Exarsis, Ultra-Violence, Thorn Burial, Nuclear Terror // An Club, Athens, Greece // 08.05.2015
Sometimes when you’re talking about Thrash metal, you’re trying hard to capture the energy, the passion, the blood and sweat from everybody involved, be they the road crew, the Thrashers of every age or the band members themselves. That Friday night at An Club was about all of the above and some more, a Thrash metal party for the release of “The Human Project” by Exarsis. The guests for the show were the strong and established Ultra-Violence with their brand new album “Deflect The Flow” shredding everything, Thorn Burial from Larissa and Nuclear Terror from Athens.
First ones to hit the stage of An Club, were Nuclear Terror. I’ve stated many times how much I love the Bay-Area-Thrash-meets-Megadeth style they have, and they are just getting better and better ever since I first witnessed them live. Their new drummer, Dimitris Ginis (ex-Exordial who split up unfortunately), is a crushing beast, taking their great material to a whole new level! The songs off the “Contaminated Salvation” EP (“Nuclear Warfare”, “Flesh Feast”, “Pride Breaker”, “Terrorzone”) are already fan-favorites and creating the first small moshpits and stage dives (the writer included). Their new songs are more technical and even more awesome (“Dyatlov Pass”, “Serpents Of Human Malevolence”, “Krieg-sanity”). They left us with a promise of a new record soon enough and with a big thank you to Exarsis for inviting them on.
Things got even crazier with Thorn Burial from Larissa. Their first time in Athens and we made them feel more than welcome with intense moshing and crowd-surfing. Their style is mostly in the vein of Kreator, Death and Razor. In other words, Death/Thrash with a Black/Thrash touch. They were extremely energetic on stage (that rhythm section is a fuckin’ beast, loved the drummer) with the best possible response to their material off “Pleasured By Rage” EP (“C.I.F.”, “Sarcovore”, “Mind Mutilation”) “Echoes From The Dead” demo (“Leper Death”), their upcoming 7″ “Preacher Of Hate” (“Midnight Spell”, “Creeping Priest”), a track off their upcoming record (“Infested”) and a cover of Death’s “Open Casket”. Insane band, and the one I wasn’t aware of how awesome they are live, but now I know. And I want them back again! Respect for giving their demo and EP for free just for the sake of promotion, I’m sure lots of people would appreciate! Also didn’t forget to thank Exarsis for inviting them on!
Time for our friends from Italy: Ultra-Violence. A strong example of the rapidly growing Thrash scene in Italy (check out Game Over as well!), by adding some modern groove elements! They started their set with “Turn Into Dust” off “Privilege To Overcome”, from which we heard “L.F.D.Y.”, “The Beast Behind Your Back”, “You’re Dead!”. Their new album got the other half of the set share with “Burning Through The Scars”, “Why So Serious?”, “Lost In Decay”, “The Way I’ll Stay” and “Fractal Dimension”. During their show the reactions got out of hand, since a lot of people have been expecting them in Greece, and that was the chance for them to bang their fuckin’ heads! The guys loved the response, you could tell they had a huge smile on their faces, enjoying good friendly violent fun. And will definitely come back to Greece soon enough for a repeat of that mayhemic performance.
And now, the honored band of the evening: Exarsis! They walked through fire for their new album “The Human Project”, and they came strong in a show to be remembered for years to come! An established band of the Greek Thrash scene that has gained its audience by simply playing their asses off every time they had the chance. A strong European tour and the various support acts, made them devastating live. “False Flag Attack” kicks in off “The Human Project” creating the first moshpits of the many to follow. We heard songs off “Under Destruction” (“Dying Earth”, “Annihilation…”), “The Brutal State” (“Addicting Life Waste”, “Toxic Terror”, “Surveillance Society” with Alex Papatheofanous and Chris Tsitsis as special guests, “Under Destruction”) and the brand new “The Human Project” (“Arrivals” with Alex Papatheofanous and Chris Tsitsis as special guests, “Medicide”, “Brutal State”, “Abnormal Generation” dedicated to us, “Skull And Bones”, “Police Brutality”).
Stage-dives and circle pits were the main attraction of their gig. The band sounded tighter than ever, the new members fit perfectly into the whole set. The show ended with a jam of “Brutal State” with SOD’s “United Forces”. When the lights went on, everyone witnessed a great band in the making, Exarsis. Call them names if you wish, but they are one of the greats of the scene. Deal with it.