Year: 2024
Total Time: 48.37
Label: Sleaszy Rider
New label (Sleaszy Records), new style, new adventures for MEDEN AGAN. After 6 whole years and the album “Katharsis” it was high time for their fifth full length album, “My Name Is Katherine”. An album that seems to have been well cared by the band.
The innovative element is that the album is accompanied by Dimitra Panaritis’ novella of the same title, which talks about a woman in post-war Greece who has experienced all the difficulties of life, fell in love but cannot unhook from the burdens of her past. Perhaps the tough character that Katherine has forged through all the difficulties led Dimitris (Diman) Koutsogiannopoulos and the rest of the members to write a heavier album musically compared to their previous albums and in general with what we are used to from a typical female fronted band. Their two main weapons are Dimitra’s voice which, depending on the song, transforms like a chameleon and the incredible guitars of Diman who is one of the best of his kind in the Greek music scene.
During the 48 minutes that the album lasts, MEDEN AGAN unfolds the story and it is evident that Dimitra feels this album as her artistic child. From the first song, “Moth”, the change in style is obvious although they keep their identity with some epic elements, while this feeling peaks later with “Rejection” (perhaps my favorite song) or with the incredible guitar riffs in “Trapped”. Of course, there are also the most modern, progressive moments such as “Time Like Space” with the keyboards of Apostolos Mikroulis. The advantage of this particular album, beyond the lyrical coherence, is the variety in the sound that we cannot find in their previous albums to that extent. Finally, we should also give credits for the excellent artwork of the album with the imposing cover that fully captures Katherine’s state of mind.
To sum up, “My Name Is Katherine” is probably MEDEN AGAN’s best album judging by the overall artistic outcome. It seems to be the most complete album and this is largely due to the fact that Dimitra Panariti put her soul into it and the rest of the band respected and elevated it.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Kostas Boudoukos
Related Link: MEDEN AGAN – Facebook Page
