That Tuesday night when I approached to the venue I noticed that there weren't many people outside waiting. Time was 8:00pm and the doors had already opened since 7.30pm.I was late and the Greek stereotype of the usual 30-minute delay chose not to be applied in this very gig!
When I got into the half-filled Gagarin 205 the first band, MASS INFECTION, had just finished their set. I at least learned from some friends that they were quite good. Anyway, it was about time for SUICIDAL ANGELS to get on stage. Though there's been a lot of talk about these Greek old-school thrashers, I never had the chance to watch them perform live before. So, it was about time to form an opinion on my own. The band started the performance with fast, vulgar and powerful Thrash tunes. The audience was enthusiastic and soon started a moshpit that later turned into a crazy backwash! SUICIDAL ANGELS were really well-tied together on stage and gave me the impression of a very professional band. These guys know what they are doing. They know how to pose and act on stage and how to truthfully interact with the audience and I think this is one of the reasons why they have such a tight and loyal fan base. The audience knew their songs by heart and they were singing along with the band. These days it is really rare to watch a Greek band of that genre having such a great response from the people. I also was really impressed when the band ended their set and a whole crowd of people was asking for more. The encore didn't happen as time was pushing and the next act had to get on stage!
So, here I was watching live IN UTERO CANNIBALISM; another hopeful band of the Greek extreme Metal scene. The band filled the place with their raw Death Metal sound, and they also aroused the audience to another moshpit! Warmed up by their brutal death tunes the metalheads were now ready to welcome NILE on stage.
At this point I want to comment on the fact that after the last supporting act have ended their performance many more people came, something that shows for once again the rude attitude of the audience towards the opening acts. Watching three more bands wouldn't hurt anyone! We shouldn't stuck in these behaviors, and when you wonder why there is no support of the local scene, please reconsider. Maybe it is all of us who have stablished this specific behavior of disrespect towards the bands and the music itself...
It was about 22:00 and the audience was pushing forward crammed to suffocation towards the stage. NILE were on stage and panic was ruling the place! After the intro the band started with Sacrifice Unto Sebek and Papyrus Containing The Spell To Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is In The Water and simultaneously created a Brutal Death holocaust!
Dallas Toller Wade was really talkative pushing the crowd to become even more furious. Sanders, the creative force of the band, was energetic and full of dash as always and showed that he enjoyed what he was doing! The string section was really well tied together and the backing vocals of Sanders and Lollis worked very well along! It wouldn't be fair not to mention the Greek George Kollias, whose drumming was flawless and enviable. Most of the songs that NILE played were from the Ithyphallic album, filling the place with their brutal tech Metal music and their Egyptian and eastern influence themes. Unfortunately, they just got to play for about an hour but the setlist was quite satisfying for the band's fans. From Eat Of the Dead onwards, and closing with Unas Slayer of the Gods, NILE offered us a night to be remembered!
NILE Setlist:
01. Sacrifice Unto Sebek
02. Papyrus Containing The Spell To Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is In The Water
03. Cast Down The Heretic
04. Ithyphallic
05. Eat Of The Dead
06. Annihilation Of The Wicked
07. Lashed To The Slave Stick
08. Black Seeds Of Vengeance
09. Unas Slayer Of The Gods
