Psychotic Waltz, Royal Hunt, Pagan’s Mind, Live @ FUZZ Club, 28/04/2012

Psychotic Waltz, Royal Hunt, Pagan’s Mind, Live @ Fuzz Club, 28/04/2012

One can find many beautiful words to describe a lot of things, except magic. Because only once the true art of magic unfurls before your eyes, does it become apparent. How can someone find words to describe magic then? One can only try, because there is no actual explanation for certain moments, especially not through words or images.

                Thankfully the time schedule for the concert was kept, and when I entered the venue, Pagan’s Mind was already on stage. The band’s performance was excellent despite certain sound problems here and there. I’ve never listened to them before, but they definitely are a band that every prog/power metalhead should check out. Their songs are a blend of very demanding and melodic metal, and you can tell that they’re all very skilled and experienced musicians. They played for almost 70 minutes and I also have to mention, that they had a certain promotion advertisement running from the Norwegian Embassy and Norwegian Institute as well, which were supporting the event, something that sadly does not happen with Greek bands abroad. Go Norway!

                Almost half an hour after the end of Pagan’s Mind set, Royal Hunt were getting ready to blow our minds. The band had recently reunited –after popular demand- with their former vocalist D.C. Cooper and had released a new very good record. Certain part of the audience had mixed emotions regarding the appearance of Royal Hunt, because the band that was originally announced to play was Mekong Delta, who cancelled their appearance for unknown reasons. As far as I’m concerned, Royal Hunt is one of the best bands of the genre and D.C. Cooper is a born frontman. Everything was rolling smoothly –except the damn sound-, D.C. was communicating with the crowd at all times and his voice is sensational as always. The band was giving it’s best self and it was hard to notice reactions from the crowd, but I believe most of them were pleased. It was after all the first night of their world tour and they were full of energy. Their set was almost 90 minutes and it consisted mainly from their last record with great songs like “One More Day”, “Angel’s Gone” and my favourite “Half Past Loneliness”. I hope that the next time they visit us (soon please!) we’ll get the chance to hear some more of their 90s classic stuff. “Paradox” is a fantastic record and probably their most famous -at least here in Greece-, and no song from it was included.

Royal Hunt Setlist:

One More Day

The Mission

Flight

Hard Rain’s Coming

Lies

Step By Step

Wasted Time

Age Gone Wild

Guitar Solo

Half Past Loneliness

Kingdom Dark

Angel’s Gone

Last Goodbye

                And finally, it was time for a lifelong dream to become reality before us. The legendary Psychotic Waltz would be on stage in a matter of minutes. One of the most underrated progressive metal bands, if not THE most underrated, had reunited after more than 10 years. The band members had their own projects since then, especially their frontman Devon Graves (aka Buddy Lackey) but once again the ongoing demands and prayers from the fans were heard. The full original lineup was back together and they’d already announced that they were going to play 150 minutes (2,5 hours) in both Athens and Thessaloniki. Suddenly, Ward Evans came on stage and picked up the 2 pages of their setlist and showed them to us. The cheering from the crowd was simply unprecedented. And the trip into madness began… I can’t easily pick a few songs here because I consider them all being great in their own way. The bands performance was much more than we expected and Devon Graves is what we call “the right man in the right spot”. His theatrical moves and tribal dances throughout the gig guided us inside the crazy world of Psychotic Waltz. The only problem during the first songs, and I hate that I have to mention it once more, was the sound. It was that bad that the crowd started screaming “turn the voice louder”. When the time came for the band to end their show, we were all standing speechless for a minute or two, still unable to believe what we had just experienced. Then it was time for the 10 minute applauds to take place. I’ve said it in the beginning and I’ll say it again now. This was purely magic. Nothing more, nothing less.

I could go on for hours about this band, but I’d rather end it here. There is never enough to say or write about Psychotic Waltz. They’re one of the mysteries in music that each and every one must discover on their own.

Psychotic Waltz setlist:

Sleeping Dogs (Intro)

Ashes

Out Of Mind

Tiny Streams

In This Place

Mosquito

Faded

Locust

Northern Lights

Haze One

Into The Everflow

Hanging On A String

My Grave

I Remember

Morbid

Cold

Shattered Sky

Drift

Freedom?

Freakshow

All The Voices

Mindsong

Another Prophet Song

Halo Of Thorns

Nothing

I Of The Storm

...And The Devil Cried

Spiral Tower

Also on Burst.gr - http://www.burst.gr/live/reports/item/1147-live-report-psychotic-waltz-royal-hunt-pagan%E2%80%99s-mind-28/04/2012-fuzz-club#

Amon Amarth, Karma Violens, Live @ FUZZ Club, 22/04/2012

Amon Amarth, Karma Violens, Live @ FUZZ Club, 22/04/2012

                Amon Amarth. Even the name gives you chills. This band is Sweden’s “tribute band” to the great and all-inspiring Norse mythology. They’ve also been called “Viking Metal” in the past as well as Bathory, another great Swedish band. The band was ending its world tour in Greece and it was the perfect time to see them.

                I arrived early at the venue in order to see a few buddies that I don’t get the chance to see very often and share a beer. The road outside was empty but the club was already packed. It was time for Karma Violens to hit the stage and the crowd was getting wild already. I’ve seen them a couple of times in the past and they’re definitely one of the bands worth seeing, but I think this was probably their best gig so far. The band was full of energy and the crowd as well. They have a new record out now and they played a lot of stuff from there as well as some older songs. They ended their show with a great cover to Slayer’s “Reign In Blood” followed by “Into The Core” with a guest from Giannis Remedy, the frontman from Mortal Torment.

                It was finally time for the Thundergods to make their appearance. At this point I had to move back a little because many people were smoking in the front during the break and one could hardly breathe. Amon Amarth was on stage and they couldn’t get a warmer welcome than a packed club screaming loud their name. Their frontman Johan Hegg was communicating with the audience at all times witch boosted the whole gig into another level. The first song was “War Of The Gods” and after that… all hell broke loose. The band did a very good job in selecting some of their greatest song for the show. “The Pursuit Of Vikings”, “Destroyer Of The Universe”, “Live Without Regrets”, “Slaves Of Fear”, “Victorious March” and many more of their anthems guided us to Valhalla that night! The sound was great throughout the whole show, which is a little weird because first, I’ve never seen a band play with very good sound at FUZZ club (probably except SAXON) and secondly, because of the nature of Amon Amarth and their extreme style. The show was excellent nevertheless.
                It was time for the show to come to an end and the band already thanked us and looked a little tired from the long tour. The encore was about to begin and I believe that at least 99% of the people knew what was going to be there. Sounds of thunder roaring along with a special light show gave a great feeling into what was going to be their all-time classic song, “Twilight Of The Thunder God”. The gig ended with “Guardians Of Asgaard” and the crowd cheered and applauded the band for a period of time which seemed like forever. Just plain awesome.

                Last but not least, I have to give a big “CHEERS!” to the people behind the gig, because it all went more than great! The sound was perfect, the schedule was kept, the gig ended just in time for people to catch the last train or bus and overally it was a very memorable show that no one should have missed.

Setlist:

War of the Gods

Runes to My Memory

Destroyer of the Universe

Live Without Regrets

Thousand Years of Oppression

The Pursuit of Vikings

For Victory or Death

The Hero

Valhall Awaits Me

Slaves of Fear

The Fate of Norns

Bleed for Ancient Gods

Under the Northern Star

Free Will Sacrifice

Cry of the Black Birds

Death in Fire

Victorious March

Encore:

Twilight of the Thunder God

Guardians of Asgaard


Also on Burst.gr - http://www.burst.gr/news/item/1134-live-report-amon-amarth-karma-violens-22/4/2012-fuzz#

Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock, Fury UK Live @ FUZZ Club, 20/04/2012

Michael Schenker's Temple Of Rock, Fury UK Live @ FUZZ Club, 20/04/2012

Michael Schenker is one of those legendary guitarists that you don’t get to see very often and one of my favorites of all time. The last time he visited Greece was in 2009 as a guest for Scorpions and with MSG back in 2004 (I was at both gigs).

                I arrived just in time to see the support act. FURY UK are a very prominent new band and they managed to get the crowd warmed up in a very short time. They’ve visited Greece before as a support act for BLAZE and Iced Earth. The band sounds very tight and well-rehearsed and their songs are a very nice blend of good old classic heavy metal and hard rock. They are definitely on my watch list for their next show here.

                After a break it was time for Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock to hit the stage. The crowd cheered and one by one the band walked in. “Into The Arena” was the first song followed by “Armed And Ready”. Doogie White was giving his best but the sound had major problems. The band played some classic stuff from the Scorpions era (Ok you had 3 ex-Scorpions members there so it goes naturally). During the middle of the show the sound started having problems again and the bass and drums sounded a little louder covering the vocals. Some UFO and M.S. followed and that was the perfect time to enjoy Schenker’s guitar talent. The guy’s playing is beyond words, I could watch him play for hours. I wasn’t as happy though a bit later when they played more Scorpions stuff, especially from the era when Michael wasn’t in the band. The rhythm section was more than great, I’ve seen Herman play with the Scorpions back in 2009 and Francis with Uli Jon Roth, but Michael simply tried to be –who else?- his brother. I mean ok, don’t get me wrong here I love Scorpions and Rudolf is a great guitar player, but Michael is much better and the last thing I wanted to see is Michael mimicking Rudolf’s moves.

                The show was coming to an end and it was with a heavy heart that I realized that I wasn’t going to see any songs from the A.O.R. era of M.S.G. again. The encore had some more Scorpions (mercy!) with Doogie forgetting some of the lyrics, but saving the day with his on stage play with Michael, and the gig finally ended with probably the most classic song that Michael’s ever written, Doctor Doctor.

                What more can I say? I left the venue with a bittersweet taste. This was not the Michael Schenker I wanted to see. Maybe he was tired, maybe his new band was under-rehearsed, maybe… whatever. One can make all sorts of assumptions for this gig. But at least from what I saw, I wasn’t the only one who made a weird face when the band started to play “Rock You Like a Hurricane”.

Setlist:

Into The Arena

Armed And Ready

Lovedrive

Another Piece Of Meat

Cry For The Nations

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Coast To Coast

Assault Attack

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead

Lights Out

On And On

Let It Roll

Shoot Shoot

Rock You Like A Hurricane

Rock Bottom

Encore:

Holiday

Blackout

Doctor Doctor


Also on Burst.gr - http://www.burst.gr/live/reports/item/1121-live-report-michael-schenker-fury-uk-20/4/2012-fuzz

Omen – Into The Arena [Compilation, 2012]

Omen – Into The Arena [Compilation, 2012]

I’ll have to make clear from the start that when it comes to “Omen”, I can’t be 100% objective. I’ll try my best though. They are one of the bands that lead me to discover the underground metal scene. What we have here is a band that kept the flame of Heavy Metal alive for decades without getting the slightest bit of recognition from the press and the fans, thus condemned to stay underground.

                Their first 3 records and the “Nightmares” EP are masterpieces of pure Heavy Metal, full of anthems of the genre, so there’s no big mystery why they remained unknown to the large American crowd of the 80s, whose main interests were glam and thrash. The band released 3 more records which sounded very different from the first ones, had constant line-up changes and suffered the loss of the great J.D. Kimball, their original singer, in 2003. Why did they keep playing? Because of the passion of the bands founder, the great Kenny Powell, who felt he had to continue and “keep his dreams alive”.
                They have already announced that they’re going to release their new full-length album “Hammer Damage” this year from Pure Steel Records, but before that, they’re giving us a taste of rare old and unreleased material with their new compilation album “Into The Arena”. So… what do we have here?

                Tracks 1 – 6 are live recordings from 1985, at the Cameo Theatre, San Antonio, Texas. This is one of the few known live recordings of the original line-up with good sound quality. Another one was on the box set that was released from Metal Blade Records (2003). Kenny Powell felt it important to release these songs, especially with the passing of the great J.D. Kimball. You can definitely get a good taste of good old live “Omen” here as the performance of the entire band is extraordinary even according to today’s standards. Tracks 7 – 10 are the lost demos of the “Warning Of Danger” album and were forgotten in time until now. These are very raw versions of songs written for the “Warning Of Danger”, recorded in 1984. I must admit that certain songs like “Don’t Fear The Night” are probably even better than the original version. Kimball’s feeling here is something that you don’t hear very often even if you’ve heard a lot of classic bands. It’s as far as I’m concerned, the perfect combination for a metal singer. Not “too epic”, not “too power”, not “too high-pitched” and not too “melodramatic”. Just plain “heavy” the way Heavy Metal singers should sound like.

                The last songs are “Kings Rock”, which is an unreleased instrumental and “Escape To Nowhere”, which is a rehearsal with some extra guitar parts. Another song which shouldn’t pass unnoticed is “Voices Screaming” with current singer Matt Story, which was recorded around 2000, before the “Eternal Black Dawn” CD, and was never before officially released. “Into The Arena” CD comes with 16-pages booklet, including liner notes from Kenny Powell, unreleased photo material and lyrics. The official release date was March 15, 2012 from No Remorse Records (http://www.noremorse.gr/). The recording was produced by Kenny Powell, some additional recording and digital re-mastering was mad at KRP studios, Dallas, TX, the cover art is by Matt Story / Dane Graphics and the artwork by Eleni Papadea.

The songs included are:

01. Premonition
02. Death Rider
03. The Curse
04. Battle Cry

05. Bounty Hunter
06. Torture Me
07. Warning Of Danger
08. Ruby Eyes (of the Serpent)
09. Don’t Fear The Night
10. March On
11. Kings Rock

12. Escape To Nowhere

13. Voices Screaming

Editors Note 1 – The release will be limited to 500 hand-numbered copies.

Editors Note 2 – I hope that sometime in the near future I’ll get the chance to hear a recording, or better yet, attend a live performance of my all-time favourite “Omen” song, “At All Cost”.

Download is a substitute, support real music and buy some records!

Time Dementia [2012]

TIME DEMENTIA [2012]

"Time Dementia" is a short drama/sci-fi film and it will be available soon only on youtube. The story revolves around one man who wakes up with amnesia and tries to figure his past and future by travelling in time through his memories.

Starring: Giannis Dais , Thanasis Asimopoulos , Niki Babatsikou , Nick Papaevangeliou , Leonidas Tzortzakis , Elias J. Kay , Evita Anagnopoulou , Nafsika Tarazi , Mariza Glisti , Vaso Sgourda , Vangelis Papaevangeliou , Nelly Vlachou
Directed by: Vangelis Papaevangeliou
Written by: Vangelis Papaevangeliou, Leonidas Tzortzakis, Nick Papaevangeliou
Screenplay by:  Vangelis Papaevangeliou
Produced by: Vangelis Papaevangeliou


The directors Facebook profile here: https://www.facebook.com/vangelis.papaevangeliou.3
The Facebook page of the movie here: https://www.facebook.com/TimeDementia
Contact e-mails here: papaevangeliou@yahoo.gr, leotzo@yahoo.gr

And finally the music score of the movie. The song is called "The Same Side" by J.J.Leon.

Lyrics:
Im walking alone in an empty road.
Ι 'm going home, i 'm going home without hope
There is no love, there is no pain
Time only shows me, what s my goal and what s my way
Strange world and strange life
Ι 'm coming back, i 'm coming back to the same side
Bad memories s gone i released my mind
I 'm singing my song, i' m walking alone in this freezing night

+ bonus fan-made tribute video to the song "The Same Side"

Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, Mamma Kin, Live @ Gagarin 205, 07/04/2012

Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, Mamma Kin, live @ Gagarin 205, 07/04/2012

First of all I have to make clear that if you have never seen the “RAMONES” with their original line-up, you certainly have reasonable doubts when you hear that there is only one of them left playing their classics. That was one of the main reasons that kept me away from all the previous appearances of “Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg” here in Greece. But now it was time to regret it.

I arrived at the venue at 21.10 approximately and the support act “Mamma Kin” were already on stage. They certainly put up a good show and know how to get the crowd warmed up. They played for almost half an hour more or less; including some covers from “Dead Boys” and “The Who” .Their only minus was the bad sound during their show especially in the back of the venue.

The time was 22.30 and the place was packed. The big lights started to fade away and it was finally time for the band to hit the stage. One thing I noticed immediately was the rest of the band members. Marky Ramone was there and so was Michael Graves from Misfits, but the rest of the band was two look-alikes of Johnny and Dee-Dee! Now that was a surprise indeed. 1-2-3-4 and “Rockaway Beach” was playing to take us along the journey. The sound was very good and the crowd was responding at all times. The band was really into the part and you could definitely tell from the very beginning that this was gonna be a hell of a great show.

We got from song 1 to song 10 in a matter of minutes. The tenth song was one of my all-time favourite RAMONES songs, “Beat On The Brat”. I really couldn’t believe how perfectly the songs were played although I’m not a great RAMONES fan. The entire band was participating 100% in the songs, ending the first part of their 24-song show with “Pinhead”.

They went backstage for a very little while just to catch their breaths and back on the stage to deliver the goods once more. The first part of the encore was more than satisfactory, including songs from the “RAMONES” and “MISFITS” to covers from “Creedence Clearwater Revival” and “Motörhead”. The show ended with “What a Wonderful World” and “Blitzkrieg Bop”. I believe that even if they played for two or three hours the crowd would still be asking for more. It was one of those gigs with a certain “party atmosphere” that you don’t get very often. Everyone –including me- left the venue with a big smile on their face and that says a lot. We definitely wanna dance with Marky once more!

Setlist:

Rockaway Beach

Teenage Lobotomy

Psycho Therapy

Do You Wanna Dance?

I Don't Care

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

Havana Affair

Commando

Ι Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Beat On The Brat

53rd & 3rd

Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue

Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Rock 'N' Roll High School

Oh Oh I Love Her So

She's The One

Judy Is A Punk

I Believe In Miracles

The KKK Took My Baby Away

Pet Sematary

Chinese Rocks

I Wanna Be Sedated

I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You

Pinhead

Encore 1:

I Just Want To Have Something To Do

Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up

Cretin Hop

R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Motörhead cover)

Descending Angel (Acoustic)

Saturday Night (Acoustic)

Dig Up Her Bones (Misfits)

When We Were Angels (Misfits)

Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)

Encore 2: 

What a Wonderful World

Blitzkrieg Bop

Also on Burst.gr - http://burst.gr/live/reports/item/1089-live-report-marky-ramones-blitzkrieg-mamma-kin-7/4/2012-gagarin-205

ACCEPT - Wolf Hoffmann Interview

ACCEPT - Wolf Hoffmann Interview

Prologue: The Heavy Metal legends Accept are back for good, after their very successful album "Blood of the Nations" and a world tour that followed, they're in the studio again recording its successor. We already got a small but good taste with their new song "Stalingrad" and we can only hope for the best!

WOLF: Thank you!  We are trying  our best - as always.

Elias: A tour, a new killer record, another tour and another record coming. ACCEPT are back for good! What's the next step?

WOLF: That is for us the next step - the second round in less than 30 months. We are on a roll and nothing seem to stop us. Any musicians dream came true - we are on a worldwide attack.

Elias: You sound very tight as a band right now, reminding a lot of the early ACCEPT days, but with a touch of "aggressiveness" if I might say so. Where does that come from?

WOLF: Perhaps because we ignored what is in us for decades.We are like a boiling bottle beer ... it was time to burst for us!

Elias: Your previous album "Blood of the Nations" received very good critics and I believe it went very well. Did you expect such a warm welcome after all these years of absence?

WOLF: I guess one of the secrets of our return was, that we EXPECTED absolutely NOTHING and got absolutely EVERYTHING. We are still speechless. 

Elias: You toured several countries last year, including Greece which was a sold-out show if I remember correctly. What are your memories from that tour?

WOLF: If you take into consideration what I just told you, you can imagine - no one wanted to wake up. We felt like on a roller coaster, trying to get a hold of the world we found ourselves in. Surreal, exciting and the result was, that we could not sit back. We came off tour in 2011 and in 4 month from songwriting to finished master tape and INSANE train ride which continues to this minute. 

Elias: How much has the metal scene and the fans changed in all these years? Do have any "special places" that you prefer to tour in Europe or the U.S.?


WOLF: With Fans -  Nothing has changed, except we have the internet today. You should not forget, when we stopped working in 1996 - the world was a different one. As in STALINGRAD  we are trying to put a spotlight on the fact, that we human beings are all brothers..and sisters for that matter. We see our fans around the world and all we see is their faces! Everywhere they offer us their hearts and souls and that makes us the proudest MF on the planet. Our answer to that is: we thank you with the best show we can give you and the best songs we have at that moment. 

Elias: This is the era of information and Internet. How much has this helped the band?


WOLF: Here is my take, if you are good it helps, if you are bad it destroys .... it is a brutal mirror. You live or die in 30 seconds....

Elias: "Blood of the Nations" and now "Stalingrad". Two albums with very strong political messages. Does the current global economic crisis and general turmoil affect your songwriting and if yes, how so?

WOLF: We are known for talking about things most people don't - but we tried to offer a different perspective. You know, we have Mark now and Gaby (Deaffy)  decided to let him write his own lyrics. As an American he naturally is seeing the things from a total different perspective. That is a very sensible and for all of us difficult situation. We all are doing the best we can and yes, we will see how we did, this time.





Elias: A lot of classic heavy metal bands try to use more modern elements to their music but not ACCEPT. You're staying to the old recipe and the results are beyond great as usual. Do you listen to more "modern metal" bands or not?


WOLF: I am very old school and as you know my real passion is classical music. We want to do, what we do best, where we see that our fans are following us and carry our success to the top. of course, as a musician, you can easily feel the urge to try something new ...we did that and we do not regret that. However, we feel very safe, where we are now.






Elias: What I always loved about ACCEPT was the use of classical music, which always fitted so well between certain songs, blended with the guitar solo and always providing an excellent outcome. Do you believe classical music and heavy metal are connected somehow?


WOLF: The saying goes, that I was one of the first who established that. I don't know, but it seems there is something about it. It is in me, always was and always will.

Elias: Every band has its own influences when writing songs. What are the biggest influences of ACCEPT right now?


WOLF: I write with Peter since I was 16 years old. We are joint at the hips - we are the salt in each others composer life. We are inseparable since the day we met. What can be any better.... 

Elias: I'm more than certain that we'll expect another great album from ACCEPT. Is there anything else about "Stalingrad" that you wish to share with us?


WOLF: We are waiting for the verdict of our fans. THEY decide about  ACCEPT's today and tomorrow and nothing else!


Elias: Have you got any tour dates scheduled for 2012? Do you plan to visit Greece?

WOLF: Yes - we know we will be in Greece this autumn.


Elias: Any last messages for the Greek fans?


WOLF: When we come you got to be there, because this time we will record there for sure!  We need you! We were told the promoter promised to book the right venue, so we will not have to turn people away. GREECE....get ready! 

Dimlight, Meden Agan, Humayrah, Layil, live @ Kyttaro, Athens Greece, 31-03-2012

Dimlight, Meden Agan, Humayrah, Layil, live @ Kyttaro, Athens Greece, 31-03-2012

I must admit that it was the first time in my life that I was going to go and willingly see a metal festival where 3 out of 4 bands had female singers and were in the symphonic-atmospheric genre! I’m not a big fan of symphonic metal, I only like certain bands but I really wanted to see Dimlight and Meden Agan, they are 2 very good bands that you don’t see live very often. And now was the time!

The gig started around 19.30 and the first band on stage was “Layil”, an interesting and experimental band who despite the fact that they’re newcomers and they obviously have a lack of live experience, did a really great job of warming the crowd and played some very good songs. I’m not very familiar with their style, but I think that if they stick to a certain musical route and chop off some extra experimentations that they have, we’re gonna be hearing from them in the future.

The second band was “Humayrah” and they had the most different style of all the other bands. They sounded a lot like “aggressive 90s Sepultura” witch got many people banging heads and moshing around almost instantly. They have a groovy thrash style with some death metal elements and they seem to have worked on their songs a lot, because the overall outcome was way beyond good. More people started entering the venue while the band played, and the atmosphere was getting a lot warmer.

It was finally time for Meden Agan. The crowd was going really wild now and you can tell that many people were here to just see them giving their best. The band started playing and hell broke loose. They played a lot of songs from their record “Erevos Aenaon” along with some covers. The band is extremely tight, a thing you rarely see in a new band and they already have an emerging hype around their name. The minor sound problems didn’t stop the band from giving its best self and the singer Iliana from showing her unique singing abilities. Her stage presence is also very good, and that goes for the rest of the band, a thing you rarely see in most bands nowadays. She sang every tune perfectly while keeping the communication with the crowd alive at all times. Most people knew the songs already and I also saw some people opening a pit (!) a really weird thing to see during the gig of a symphonic metal band. I must mention here the awesome cover that they made in the song “Somewhere” from another favourite band of mine, Within Temptation, with the help of Maxi Nil. 2 great voices performing a great song of the genre, what more can you ask for? They definitely were my favourite band of the festival; I can’t wait to see them again soon.

Meden Agan Setlist:

Intro

From The Ashes Of Sin

Dissolve Into Grey

Sensorium (Epica cover)

All Seems Lost

Blinded By Faith

Somewhere (Feat. Maxi Nil)

Tribute To Life

Thoughtlesh (Korn cover)

Erevos Aenaon

Nemesis

Black Sky

Dimlight was about to hit the stage and the sound starting having problems again. The band has played many shows in Greece and abroad but sadly I’ve never had the chance to see them. They mostly played songs from their upcoming record “Psychosynthesis” and I can definitely say that it was like seeing a big band somewhere in a stage in Europe. They had definitely worked a lot on their stage appearance and they also had a very good show planned ahead which left the crowd speechless. Some minor sound problems appeared again but no one seemed to mind because the bands performance was excellent. I must admit that I surely wasn’t expecting such a good overall show from them. The show continued with some nice fire effects and a guest appearance by Iliana from “Medan Agan” who gave another excellent performance in the song “Mind’s Game” alongside Sanna. Even during the Dimlight gig people still kept coming and I’d say that there must have been nearly 300 people or more by the end of the night who attended. After the end of the show a lottery was made were some fans won cds, t-shirts and a guitar.

Overally the show was very close to perfect, the bands played great, the price was great and a lot of people attended. I’m very glad I was there and I definitely wish that we get the chance to see festivals like this more often in the future.

Dimlight Setlist:

Masters Of Our Faith

Dimlight

Lucid Dreams

Agonize

Path Of Ritual

Mind’s Game (Feat. Iliana  – Meden Agan)

Quest Of The Fallen

R.I.D.

Stillborn Debris

Black Hole

Unify

Cardinal Sins

Absense Of Light

Dark Emotion

Also on Burst.gr - http://burst.gr/live/reports/item/1083-hymayrah-%E2%80%93-layil