Mahakala, DreamLongDead, Audiobreed // Kookoo Live Music Bar, Athens, Greece // 03.05.2014

What a nice way to spend your Saturday night at a live show! And especially when it’s your cup of tea! The program included three Athenian bands, Mahakala, DreamLongDead and Audiobreed, that undertook the task of entertaining us. It would be my first time to see live all three bands, but the fact that I was familiar with the music of the two of them maintained my eagerness at high levels.

I found myself at the venue rather early, right as the doors opened at 19:30. The show, though, would begin about one hour later and I had plenty of time to kill. So, at 20:40 the first band of the night took the stage. This was my first encounter with Audiobreed and I was quite surprised. The band did a fine start with their groovy heavy rock, which bordered at times with stoner and even hardcore. For half an hour we had the chance to listen to some stuff from their debut album “All Shades of Colours, But Only Red I See“, released in 2013, and also one song from their upcoming album. Though the sound was not on their side, Audiobreed did their best, played with a lot of nerve and the quartet made sure that we would keep them in mind.

Next in line were DreamLongDead with their “primitive monolithic doom/death metal with punk attitude”. And mind you, they do justify this description. Their set was approximately 45 minutes long and with only 4 songs. But those 4 songs turned the venue into a black pit, ready to suck us all in. DreamLongDead decided to open their set with a bonus for the attendants, as “The Howling of the Hills” is a sample from the upcoming release. The vocals of John and Tassos mixed perfectly, causing dread all around. “The Dead Dream Under Our Skin” and “The Madness From Above”, taken from their debut album “MadnessDeadGrave“, sunk us deeper into this hell they created. But that’s not all the band had in stock for us. Up their sleeve was a mighty cover of “Silent Demise” of no other than Bolt Thrower. With stage appearance that doesn’t match their two years of existence and brutal music one thing is certain; DreamLongDead gave an excruciating but captivating performance.

The time was 22:40 and the last act of the night hit the stage. Mahakala entered with the instrumental “Come Rise”. Their laid-back and groovy tunes took over immediately and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves from the very beginning. Jim Kotsis and his company put us in the right mood with “Pact With The Devil”, “Lust For Your Blood”, “Evil Man” and “The King Is Dead”. And being a band that over the past year has done quite a few live shows, Mahakala had the party going, fooling around with the crowd and even joking about playing Guns N’ Roses. Shame that didn’t happen though! It was time for a break from the “Devil’s Music“, and Mahakala went back to 2007 and to their self-titled EP. “Pool of Kerozine”, “Bloodspit”, “A Shovel Stuck In Teeth” and “Dictated Homicide” rocked us in sludgier moments. And after that, back to “Devil’s Music” with the rest of the songs. We had reached nearly 70 minutes, when Mahakala closed the night with “The Devil’s Song” and finally “Modern Saints”, leaving their fans wanting more and of course looking forward to the upcoming “The Last Temptation“.

In the end, Saturday night was a hit! For those who were there at least. I don’t think we reached a three digit number and it is sad to see that such worthy bands are not getting the support they deserve. Nevertheless, Mahakala, DreamLongDead and Audiobreed proved their quality once again through their music and performance, regardless some minor sound problems. As for me? I will be definitely be looking forward to their next gigs!

Report: Stella Papaspyropoulou
Photos: Andreas Denwar