In art, the qualities of novelty and longevity often seem at odds. Albums and artists bank on being different for difference’s sake or so on-trend that they blend into a crop of contemporaries. Not so with Ormenion, the international debut of Greek quintet Evritiki Zygia. Locally active for over a decade in their home region of Evros, the band are known for their work in performing in musical styles from the region of Thrace, which spreads across the modern-day borders of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. As they continue to lift traditions of the past, they bring ancient Thrace to the present. Evritiki Zygia employ centuries-old instruments like the melodic, flute-like kaval, hide-based gaida bagpipe, Thracian lyre, and double-headed davul drum with electronic drones and embellishments by way of Yorgos Drikoudis’ weighty work on Moog and CRB-Diamond 800. The result is psychedelic folk at its most spellbinding
