[Caterina] This was a gig that many Death Metal lovers waited for... Finally, the gods from Holland came to Greece to show us how Death Metal is supposed to be played!! At 20:30 I arrived at An Club where the live was hosted. I didn't see many people and thought that this would not be a good sign. Though -as the time passed by- more and more people arrived at the venue... Probably there were about 200 people in there.

[Caterina] THE SOURCE from Greece was the first band to hit the stage. I haven't seen them on-stage before. I have to say they sounded pretty interesting but I would prefer something closer to old school Thrash. With a sound that was pretty good the band brought to my mind acts like THE HAUNTED and DEW-SCENTED. Unfortunately, the few attempts to set the crowd on fire were in vain, although their performance was excellent. Except from their own songs they also played really well Inner Self from SEPULTURA, and -I think- it was a nice choice for cover.

[Caterina] As people kept coming, another band from Greece OBDUKTION got on stage. The sound continued to be excellent and the band's performance was pretty good. They played songs mostly from their 2 full-length albums as well as Day Of Suffering from MORBID ANGEL's Blessed Are The Sick album. Generally, their Death Metal was pretty good but I think they just sounded like most of the bands in this specific music genre. nothing new nor groundbreaking... and I believe that's why most people were just watching without doing nothing.

[Yiannis DK] Next in line were the Athenian Deathsters DEAD CONGREGATION. Obviously one of the best bands of this genre -if not the best- regarding the Greek scene. I knew that DEAD CONGREGATION plays brutal Death but I was not aware of their new material that was released last year under the title Graves Of The Archangels via Nuclear War Now!. I also didn't give so much attention to their Ep Purifying Consecrated Ground and that was a mistake. The band managed to create darkness, blasphemy, holocaust baptized in the mire waters of a hellish dungeon. Their performance was excellent and their music is more than capable to create images of pure mayhem. INCANTATION with MORBID ANGEL and a lot of inspiration. The audience seemed to enjoyed a lot this performance and personally after my returning home what I was doing is listening continually the Lucid Curse and sinking into these -out of human logic- slow anti-melodies.

[Yiannis DK] The hour for ASPHYX had come; it was close to midnight and I'll start by saying that this was the best Death Metal gig that ever happened in Greece and I can back up this statement. Maybe because I was expecting it like a virgin wanting her first penetration or that some years before a live like this seemed to be impossible but that performance in An Club was at least colossal. The classic intro of the Rack was followed by Vermin. This was the ideal way to start a gig; an immortal song with a riffing that can make you have a heart attack. The crowd went mad with stage-diving(!!!) and moshing (!!!) spreading chaos all over the venue. This was fueled by ASPHYX's on-stage passion and power who were indescribable. With so much neck-breaking headbanging I wonder how they slept that night. The most important was that they seemed to enjoy their material so much like they were fans of themselves. Martin Van Drunen's voice was doom, Wannes was like demonized -the guy is a highlight himself- Paul guitar reached perfection while Bob's drumming was they way it should be.

They continued with the first track of Last One On Earth, M.S. Bismarck (aaarrrggghhh!!!), then the immortal Sickening Dwell and I was in the dilemma of watching them swallowing every second of that performance or hitting my head against the club's walls. The new one Death... The Brutal Way was so fantastic that was impossible to stay calm, especially during the bridge. They dedicated The Krusher to their old guitarist Eric Daniels and then came the unexpected; the instrumental Abomination Echoes from the Crush The Cenotaph demo. I simply couldn't believe what I was listening; well this was definitely the best Death Metal gig ever. This was a tribute to the white / black cassette covers, a tribute to the Underground. There is nothing else to add.

From The Rack album they also did Diabolical Existence, The Sickening Dwell, during the second encore the immortal Pages In Blood and the self-titled track which was the last one of the main setlist. That song and specially its middle -where both Martin and Wannes created screams and death roars- was a once in a lifetime experience.

The Last One On Earth album was also honored with the homonymous song as the first encore plus Asphyx, Food For The Ignorant -except of what I mentioned before- while they also played one more new track from the upcoming album, the catastrophic Elsenbahnmorser. The other surprise was the way they ended their show. They chose Rite Of Shades -a hidden jewel- a song that was initially unleashed in the Crush The Cenotaph demo in 1989 and -in my opinion- has influenced many, specially here in Greece. Not only this song of course but the entire demo -a cassette that is more than legend now- that sold 5000 copies back in those days.

I definitely wanted some stuff from On The Wings Of Inferno but the band played more than enough time. I couldn't take any longer and in the end I was exhausted, plus those surprises like Abomination Echoes and Rites Of Shades were a cultural shock. What is to say for the outro? It was by far the best live organized by the Metal Defiance zine and cheers to them. To the band and we surely want a repeat: Death... The Brutal Way.

(photos by the keeper of holocaustian peruvian undreground winds and Caterina)

THE SOURCE

OBDUKTION

DEAD CONGREGATION

ASPHYX