The Haunted, Acid Death // Kyttaro Club, Athens, Greece // 14.03.2015
“Saturday night’s alright for fighting”. A song by the US Speed/Thrashers Flotsam And Jetsam perfectly describing the things that night had in store. The Swedish Death/Thrashers THE HAUNTED are back to Greece, after the departure of Peter Dolving, the comeback of Marco Aro and the sick record called “Exit Wounds“. Support act for the night? The Greek Death metal legends ACID DEATH.
Acid Death were the first ones to hit the stage at 8 o clock sharp. Their old school Progressive/Death metal sound warmed up the crowd perfectly, presenting songs off the upcoming album “Hall Of Mirrors” as well as older stuff (like “Balance Of Power”, “Dragon Queen” and “Apathy Murders Hope”). The band was in a great mood and was applauded by everyone in the venue, even though it wasn’t packed just yet. They didn’t forget to thank everyone for the chance to play with The Haunted that night. I’m pretty sure the album’s going to be killer! We’re waiting guys!
Best possible warm up for a jam packed Kyttaro club awaiting one of the main landmarks of 90s Thrash metal: The Haunted. In with the intro “317” and the opening track of “Exit Wounds” called “Cutting Teeth” (if some of you noticed a wild stage diver on this one, it was the writer, self-bragging mode: off) whipping the crowd into a moshing frenzy, especially with “99” off “rEVOLVEr” showing that Marco Aro could definitely pull off the Dolving-era material with ease. Let’s also point out that Marco was so intoxicated by the crowds’ reactions that he hit his head with the mic to the point of bleeding. Yet he kept on delivering! We heard stuff off “The Haunted” (“Bullet Hole”, “Hate Song” dedicated to us to end the show, “In Vein”, “Undead” dedicated to us), “The Haunted Made Me Do It” (“Bury Your Dead”, “Dark Intentions”, “Hollow Ground”, “Trespass”), “One Kill Wonder” (“D.O.A”), “rEVOLVEr” (“No Compromise”, “All Against All”), “The Dead Eye” (“The Flood”, “The Guilt Trip”, “The Medication”) and “Exit Wounds” (“Eye of the Storm”, “My Enemy”, “Time (Will Not Heal)”, “Trend Killer”).
Things were out of hand on both the first 2 classics’ material as well as the recent records, which showed how much the crowd has embraced Aro’s return to the band. Who was deeply moved by our insanity in the pit, that he couldn’t find the words to describe what was going on under the stage of Kyttaro club. Only downside of the night, the fact that they security guys didn’t allow us to get on stage from the sides. Why? The Haunted guys seemed to love this old school atmosphere of diving and moshing mayhem. That’s how it should be. But that’s just of minor importance compared to what we witnessed that night.
When the lights went on, the guys from The Haunted promised to return as soon as possible. And every single one of us loved that idea, since it was one of those nights to be remembered. After 90 minutes of wrecking our bodies and necks, the Swedish bid us farewell in a mix of blood and sweat! See you soon!
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