[Yiannis D.]: It's Wednesday, it's more than hot outside and...it's a fucking Metal day! Who could miss a festival that included names like JUDAS PRIEST, CARCASS, MORBID ANGEL and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY? So, myself along with Harry, Yiannis Z. and with some friends met at Terra Vibe for a day full of pure Metal, beer drinking and headbanging. Ok, Malakasa lived some happy moments the previous day with THE OFFSPRING, Marky Ramone and FLOGGING MOLLY but the time had come for some blood to be shed! Just kidding...But I am still having second thoughts on whether some people that paid some of their precious money would like to shed the blood of the organizers who really made us feel like total assholes for donating money to something that looked more like a work site instead of a festival ground.

[Harry]: Ok, it's not that everything was awful. If you see the names of the bands that played on Wednesday, you'll agree that those are big names. You don't see JUDAS PRIEST or CARCASS performing live every year, especially here in Greece. Further more, if we leave out for a moment JUDAS PRIEST and WITHIN TEMPTATION, this was the most brutal 'Rockwave Festival' so far. The schedule was followed almost flawlessly with all bands on time; except the headliners that hit the stage with a ten-minute delay. The 9.000 metalheads that came to Terra Vibe had a good time listening to some of their favorite artists, but here the bad things are starting. As Yiannis D. said above, I will agree that most of us felt, at least, bad since the organization sucked. First of all, no one was there to show us were to park our car or how to get to the entrance of Terra Vibe. Not to mention that after the concert, many fans had to jump through fences to get to their cars, since there weren't any lights or anyone to show us the way! The program was held, as I mentioned before, strictly but who was that clever to have two really good Greek bands playing at noon, when the sun was on top of your head and with almost 35 degrees (Celsius) at that time and then having a long break between 14:00 and 16:00? That decision was, at least, weird. The idea with the two scenes was good. It worked good some months ago at'March Metal Day' festival but not this time. I just didn't like that, while I was listening to CARCASS, I could also listen -quite loud unfortunately- the band that was the same time on the other stage. Last but not least: everyone that came to at the concert paid a pretty expensive ticket and the organizers did not bother to do something about the rising dirt whenever the crowd was moving. Especially, during the MORBID ANGEL and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY setlists the atmosphere was at least frowsty. Hopefully, they will do something next time, starting from the IRON MAIDEN concert in a few weeks. And I won't start talking about the food and that was kept in top of the water bottles...

[Yiannis D.]: The tragic events started soon enough with the poor Athenian experimental Doom metallers getting on stage before even the door opening! OK, thanks Didi Music for 'burying' one of the finest Greek Metal acts around! Anyway, it was really disappointing to see UNIVERSE 217 playing with only 2-3 people at the beginning (one of them being a photographer). Thankfully, more and more people started showing up. The band offered a 45-minute set with their female vocalist Tania being in great shape and the other guys making the sun hide (metaphorically speaking) with their Post_Doom_whatever Metal style. They played many songs from their discography, and since their debut album is out by the Norwegian Duplicate Records you can understand that they spent their set promoting their work. Congratulations for not being turned off by the organizers' totally unprofessional attitude guys! Keep dooming us!

[Harry]: Next band to hit the stage was INSIDEAD. It's not the first time that I saw this band from Athens live. Even though at that time a siesta would be better, the band played really good. Their Nu Metal_HardCore blend sounded good even under those circumstances. The sound quality was good, for a band that played that early during the festival. Of course the crowd was bigger than the two_three people at UNIVERSE 217 (who unfortunately I missed) and they seemed to like their music. I am sure that, as in every gig they played and I attuned, they won some new fans. A band that - I believe - can make something good outside our borders if they can get some help from the record companies and promoters. I left for the end the two covers they played; Blackened and Refuse Resist were excellent choices and I think that most of us had a great time. Keep up the good work guys! And After INSIDEAD, we had more than one and a half hour to kill, but with nothing to do!

[Yannis Z.]: The temperature was really high. The few people that were gathered in front of The Vibe Stage witnessed INNERWISH's sound check while looking for a breezy shadow. At 4 o'clock INNERWISH appeared on stage with their proper clothing and obvious sound problems despite their 30-minute soundcheck. INNERWISH was the third Greek band that appeared in 'Rockwave' and more famous than the previous two. INNERWISH played a mixture of Power and Progressive Metal with some IRON MAIDEN touches on the dual-guitar harmonies. The sun was so hot that it was really hard to enjoy Metal music. INNERWISH gave a good performance despite a few sound problems (for example the delay on Babis Alexandropoulos' voice was added in the middle of the set) and the extreme summer heat. The use of background female vocals made the final result even better. INNERWISH played songs like The Eye Of The Storm, Night Crawl, Space Runner, Final Prophecy, Silent Faces, Ready For Attack and Feel The Magic.

[Yiannis D.]: It was 16:45 when I started running towards the 'big' stage to see Death Metal gods MORBID ANGEL tearing the fucking place apart! I should inform the organizers that such a band is not supposed to be the opening act in a Metal festival, especially when they carry a huge part of the Death Metal history on their back! They tried to do their best on stage, despite the unbearable heat and I believe they did it! With a brand new guitarist, the high and mighty Destructhor who is known for his work with ZYKLON and MYRKSKOG, the Florida-based beasts unleashed their fury with Death Metal hymns like Immortal Rites, Maze Of Torment (I went berserk in that song) and many others, as well as a new one called Nevermore. Pete was a fucking war machine, Trey was the well-known leader on stage offering moments of shredding delirium and Vincent...well, it's good to have him back, although he disappointed us with what he did in the past...The only bad thing was the slightly noisy sound, which was fixed for a while, but in general the band made the whole gig with a less than mediocre sound quality.

Setlist:

01. Rapture
02. Pain Divine
03. Maze Of Torment
04. Nevermore
05. Immortal Rites
06. Evil Spells
07. Chapel Of Ghouls
08. Fall From Grace
09. Dawn Of The Angry
10. Where The Slime Live
11. God Of Emptiness

[Harry]: With a new album in their cases and with their new lineup for the first time in Greece, OPETH took the stage from MORBID ANGEL and for an hour we listened to their progressive Death Metal. But just after the, literally, first notes of Demon Of The Fall the band had to stop due to some problems with the sound. After the problem was solved, the band stared from the begging. Without big intermissions between the songs - the tight schedule didn't gave them the chance to - they gave the best they could, even though I think that the sound wasn't that good; sometimes I couldn't listen to the keyboards at all. Akesson and Axenrotwere good at their new roles and the band played new and old songs, with some changes. The crowd, smaller than the one that the previous band had (a thing that makes you think why didn't OPETH 'open' the main scene), seemed to like the setlist. Mikael Akerfeldt, despite that he was sick and tired, tried to keep in touch with the audience by talking a little between the songs and by telling some jokes. A good performance from OPETH, but my mind was already to the next band...

Setlist:

01. Demon Of The Fall
02. Baying Of The Hounds
03. Master's Apprentices
04. Heir Apparent
05. The Drapery Falls

[Harry]: Time was 19:15, the sun was setting 'down' and it was time to start the mosh pits again! The Cavalera brothers and Inc, better known as CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, were on-stage and bombarded us for an hour with songs from their album and some from the SEPULTURA era. From the first notes of Inflikted a cloud of dust was in the air. The crowd did reciprocate with joy. When they started playing the first song from the old days, Territory, the reaction from the crowd cannot be written down. Terrorize, Arise, Doom Of All Fires and Terra Vibe was almost falling apart. Max was saying only some Greek words, but just before they played Refuse Resist he said in almost perfect Greek Fuck it all!: and we did! Wasting Away from the NAILBOMB days was next, making many necks going up and down.

And there were more to come. Desperate Cry and Inner Self made us remember the good old days of SEPULTURA. Richie Cavalera, the step son of Max, came on stage to do some vocals on Black Ark. It was time for the cover we're all waited for: Orgasmatron ladies and gents, and everybody was moving and singing. Back to the new album with Hex and the one-hour bombing was reaching towards an end with Richie sitting behind the drum kit to play Troops Of Doom. Last but not least, they played Roots, were everybody was singing alongside the older of the two brothers. The sound was not bad, but not the best the band could have, since (even though I didn't stopp headbanging at all) I think that the guitars sometimes were sounding weak and Igor did some mistakes. But who cares? These two guys sure know how to give a hell of a show! I even don't know if the order of the songs I wrote is correct. And how could I? I was lucky enough that I was alive! But no time to catch our breath, since we had to run to the other stage to see CARCASS.

[Yiannis D.]: Fuck yeah! Due to being young I have missed many of my favorite bands on stage. For several reasons I cannot see bands like PANTERA or DEATH wrecking the stage anymore. All hope was lost for CARCASS, too, until I heard that they were planning to reunite and tour again! The time had come to see my legendary UK Grind_Death heroes live! It was one of those moments when you can't even headbang! You just sit and stare at the stage trying to realize if this is reality or just a dream. Fortunately, I was really living the dream!

I heard positive as well as negative comments about the band's appearances on several festivals. I didn't want to spoil my surprise so I didn't watch any videos on YouTube. The fact that the band did not feature its original line up was a slight spoiler for me, but the session members are something more than great musicians and they proved that on stage. Some people said it was like living an old CARCASS show, but even though they performed every song without making a single mistake, they didn't have the energy they had back then. Except for Amott, who is a really energetic person on stage and we all know that. So, Jeff Walker and his gang hit the stage for a show filled with brutality, killer leads and groove. With a nice sound (which was continuously destroyed by WITHIN TEMPTATION who were playing at the other stage and sounded louder) the UK legends played a set full of intro tapes and songs that made our necks hurt. No Love Lost, Keep On Rotting In The Free World and Corporal Jigsore Quandary were only a few of the songs that made the crowd go frenzy. Walker was constantly interacting with the audience, sometimes proving he is a hell of a nice leader, while other times just joking and fooling around with people. Even though Daniel Erlandsson was precise as a Swiss clock, Ken Owen was there to make a short appearance offering us some magical moments. I just wish this reunion lasts since our beloved music lacks such monstrous acts. We need a new album! Oh, is the absence of Black Star from the setlist considered a negative point?

P.S.: Don't expect a setlist from this show! The only thing I can say is that everyone who missed them is probably regretting it right now.

[Yiannis Z]: Here I was, watching CARCASS relaxed, with the sun falling down on my face and I suddenly heard the first notes from Sharon's voice and was drawn towards the female form that sung on Terra Stage. I am a man, what else could I do? This was the first time that the Dutch Symphonic band WITHIN TEMPTATION visited Greece and their (mostly young) fans were getting ecstatic. The complexity of WITHIN TEMPTATION's music made the use of pre-recording parts an obligatory. Sharon Den Adel has an amazing soprano voice and proved that she is the leader of WITHIN TEMPTATION on stage with a great performance and, of course, her good looks. She was often putting her hand on her stomach just to control her breathing and to tune the high-pitched falsettos. Most of the people that were gathered to watch WITHIN TEMPTATION were screaming JUDAS PRIEST, JUDAS PRIEST!!!, a thing that was really annoying for the ones that actually want to listen to WITHIN TEMPTATION. Their set list was based mainly on The Heart Of Everything album, with The Howling, What Have You Done, Our Solemn Hour, Hand Of Sorrow and the album's self-titled song. WITHIN TEMPTATION said their goodbyes to the Greek audience and promised for a return.

[Yiannis Z.]: Everything was ready; the lights, the amplifiers and the gigantic Nostradamus banner behing the drum kit. It was time for JUDAS PRIEST, the actual Metal Gods. It was 15 minutes past 10 and the Rockwave lights went out. The atmospheric intro, Dawn Of Creation from the latest Nostradamus album, kicked in and the crowd was shivering, until Prophecy came with a taste of Metal. Rob Halford, in a shinny cloth holding a JUDAS PRIEST scepter, was a representation of a true Metal performer. The audio proof was the next song, Metal Gods, and Rob was making his Metal God-robot movements just to drive this Greek metallic mass of people crazy. Between The Hammer And The Anvil taken from the ultimate Metal album Painkiller totally kicked ass making hard to breath due to the dust clouds. The crowd was singing a soccer chant that we only hear in Greece for bald football players and Halford waved us keep on going (personally I do not know if Rob knew what we were saying but it was a really cool moment). When Breaking The Law kicked in a stupid motherfucker decided to light a flair and throw it on the rest of the crowd; can someday be that stupid? Fortunately, the security guys moved fast and there were no injuries. After the classic Dissident Aggressor, the Metal ballad Angel calmed us down a little bit; it was the calm before the storm, because Electric Eye, Rock Hard, Ride Free and Painkiller were next and everybody was screaming the lyrics, it's like spitting Metal when you sing along with Rob Halford.

When you hear the angry Harley noise it means only one thing; Hell Bend For Leather with the steady Glenn Tipton's Metal riff and following wild melodic tapping solo. Rob returned on stage with a Greek flag around his neck, he made a small 'singing' game with the crowd. Rob started to sing parts from a Bach's piece and the crowd was singing back in an amazing accuracy; I must say that Greeks can sing. You Got Another Thing Comin' meant to be the last PRIEST song of the night. The heaviest guitar duet of Downing and Tipton was in a demonic form; along with the strong, solid rhythm section of Hill and Travis gave us a dose of Heavy Metal as it should be. I don't want to debate Halford's singing abilities, or his vocal performance, I would be a real Sinner to do that. Of course, the thing I've heard that ...PRIEST are better with Ripper... is just for laughs. Rob Halford is the only Metal God and it was proven once more this hot summer night.

Setlist:

01. Intro: Dawn Of Creation
02. Prophecy
03. Metal Gods
04. Eat Me Alive
05. Between The Hammer And The Anvil
06. Devil's Child
07. Breaking The Law
08. Hell Patrol
09. Death
10. Dissident Aggressor
11. Angel
12. The Hellion_Electric Eye
13. Rock Hard, Ride Free
14. Sinner
15. Painkiller
16. Hell Bent For Leather
17. You've Got Another Thing Coming

[Yiannis Z.]: Ladies and gentlemen, the Metal day of this year's Rockwave Festival reached to an end. This year, Metal Temple posted many live reports, mainly from our 'immigrant' editor Dimitris K. from the US, Erika from all around Europe and from Grigoris who witnessed the 'Arrow Festival' in Holland. Everybody knows how a Rock festival should be organized but this kind of knowledge hasn't reached Greece yet.

The first Greek band that opened the second day of 'Rockwave Festival', UNIVERSE 217, played in front of 2 persons because the doors of the festival were still closed. I think that we do not need a mastermind or a genius to understand that you cannot have a Metal concert when the arena is filled with dirt and dust. During the MORBID ANGEL and the CAVALERA CONSPIRACY sets, the situation was unbearable from the dust clouds coming out from the mosh pits that insane headbangers created. How expensive would it be to install a plastic floor or lay down a carpet so that all these people wouldn't choke to death from the dirt that they inhaled? Does anybody think we are some kind of Indian trackers to move through the forest in the middle of the night without a sign to show us the way, to find the parking for our cars?

On the other hand we witnessed an outstanding, groundbreaking performance from CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, Greek audience watched CARCASS and WITHIN TEMPTATION live for the first time and of course we sunk into the Metal abyss only JUDAS PRIEST can create, and all these things in a great consequence of the time schedule that was announced. See ya next year Rockwave!

(photos by the Lover Yiannis Z)

INNERWISH
MORBID ANGEL
OPETH
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY
CARCASS
WITHIN TEMPTATION
JUDAS PRIEST