Grand Magus, Battleroar, Live @ Kyttaro Club 22-09-2012, Athens, Greece

Grand Magus, Battleroar, Live @ Kyttaro Club 22-09-2012, Athens, Greece

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. One of the good things that makes going to a concert such a big deal for me, is catching up with friends. The ones you see mostly at concerts. And every time a local band like Battleroar plays, it’s really just a big gathering of friends. Tonight’s gig was Grand Magus – Battleroar, two great bands, each one in it’s own field, armed and ready to unleash a good dose of metal upon us.

Battleroar had been through a lot of lineup changes lately. I’ve followed them through all those changes and saw them live a couple of times during the last two years. I can say that I didn’t enjoy those shows as much as I enjoyed the bands shows in the past. That was mostly due to sound problems and the fact that the band was between member changes. For this show they’ve recruited the veteran Gerrit P. Mutz, known from his excellent work with Sacred Steel and Dawn of Winter. The band came on stage and started it’s furious metallic assault. They really were full of energy that night and you could just feel it… the atmosphere was extraordinary! Gerrit, despite having only 2,5 rehearsals with the band, he gave his best self and even a little more. It was like he was the singer of Battleroar for 20 years or something. The guy is a total machine. A great addition to the whole atmosphere was the violin sound from Alex Papadiamantis, the bands violinist, who indeed put his heart and soul into his music that night. As we slowly get closer to the end of the show, one hymn after another keep us in a constant headbanging delirium. There couldn’t be a better epilogue of course, than one of the best Heavy Metal hymns ever written, Wargods Of Metal, a superb cover to Gerrit’s band, Sacred Steel.

Battleroar setlist:

Hyrkanian Blades

Siegecraft

The Wrathforge

Dragonhelm

The Poisoned Well

Victorious Path

Finis Mundi

Battleroar

Wargods Of Metal (Sacred Steel cover)

After a short break Grand Magus started to gather up, under the epic intro of the first Conan movie! What better way to start your gig. Most of the crowd was still in shock after the devastating performance of Battleroar, but still had a lot to give. After all, Grand Magus are one of the greatest bands in their genre and we all had great expectations from them. Sadly, despite the high standards, we were about to be proved wrong. The band, despite our first impression that they were full of energy, was already starting to get ready to finish the set. And so it happened, after 10-11 songs, they went off stage, came back for two more songs and said goodnight. I’m not sure if they had a particular small set ready for festivals, or if they were just tired that night, but this isn’t at all professional when you’re playing as a headliner. After a few minutes the band came down to meet the fans but most of them had already left the venue with a bittersweet smile carved. I can say for sure, that many of them will never come again to a Grand Magus gig and the main reason for that of course, is none other than the small duration of the set. I surely hope that this gets better in the future. Despite their obvious energy, Grand Magus still have a lot of things to work on before they become a major headline act.

Grand Magus setlist:

Anvil of Crom (Intro)

Storm King

Kingslayer

Like The Oar Strikes The Water

Ravens Guide Our Way

Sword of the Ocean

Nine

I, The Jury

The Shadow Knows

Silver Into Steel

The Hunt

Hammer Of The North

Encore:

Valhalla Rising

Iron Will

Also on Burst.gr - http://www.burst.gr/live/reports/item/1908-grand-magus-battleroar-live--kyttaro-club-22-09-2012-athens-greece