Well, this gig virtually came outta nowhere! Promising (back then) Norwegian 80s Heavy_Power metallers ARTCH was announced to perform in Athens and the anticipation was high for fans of the genre. The only thing missing...the crowd for such an event. By-passing this fact, the ARTCH gig was excellent and - as usual in these circumstances - I drove off rather moody on my way back home.
It was a pity to see not more than 50 people inside the Underworld Club, right as 'classic' Greek metallers CLAIRVOYANT hit the stage. Their MAIDEN-influenced songlist made a good impression to the few spectators, while the band runs for more than 15 years with an already notable release - Fighter's Soul - in 2000. Much of concern was obvious 'bout the singer's 'can-do' in high octaves but - nonetheless - the quintet managed to warm up a nearly empty club. Their take on HELLOWEEN's classic I'm Alive was greeted with much of enthusiasm.
SORROWFUL WINDS - struck by the merciless hatred of God this period - appeared featuring two session musicians in their ranks. Only five tunes were heard from this long-running quintet, one of them being a thunderous cover of the JUDAS PRIEST fave Electric Eye. Their own tunes lay upon 'classic' Metal with a harmonic prog 'touch' and - fronted by a unique powerful voice - and did receive much of applaud as they walked off the stage after only 25' of performance.
When ARTCH's debut album Another Return (To Church Hill) was released back in 1988, I can easily recall the murmur for this splendid effort. Hailed as the most 'promising' band of the year, ARTCH had already succeed in delivering a fine mix of IRON MAIDEN / HELLOWEEN / (then) METALLICA in one. The follow-up, For The Sake Of Mankind (1991) was strong enough but did not prevent the band from falling apart, due to lack of label support and major music style changes in the early 90s. Still, whoever was struck by the ideal debut was ready to be bombarded with tons of Northern Europe Metal frenzy from the past (the crowd had now grew up to a number of 70 humans...)
To cut a long story short, the band delivered the goods as no one could ever imagine. Perfect instrumentation, 100% Metal, great sound with ripping riffs, ideal singing by the band's Icelandic singer Erik Hawk and - all in all - no complaints should someone make for ARTCH's appearance. The guitar duo of Cato Olsen and Geir Nilssen did outburst Metal fire while Bernt Jansen's (now famous with glamsters WIG WAM) bass lines did preserve the groove in a real Metal 'path'. Tunes included many molten cuts from the Another Return debut - Shoot To Kill (oh-my-God!), Metal Life, Power To The Man, Where I Go, Another Return To Church Hill, Loaded - while the sophomore album offered songs like When Angels Cry, Burn Down The Bridges, Paradox, To Whom It May Concern, Titanic - plus the last track ARTCH ever wrote - Jezebel- in their career (featured in the Sake... 2001 2-CD reissue).
90 minutes of non-stop Metal madness, all of the (few) spectators headbanging till the end and...the gig was over. I enjoyed the show; I heard killing riffs, I recalled how good it was to pay Metal music back then...I also grabbed the band's 2004 self-financed DVD to preserve the memory. We are grateful ARTCH did eventually perform I Greece. We truly are.
P.S.: Worth the notice was the fact that ARTCH also performed JUDAS PRIEST's Electric Eye (plus a DEEP PURPLE medley). Talkin' 'bout anthems that have influenced all Metal bands...
