Cloven Hoof, Thelemite, Heart Attack Live @ 7sins, 01/06/2012

Cloven Hoof, Thelemite, Heart Attack Live @ 7sins, 01/06/2012

After a couple of times in the past where I’ve missed the chance to see them, it was finally time to witness Cloven Hoof, the legendary metal band from the U.K. in a very special show. The band was about to rerelease their classic record “A Sultan’s Ransom”, which also happens to be one of my favorite Heavy Metal records, and they were going to present it in its entirety!

I arrived only to find out that despite the cheap ticket price (17 euro), the venue was almost empty. I must admit that this isn’t the best venue in Athens and many people are unemployed, but it seems like less and less people are going to see a gig nowadays. The first band on stage was Thelemite, a very fresh Greek band that sadly played in front of nearly 30-40 people. Their sound is a mixture of good old Rainbow and Black Sabbath with some melodic elements. They played some of their songs along with some covers. Their performance was good, although I have seen them once in the past and they’ve played much better. The second band was Heart Attack, another very fresh and melodic Greek band. They had several lineup changes but they sounded very tight. Their songs are very good although the sound in the club could be a little better. Some more people kept coming in, but still not too many.

There were also two benches with merch at the gig with lots of records and t-shirts for anyone to buy, and most band members stayed until the end of the gig. It was time for Cloven Hoof to hit the stage and I really had high hopes regarding the fact that Russ North was back in the band. I stepped outside to breath some fresh air after Heart Attack finished their set and it was just in time to hear an EXCELLENT A Capella performance from Russ North who was backstage, in a couple of Cloven Hoof classics! What an extraordinary vocal range this man still has…

I rushed down again to witness the greatness. The band was on stage and seemed way too excited to visit Greece once more. The welcome was very warm but the lack of crowd was more than obvious. They started playing the “A Sultan’s Ransom” record and they actually nailed all the songs in the record, along some songs from previous records, in a very unique and magical way.  I really didn’t expect their performance to be at such high standards. They were communicating at all times with each other and with the crowd and the results were more than obvious. Even though I was standing in the front row, the sound was very clear and you could hear even the slightest changes. The performances from all the band members were great and they actually sounded better than the record! My only complaint is I wanted them to play a little more… oh well, maybe next time. The band stayed in the club after the gig for signings, photos and meeting with the fans. Truly a memorable night…

Cloven Hoof setlist:

Astral Rider

Forgotten Heroes

D.V.R.

Jekyll and Hyde

1001 Nights

Silver Surfer

Notre Dame

Mad, Mad World

Highlander

Mistress of the Forest

The Gates of Gehenna

Inquisitor

Reach for the Sky

Nova Battlestar

Laying down the Law


Also on Burst.gr - http://burst.gr/live/reports/item/1223-live-report-cloven-hoof-heart-attack-thelemite-1/6/2012-7sins