| Astarte | |
| Alias: | Lloth |
| Origin: | Athens, Greece |
| Genre: | Black metal Blackened death metal |
| Years Active: | 1995 - 2014 |
| Label: | Black Lotus Avantgarde Music |
| Current Members: | Derketa Hybris Ice Lycon |
| Past Members: | (see below) |
Astarte was an all-female black metal band from Athens, Greece, named after the goddess Astarte.
Astarte first formed under the name Lloth in September 1995 at Athens, Attica.[1] The original line-up included Maria "Tristessa" Kolokouri (bass, guitar, keyboards), who subsequently took over on lead vocals, Nemesis (guitar), and Kinthia (vocals, guitar). They had Psychoslaughter, the drummer from Greek band Invocation, play for the sessions on their demo, Dancing in the Dark Lakes of Evil, released as Lloth in 1997. Shortly thereafter they adopted the name Astarte, named after the Semitic goddess of sexuality. Their debut full-length album, Doomed Dark Years, appeared in 1998 on Black Lotus Records; two further LPs followed on the label. After lineup changes in which Nemesis and Kinthia left to be replaced by Katharsis (keyboards) and Hybris (guitar), they released their fourth and fifth albums on Avantgarde Music, the most recent of which, Demonized, was released in 2007. In 2003 the band participated in the Celtic Frost Tribute album Order of the Tyrants, released by Black Lotus Records, covering the song "Sorrows Of The Moon".
On December 30, 2013, Maria Kolokouri's husband Nick Maiis released a statement revealing that she had leukemia and was critically ill.[2] On August 9, 2014, Maiis posted another statement on behalf of his wife, saying that, while Maria had beaten the leukemia, the complications from the disease had caused her to take a turn for the worse and she was not expected to survive the day. Shortly afterwards another post was made to Tristessa's official Facebook page saying that she had just died.[3]
On August 10, 2014, Metal Archives reported that, following Tristessa's death Astarte had split-up,[4] as she was the leader and only consistent member during Astarte's nearly-twenty year career.
In September 2014 the remaining members of Astarte announced that they would be reuniting and adopting their initial name, Lloth. They said that they would be joined with some previous members from the band's early incarnation to release a new album (their first since their 1997 demo Dancing in the Dark Lakes of Evil) dedicated to Tristessa's memory and legacy. The group also revealed their new logo, which draws attention to the "t" in Lloth, which is also in Tristessa's honour.[5]