South of No North's second album is also Creep record's final release, filed as #13 vinyl ''12 in 1986. A majestic ending, to be sure.

Having over one year to prepare this album, the band came up with some of the best songs ever written by a greek group, regardless of genre. From the distant, cold forest of the cover design, to the band pictures in the backside, the listener may get an idea of what will follow.. or not. Because this is an album of rare quality.

The opener "It's only a song" introduces a fantastic dark/goth atmosphere, keyboard layers and an impressive overall sound right in the face. The pseudoreligious lyrics, at the same time questioning and invocating god suit perfectly to the angst of the music, and the outcome is amazing.

The title track continues the nervous pace, with clever guitar fills and tempo changes at the intro, showing a musical progress on behalf of the group, which was by then among the most avant-garde of its time.It takes only a listen to the ten minute opus "Creeping" to understand that. A haunting piano intro, followed by a self-confident, lengthy development of a love tale gone wrong, with all the necessary tempo changes and piano-guitar interchanges to make it a masterpiece. A very profound experience, musically and lyrically.

Side B is no less of a perfect taste. "Annabelle Lee" takes the words of an already perfect poem and raises it to the level of an unprecended erotic tragedy, with the bass and the drums holding the lead role on this one, occassional guitar flanger and synths adding to the mystique and the passionately broken vocals. By this point, South of No North are already better than many "foreign" bands that have earned much attention, maybe too much. It's a shame that this band didn't become huge. But that's another story. All the Creep's releases.. ok nearly all, have a beautiful tale to tell.. and a sad grimace when you think that most of these bands didn't earn the appraise they deserved. But some diamonds are doomed to remain hidden. Even now, this injustice should be corrected though. With the spread of the internet and the resurfacing of old vinyls, its still a chance to make these bands known to a whole new generation of listeners.

As for "Fell frozen", it ends with a tragedy and an operatic greatness as dark, romantic, haunting and unique as one could want: the narration of "A fairy tale", with keyboards and "clean" guitar chords setting the foundation for a recitement of memories, fear, and hidden desires, as the sun sets. Blended together above a heart-breaking vocal performance, the images of a ghost-like childhood return to haunt the dramatic hero, and a final wash of keyboards heralds the coming sunrise, the dawn which ends the fairy tale, and this magnificent record.

After Creep's demise, South of No North moved on to the Wipeout label, where they released two more albums before silently laying off for the 1990s. Each one of their four albums is a must. The problem is that it is very difficult to trace them. It's worth the chase though.