In the beginning was Parthenogenesis, then from their ashes came the short-lived project of Homicide. Magic De Spell were the first to record a 7'' punk single, launching the birth of the punk/wave scene in Greece. But it is the assault of Stress which brings punk to its standard proportions.

Formed in Argiroupoli in 1981, along with 2-3 other groups, Stress represented punk in its raw, agressive, political form. Their early shows in such cult places as Sofita and Aretousa included diving into the audience with the guitars in hand (!), singer's Frank Ninios political comments and use of banners with political mottos written upon, and songs that narrated alienation, revolt, and anger. Ninios left in 1982 to form the well known Panx Romana, dealing with 100% punk, while Stress continued until 1987-1988 with an impressive mixture of punk and post-punk/wave.

Their first appearance on vinyl comes in 1984, on Enigma's now legendary collection DIATARAXI KOINIS ISIXIAS with two songs, "Dikaioma sti zoi" and "Aghos". These two songs demonstrate a more refined, polished sound, which can be characterized as a borderline between bleak new wave and punk a-la Killing Joke. (Killing Joke's early material can be a guidestick for the greek scene of the 1980s).

Their first (and last) studio album, O IXOS TIS ANASFALEIAS (a witty title, indeed) came in 1985 in a number of 300 copies, produced and distributed by the bandmembers themselves. The sound here is much more primal and agressive than the two songs in the aforementioned collection ("Aghos" reappears here in a punkier version). It is obvious that most of this material was written around 1981-1982, when the band was still under a heavier "mood", musically and politically.

The sound is fine, neither too bad or too polished. The songs flow at a steadily angry pace. As mentioned before, "Aghos" gets its proper treatment here, lyrics of inner turmoil delivered over fast riffing. The dynamites of "Leros, "Hafies" and "Fovos" keep spinning dangerously at side A's manic assault, closing with the more restrained, wavish melodies of "Stratiotis", the band now expressing their political views upon the military and the issues of obedience / morality.

Side B has a lot to offer--surprise and scepticism. Surprise for the opening new wave yell of "Perithoriakos", a mid tempo, energetic anthemic song about wandering the streets, roaming solitude next to an ever-present sense of alienation, combined with a need for rejecting the world around, the laws, the status quo.

"Ipokrites" returns half-way to the punk attack of side A, whereas the wavish instrumental of "Indianiko" and the closing melodies of "Avoulo on" offer more than just a few glimpses at the band's composing skills-- intelligent riffs and punctual mood/tempo shiftings to keep everything under control, and exciting at the same time.

In the center of it all, there's "Genoktonia", and this is where things get worrying--- the volume lowers, and 2 minutes of silence replace the song. Famous for its vulgar censorship, its blood-red conviction, the shivering lyrics? Whatever the case, this is the band's best moment. Yes, maybe the 2 minutes of silence that "drowned" the song's screams are the most exciting, nihilist, and eerie moment of the album--- and that is obviously an unsettling thought. However, the band vindicated for this infamous act by releasing at the demo-sessions-live recordings collection of 1992's IXOS TIS ANASFALEIAS II a demo version of "Genoktonia", uncensored and unrestrained, giving the chance to future listeners to receive the song's message, as their definitive legacy.

In 1987, the cult indie label Wipeout printed, with the band's permission, another set of 290 copies of the album and gave it a proper release and distribution, making it a collector's item, just like the second one, which was, as written above, a mix of outtakes, demos and live acts, released with the bandmembers' approval again but long after the band's demise.

Through the fading years of the underground 80s, in a time and place where the same terms and labels had a different meaning, Stress' chaotic turmoil still challenges, and sets the same, provocative questions: doubting everything people take for granted. And offering great songs while doing so. Isn't that just marvellous?