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My Name Is Katherine

    
       
       
       
     
             
Meden Agan are a symphonic power metal band from Greece formed in 2005, releasing five albums to date - 'Illusions' (2007), 'Erevos Aenaon' (2011), 'Lacrima Dei' (2014), 'Catharsis' (2018), and 'My Name Is Katherine' (2024).    
             
Founded by guitarist Diman Koutsogiannopoulos, Meden Agan has endured numerous line-up changes and a one year hiatus, performing (over the years) with some of metals biggest bands - bands such as Epica, Queensryche, Skyclad, Tarja, and Within Temptation to mention just a few. The bands new album 'My Name Is Katherine', features ten songs across fifty hard hitting minutes that finds the Greek outfit standing at the heaviest end of the symphonic metal genre to deliver a power driven blend of metal much heavier than your usual symphonic metal fare! And right from the off, Meden Agan make it blatantly obvious their fifth album is gonna be a heavy hitter, 'My Name Is Katherine's opening salvo 'Moth' delivering an immediate, and crushing body blow! The jack hammer style riff that opens 'Moth' pounds the senses with a level of savagery normally reserved for thrash metal, not symphonic! Yet as 'Moth' progresses the bands power metal roots rise to the surface, the voice of lead singer Dimitra Panariti commanding the airways with power and a hint at a very wide range!    
             
A wide range that fingers crossed we get to hear, as the album rolls on with the faster paced 'Time Like Space' - Meden Agan hitting the ground harder than a sledgehammer slamming into concrete! The level of head bang ability too, has just shot through the roof, 'Time Like Space' bringing together the genres of power, traditional and symphonic metal. The band have oozed an immense level of attraction across the opening double, an attraction that's grabbed the attentions of a worldwide audience very tightly - 'Trapped' unlikely to let the grip go! For even though 'Trapped' opens with a short menacing passage, the band emanate a huge symphonic aura, Panariti's voice soaring higher than heard so far. And the gear change mid song to blistering pace is just jaw dropping, followed by a thundering heavy foot stomper of a breakdown with some fairly gritty, growled vocals! The variation on show via 'Trapped' is mesmerising, Meden Agan letting everything pour outta their locker - 'Shedding' rumbling into sight with an immense bombastic nature! The oomph oozing from 'Shedding' is weighty yet melodious, the band standing proudly among a multitude of metal genres - 'My Name Is Katherine' offering more variation than Heinz!    
             
The phenomenal intensity the album began with is simply getting stronger and stronger - the pace too, for 'Rejection' gallops on with more purpose than everything heard up to this point! And just like you hear in the progressive metal arena, Meden Agan slow down to adopt a mid paced mid tempo swagger. Continuing to weave a meandering path across metal territory, I've lost count of the number of genres the band has visited so far - a bewildering number I'm sure you'll agree! Yet one that encompasses the sheer beauty and vibrancy of heavy metal's attraction - 'My Name Is Katherine' quickly becoming one of the years most attractive albums! Maybe becoming a hot contender for Album Of The Year too - 'Confident' shuddering the ground with immense force as it hits the hardest of any song heard already. The band are fairly majestic here, mixing up both the metal and vocal styles to deliver something for every metaller to grab a hold of - the sonic array pouring outta 'Confident' wider than the island of Crete! And at over six and a half minutes in length, 'Sickness' is the longest song on offer, building an effects laden and eerie atmosphere across its first forty seconds or so, Meden Agan stomping harder than ever with a high level of menace. Even the vocals too take on a more menacing nature, Panariti moving from one end of the scale to the other - soaring symphonic metal vocals effortlessly sitting alongside harsher, more aggressive ones!    
             
What a range! And what an album 'My Name Is Katherine' is turning into - the bands fifth album one of those "can't stop listening to" releases! Pace, power and urgency take front and centre as 'Victorious' flies outta the blocks and roars loud - very loud! The amalgamation of symphonic power with the glorious gallop of traditional heavy metal is a mouth watering one guaranteed to give many (maybe all) listeners multiple eargasms! I know it has me! And with two more songs to come it's likely I'm gonna have some more - 'Beyond Any Suspicion' striding on with immense poise and panache, the levels of elegance and majesty roaring off the fucking charts! How an album can still be getting better and better at song number nine out of ten is beyond my understanding, the Greek outfit delivering one of the years biggest surprises - and there's been plenty believe me! So it's with a little sadness that the albums final song is just round the corner - but as I always say, "there's a reason why the replay button was invented"! For albums just like this one - the (albums) final hurrah 'Transition', a thundering symphonic metal rampage fuelled by pace, power and purpose. And if you've never heard Meden Agan before, you're in for one helluva treat.    
             
Overall, an all conquering and jaw dropping power metal swagger, 'My Name Is Katherine' is highly attractive and immensely addictive.     
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Angels PR    
             
Review is also featured at Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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