Sunday night and having nothing better to do, me and Harry walked down the road to An Club, being shitfaced because of the incredibly shitty games our favorite soccer teams played earlier that night. Anyway, we got to the club just before the time the doors were supposed to open (19:30). The fact that we were waiting for about an hour outside the club is just one more reminder of the Greek reality. Enough with the bitching! Time for some Greek Metal guys!

[Yannis D] The doors opened at about 20:00 and we immediately entered the club to see TRIGGER being on stage, delivering their own opinion on how Metal should sound with groovy breaks, SEPULTURA style Thrash elements, as well as some Nu Metal touches. The Athenian youngsters have managed to create a rather interesting sound that may remind you of some bands, but also manages to sound personal and unique. The guys tried to warm up the crowd with some songs from their work until now (no cover songs were allowed to be played) and I believe they did really well, since I personally found the band talented enough to make my head bang! The only negative thing was that except from the singer, who gave 100% of his abilities on stage, the rest of the guys did not have what you call energy.

TRIGGER

[Harry] Just 5 minutes that TRIGGER left the stage; it was time to see BARE INFINITY. A typical woman fronted band. It was obvious that the one who attracted all the attention was Christiana, the front woman of the band. With good stage presentation from the whole band and good sound, it wasn't hard to take the crowd with them. Their gothic metal compositions were nice and the fans followed Christiana's and Vincent's (keyboards) calls. With songs like Always Forever and Lost Again, BARE INFINITY managed to convince the judges that they deserve a place in the Wacken National Final.

BARE INFINITY

[Harry] The good thing in those events is that you can listen to bands with different background. ASTRAL AEON was next with their black metal. In one hand, I was happy to listen to something different but on the other unfortunately, I was expecting something better from the quintet. Ok, the sound didn't help them. They gave An club a black kick in the ass, that's for sure, but I think they can play better. Have to listen to them again in order to make a more clear opinion about them.

ASTRAL AEON

[Harry] Next in line was NADIR. Another gothic metal band, with typical sound, reminded me of bands like HIM and 69 EYES. For their style, they weren't bad, but to tell you the truth it's not my style. The stage performance wasn't something great, with Reana holding most of the time a cigarette just like Ville Valo and the rest of the band had the typical gothic style attitude. Nothing special so on we go with the next band.

NADIR

[Harry] It was time for - in my opinion - the best band of that night. SACRAM hit the stage with incredible energy. Many fans of the band were in the club, creating a fantastic atmosphere. They played songs from their mini CD Far Away, plus a new song that, unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep the title. Having influences from AT THE GATES, DARK TRANQUILLITY and the post hardcore and experimental scene with some melodic parts that are in great balance with the aggressive_brutal parts, they made their fans create mosh pits. Just after they left the stage, I could only hear good comments about their performance. For sure, it's not a surprise that SACRAM took the other ticket for the Wacken National Final.

SACRAM

[Yannis D] As time went by and melodic nonsense (no offence, it is just that I am not a melodic Metal fan) were torturing my ears, it was time for THE ALMIGHTY FISCHERMEN to hit the stage and teach everyone a lesson about good Stoner music! The atmosphere had a Jack Daniel's stink and the band showed their totally Rock & Roll attitude by kicking our ass with their DOWN meets KYUSS meets bluesy Hard Rock blend! Even though I was not amazed at first, I enjoyed the band more and more as seconds were going by. That's the time when I realized that the contest rule about cover songs sucked, since I learned from the singer that band uses to play a cover of DOWN's Lifer, as well as a John Lee Hooker one (One Bourbon, One Scotch And One Beer. The Fischermen were totally drunk and kept on blaming Mr. Jack for some mistakes they did on stage. Who cares? I always said that the dirtier Stoner is, the better it sounds!

THE ALMIGHTY FISCHERMEN

[Yannis D] When the whiskey drinking conspiracy was over, the last band of the contest was ready to plug their instruments and play some honest and uncompromising old school Thrash_Death Metal. With a female singer (the MALEVOLENT CREATION t-shirt rulez!) and a pretty young but ass kicking bass player, BENEFACTOR DISEASE showed what retro brutal and fast music means. Drawing influences from bands like KREATOR, SODOM and AUTOPSY, these guys delivered a hell of a nice show, making almost everyone bang his head! No commercial shit here! Just raw and uncompromising music full of passion and honesty. I believe that these guys just do it for their own pleasure. Surely not the band that the Greek metallers would like to send to Wacken, but definitely a band that many people enjoy because of their tribute to the 80's Metal scene!

BENEFACTOR DISEASE

It was about 00:30 when the live was over and everyone left with a big smile, knowing that the underground is still alive and strong. Since I know most of the bands that are going to participate in the next days of the Wacken Metal Battle contest, I believe that Greek metalheads will probably have a hard time deciding which is the most appropriate band to represent our country at the famous German festival. That's all for now mates. Let's wait for the results of the next days and see what people believe it is best for Wacken. For your information, the two bands that are through to the next round from the first day of the contest are SACRAM and BARE INFINITY.