Sunday night...and everything started quite 'dark'. Olympiakos FC won A.E. Larissa in the last minute of the game and made me lose another 5 years from my miserable life. This is the reason I arrived really late to the Underworld Club for an even 'darker' evening along with German Black Metal masters DARK FORTRESS.

When I sunk into the dark depths of Underworld Club, about 60 Black Metal fans where banging their heads to the last INTERNAL SUFFERING song (sorry guys, next time I'll try to be on time!). The taste of what would follow was bitter in my ears.

Next Greek band was DARK VISION and they were really well-accepted by the crowd. The sound was really loud and the demonic screams of John N. along with his energetic on-stage performance made the audience go crazy. The band smashes skulls for almost 12 years in the Greek Death Metal scene with many lineup changes but still heavy as hell. After two short but powerful covers from NAPALM DEATH and the PANTERA-Stoner-like Pain Redirected (from their latest release Bestial Remedy) that created a mosh in the headbangin' crowd, DARK VISION left the stage.

DARK VISION set list:

01. Signs From Fallen Stars
02. Yearning Grotesque
03. Amongst Dead Butterflies
04. Warpulse
05. The Kill (NAPALM DEATH cover)
06. Pain Redirected
07. You Suffer (NAPALM DEATH cover)
08. Garden Of Nuclear Mushrooms

MORTAL TORMENT climbed on stage after 15 minutes. A female figure is always acceptable from the male-Metal-dirty-minded audience but when Decomposition In Vomit kicked in everybody was gaped. Rita produced some amazing, jaw-dropping, growling vocals and made Angela Gossow (ARCH ENEMY) look like a little blonde schoolgirl.

With absolute darkness in her face, she has what it takes to take MORTAL TORMENT to the next level of the Death Metal prelacy. The band has the three-song Infernal Odium Schizophrenia demo out since 2006 and they are currently recording a full length CD with the possible title Resuscitation. The crowd went nuts when the former member of the band Vasilis came on stage and joined forces for the DYING FETUS cover, Grotesque Impalement. After this heavy dose of extreme ear-bleeding Death Metal, it was time for DARK FORTRESS to handle our hell-friendly slip.
MORTAL TORMENT set list:

01. Decomposition In Vomit
02. Resuscitation
03. Exhumed Tormentors
04. Mortal Torment
05. Grotesque Impalement (DYING FETUS cover)
06. Chainsaw Revenge
07. Amphetamine Murder

Almost 150 dark souls in Underworld Club waited patiently for DARK FORTRESS to baptize them into the Black Metal abyss.After some tuning-the-7-string-Ibanez problems and a little mp3 player malfunction, the 'atmospheric' intro kicked in. All DARK FORTRESS members had their make-ups on, with keyboardist Payton winning the ugliest mak- up price by far. The sound was dark and really heavy with the band giving every inch of their Black technique to the audience. The unstoppable machine of Seraph (NONEUCLID, OBSCURA) on the drums with unbelievable speed, accuracy and a 'deadly cold' snare sound (that - almost - damaged my own eardrum) made the difference.

DARK FORTRESS have more than 12 years of suffering on their backs but the setlist was focused on their latest Greek-based concept album Eidolon, to which Moran (NONEUCLID) contributes his vocals and lyrics, as the new singer. But the mastermind of DARK FORTRESS is V. Santura (NONEUCLID, ex-CELTIC FROST) with atmospheric and lucid guitar playing that gives to the band the 'evil melodic' lines and the unholy sound they need. The crowd was in a constant mosh situation and begged DARK FORTRESS for a two-song encore which they did provide with pleasure.

DARK FORTRESS set list:

01. No Longer Human
02. Self-Mutilation
03. Poltergeist
04. Baphomet
05. The Unflesh
06. Edge Of Night
07. CataWomb
08. To Harvest The Artifacts Of Mockery
08. Antiversum
09. The Silver Gate
10. When 1000 Crypts Awake
11. Corhorror

With my ears bleeding from the intense loud sound, my heart darker than ever and as I was climbing out to the breezy Athens night, I realized two things: 1) Greek Death Metal bands kick ass. Both MORTAL TORMENT and DARK VISION gave amazing performances and you, Greek despaired beings, should go and hear them play next time, 2) next time...ear-plugs.
P.S.: Thanks to the DARK VISION guys for their set list info and Absinthe Green for the MORTAL TORMENT and DARK FORTRESS data.

(photos by Yiannis Z.)

DARK VISION

MORTAL TORMENT

DARK FORTRESS