the path of sorrow to Distorted Reflection, AND he decided to sing the songs in this new band himself, literally sounding just like the singer of his previous band. Maybe that’s why he quit Sorrows Path; because he wanted to be the one to sing those operatic baritone passages, where words are stretched out for seconds at a time? I dunno, but he gets the job done!

And I love how he goes “TER-ROAR”, and then one of the other guys echoes it in a higher pitched voice in the opening song, “Mr. Snake.” Or how lyrical passages like, “Today I saw a doom/ a blind or am I a fool/ today I saw a death/ it’s coming soon” make it clear that English is not Kostas Salomidis’ first language!

Speaking of songs, “Ring of Fire” isn’t a JOHNNY CASH song; “Twilight Zone” isn’t a RUSH song; and “Victim of Fate” isn’t a HELLOWEEN song. Actually that last one kind of sounds like MERCYFUL FATE. I wonder if that was intentional, given the title.

But what I wanna know is how a power trio such as Distorted Reflection performs this live without recruiting a second guitarist, since there are a lot of riffs and solos on Doom Rules Eternally! On a final tip, some of this reminds me of DIO and/or Tony Martin era SABBATH, and when they pick up the pace from doom-y dead man’s crawl, you get a bit of a power metal vibe going on, as you’d expect from any Greek heavy metal band that plays quicker than ass slow. And the songs “Cassandra” and “The Eternal Gate” start with some nice acoustic and/or non-distorted guitars before getting all heavy.

If there’s one thing I didn’t like, it’s in “Ghosts of Mind.” I can’t stand the blocky, chord-space-chord approach. It reminds me too much of 90s alternative metal. Thankfully that’s only part of the song.

But otherwise, I like it, and if you like epic doom with zero of the stoner crap, or essentially slow power metal, you probably will too. But why so glum, guys? You’re no longer on Sorrows Path! Then again, the doom philosophy rules eternally.

Edwin Oslan

Revenge of Riff Raff

31st May, 2024

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