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Report: Iced Earth + Support Acts – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
It's Friday night in Athens and on this last night of January everybody was waiting for one of the Greek audiences' most beloved bands: Iced Earth with classic metal newcomers Elm Street and the already established Thrashers of the new breed, Warbringer. One hell of a package for a Heavy/Thrash fan! First one on the billing was Elm Street who seemed very energetic and whipped the Athenian crowd into a frenzy with their Heavy metal stuff influenced by Accept, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden (they were even playing "Metal Heart" during the soundcheck) and created even the first moshpit of the evening. They thanked Iced Earth for taking them on tour as well as the audience for being so intense from the very beginning of the show. They played some songs off their debut album "Barbed Wire Metal". A solid support act who are given the chance to make something better in the future. Coming up next we have the crazy Thrashers from California, Warbringer! With one of the genres' most passionate frontmen according to the writer, John Kevill, they hit the stage with stuff off their brand new kick ass record "IV: Empires Collapse" called "Scars Remain" opening up the first big moshpits of the night as well as with the next one called "Iron City". Things got out of hand with "Total War", "The Turning Of The Gears", "Living In A Whirlwind" and "Severed Reality" which set the pit on fire and caused the first crowd surfs as well (including one from the writer). The band was in an amazing mood and everyone could tell, on the final track "Hunter-Seeker", John even crowd surfed with the audience going nuts about it. He didn't forget to thank us all as well as feeling honoured to play "in the land of the ancient gods". We just got a glimpse of what this band is about during live shows. Let's hope they'll visit our country again as a headlining act so that we can enjoy more of them! Time now for the headliners of the evening, Iced Earth. In with the heavy title track off their latest strong album "Plagues Of Babylon" whipping the crowd into a headbanging frenzy, singing and chanting along with Stu Block and Jon Schaffers' riffage. Up next the fast track on "Plagues" called "Democide" brought back the moshpits in the show. We heard songs off the "Plagues Of Babylon" ("Cthulhu", "The End?", "If I Could See You", "Amongst The Living Dead") "Dystopia" (the ripping title track already a classic amongst fans and "V") "The Glorious Burden" ("Red Baron/Blue Max" never thought they'd play stuff off that record) "Something Wicked This Way Comes" ("Burning Times", "Watching Over Me" with a amazing sing along part towards the end, one of the most heartfelt ballads for Jon, "Disciples Of The Lie", "Blessed Are You" dedicated to us, "My Own Saviour") "Dark Saga" ("Dark Saga", "Vengeance Is Mine", "A Question Of Heaven"). Stu didn't forget to thank us for the amazing energy and passion towards the band that night and ended their show with "Iced Earth" off the self titled first record in cheering and applause from a crazy Greek audience, showing its unconditional love for the band. Jon Dette behind the skins was the best guy they could pick for the tour. After an hour and 40 minutes, everybody was happy and feeling full with pure Heavy metal. Wish them well on the tour as well as every contributor of the night and hope to see such well organized events in the future.
04 min read

Report: Monkey3, Tuber – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
Another awesome band planned a greek tour recently and I’m referring to Monkey3, a well-known instrumental space-rock and stoner rock band from Switzerland. The band has recently released ‘The 5th Sun’, its fifth record. The record’s major success leads Monkey3 to be considered as one of the hottest names in their music scene worldwide. Smoke the fuzz managed to arrange the concert in Athens, along with Tuber, a greek desert rock band from Serres. So, here we are, in Six Dogs, on a rainy Friday night, ready to get trippy by Tuber and Monkey3. I feel the need to mention the fact that the show was a sold-out one. The show started just in time and Tuber came on stage. Tuber, as it is mentioned before, is an instrumental desert rock band from Greece. I have never seen them on stage before and I was curious to watch them performing their latest release (‘Desert Overcrowded’), as well as songs off their two past releases. I am not a strong fan of instrumental music; however I find the specific music genre ideal for concerts and live performances because of its powerfulness and psychedelic influences. The band started their set and the sound was actually perfect; a little louder than usual maybe but I could hear every instrument loud and clear. Tuber, considering the fact that they were the one and only support band, stayed on stage about an hour and maybe some more, delivering some straight-edged, desert rock melodies. We had the chance to headbang to songs like ‘Firebird’ and ‘Desert Overcrowded’, as the band was giving its best effort to rock Six Dogs. The bass was of course the one giving the chills. Everyone got stuck to the significant bass lines, combined with the funky, blessed with delay, guitars. Times passed away, without even noticing it, having our minds travelling hundred miles away, to US’s dessert south, listening to the best soundtrack for this trip. After a while, it was time for Monkey3 to perform their music set. The band was completely pleased with the crowd that joined the show and made it a sold-out one. As a result, they couldn’t stop smiling and thanking the fans, gifting them with a special performance. The lights were turned off and ‘Icarus’ was about to start this unique performance… If there is a band that can reflect kraut rock and psychedelic music today, that band is definitely Monkey3. The band performed in front of a large video wall, were a trippy movie was projected. The ambient synthesizer’s background music, combined with stoner rock guitar riffs was totally mind-blowing. The band performed mostly songs off ‘The 5th Sun’, performing for about an hour and half. Boris is a hell of a rocker, delivering those blues guitar solos and getting completely crazy with the crowd. I loved his passion for music and his energy on stage. The man behind the synth and the keyboard was also responsible for making the performance even more compelling and astonishing. Monkey3 and Tuber gave their best for this show to become a special one and their goal was achieved! The memories were the best ones and I totally recommend the fans in Larissa and Thessaloniki to support Monkey3. They won’t regret it! I also feel the need to congratulate Smoke the Fuzz events for its excellent handling of the show and for the equipment they provided, which helped the Tuber and Monkey3 sound excellent.
04 min read

Report: Nordor + Support Acts – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
First of all, happy new year to all that read this, it was the first gig to attend for 2014 and let’s hope there’ll be plenty more to cover. Nordor were the band that organised this and we had the chance to see a package of Greek bands in 7 Sins Club, on a night that was ideal to go out, good weather, good mood, relaxation from the weekly jobs, what could be better? The gig started at about half past eight and was over after four hours approximately, so let’s get to the point. Killing With A Smile was the band that opened the show, they played around 35 minutes and have a sound close to what we call deathcore, their logo also betrayed this, they have skills and abilities and they still need a lot of work before they can claim they play what they could call their own sound. The vocalist has a good voice for what they play and their drummer is of exceptional quality (he hits everything), but in some parts their compositions seem to get the listener confused and the band lost within its sound. They will surely do a lot better with more stage experience, so my first encounter with them is of mixed feelings, but I’d rather keep the good moments, which were more than the bad ones. Congress Method came next, moving quite close to Killing With A Smile’s sound, with another great drummer giving a great performance, a decent cover of Slipknot’s ‘’(Sic)’’ and with the same duration as the first band in their set. I’m sorry to state this, but to say the least, I’d like them to take themselves a little more seriously, if they can’t take their music this way. The potential to be a good band exist, but they must talk less and play more. The guitarists play good riffs which need a little more focused direction. A note to the guys: You DON’T need a dancer while playing to attract attention, make your music more notable. A note to the singer: Take advantage of the skills of your voice and develop it inside the tracks, get this two connected and talk less between the songs. If the guys do these, then all will flow much better. Vigour is a band that plays black metal the way the genre must sound. Aggressive, vast, fast, epic in parts and with a sound that was as clear as it should to make them sound like a good extreme band that plays music above all and not noise. A great throat by the singer and a great sound from the sound engineer helped them make a notable performance that stole a lot of impressions. They played a cover of Behemoth’s ‘’Ov Fire And The Void’’ (yeah!) in such a way they can claim they did a great job. The performance lasted about forty minutes and the guys will do miracles if they continue this way. They show very dedicated to what they do and they know exactly the sound they want to produce, so things will come to them the way they’ve planned them, one way or another. Hit it boys! Nordor didn’t only organise the whole event, but also played around 70 minutes. Despite telling the fans they couldn’t play more because the drummer would spit his guts out, they didn’t show the singlest hint of tireness while playing. Greece needs bands like Nordor for sure and they need to play gigs more often, to show how powerful they are on stage, as well as they are on their albums. If I’m not wrong they’re counting 25 years of presence, so experience follows them in their playing and their mentality. Riffs that know what and when to play, two insane bassists (it was their first show with the second bassist) and a drummer that can play everything, though I liked his thrash metal style playing in many parts of the tracks, making the result sounding enough old school. A great performance, and a more enjoyable, as I had seen them with Deicide in Thessaloniki on May 2010 and they played much less tracks I couldn’t take a big taste of them, now I can say I’m full. I’d like to end this report by saying something I’ve said again to the fans that are supposed to support such events. If you say you want to support stuff like that, it won’t be that bad to see the whole sets of every band. These bands play for you people, you won’t get hurt if you see the first band a little after eight o’clock and you won’t miss the night fun if you leave after midnight in order to see the headliner. This time you didn’t even have the excuse of missing the last means of transport, as it was Saturday and you had all the time in the world to go wherever you wanted after the show. The whole experience was notable and I’d like to wish the bands the best possible for the future. Let’s hope they’ll get more respect from the crowd next time and a big hail to those who stayed until the last track Nordor played.
05 min read

Report: Aura Noir + Support Acts – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
Saturday night at An Club ready for an extreme metal night to be remembered: After 10 years and one gig cancelling 2 years ago, Aura Noir the hellish originators of Black/Thrash from Norway have come to Greece for a special live show. On their side, the old school of Death/Thrash Death Courier from Patras and the really strong Blacksters Abyssgale, who hit the stage at 9 o clock. With a sound between the Norwegian Black metal style combined with a good amount of Thrash influences deriving from Sodom, Destruction and Celtic Frost, they stomped the stage with emphasis basing their set on "The Coming Plague" EP plus 3 songs of their upcoming album "Hegemon" ("Execution Litany", "Anoint Wounds With Poison", "Hegemon" and "Altar Thane Of Mental Alienation") showing that the best is yet to come for them. We also had the first small circle pits of the night. Then we have the mighty Death Courier, the Death/Thrashers from Patras who came back with their amazing "Perimortem" album ripping it out old school way showing the younger people how things should be done. Unfortunately the crowd wasn't pretty energetic in terms of moshing since everyone awaited for the headliners of the night, yet everyone had a good time and headbanged as much as possible. The set of Death Courier included the entire "Perimortem" record in their set alongside the tracks "Demise", "Copkiller" and a cover of Possessed's classic "The Exorcist"! The band everyone was waiting for finally took the stage and from the first track to the last one the only thing left to say was this: violent moshing, stagediving and Black/Thrash lessons delivered to those unaware. Including material from every album of their career ("Black Thrash Attack", "Dreams Like Desert", "Deep Tracts Of Hell", "The Merciless", "Hades Rise", "Out To Die") they showed everybody how things were done with amazing tracks such as "Sons Of Hades", "Black Thrash Attack" and "Conqueror" whipping the crowd into an absolute frenzy, really paying off the band that celebrates their 10th anniversary of their last show in Greece. Even though their bass player was unlucky with his bass, since his string broke on the first track, no one was really bothered by it chanting "AURA NOIR! AURA NOIR!" as loud as possible and that fired up the band to give in 100% of their capabilities. They included a cover of the Celtic Frost classic "Dethroned Emperor" to finish up any neck left unbroken from furious headbanging. Everybody left satisfied when the lights went on. Wish every one in Metal Defiance that put up this event well and as the band said "We are Aura Noir THE UGLIEST BAND IN THE WORLD!". Let's hope we'll see more of that in the future.
02 min read

Report: Thrashers United IV – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
"Thrashing and slamming like hell in the pit Tomorrow they know may not come Banging and moshing like they don't give a shit To the rapid beat of the drum" (D.R.I. - Thrashard) "Don't start to cry if you get a black eye Just dive back in and give another try But too much action may leave you in traction So you better get insurance no matter your endurance" (Exodus - The Toxic Waltz) Those words by those Thrash legends could pretty much sum up the Thrashers United event going on for the fourth time in 5 years! Exarsis, Bio-Cancer, Chronosphere, Fadom and Domination were there to show what the new breed of Thrash has to offer. A fully packed 7Sins awaited some of the most popular bands of the scene. The 16-year old phenomenon called Domination took the stage first to show what they're made of. They played mostly material from their well-known so far "The Sacred Matrix" mini-CD (I Am Your God, Crisis, Death And Decay) in the style of Sepultura, Pantera and Slayer as well as newer stuff off the upcoming full length "Infants Of Thrash" (playing the blistering title track and one more I can't recall) creating the first mosh pits and stagedives (the writer being one of them!), giving it all for the crowd that set the tempo for the bands to come. Coming up next we have Fadom, the honored band of the event releasing their debut full-length "Pantophobia" that day. The band decided to play that album in its entirety in a mixed ordered starting off with "Massive Destruction" making things even more violent in the pit including a surfboard for stagediving and plastic bananas (yes you heard it correct: two surfboards for all the maniac stagedivers). Songs played off that album were the title track, "Heavenfall", "Thrash Bandicoot", the anthemic "Thrasholution",
06 min read

Report: Metalpaths Festival – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
A brutal Death/Grind Saturday night lied in store for the ones present at 7Sins club to a really strong package full of young and promising bands of the scene. First ones to take the stage are the brand new Blessed By Perversion. Their EP "Destroy The Image Of God" is a kick ass Death metal release in the vein of Morbid Angel and Deicide with some Death/Obituary influence in the lead department. They were really energetic and made the crowd at the time headbang as hard as possible with their material (including a new song keeping up on the same path musicwise). Their frontman didn't forget to thank everybody in the audience for being there and especially Metalpaths.com for inviting them on this event. Everyone were pleased and some were proudly wearing their t-shirts at the end (the writer doing so at the very end of the gig!). Without any further ado, Trigger hit the stage, the only non-Death/Grind band of the evening. With a sound close to bands like Soulfly, Machine Head and a bit of metalcore/NWOAHM they were really energetic and did a great show, even though it was a sudden change from the brutality of the previous and upcoming bands. I sincerely believe that not everybody was expecting that kind of band to be in that billing in terms of music style. It was a really good break from the brutal assault of the rest, truth be told, every one of us enjoyed them and gave them the applause they deserved. Coming up next we had a more modern Death metal band called Alterself, somewhere in the style of early Death, Incantation but without a good sound to support their material. It's a pity since they seemed like a good case of a band. Great soloing from what I could tell, and brought the first pits into the show as well. A touching moment when they dedicated a new song to the grandfather of the one guitar player who passed away about a week ago. Stuff got serious with Necrorgasm, playing a style of Brutal Death metal in the vein of masters Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation with gore lyrics and lots of crazy mood from an amazingly passionate frontman and solid guitar sound. We need more guys like him in the scene in general. Whipped the crowd into a frenzy and the first serious circle pits occured. Another band that came from the North of Greece, showing the guts to rip the stage apart. My respects guys.
04 min read

Report: Rotting Christ – Athens, Greece

Manos Spanos
Saturday night in December waiting for one of the last great shows of the year: The legendary Rotting Christ celebrating 25 years of Black metal would play the biggest set in their history, rumored to be over 2 hours long. Regardless of what era of the band one loves the most, there's absolutely NO DENYING that Rotting Christ are among the legends of the scene rightfully making a name for themselves and the Greek metal scene without forgetting to support up and coming bands on their tours, something no one did for them when they made their first steps in the field of metal. While entering the venue, there was a high level of anticipation from both the new generation of fans brought into Rotting Christ by albums such as "Theogonia", "Sanctus Diavolos" etc. and the old schoolers wishing upon a setlist full of surprises off the renounced classics such as "Thy Mighty Contract" which had its 20th anniversary. The band kicks in with the haunting epic "666" off the latest great album"Kata Ton Daimona Eautou". And the crowd is whipped into a frenzy singing and chanting along with the band. Back to "Aealo" to speed things up a bit with "Dub-sag-ta-ke" and the band seemed in the finest mood possible for one hell of a night. The set went on with "Athanatoi Este" (off "Sanctus Diavolos), "Kata Ton Daimona Eautou" and "Nemecic" (off "Theogonia") setting the moshpit on fire, showing just how many new fans they have brought to their shows with their latest records. We heard songs from their whole discography that night: the "Satanas Tedeum" demo ("Feast On The Grand Whore), "Passage To Arcturo" ("Gloria Del Domino Inferni", The Forest Of N'Gai"), "Dawn Of The Iconoclast" 7" EP ("The Nereid Of Esgaduin" without forgetting to thank Magus of Necromantia and Jim Mutilator for helping them in their early days of the band), "Thy Mighty Contract" ("Transform All Suffering Into Plagues", "The Sign Of Evil Existence", "Exiled Archangels" and "Fgmeth Thy Gift" played back to back making the writer go crazy!), "Non Serviam" (The uber-classic title track being part of the first encore), "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers" ("Archon" being in the second encore), "A Dead Poem" ("Sorrowful Farewell", "Among Two Storms"), "Sleep Of The Angels" ("After Dark I Feel"), "Khronos ΧΞΣ" ("Lucifer Over London" cover of Current 93,one of the best Rotting Christ covers ever!), "Genesis" ("The Call Of The Aethyrs" and the amazing "Quintessence"), "Theogonia" ("Χαος Γένετο (The Sign Of Prime Creation)", "Enuma Elish", "Phobos Synagogue"), "Aealo" ("Eon Aenaos", another cover on Diamanda Gallas' "Orders From The Dead", "Noctis Era", "Demonon Vrosis"), "Kata Ton Daimona Eautou" ("In Yumen-Xibalba", "Grandis Spiritus Diavolos", "Welcome To Hel" the writer was hoping they'd play this kick ass bonus track one day!!) and a ripping cover on Thou Art Lord's "Societas Satanas" off the "Apollyon" record. After 2 encores, 2 and a half hours and a band furious as hell itself, Rotting Christ ended their setlist with "Archon" causing the last big moshpit in the crowd, followed by a sample outro off the "300" movie. The only thing the writer could see at the end of that hellish live show was happy faces of either wild moshers, or longtime fans sitting on the back and on the sides enjoying themselves. This is how timeless this band is, we could say they are the Greek scene's equivelant to Iron Maiden: all time classic band, timeless mark on the genre and always respectful towards the new breed of bands. Rotting Christ fellows, the only thing left to be said is this: Here's to another 25! NON FUCKING SERVIAM!!!!
04 min read

Report: Bewized + Support Acts – Athens, Greece

Panagiotis Karagiannidis
A day after Jarboe’s gig, I set on visiting the centre of Athens once again to witness the gig of four modern sounding bands that have a lot to offer to the Greek Scene. The coming of Bewized from Thessaloniki to Athens to present their new album was a good reason for fans to enter the show and there must have been around a hundred people that attended the show, despite the fact that there should be much more according to facebook postings (that means that if you don’t want to go to a gig, DON’T say you’re attending it). The gig started with a small delay of one hour but was worth the wait as the sound was very good for all the bands until the end (some small problems here and there were getting fixed immediately).
04 min read