The Orthodox Priest Who Plays Drone Metal Tries to Reconcile Two Worlds
Father Dionysios Tabakis, a Greek Orthodox priest and rising figure in the drone metal scene, issued a public statement on August 27, 2026, clarifying his views on homosexuality and his ties to Greece's radical right. The statement came after accusations of homophobia and fascist sympathies surfaced as his music career gained international attention. Shared with the Guardian, it attempts to reconcile his theological position with the language of pastoral compassion while not retreating from traditional Orthodox doctrine on same-sex relations.
Tabakis said his view on homosexuality is "the same as that of the Orthodox church for 2,000 years, nothing more and nothing less." He framed gay people as owed love and acceptance, noting that many have experienced "great rejection from their environment, especially from their families," and said he has "always received homosexual people who came to him for confession with acceptance and love." Yet the statement still appeared to refer to homosexuality as a sin, with Tabakis writing: "with freedom we sin, and with freedom we repent" (The Guardian).
The clarification follows intensified scrutiny of blogposts Tabakis wrote in 2024 on the Orthodox Christian WordPress blog The Doors The Doors. In those posts, he referred to gay people as "Sodomites," called gay marriage a "sodomitic monstrosity," and described the same-sex marriage bill as "blasphemous." Greece legalized same-sex marriage around the same period, becoming the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to do so.
The timing of the blogposts matters. Greece's parliament passed the marriage equality legislation in early 2024, a watershed moment for LGBTQ+ rights in a country where the Orthodox Church holds considerable institutional and cultural influence. The language in Tabakis's blogposts was markedly more incendiary than the measured tone of his August 2026 statement, raising questions about whether the shift reflects a genuine evolution in his pastoral approach or a strategic recalibration prompted by his rising public profile.
That profile has grown considerably. Tabakis's debut album, "Paradise Metal," earned a critics' score of 7.6 from Pitchfork, and the Guardian published a feature on him on July 2, 2026, noting that his church regards electric guitars as "the devil's work" and that Tabakis aims to change that perception through his music. The intersection of Orthodox priesthood and extreme metal is unusual enough to attract attention on its own; the allegations about his political and social views have made the scrutiny sharper.
A 2013 YouTube video that resurfaced on Greek social media showed Tabakis performing a sanctification ceremony at the opening of an office building for Golden Dawn, the now-criminalized neo-Nazi party. Golden Dawn held seats in Greece's parliament from 2012 to 2019 before being outlawed in 2020, with its leadership receiving prison sentences for murder, assault, and weapons possession.
Tabakis addressed the video directly. He said he performed the consecration at the Golden Dawn office opening as an "official duty" and "at the request of his superior authority," adding that he had attended other consecration ceremonies connected with various political and municipal groups. Heat Crimes, the Greek record label that issued "Paradise Metal," told Pitchfork that in Greek Orthodox practice, priests "routinely perform agiasmos blessing ceremonies" for a wide range of premises including homes, shops, businesses, schools, public institutions, and military facilities. The label argued that a politician or political organization inviting a local priest to bless new premises "does not by itself establish that the priest or church endorses that organisation" (The Guardian).
On nationalism, Tabakis was unequivocal. He said he is "against nationalism because it has brought only blood and wars to humanity," and claimed that "the only ones with interests in nationalism and borders are weapons factories that spread death."
The broader context here matters for understanding why this story has traction beyond Greece's music press. The Greek Orthodox Church's relationship with both political extremism and LGBTQ+ rights is a live fault line in the country's public life. The Church opposed the same-sex marriage legislation, and Golden Dawn's parliamentary presence between 2012 and 2019 was the most successful electoral performance by a far-right party in post-junta Greece. A priest who blesses a neo-Nazi party's offices and then builds an international music career inevitably becomes a flashpoint for questions about institutional accountability within the Church.
Tabakis's statement does not renounce his 2024 blogposts. Nor does it address the specific language he used. The distinction between his pastoral tone toward individuals and his doctrinal framing of homosexuality as sin is consistent with Orthodox theology, which separates the person from the act. Whether that distinction satisfies critics who point to the earlier rhetoric is another question entirely.
Pitchfork, which had covered Tabakis's music, published its own article on August 26, 2026, under the headline "Drone Metal Orthodox Priest Guitarist Responds to Fascism, Homophobia Accusations," and amplified it across Facebook, Instagram, and X. The story has now moved from niche music circles into mainstream cultural coverage, with the Guardian's August 27 feature representing the most detailed account of Tabakis's positions to date.
For an artist whose entire project hinges on bridging two worlds that most people consider irreconcilable, the controversy cuts at the core of his public identity. The Orthodox Church that ordains him views his instrument as satanic. The music world that celebrates him is now confronting the theological and political commitments he brings from the pulpit. Tabakis's statement is an attempt to hold both identities in tension. Whether they can coexist depends on audiences willing to accept the distinction he draws.
