The Hands Of Cain – The Only Sound

Unfortunately an error slipped into my previous review, so here's a word from the actual group to set things straight.

Quote: Actually there is a part ... that is not really accurate. This is the one that goes 'although back then HOC were not even aware of such gothic music movements, proving their creativity and originality'. To set the record straight we were all big fans of the dark-wave scene, not missing a single release or concert by one of our favourite groups -since you mentioned Bauhaus we had seen them live somewhere around 1982 I think. ... We listened to all this stuff like crazy you see, but I don't think we referred to it as goth, dark-wave etc

The Hands Of Cain were Dimitris Chorianopoulos (vocals, bass), Spyros ‘S. Adam’ Floros (drums), Costas Papakitsos (synthesisers) and Dimitris Stamatiou (guitar) from Athens, Greece. In 1983 the Hands Of Cain evolved from of one of the first groups of the Greek punk scene of the early 80’s called Ausschwitss when their music was gaining a darker shade and their lyrics were changing to English. Unlike their former group, the Hands Of Cain had very little public exposure, but built their reputation amongst the lively Athenian dark wave/post punk scene of the time with a few live gigs in clubs like ‘Skylab’ and ‘Pegasus’. They finally split up in November 1985, and although none of their recordings was ever released their fame lived on. An end was put to this local hidden secret when Dimitris ‘Profitis’ Petrou sent Anna two tracks in Autumn 2007, “Two Steps to the End” and “The Dagger in Me”. Anna was blown away by those tracks and couldn’t believe they have remained unreleased. Of course, this had to be changed. The quality of HOC’s song writing is amazing, these are just strong compositions, and without any doubt, this album will perfectly line up with the best ever dark wave/gothic albums being so close to Christian Death’s first recordings as well as the best songs by Bauhaus. Their tracks are pure mid 80’s despair and melancholy, although back then HOC were not even aware of such gothic music movements, proving their creativity and originality. The material was (more or less) preserved on dusty 8mm reels and worn-out cassette tapes – it is thanks to Dave Hewson, who digitally transferred and restored these tracks, we owe you much gratitude, Dave – that these essential songs do not remain in total obscurity. Prepare yourself for a milestone not only in Greek music history, but also in dark wave/gothic history!