SepticFlesh, Chaostar, Acid Death, Tardive Dyskinesia, Mahakala // Terra Vibe Park, Malakassa, Greece // 09.07.13
The final day started at Terra stage due to low pre-sale level. Mahakala were the first band to play with a sound close to stoner rock/dirty Hard Rock but maybe a bit more psychedelic compared to Black Hat Bones that played the day before. They thanked everybody that came over to see them under the hot sun. A really promising band that had the mood to wake up campers and start the day of the audience with a blast which responded well applauding them for their effort.
Up next one of the most special cases of modern technical metal bands, Tardive Dyskinesia. A band close to the sound of Meshuggah that has already made a good name in the underground as the next big thing in the Greek scene. Their 3 albums so far show signs of musical evolution within the context of their sound. As far as the writer is concerned they were passionate, humorous and some of the 20something people who attended that time knew their material well and that means the world to an up and coming band. Wish them luck in the future and support them guys they deserve it.
Then due to a sudden change of schedule, Acid Death the legendary technical Death/Thrashers hit the stage with songs off “Eidolon” (Eidolon, Inside My Walls) as well as older amazing tracks such as “Reappearing Freedom” and “Psycho Love” showing the band in a really good mood despite the fact that they played only for half an hour in the sun. Didn’t forget to thank us all for being out there in the heat headbanging with them. But they deserved better treatment that’s for certain. We just hope to see them again.
After a couple of hours, the atmospheric band consisting of Fotis Bernardo and Christos Antoniou of Septicflesh, Chaostar, made its first appearance after 2 years where they supported Rotting Christ at Fuzz Club. Line up problems kept them away from the stage but now with new members to complete the orchestral concept of their music they were more than ready to show what they had to say. And they had a lot to say for sure. One could easily travel with the voice of Androniki Skoula and enjoy beautifully atmospheric music combining elements of metal, classical and other sorts of music. Some of the tracks the writer enjoyed were “Sorrow Descending“, “Truth Will Prevail“, “Fair Maiden” and “Medea” off the “Anomima” album. They were deservingly applauded by the 50 people (more or less) making them feel welcome.
Then it was time for Septicflesh, one of the legends of the extreme atmospheric metal scene. In they came with “The Vampire From Nazareth“, “Communion” and “A Great Mass Of Death” the first and third being off “The Great Mass” an ambitious album for Septicflesh after their return to action with “Communion“. Those 2 albums were extremely well received by the fans that chanted and headbanged along with Seths’ chants. “Pyramid God” off “The Great Mass” followed and then back to the “Sumerian Daemons” album with the amazing “Virtues Of The Beast” and “Unbeliever“. The reactions were not as frenzied as on their usual live shows because the audience consisted of non-metal fans as well who just wanted to watch the show instead of creating some chaos in the pit. Fair enough. That didn’t affect the band at all showing material off “Communion” (Persepolis, Anubis (a fan favorite since it came out), Lovecraft’s Death, We The Gods) and some more off “The Great Mass” (Oceans Of Grey, Five Pointed Star) and performing at 100% to please the fans as much as possible. The last song of the night was “Five Pointed Star” with Seth being moved for playing before an amazing band and a big source of inspiration for Septicflesh, Dead Can Dance. A great performance by a great band.
Report: John Savvidis