It was a nice Sunday night with the perfect temperature for an indoor gig. The reason for METAL TEMPLE to ignore the basketball and the soccer festivities on the dumb box (a.k.a. TV) was LEGION OF THE DAMNED's visit at Athens, Greece. So, with an appetite for a Thrash evening we made our way to An Club to find out that SPEED RUSH had just entered the stage right on time.

Ok, this night was dedicated to Thrash so the Greek band performed with an old school sound that made us think of the early works of EXODUS and SLAYER, of course. The attendance was weaker than expected but -at that point- we blamed the soccer derby that was on the same time. This was a turn off but eventually SPEED RUSH did quite well and warmed a couple of necks with their 30 minutes setlist.

Next, on the billing was another Greek band under the name of DAMNED CREED and belongs (where else?) to the Thrash scene. This band seemed more solid than the previous one and had some modern additions in their sound. We had scheduled an interview with the voice of LEGION OF THE DAMNED so we only had the chance to catch a glimpse of the band's performance. But I did catch Enslaved Thoughts from the band's upcoming full length that drew my attention due to killer guitar leads. The only complaint I can make about their performance is that the vocals sounded less Thrash-esque with an disturbing Metalcore underlying profile. Talking to some people that saw DAMNED CREED entire set I found out that the Greeks did very well that night. So, many kudos to them who remained unaffected by the smaller in number crowd.

The Greek Thrash attack continued and SUICIDAL ANGELS were the ones to hit the final blow. This band had recently signed a record deal with Nuclear Blast and was in a top mood. The crowd had grown in number but not in age since it mainly comprised teenagers who had come to support the ANGELS and blow some steam off. The band did not let them down and hit them with full force with tracks like Vomit On The Cross, Prophecy, Quench Your Thirst With Christian Souls and Jesus Lies. The young metalheads gathered in the front rows had a nice time running around the club's empty arena and doing pointless something-like-a-stage-diving. Nick -the singer- tried to convince the people standing in the back to come closer in a not-that-kind-way and thus he failed. Ok, this is Metal and some can call it true but there are some boundaries to what can be said from a mic. Nevertheless, it was a full of energy performance that ended a little bit abruptly since the timetable had been already 'stressed.'

It was finally time, for LEGION OF DAMNED but surprisingly the crowd looked smaller. It seemed that part of the metalheads had come just to see SUICIDAL ANGELS and then left to catch the last train home. This was difficult to swallow and understand since the complaints of decent gigs and reasonable ticket prices are in the front pages of the Daily Metal Digest. This time the price was reasonable, the sound was almost perfect and the billing was really tempting especially with the Dutch band in the first position.

The soundcheck took additional time to finish but eventually the lights went out and the recorded intro brought LEGION OF THE DAMNED on stage with Death's Head March and a massive sound! This was one of the rarest occasions where the sound in a small club like An Club had this quality. You could feel the drums in your chest while the guitar's volume was the perfect 'excuse' to headbang. I counted not more than 60 metalheads a number that did not affect Maurice Swinkels who delivered his high fueled vocals to the maximum. I do not know what is wrong with the Greek Metal community but this attendance touch the level of disrespect to an honest band that shook many heads with their latest Cult Of The Dead.

The band left us no space (well not literally) to breath and hit us hard with Diabolist and the KILLER Pray And Suffer. Surprisingly enough as the time went by more people left from the club leaving not more than 30 metalheads to band their heads against Black Wings Of Yog-Sothoth and the solid Legion Of The Damned. After this one the band left the stage and headed towards backstage waiting for the obvious We want more chant. But this did not happen until some of the promoters 'pushed' the remaining faces to show -at least- some respect for the sweat of the band. LEGION OF THE DAMNED returned and thanked us for being with the them on a Sunday night and hit us for the last time with Necrosophic Blessing leaving aside Werewolf Corpse that was to close the gig.

So, this gig went to history possibly marking the beginning of a new era in the Greek Metal scene where the metalheads have become really picky on their concert choices. The question is whether the promoters can 'handle' this situation and not call it day. Many thanks to LEGION OF THE DAMNED who traveled all these miles and gave us a hell-of-a-performance and left the stage with a smile on their face! See you next time guys!

LEGION OF THE DAMNED setlist:

01. Death Head's March
02. Son OF A Jackal
03. Slaughtering The Pigs
04. Cult Of The Dead
05. House Of Possession
06. Diabolist
07. Bleed For Me
08. Pray And Suffer
09. The Final Godsend
10. Black Wings Of Yog-Sothoth
11. Legion Of The Damned
12. Necrosophic Blessing

(photos by the diabolist)

SPEED RUSH

DAMNED CREED

SUICIDAL ANGELS

LEGION OF THE DAMNED