Friday night live show at Gagarin 205 the best possible way to end your week. A really promising line up for all lovers of Thrash metal music: the newcomers Domination, the soon-to-be-established underground heroes Bio-Cancer and Exarsis and the headlining name of the night, Suicidal Angels!
The doors were due to open at 7 so that the show would start at 7:30 but things went a bit faster so the show started around 15 minutes earlier with Domination hitting the stage for their 4th live show ever. Their material was produced by Bob Katsionis for their first EP “Realm Of Crisis” and there was a good level of anticipation for their live performance. Domination play a style of modern Thrash metal combining Exodus/Testament musicwise with vocals reminiscent of Pantera/Sepultura. They had a good stage presence and as good as the studio in terms of execution. The material from their first EP (Crisis, World War III, I Am Your God) caused the first small pits in the crowd accompanied by two really good covers on “City Of God” by Sodom and “Ratamahatta” by Sepultura, with their frontman being really energetic showing potential to be seen more in the future. The sound could have been better but that didn’t stop the people from enjoying the show. Also Bob Katsionis was filming part of their live show.
Coming up next was Bio-Cancer in the vein of early Kreator combined with Morbid Saint kicking in their live performance with the title track off their amazing debut album “Ear Piercing Thrash” and kept on playing material from that record triggering the mosh pit to include more maniacs and the first stage dives and crowd surfs. “Anthem Of Violence”, “Get Cancered Now!”, “Spread The Cancer”, “Backstabbed Again”, “Your Punisher” and “Killing Habit” were well known from the audience and to them were added 2 new tracks called “Obligated To Incest” and “Tormenting The Innocent” and an ass kicking cover of Suicidal Tendencies’s “Suicidal Maniac”! The band was in great shape and in a mood to kick serious asses! Everyone was pleased in the end of their live show and proudly wore t-shirts with their logo on.
Next band of the night was Exarsis promoting their second amazing album “The Brutal State” and stepping on stage ready to kick asses and top Bio-Cancer’s performance. In comes “Annihilation…Proceed!!!” intro and then comes the spark that lit the flame in the pit with “Mind Poisoning”, bringing chaos in the crowd. Moshing and stage-diving non-stop as “The Brutal State” was presented in it’s entirety with the people knowing well the bands material and singing along with Alex’s high pitched screams! The clue was the guitar player replacing Chris Tsitsis (who left to join Suicidal Angels) was the ex-Suicidal Angels guitar player Panos Spanos who did an amazing job. The band invited the people to stagedive as much as possible and made the bonding between them and the fans stronger. Exarsis (as well as Bio-Cancer and Domination) didn’t forget to thank Suicidal Angels for the chance they were given to play in this show as well as the rest of the contributors of this night. The show ended with chaos on the final track called “Under Destruction” closing a great performance showing that Exarsis are one of the leading bands of the scene.
But then came in the main part of the evening, the heroes of a whole new generation of Thrashers (including the bands that played with them), the band that made it big in 4-5 years with hard work and dedication: Suicidal Angels. They came in with the title track off “Bloodbath” their latest neckbreaker and “we-will-tear-down-the-house” attitude setting the crowd on fire, showing they should already be considered big. They included song from all of their records: “Bloodbath” (Moshing Crew, Chaos (The Curse Is Burning Inside), Morbid Intention To Kill, Summoning The Dead, Bleeding Cries and Torment Payback including the one and only Bob Katsionis guesting in the solo), “Dead Again” (Reborn In Violence, Final Dawn, Bleeding Holocaust, Beggar Of Scorn), “Sanctify The Darkness” (Apokathilosis, The Pestilence Of Saints) and “Eternal Domination” (Crematory, The Prophecy, Vomit On The Cross). The other amazing guest of the night was Schmier from the legendary Destruction performing covers of “Total Desaster” (Destruction) and “Welcome To Hell” (Venom) whipping the crowd into a greater frenzy! He also promised Destruction will return to Greece soon. The show ended with the duo of “Beggar Of Scorn” and “Apokathilosis” literally DESTROYING the place! There was no mercy in the pit, just what the band loved to see. The only con of their performance was from Chris who had a problem with his guitar during “Apokathilosis” and another song of their set, which didn’t really let the people down it was just a technical problem of minor importance to the band’s mood. When the lights went out everybody smiled with bruised and wrecked bodies in the vein of the good friendly violent fun (quoting Exodus). The organization of the show was simply exceptional and helped the tired Thrashers enjoy the show without further delays. Thus ended one of the greatest Thrash gigs of the year. Support such actions as much as possible as I’ve said in my previous report. We wish every band and every contributor well! Keep it up guys!
Report: John Savvidis