Once more, we had the chance to witness live four bands that try to make their dream come true and become as good as they can in the near future. Eightball club is the place where many familiar gigs have taken place and it was a good way for someone to have fun in a typical Saturday night (also, after the gig follows the familias ”Headbanger’s Ball” suite and it was a chance to take things in a row).

Dimorfia was the first band that came out to play. A good power metal band, having good elements in their sound and being all good players, they may play a style that has died long ago but still, we have to state that they do it really well. They played for 35 minutes and they added a cover of ”Welcome To Dying” by Blind Guardian on their set (my personal favourite from the German veterans). Very good singer that can support such compositions. A good performance that warmed up the people. Nice going folks, go on like that.

Innosense is a band from Larisa in Thessaly. It was the first time I encountered them and what I saw was a great surprise, as they are a very solid progressive metal outfit. Reminding rather much of Fates Warning, they played for 35 minutes too, mainly songs from their debut album ”Outcast”. While I’m not a big FW fan, and especially their middle period is not of my taste, I can say that these folks surely know ho to make great music. The biggest and better difference is that I can hear GUITARS. Riffs accompanied with melody, technique and a godly singer, made the ones inside praise them for their quality. The cover of the best Norwegian band ever, Conception with the classic opus ”Roll The Fire”, made things even better. A great band whose fan I already declare and I hope to see them once again. It seems that a hidden diamond will rise from the mud of the Greek society.

Until Rain were the next ones and the ones I have witnessed live more times than all the bands that played. I like their approach of music, as they have good ideas and they seem to love what they play. Though I’d like them heavier, as I can never listen to any guitar in their shows (including this one), they are very capable as players. They have an excellent singer and I have seen him along the keyboard player/leader supporting Manowar with another great band, Crosswind. This time they left me unsatisfied, as they seemed not in shape that specific night. The great singer seemed a little stressed, the rhythm section didn’t sound confident as in other cases and the leader of the band was fighting almost alone to save the situation. Just a night that can happen to everyone, I’ll be waiting for a much better performance when I see them with Psychotic Waltz.

Rex Mundi is a band someone must see live to get the point of their music. Their album ”Perception In Design” is a great but difficult sample of all the bands they love: Nevermore, Death, Cynic, Atheist and progressive stuff in general. Featuring Theo from Echidna on vocals this time, it seemed he’s the perfect fit for them, as he contributed the harsh role of the clean vocals, while his brutal approach is truly incomparable to the singer in the original release. Sounding tight and banging their asses down, they played for 50 minutes, including a cover of ”Beyond Within” by Nevermore, which they played really well (and everyone knows I’m strict in such cases). It’s different to say you’ll play such a song, rather than finally doing it. I am in the pleasant position to say that in their forthcoming live with Coroner they have a great chance to prove their worth and the fans are surely going to like them if they play like that. It’s always nice to go in such gigs and support bands in their first steps. My advice to all of them: Keep working hard and what you’re about to get, you’ll deserve it. Either great or disappointing. Until next time, good luck to all of you.

Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras

The Silent Rage is a band which I had the luck to make a review about their first official work. What I had written then, gets multiplied by ten on a live situation. I always said that a band with left handed players is unique, since I believe in the Jimi Hendrix syndrome of talent. They have two, one of the two guitar players and the bass player. Also, the singer has far away from the second, the best voice I have ever heard in such young Greek musicians. Easily. They played the songs of their work and also, a new one entitled ”Edge Of Forever”, ahead of what they have done so far, an excellent song indeed. To make matters better, they gave us a cover of Deep Purple’s ”Burn” very well played. The future doesn’t belong to them, it is already theirs. Go on to the style of the new song and everybody will follow you definitely.

Arkenstone was a band that unfortunately I heard for the first time but thankfully, I finally discovered. I have no words for them, they are the joy of the middle metalhead. Powerful, with lots of guts and passion to their playing. To be honest, they come closer to my tastes of music compared to the other bands but I have to admit that they win the game from the beginning. When a band starts with ”Inner Self” of Sepultura, how can a gig go wrong? Both guitar players are riff machines, the rhythm section steady and the singer growls or shouts when needer. I declare myself as a fan of them and wish them the best for the future. We need such bands definitely.

Until Rain were the typical headliners of the day. I could state that their music is emotional progressive metal. Seldomly I have seen tight units in groups of so young age (I think they are max 20 years old). Technically speaking, they are great players, especially the drummer. What I didn’t like is that they seem to have given more space to technicality than passion. When their music gets enraged, they sound a lot better. The title track from their debut ”The Reign Of Dreams” is easily the best they played, while they gave us a big medley consisting of the following songs: ”!” by Pain Of Salvation, ”The Mirror” by Dream Theater, ”Walk” by Pantera, ”The Glass Prison” by Dream Theater again, ”Master Of Puppets” by Metallica, ”Blackest Eyes” by Porcupine Tree, a Rush song which I don’t remember since I don’t listen to Rush at all, ”I Don’t Believe In Love” by Queensryche, ”Vicarious” by Tool, ”Heir Apparent” by Opeth, ”Queen Of The Reich” by Queensryche again,and ”Hallowed Be Thy Name” by Iron Maiden”. A little more passion and maybe a second guitar player to make them even heavier will surely make them tops.

I must state that Agnosia, a band from Crete (like Arkenstone) had to cancel this mini tour, since their guitar player suffered from pneumonia. We wish the best of luck to this band also. In general, it was a very good gig, proving that Greek bands are a level up compared to previous years and maybe there is some hope that our music scene will get even better in the future. Until the next time we shall enjoy something familiar, that was really enough. What comes next?

Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.