Hilltops Are For Dreamers Premiere Their EP ‘The Tragedy of Being Human’

One of the joys of heavy metal is that it enables a lot of musical ambition, which you’ll find on Hilltops Are For Dreamers’ new EP. This is your first listen to The Tragedy of Being Human before its official release tomorrow via Hilltops Recordings. It’s an inspired collection of three songs, combining goth and prog-metal influences to create a unique metallic sound.

The band’s goal through the recording process was to create an influential sound that knows no boundaries. With a large background and history in the metal scene, the members of Hilltops Are For Dreamers reach very high when they record new music. This new EP is more melodic than previous releases, with a sound influenced by Scandinavian bands like Katatonia and Opeth.

Discussing the new EP, Hilltops Are For Dreamers, founder and guitarist Vas Papageorgakopoulos states:

“The Tragedy of Being Human is the most spiritual work of the band to date. It describes the human journey from creation to eternity. It emphasizes a dark side where humans live a life of confusion and distress to end in a chaotic endless white for a greater, unknown purpose. We feel very excited about it because it’s a step ahead, exploring new musical fields, images, and soundscapes.

“The artwork is more sophisticated than ever. It is a real painting by Maria Kalantzi, a great artist based in Athens, Greece. Her art played a key role in the concept of the EP. While it seems to represent an upper and a lower world that is pivotal to our ‘balanced’ existence in the form of an ‘hourglass’ shape, the lyricist attempts to interpret it into the wandering of life.”

He continues:

“The EP is a collaboration of amazing musicians, and it’s the first time that we do such a thing. We worked with Fernando Guerrero on drums, a drummer and sound engineer based in Los Angeles. Apart from recording, he additionally provided a unique drumming style with dynamics that had never been explored by the band in the past. You can hear Sam Sanassee as a vocalist, a talented performer and singer based in London, UK, currently a member of the band All Involved. George Kostaras, also a member and main man of All Involved, played the bass and added some great colour in the low end.

“Music and lyrics have been written and produced by me. Recorded in a melancholic state of mind; we hope that can be heard in our music and feel the vibes as we do. It’s the first time that we have launched videos for each song separately. The EP will be released in digital format and limited to 100 vinyl style CDs in a card wallet with lyrics and notes.”

Since their inception in 2018, the band has kept very busy. Their self-titled debut EP was released in early 2020, which followed more of a post-hardcore direction. This was followed by the split EP A Transition, released with Repent For Joy. That album pushed the band’s sound further into more metallic territory which set the stage for their debut full-length. In Disbelief was released in March, 2022 which again was a musical reset for the band. It combined black metal with acoustic blues melodies. It also explored some electronic and cinematic terrain and really set the stage for what they were capable of as an ensemble. These past releases and The Tragedy of Being Human showcase a band where the sky is the limit in terms of musical possibilities.

Hilltops Are For Dreamers ‘The Tragedy of Being Human’ EP album artwork