From the very first moment I heard that this great package was coming to town I just knew I couldn't miss it. I had the chance to see VADER during their last visit here in Athens, but due to various reasons I can't say that I enjoyed the specific show. I was hoping the Polish would reward us with a nice show, and it was also a chance to see MARDUK, a band I really like and never had the chance to see live. So, two titans with two support acts I didn't even know… Oh, it's 20:30 and SINATE started!

Hailing from New Zealand, SINATE was a pretty nice band, nothing exciting though, that gave its best on stage to warm us up. Their Death/Thrash Metal was gladly accepted by the crowd who showed the first signs of headbanging and various other activities, hehehe! A really tight band with an amazing bass player who attracted my attention with his incredible bass lines and unbelievable precision. Nice and heavy band for those who are into this kind of music.

More and more metalheads were entering the club, something that ended up kind of tiring at the end since Sin Citywas so packed that you couldn't even move, and many people couldn't even see the stage from where they were standing. Anyway, the next band to hit the stage was the Austrian war machine MASTIC SCUM. I heard many people talking about them, but I never had the… pleasure of listening to their music. From the very first notes, I knew that these guys would not only warm the crowd up, but they would set it on fire! An amazing band with incredible and energetic stage performance and a modern groovy Grindcore sound that may remind you of the last ABORTED releases. People already started creating pits and the good friendly violent fan just wouldn't stop if their set didn't end! Thumbs up for the sound, too, which was unexpectedly good that night for both support acts, as well as the headliners. By the way, I also bought MASTIC SCUM's last album "Dust" and I guess you should, too!

Ok, here we are waiting for VADER to smash our bones. I heard that their set at Thessaloniki was really short and I hoped they would play a little bit more here in Athens. Unfortunately, their set was really short, although they seemed to have a great appetite for destruction, much more than their last visit here I told you about earlier. The setlist was a little bit "whatever" for most of their fans (including me), but that didn't stop us from trying to demolish the club. "Devilizer", "Sothis", "Impure", "Rise Of The Undead", "Shadowfear" and more Polish Death Metal hymns desecrated my throat and neck, yeah we had a lot of fun with those beasts. The fact is that their short set made them look as a support act rather than a huge band that they really are. No had feeling though, we are already waiting for their next visit here…

Ok, it was the time everyone was waiting for, but it seems everyone was waiting for too long since MARDUK got on stage almost an hour after VADER finished! I admit I was slightly pissed off, but when I saw them grabbing their instruments I forgot about everything. "With Satan And Victorious Weapons" they sodomized us with the band looking in great shape and Mortuus "manipulating" us however he wanted to. He proved that he is a charismatic frontman and shut the mouths of people who try to compare him with Legion. With songs like "Steel Inferno", "Wolves", "Azrael", "Still Fucking Dead", "Beyond The Grace Of God", Baptism By Fire", "On Darkened Wings" and many more of our favorite Black Metal tunes, everyone was screaming his heart out! I don't think there was even one person in the club who wasn't even banging his head! The pit was merciless with even little girls showing their "fighting skills" and screaming like beasts! The sound was also pretty good, something that really helped the band deliver hell! The band was so glad to be back, that they came back not only for one song as they did in almost every previous show on this tour, but "Throne Of Rats" and "Panzer Division Marduk" were the two weapons that left only death and torture behind. What a fucking band!!!

We tried to gather our pieces since the show was over and it was really late and took the long way home. Everyone had a big smile on his face and I guess that despite the packed venue, the heat and the smoke (which were unbearable some times) everyone enjoyed it. I hope we see more of these brutal nights…

(photos by Absinthe Green and Weedow)