Τρίτη 26 Φεβρουαρίου 2013

The Misery Complex

On the 7th day of November 1978 at the greek village Kostalexi, a group of policemen and reporters discovered in a house a  woman who had been kept locked by her family in a small room  for approximately 29(!) years.
47 year old Eleni Kariotaki was discovered half naked in a beastial state, as she could barely talk and she was practically eating, sleeping and defecating at the same place for all those years.



It was then widely spread by the media(for commercial reasons of course) that at the time in which the Greek Civil War was held(before Kariotaki's captivation in 1949),she was in love with a member of the Democratic Army Of Greece(the rebels),something that her family(supporters of the Greek Government Army)could not tolerate.  Note:for further information about the Greek Civil War, check here
The story shocked the greek society, as it was also noted by the media that the other villagers knew about Kariotaki's captivation but no one ever did or told anything.

Truth however,was very different:Eleni Kariotaki had a severe form of schizophrenia which could not be cured, so in order to protect her, her parents and family kept her in there so that she could not hurt herself.
The court's pleading stated that the family was not guilty for the accusations that were made, aparrently judging that Kariotaki's parents tried to protect her rather than harm her.However,many people-even today-believe that the family should be punished either way, for reasons concerning Eleni's ill-treatment.
As the years passed,Kostalexi became a synonymous term in greek language for simillar (illegal) captivations.Eleni Kariotaki has been ignoring since 1998.

Do you even wonder how would it feel to be inside a schizophrenic person's mind who's been captivated against his/her will?If so,the debut of extreme metallers Sun Of Nothing  '. .and voices, words, faces complete the dream' can give you a really good impression of this feeling.Actually, you could say that the artwork speaks for itself:


The album, a mix of sludge,black metal and noise(check the merzbow-ish 14-minute intro Thank You) is in my humble opinion (just kidding, i'm not humble at all) one of the 10 best extreme metal releases that ever came out of Greece, and the best extreme metal album of 2003(along with Funeral Mist's Salvation)

As for the connection with Eleni Kariotaki's story, the unintentional(?) relation with the lyrics of the album's track named Diablo is quite obvious..

This Light Surrounds Me
Don't You See
That You Kill Me
Suffering From Birth

This Light Surrounds Me
Father...
Mother...
I Never Reached Reality
I Never Will

This Light Surrounds Me
Don't You Threat Me
You Don't Know Me
You Will Lose Me



                                                                                    Thank You

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