The idea of Skandal was conceived in mid 2010 in Crete, Greece.
After being involved with local acts for a few years, bassist and vocalist Giorgos Skandalakis decided to put his own accumulated ideas on record. Calling in favours from musical friends George Bokos and Vasilis Gouvatsos for production, Vagelis Theodorakis on guitar and Phoebus Andriopoulos on drums, two original tracks were recorded, forming the First Step to Nowhere EP. Due for release in early 2012, the EP was intended to attract permanent band members at a later date, due to Giorgos' departure to the UK. Hence the work was released simply under the name 'Skandal'.
Giorgos journeyed to the UK in the hope that he would meet musically like-minded people with common influences (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest, etc), with whom he could form a more permanent group. The band played their first show on November 17th 2012, in Reykjavik, Iceland, continuing with the moniker of Skandal.
The band would face constant line-up changes during the next three years. While studying at the University of Leeds, Giorgos found drummer Alex Clayden-Spence, and together they recorded the Halo of Vultures single and their latest release, the Year of the Cicada EP. The band continued to play shows and festivals of various sizes in the UK and Greece, with several different guitarists during this period.
Still inspired by the same founding influences, they describe their genre as 'doom & roll', a ruthless concentration of raw riffs and powerful grooves.