OH. Rocks New York, France, and London with Red Lion Music Video

“Red Lion” Rocks New York City, Cannes, and London!!!

Red Lion Wins Three Best Music Video Awards! Three awards in a row in one week! As honored as I was to represent Greece in these film festivals. It was even more thrilling that a progressive metal music video was recognized in Cannes, New York, and London!

Winner of Best Music Video award in the inaugural French Riviera Film Festival (FRFF) in Cannes, France. A two-day festival held during the time period of the annual Festival de Cannes which included screenings, VIP receptions, an awards ceremony, and closing gala party.
Greek Composer and Filmmaker Olivia Hadjiioannou Wins Best Music Video Award at French Riviera Film Festival in Cannes
Event Photos can be viewed here: https://olitunes.com/filmfestival-cannes

Winner of the BEST MUSIC VIDEO SHORT award for the music video “Red Lion” from the album, “Metallia” in The Psychedelic and Transpersonal Film and Music Festival that took place on May 25, 2019, at The Producer’s Club in New York City.

Check it out: Greek Artist Oh. Rocks New York City, Cannes, and London with Best Music Video Short Awards
https://olitunes.com/filmfestival-newyork

And winner Best Music Video at the Cosmomcinema Film Festival in London. (to be announced in June after a special ceremony in Greece) The short is presently a winner and official selection in 10 film festivals worldwide.

Many believe progressive rock or metal is retro. Sounds from the 70s, for collectors or an eccentric niche..but the truth is that prog, even back then was just pushing the boundaries of rock. That is what progressive music is.
It is music that progresses, takes the best of all genres and pushes it to discover something never heard before.

I am very grateful to these film festivals for welcoming and celebrating a progressive music video, and I want to thank all of you Proggers for never giving up listening to and loving Prog.
Official Website https://olitunes.com

RED LION” NAMED BEST MUSIC VIDEO IN THE INAUGURAL FRENCH RIVIERA FILM FESTIVAL IN CANNES.

The Greek progressive rock and metal artist Oh. (Olivia Hadjiioannou) was honored by a prestigious international jury in Cannes for her music video “Red Lion” from the album, “Metallia.”

ATHENS, Greece — May 21, 2019 – Greek multi-instrumentalist and composer Olivia Hadjiioannou won the Best Music Video award for “Red Lion” in the inaugural French Riviera Film Festival (FRFF) in Cannes, France this week. The two-day festival held during the time period of the annual Festival de Cannes included screenings, VIP receptions, an awards ceremony and closing gala party. The award was presented by Gotham Chandna, founder of Cloud 21 International and Nicole Muj, founder of Kultura PR International.

In accepting the award, Olivia stated, “I am truly honored to receive this award and to have represented Greece at the French Riviera Film festival in Cannes. Today’s commercial music and film industries present difficult challenges to indie composers, musicians and directors if they are to succeed and be profitable. I am grateful to film festivals like FRFF, which welcome new works, celebrate originality and promote creative freedom.”

The prestigious advisory board and jury panel of the festival included Michael Benoraya, Founder, International Film Trust; Larry Namer, president/CEO, Metan Global Entertainment Group; Ana B. Remos, founder, Azure Azure; Daphna Edwards Ziman, president, Cinémoi USA; Monica Baca, CEO at B Team Media Group Corp.; Lena Basse, journalist, Hollywood Foreign Press; Claude Brickell filmmaker, Bruno Chatelin, founder of FilmFestivals.com; Paul Cruz director, Palm Springs Int. Comedy Festival; Anna Marie de la Fuente, journalist, Variety; Mick Garris, filmmake; Laura Powers producer, Healing Powers; Ana Remos co-founder, Azure Azure; Eileen Tasca founder, Alien Pictures; Sue Vicory Award Winning Filmmaker, Heartland Films; and Dr. Laura Wilhelm, journalist, The Hollywood Times.

Director Olivia Hadjiioannou as the artist Oh. has been honored for her ingenuity, innovation and creativity in music and video with multiple international awards. She made her debut as Oh. on the international music scene with the award-winning music video, “Trials” in 2013 – cited as one of the 50 top events to mark Greece during the economic crisis. With the advances of immersive video, she released her single “Love of Avalanches”, mentioned in Huffington Post as one of first 360-degree immersive VR videos released by a Greek artist on YouTube in 2016.

Besides winning Best Music Video in the French Riviera Film festival in Cannes, “Red Lion” is presently a winner and official selection in 10 film festivals worldwide including the Psychedelic and Transpersonal Film Festival in New York, the Cosmocinema Film Festival in the UK, the Lost World Film Festival in Greece and winner of the Independent Talents International Film Festival in the US. The EP “Metallia” has received over 32 reviews from 13 countries worldwide, is in top 10 progressive rock and metal charts and listed as one of the best albums of the year for 2018 on Metal Nation Radio.

More Info https://olitunes.com/

OH. TO RELEASE METALLIA [PROG METAL EP] PRE-ORDERS NOW AVAILABLE

RELEASE DATE: July 27, 2018

Metallia

I. Red Lion (4:30)
II. Bee (5:08)
III. Androgyny (3:21)
IV. Resurrection (3:56)
V. Dragon’s Kiss (5:03)
VI. Triumph (3:24)

Instruments: Oh.
ELECTRIC GUITARS, ACOUSTIC GUITARS, VOCALS, DRUMS, VIOLIN, KEYBOARDS, BASS

Composer: Oh.
Mixing & Mastering: Oh.

Recording Location: Greece

Available on Bandcamp

DESCRIPTION

“Metallia” is an epical prog-metal composition in six parts. A multi-layered sonic piece of ravishing solo electric guitars, time-bending tempo shifts, grooving bass lines and deranged drums.

This instrumental progressive metal album will reveal its intricacies and hidden depths over time. It will extract from your mind pure visions, to mend your mental pictures, preen presumptions and to elicit an element of the unexpected…. because that is what will transmute your subliminal mind map into a remarkable blueprint which will lead you from wherever you are now, to wherever you want to be.

Oh. song, Oh. Musician, Oh. music, Oh. Progressive Rock, Oh. Progressive Metal, Oh. Olivia Hadjiioannou, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, Oh

I. Red Lion

The sonic journey begins with the fiery “Red Lion”. Dazzling, dynamic prog-metal guitar solos amidst the haunting ancient rhythm of a bewitching toumperleki, groovy bass lines and eerie portentous vocals set the musical sojourner on his quest from the Prima materia to the creation of the Magnum Opus.

 

"Bee" from the Metallia Album by Oh.

II. Bee

An acoustic flamingo based guitar introduces an abstruse beat forged from multi-layered vocals which lead to frenetic harmonic guitar solos shifting in time-twisting riffs collecting the delirium of the mind-matter and as a “Bee” transforming it to spiritual gold.

 

"Androgyny" from the "Metallia" album by Oh.

III. Androgyny

An ominous ethereal chorus introduces the stage of “Androgyny” – one’s conquest over duality. An ironic, menacing and taunting riff incites the seeker, as a celestial chorus awakens the hero on his journey. The blossoming of a self-expressive electric guitar meets the forces of inertia, apathy and the oblivion of nothingness. The unsteady hero though rises from the emptiness with a twisted, spiralling enraptured guitar solo as the celestial beings rejoice.

 

"Resurrection" from the "Metallia" album by Oh.

IV. Resurrection

Undulating beats and transparent steely violins proclaim the entrance into mastery in “Resurrection”. A rock guitar reels in ecstatic head-banging measures leading to an explosive, exuberant climax of tempo-shifting multi-instrumental solos.

 

"Dragon's Kiss from the "Metallia" album by Oh.V. Dragon’s Kiss

Kissed by the Dragon but not dissolved by it. “Dragon’s Kiss” is an epic propulsive build of percussion, guttural and lilting vocals, riffing electric guitars, fantastical violins, grooving bass lines and furious drums traversing dark sonic landscapes and imagery.

 

"Androgyny" from the "Metallia" album by Oh.VI. Triumph

Delirious high pitched screaming vocals celebrate the “Triumph”. Finger-twisting guitar riffs soar in multi-layered sonic solos while a distorted demoniac guitar propels a spellbinding bass and drums to the ultimate state of immutability

 

COMMENTARY

We all want to have answers to the ultimate meaning of why we are here. There’s a time when you need to set aside everything you already know.

We collect experiences and impressions with our minds and this increases the presence of our soul.

There is a duality not only without but within because the mind receives information from both the body and the spirit.

If the connection is weak between the spirit and the mind – there is no possibility to see the whole or our state and place in existence.

Our minds – our everyday consciousness is cluttered with judgments, repetition, echoes of apprehension and fear, debates and doubts. If left on its own without the guidance of spirit; we exist in a negative world, alienated, in conflict with reality.

Let’s isolate the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are produced by the physical body first. Then we can isolate the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that are given by our spirits and be restored to our primal state of awareness.

Here is where Metallia comes in…

Metallia is purely for your mind. It attacks your judgments and expectations. It is an alchemical journey transmuting the base metal of your mind to gold.

This instrumental progressive metal concept album is a six-part journey to extract from your mind pure visions, to mend your mental pictures, preen presumptions and to elicit an element of the unexpected…. because that is what will transmute your subliminal mind map into a remarkable blueprint which will lead you from wherever you are now, to wherever you want to be.

LISTEN

FULL DESCRIPTION

Many believe our journey through life is a series of events. Each event leading to a totally new experience. There is a misconception that our progress is linear but in fact, it is more a spiral. Events repeat themselves. We move back and forth over repeating archetypal events with various variations, until “we get it”. That’s why history repeats itself, why we find ourselves over and over again in the same types of relationships and situations. We watch the same plots repeat in the movies we watch, the books we read, the songs we sing and the experiences we share with our friends and family in our lives. We never tire of being entertained by these themes, because we ourselves are also repeating them.

“As Above, So Below” is a phrase attributed to Greek writer-god Hermes Trismegistus, “thrice-greatest Hermes” – three times great because he knew the three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe, the three parts were alchemy, astrology, and theurgy – which is to invoke the presence of gods or divine spirits through rituals such as music to achieve henosis (uniting with the divine) and perfecting oneself, become united with our higher counterparts and attaining Divine Consciousness.

The phrase means what happens on one level of reality also happens on the other. The macrocosm and the microcosm reflect each other. In Christianity, it means “As it is in heaven, so it shall be on earth.”

It means everything is sacred and sympathetic. But, there is a misconception that on our present spiritual journey, we begin as mere material mortals and then finally are resurrected to an all-knowing spiritual being in some final boring blissful state of being. Some goal to be achieved and that’s it. The same misconception exists in our lives. We believe if we achieve some random goal, that we will reach an end of our journey and then we can rest. We are driven through our lives unconsciously to achieve something. It is a misunderstanding caused by an unexamined life.

The album, Metallia explore this and reveals an overlooked detail, a missing step. There are six songs, Red Lion (prima materia), Bee (nigredo), Androgyny (albedo), Resurrection (rubedo) , Dragon’s Kiss (citrinitas) and Triumph (Magnum opus), that relate to some of the processes in alchemy which is part of the wisdom of the universe. Metallia focuses on alchemy but not in the sense of changing physical lead into physical gold but as an investigation into what is our true spiritual constitution through experiencing the mysteries of birth, mind, duality, death, and resurrection.

We didn’t come to Earth to be resurrected into a spiritual consciousness in order to leave this level of existence, but rather we came to earth to have experience here while we are realized. That is when the true journey begins here on Earth. Metallia makes the point that we can’t even begin our journey until we “recover” our initial self – the one we were born with, before it was “darkened” on this Earth plane. The music in each song is purposefully composed to take you on this journey – to remind you of your true origin (Red Lion), throw off the noise in your mind (Bee), find balance in duality (Androgyny), become what you have always been (Resurrection), given wings from the jewels of the unconscious (Dragon’s Kiss) and finally finding that seemingly immaterial substance that pervades all life (Triumph).

Read more about each song by clicking the images below

Oh. song, Oh. Musician, Oh. music, Oh. Progressive Rock, Oh. Progressive Metal, Oh. Olivia Hadjiioannou, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, Oh
"Bee" from the Metallia Album by Oh.
"Androgyny" from the "Metallia" album by Oh.
"Resurrection" from the "Metallia" album by Oh.
"Dragon's Kiss from the "Metallia" album by Oh.
"Androgyny" from the "Metallia" album by Oh.

PRE – ORDER NOW on BANDCAMP

 

Oh. // Deserted Eyes (Official Music Video) // Featured Video of The Week

SHORT ABOUT

OH. composes, performs and produces her music, plays the guitar (electric and acoustic), bass, drums, violin, piano, and percussion. She is also an accomplished sound engineer and mixes and masters her work. She lives in New York, NY, and Athens, Greece.

Releases

Oh. released a debut progressive rock EP, “Sleeping World” in 2013 with the award-winning video “Trials – A Song for a Lost Generation” and metal album and vinyl release, “Synemotion” in 2015 and two singles, “Love Will Heal” and “Love of Avalanches” in 2016 with an innovative 360 virtual reality music video.
Two more singles, “I’m in Love” and “Deserted Eyes” are coming up for release this summer and a prog metal EP, “Metallia” is coming in fall 2017. Right now, she’s in the studio working on the progressive rock album, “Prog Unshaven” coming out in Spring 2018.

Honors

• OH.’s debut EP Sleeping World released in February 2013 – with the title track “Trials – a song for a lost generation won an international video contest.
• The album entered into Prog Archives into the Crossover Prog category.
• The song “Trials” was considered one of the top 50 influential events that marked Greece in 2013.

Sounds-like

Reviewers have compared the timbre of her voice to Sharon Den Adel and Anneke Van Giesbergen, others to Happy Rhodes and a cross between Kate Bush and Tori Amos. They emphasized her quite unique style, as one said, “she defies analysis somewhat as Queensryche” with a distinctive sound of her own.

“Deserted Eyes” – New Single Release by Oh.

DESERTED EYES – A ethereal and epic journey into the depths of the heart.

Dynamic and rhapsodic vocals summon forth the soul. Penetrate deeply into the inner darkness.

The narrator of the epic verse is a melodious and warm piano which is enveloped by softly beating drums which reluctantly release into turbulent and thunderous revelations while violin crescendos announce the sage-like proclamations for ecstatic surrender.

The song takes the listener beyond the vicissitudes of relationship and love – beyond the criteria of reciprocity and togetherness.

It casts a light on the individual within the relationship rather then the relationship itself. Expressing how one’s state of mind — if left unchecked and allowed to settle too long in dark and despondent moods —eventually wears away at the soul of the other — casting an immutable spell unwittingly upon the one you love.

Like water wearing away at stone – so affected by your state of mind, the eyes of your beloved – are left void – the soul having abandoned not only their body but their own dreams and aspirations as well.

Is there a way to reverse the spell?

Watch and listen to this epic tale. About
DESERTED EYES is a music journey by progressive art rock multi-instrumentalist Oh.

WATCH THE TRALER