Location: Athens
Country: Greece
Genre: Alternative metal
Single/video: Blind God
(from their upcoming album "Ethos", to be released March 20)
Format: Streaming, digital
Label: Bitume Prods
Release date: January 16, 2026
Since the release of their debut full-length "Without A Trace," Misty Route has characterized their work as "an experimental journey into the world of sound." The combined influences of thrash metal, doom rock, grunge, heavy rock, avant garde jazz, solemn guitar segments and "Load" era Metallica depended as much on the vibes they expressed as their technical skills and crisp production.
The album presented impressions of seclusion, introspection, and menace with astounding depth, that were eerily reflected by Stelios Petros Chalas' cover artwork, so that you felt the deadly peril they were putting across on the inside as well as on the outside. The lyrics written for those songs matched their tone, capturing the darker facets of human nature in one way or another.
One listener on Bandcamp described Misty Route as a mixture of Metallica and Tool, two bands from distinct periods that some might consider incompatible. Still, incorporating those genres into their post-metal/alternative metal generated something both forceful and mournful with the capacity to grow on you. The parallels to Tool and Metallica were at times too apparent, particularly in the vocals and guitar solos, yet the driving force behind the songs could still be summed up in the song "The Stage": "Can you inspire them with lyrics right from the heart, or will they listen just to forget the next day?"
Fast forward roughly five years, and Misty Route is set to release their second album, "Ethos." Its first single "Blind God" features the band digging deeper into the musical and lyrical terrain explored in the last album. Besides being darker, the lyrics are in a way more heartfelt.
With a soundtrack that exhibits the band retaining the character of their debut and expanding on it with sophisticated songwriting, world music, keyboards, guitar harmonies, exotic percussion, chant and eerie choral vocals, the song addresses organized religion from a perspective of innocence, questioning why God (or at least a popular God) appears to turn a blind eye to evil deeds in the world.
With the same pervading, penetrating menace as before, and more of an introspective sense, "Blind God" poses the same question that has been raised countless times in numerous mediums: does God exist, and if so, what are his real purposes (or those who claim to have faith in him). Is God real, or is he something of human imagination designed by a select few who seek control over humanity?
The single offers no answer either way, but the speaker does state that he can't have faith in a deity who is unable or unwilling to intervene and really better the world. Misty Route seems to have evolved from the familiar territory they often covered to a sound and attitude all their own over the five years they took working on their new material. After the song ends, those unresolved questions linger like a mist, and you can't help wondering what more they had in mind for "Ethos." Those questions are sure to be answered since they plan on releasing more singles in the near future. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Lefteris Saatsakis: Guitars, vocals
George Armando Konomi: Bass
Konstantinos Kaloudis: Drums
Synthesizers performed by Lefteris Saatsakis
Choir vocals: Marilou Kappou, Magdalini Makrygianni.,lMagdalini Sangou, Athina Petropoulou, George Armando Konomi, Konstantinos Kaloudis, George Prokopiou, Antonis Kontozoglou
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