It must have been the pouring rain on an autumn mid-day evening or was it the SCORPIONS summoning thousands for fans at the same time in a nearby Athens location (as if even 5% of them would have a dilemma for which gig to choose)? Whatever the reason was, 15 heads entering Gagarin205 club as soon as the doors opened wide was a huge fail, to say the least (a number that did not raise dramatically during the event – 100+ heads in total?). And this was not the only disappointing thing in this anticipated FLAMES 25^th anniversary gig, so to speak…

Athenian traditional metallers CRIMSON FIRE took command of the stage having to face a 'family status' crowd. They did, whatsoever, perform quite well backed by a powerful and clear enough sound. Having seen this promising band in a series of gigs I could honestly say the quintet is in its most consistent period and – having in mind their "Metal Is Back" debut was just released – the future looks quite tempting. Their style has enough of the classic British/European 80s Metal principals while flirting a little bit with the simplified American Heavy/Power Metal style too. An excellent cast of musicians (with bassist on top) offered some quite remarkable music plus the cover take on a demanding original like "Tornado Of Souls" unexpectedly delivered the goods.

Not more than ten minutes had passed when the lights went dim again and a furious quartet by the name CONVIXION stormed onstage to deliver a non-stop filthy Heavy/Speed/Thrash Metal holocaust. Again the sound was (at least) decent helping these four Greek outlaws pound hard, fast and loose. CONVIXION has a 'trademark' pattern of songwriting, based on speedy rhythms combined with simple yet ample TANKARD-meets-EXCITER-meets-JAGUAR set of relentless riffing and furious 'beer 'n' Metal to the bone' vocals. However, their sound is so single-dimensional it would be no offense for someone to say he would feel bored after 3-4 cuts in a row. The limited crowd, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the band's set and that's what counts after all. Not to forget, their cover on EXODUS' classic "Lesson In Violence" was equally appealing.

If I had to speak a clear "Yes!" or "No…" on whether the FLAMES gig was worth the anticipation, I'd sadly choose the second option. Being a loyal fan of this Greek band since their early 80s mark, it was sad to see the Chris 'R.B.' Lee-centered outfit choosing to ultra-brutalize their instrumentation leaving little space for Thrash emotions, let aside the fact it was quite evident Flo (vocals) and Alex D. (drums) were not in the best possible shape in terms of rehearsal solidification. Too many blastbeats plus an unexplained overdose of brutal singing and playing possibly turned the band's 25^th anniversary gig into an amateur brutal Death/Grind recital. The sound did not help either, being quite unbalanced with the bass/drums on top…

Chris was quite a frontman onstage – with Andy backing him up where needed – and the few spectators helped in building up a good interactive atmosphere. The songlist included songs from the band's 3^rd-6^th album, if I can recall well, since in some cases the truth is I could not distinguish which song was performed, plus a new song form an announced upcoming work was also performed. During a couple of cuts – including a cover take on SODOM's "Remember The Fallen" – the band invited Nick from SUICIDAL ANGELS onstage to color the anniversary occasion, too. And that's all…

I have a deep respect for FLAMES' discography and was totally let down by this performance. I truly hope this was just bad timing and the best is yet to come. I do not know what direction Chris would like to follow during this new FLAMES era but as regards their past career it's probably better to preserve the thrashin' filthy Metal touch all FLAMES albums had more or less, from 1985 ("Made In Hell") to 1996 ("In Agony Rise"). Seeing the band logo rising after so many years was good news, though, and let's hope the future will be more promising for these classic Greek Metal ambassadors.