Πλεκτάνη – Καλλιτεχνικές Ανησυχίες

Sometimes, just by learning the basic information about a release, you get an immediate sense of what to expect. The first full-length album by Πλεκτάνη (plektani, loosely translated as “plot” or “scheme”), bearing the beautifully ironic title Καλλιτεχνικές Ανησυχίες (Artistic Concerns), is a perfect example. This newly formed Greek DIY hardcore/d-beat band, comprised of members from other esteemed local acts like Χωρίς Οίκτο, Lifewreck, and Chain Cult, manages to evoke a feeling of imminent total annihilation just through their name, album title, and striking artwork.

Καλλιτεχνικές Ανησυχίες contains ten furious hardcore tracks totaling nineteen minutes. Yet, Πλεκτάνη are profound craftsmen of their “art,” managing to convey a variety of critical and well-articulated themes without ever slowing down. The main focus of their debut is hypocrisy—in art’s communal role and in one’s political beliefs and actions. With crushing up-tempo rhythms surrounded by highly effective hardcore/crust riffs and blazing but brief guitar solos and leads, their songs create a volcanic atmosphere of pure chaos and revolt.

Beyond the pure bursts of energy emitted from the album, what truly makes Καλλιτεχνικές Ανησυχίες a seminal hardcore record—standing toe to toe with releases from bands like Jalang, Rat Cage, Bootlicker, The Flex, Lasso, Chain Whip, and others—is their ability to map and communicate themes of social injustice and alienation. The album’s finale, “Αιώνια Κρίση” (Eternal Judgment), drops the curtain in full vitriolic mode, targeting lifestyle politics. Earlier, the eponymous opening track is a d-beat outcry of pure violence that sets the mood for the band. Πλεκτάνη sound not just enraged but, by maximizing each track’s brief duration, resemble a flaming bottle mere moments away from exploding. Indeed, the band’s energetic performance, a result of incredible sound engineering, makes every shouted word and every cutting riff feel alive.

In the track “Ώρα Μηδέν” (Hour Zero), the band repeatedly asks, “How much does a life cost?” Earlier, in the self-titled track that starts with a dominant bassline, Πλεκτάνη remind us of the vital and often forgotten barrier between active, political anti-culture and alternative art in an abstract, apolitical frame. Καλλιτεχνικές Ανησυχίες is a record that sounds critical but never preachy. As members who have been active in the local DIY scene for years, they understand perfectly that many recurring themes—such as exhaustion, the insignificance of life under the capitalist machine, exploitation of artistic experimentation by the cultural industry, and consumerist ethics—are still present like a wolf in different sheep’s clothing.

Armed with rage, Πλεκτάνη make the most of their passion for this strain of hardcore/d-beat, releasing a truly important album for the local scene. Καλλιτεχνικές Ανησυχίες, with its matching artwork, thrashes its way through multifaceted oppression. Tracks like “Αφορισμός” (Excommunication) and “Μίσος” (Hate) awaken primordial forces of sedition inside listeners who submit to its war cry. Personally, I really hope that Πλεκτάνη keeps going, and that the Greek DIY scene in general continues to flourish, overcoming the many obstacles that current sociopolitical turmoil has raised against it.