In gastronomical terms this year's Sonisphere was the equivalent of a variety dish that has something for every taste; rare fish, well cooked meat and well… a couple raw turnips. It was tough to follow up last year's lineup with the classic Big 4, but in all honesty I think it did succeed in most aspects.

The festival took place where most big events take place the last few years; Terravibe at Malakassa. Yes, I can see some of you who know the famous Greek word smirk. The place has leaps of improvement over time in many areas and it's good to see something in this country improving instead of sinking lower.

To save you some precious reading time, I'll fast forward the first four bands since nothing really exciting took place there besides very decent and professional performances.

LocalsTOTAL RIOT kicked off the festival and I'm sure that the followers of Max Cavalera's newest endeavors were pleased by their songs. Even "Indians" by ANTHRAX had a warm welcoming but it left me pretty much indifferent.
NEEDfollowed and is one of the local bands that have been building a solid name abroad and are definitely worth checking out if you're into NEVERMORE and / or PANTERA. Solid performance; it probably deserved a higher place in the billing for more people to check them out.

VIRUSwere… well… a chance to drink a beer and catch up with friends, because after the second song I found myself being extremely bored. Maybe they were just not my cup of tea (or beer) but judging from the rest of the crowd they didn't seem to make any impact at all.

The third local act for the evening was NIGHTFALL. It seemed like ages since I last saw them perform live, was probably more than a decade and it hasn't been long since their comeback. Once one of the classic Greek metal acts, now trying to get re-established they delivered a best-of show that wasn't helped at all by the sound that wasn't the best the festival had to offer. I can only wish them the best because they were one of the bands that showed there can be success and recognition outside our limited borders and paved the way for many to follow.

 It was time for the main courses to be served and the sounds of "In Memoriam" signaled MOONSPELL were taking the place in the Apollo stage. There is something out of place when you see certain bands perform in the light of the day, especially under the scorching Greek sun which has not been an ally to many bands, either for technical reasons (such as with IMMORTAL's melting corpse paint, many years ago) or for purely aesthetical.

Watching CANDLEMASS for example, under 42 Celsius did not quite deliver the atmosphere that Messiah was aiming for. So the Portuguese tried hard to convey their dark atmosphere in a time and environment more fitting for a beach party and they did a good job. Fernando Ribeiro showed that he knows how to capture the audience's attention and is an excellent front man.

 Unfortunately, I had to cut short right after "Scorpion Flower" because a monster named GOJIRA was starting to wreak havoc on Saturn stage. I've never had a chance to watch the French madmen before and I've heard only the best for their live shows. Well, I can only compare their performance to several brutal hits right to the skull with a sledgehammer, while METALLICA, NEUROSIS, DEATH and MESHUGGAH stomp your corpse to a bloody pulp.

Joe Duplantierdelivered furious vocals, his brother Mario was delivering advanced classes in math with his drums, Christian Andreu was piercing our ears with face-melting riffs and Jean Michel-Labadie was having a hell of a time spitting away massive bass lines.

Screw hippie love songs, that's the way to spread around the word of ecology and spirituality. Even though GOJIRA found themselves between two acts, since MASTODON started their set list while they were still on, they played in front of a large crowd in a performance that was truly amazing.

 MASTODON were another chance to spend quality time with friends. They are a great band when it comes to studio albums but their live performance was not the most exciting thing to happen till then. Watching them after the preceding massacre didn't help either, it was like going to a carnival and throwing rings to ducks right after your rode a rollercoaster.

I do blame the time, the place and the average sound since I am certain that their show would have been much, much better in a closed venue during winter time. Both the crowd and the band itself really seemed out of sync and even though they gave a solid performance, things never really heated up.

 Some time passed for sound checks and setting up the Apollo stage for the next long awaited act. This would be the first SLIPKNOT show after Paul Gray's tragic demise and needless to say there were "maggots" from all around the world who came in Sonisphere just for that. I have to be honest, I am not their biggest fan. Besides a few songs I never got into that craze but I do respect them for the energy they bring and some of their ideas, "borrowed" and original.

After their show I can only say that my respect towards them grew tenfold. They appeared on stage wearing their original masks and jumpsuits with Paul Gray's jumpsuit, mask and bass in the background while Donnie Steele, his replacement and one of the original founding members was playing behind the curtain and was never seen throughout the show. If you ask me, that was a massive way to pay a tribute to a missing member.

Sidjumped on the crowd even before the "742617000027" intro track followed by "(sic)" and that's when the whole crowd went crazy. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show, even the die-hard IRON MAIDEN fans. Energetic, crazy, human batteries that conveyed endless power to the people, they gave everything they had on stage.

It was the first time I watched them perform live (and definitely not the last) so when I saw everyone sitting down during "Spit It Out", I was in for a big surprise. My jaw hit the ground at the sight of 20.000 people jumping up at Corey's signal and Joey's rotating drum set in the midst of fireballs. Some impressive shit indeed. "Duality" was dedicated to Paul and everyone sang along, which was a very powerful moment.

I don't think that SLIPKNOT could have made a better comeback and it's obvious that through their shows they can impact everyone as long as he keeps an open mind; from the old school metal head to the angry kid who's in nerd rage because they won't buy him the latest Nintendo video game. And that my friends, is what art is about.

 After a very short break, the finest that Greek music has to offer in the world today appeared on Saturn stage. ROTTING CHRIST back from a very tiring world tour where back in their home country to show that they are at the peak of their career, something that will probably last for many years to come.

Based only on their sheer ability to kick our eardrums as hard as they can, no explosions, no gimmicks, Sakis Tolis and company delivered a great show that would be even greater if it wasn't for the sound that allowed mostly his screams and furious drumming to get clearly through. Even so, it's always like watching old friends performing; warm, modest, low profile and friendly, it's no coincidence that ROTTING CHRIST have achieved their status and level of respect they currently enjoy through lots and lots of work and attitude towards their fans and rest of the scene.

Their show started with the first two tracks of "Aealo", the self titled one and "Eon Aenaos", followed by "Athanati Este". Everything was executed perfectly, "Nemecic" almost made me rip my head off and Fernando Ribeiro of MOONSPELL joined his friends on stage for "Among Two Storms" and "Sign Of Evil Existance", joking about some of the Greek words he's learned from them.

The show ended with Sakis asking who wants to sing what should be Greece's national anthem, "Non Serviam" with him, so around 30 people jumped on stage and he performed the song while being carried around on their shoulders and singing along with them.

And with this simple gesture they managed to top what I've seen just more than an hour ago, with no explosions, no mechanical wonders, nothing of that sort. ROTTING CHRIST, you truly Athanati Este.

 I think that if I keep up like this, I'll run out of fingers eventually when they ask me how many times I've watched IRON MAIDEN. It's not like any other show you go to, it's always a history of lesson, it's a trip back to childhood, a chance to get in touch with your roots.

I know that I will never headbang like the first time I watched them, I will never have that huge smile as I did during those early shows, but I've never moaned or felt bored about watching them, again.
UFO's "Doctor Doctor" signaled the beginning of the show, as always.

Well, this was the first time I truly felt bored during parts of one of their shows. Don't get the wrong idea, the band was truly professional, Bruce Dickinson has probably discovered some age reversing serum and the damn Brit seemed like he was straight out of an old video clip in Donington. Everything was as it should be, it's just that this was a "Final Frontier" promotional tour and well… the album is more boring than watching pickles in a jar growing older.

The crowd of many didn't seem to be all that excited about the new songs either and everyone seemed to save their energy for the ones we've been expecting for. To make a long story short, "2 Minutes To Midnight" warmed things up and even "The Wicker Man" and "Blood Brothers" were received as classics.

It's tough to describe an IRON MAIDEN show, everything was predictable yet so enjoyable. Sure you can expect the sun to rise each morning but it's always a sight to behold and so was this performance. Everyone liked it, everything was as it should be and we'll sure enjoy them again in the future.

 To conclude,ROTTING CHRIST and GOJIRA were the highlights of the festival, performance-wise with the local heroes being considered by many as the overall best appearance of the day.

SLIPKNOTdid a great and very impressive comeback and I'm sure that they won many new fans with an amazing show and I am certain that Paul Gray's spirit was somewhere on stage, headbanging with the rest of his brothers.
MOONSPELLwere great even though the time and place they appeared on didn't do any justice to their overall image, but they still managed to deliver a solid and capturing performance.

IRON MAIDENgave nothing more and nothing less than we expected, a top professional performance that left everyone pleased, but nothing new was added. Even the "Alexander the Great" tease was repeated for the millionth time.
NEED were very good and have a very promising future ahead of them,NIGHTFALL and TOTAL RIOT were interesting and served as nice warm-ups while MASTODON and VIRUS will not be remembered as something special.

Overall, it was a nice festival that justified its ticket price. Small sound problems here and there, a couple of bands that appeared only to do their job, long awaited appearances, and a couple monumental performances.

Pictures to follow soon.