I am not going to start with a classic It was a Friday night and shit like that. What I am going to say here is the tragic situation hundreds of metalheads had to face that night. The whole organization was - to say the least - funny since many people had a hard time finding the venue (if you can call it a venue) and only 1-2 people were scattered here and there to give you directions. The sound was terrible, since I guess it is almost impossible to have a decent sound in a place made of metal (and I don't mean the music). Not to mention that you had to pay 3 euros for a shot of beer.
The only good thing is that the time schedule was kept and every band was on stage on time. No serious delays. Let's get to the first band, EMERGENCY GATE. The German melodic metallers did not manage to attract my attention at all since they had a normal stage presence and their music is far from being characterized unique or groundbreaking. Not a bad act, since they were technically flawless, but I guess they didn't earn any new fans. And I said above, the sound was not that helpful for them, since there were many times that you could barely hear the guitar riffing.
Let's move to the next act, that was the incredibly pleasant surprise of that night. The band that hails from the country of the high and mighty CELTIC FROST delivered a hell of a nice show, with an energetic performance and an aggressive wave that made some heads bang. With a slightly better sound than EMERGENCY GATE, ELUVEITIE presented their own opinion on how modern Folk Metal should be played, combining classic ENSIFERUM meets FINNTROLL with more modern melodic Death Metal influences (even some beatdown moments). I met many people that claimed they were there to see ELUVEITIE and since I didn't have the chance to listen to their material I was more than curious to see them. The result? I am definitely a new fan of the band and I am damn sure I am not the only one.
The German Metalcore act was the next band to hit the stage and I admit I am not one of their biggest fans. They are great at what they do, probably one of the best bands in the specific genre, so I will try to be as objective as possible. CALIBAN delivered a hell of a nice show, though may I add for one more time that the sound was not that good, and their fans surely had a great time kicking each other's ass in the moshpit. Most of the band's fans were really young, something that didn't really impress me, and they were unfortunately there only to see this band. So, beatdown Deathcore stuff, relentless outbreaks with some Swedish style riffing and that kind of shit were what characterized CALIBAN, as well as their charismatic frontman Andreas Dorner. To cut a long story short, the band definitely pleased its fans, as well as people who are into the Hardcore/Deathcore/Melodic Death Metal scene and they probably sold some extra stuff from their merchandise.
And it was the time I was waiting for all night long. The German gods of Thrash Metal were ready to wreck the stage. With a not so good sound, but better than the one the previous acts had, KREATOR did not let us relax, not even for a second, since Hordes Of Chaos from the band's latest album came out of the speakers and total chaos was about to cover the venue...
Mille Petrozza and his comrades broke our necks with their incredible performance, which was helped by the really good lights and their show that featured a screen with various clips. Travelling back to the glorious 80's, we heard songs like Extreme Aggression, Pleasure To Kill and many more... and I still haven't found my lost neck! The glorious frontman was in constant communication with the audience talking about religion and other stuff that KREATOR have fucked up with their lyrics! Hehehe! The passion filled the venue and the moshpits were being created the one after the other. Watching their energy on stage left me wondering when they will grow old! The classic encore could not be absent, so the German thrashers decided to get back on stage to finish us with hymns like Amok Run, Riot Of Violence, Flag Of Hate and Tormentor (they always end their show with this song). After a delicious setlist (see below), they left us raped and beaten with Mille raising his flying V like... the flag of hate!
[Dimitrisk] It is pretty clear that in Greece you get to watch properly a Metal concert in extremely rare situations. I was more than eager and turned on to watch for another time the German Thrash machine but the (dis-) organizers managed to spoil my appetite. The venue is actually a hangar with only the five (thin) walls to separate us from the surrounding environment (and the beasts). Mud and water filled pits were the first obstacles on your way to the venue. Inside the jungle smelling and dump atmosphere was there to give you a really hard time to breath and stand.
The tombstone on my Metal appetite was put by the sound quality. To put it simple; there was no quality in what we were receiving from the amps. If I didn't know all the KREATOR songs I would not understand what they did play. Sorry but I did not watch KREATOR that night!
PS: Thank satan that I watched ELUVEITIE in the US.
Stay away from concerts hosted at Cultural Center Of The Foundation Of The Hellenic World (and pls delete the world 'cultural' from the venue's name because is funny as hell!)
KREATOR Setlist:
01. Hordes Of Chaos
02. Warcurse
03. Extreme Aggression
04. Phobia
05. Voices Of The Dead
06. Enemy Of God
07. Destroy What Destroys You
08. Pleasure To Kill
09. People Of The Lie
10. Coma Of Souls
11. The Patriarch
12. Violent Revolution
13. Terrible Certainty
14. Betrayer
Encore
15 .Amok Run
16. Riot Of Violence
17. Flag Of Hate
18. Tormentor
