Serves you right, now!!! Your loss stupid cretins. Only 150 people attending? Short of money or something? Is 18 € too much to pay for? Never mind. The ones that were there that night won’t stop talking about one of the best concerts so far this year. Flawless hosting, courtesy of fans that love and care about this music unlike an upstart dealer that cares about money. Way to go Thanos, keep it up! A truly superb package including 2 of the best Greek bands of the scene (if only Decemberance could be present, too) a rather unknown French outfit and the best modern doom/death act. I was lucky enough to watch the soundcheck and from that very moment I knew I was in for something really special. Fortunately, the t-shirt and other goodies stand was in place, cheap as hell and with a wide range of stuff to choose from (the Morning Beloveth, cigarette papers was a peach!). Thank God I obtained the Ataraxie vinyl in time because after the concert there wasn’t a single copy left. Enough with the prologue, let’s cut to the chase…  First band to enter the stage, the mighty Shattered Hope. An act that can achieve great things and create a fuss around their name worldwide regarding doom death/funeral doom provided they continue this way. Without being pompy or posing on stage they kicked the hell out of us, delivering a mix of old and new songs, mostly long-duration ones, but not tiring, quite the opposite I would say. Solid, slow and “torturing” compositions, the right thing to “bodybang” with. There was a great deal of improvement on the vocals, the guitars were smashing, the keyboards’ noiseless presence was much appreciated and the drums were following a funeral-esque tempo (by the way, the drummer’s shirt rocked, but never mind). The new songs they performed are promising a lot for the future and make us shake in anticipation of their upcoming album. Their show lasted only 40 minutes, not enough but what can you do with 3 bands queued up.
 So, up next were Hedon Cries. A bit groovier, but quite changed in musical style, following more doom/death rhythms now. Dynamic performance with a set-list consisted of old and new pieces and an obvious influence of 90’s Swedish sound in the air, accompanied by some My Dying Bride passages. Their presence on stage was good and the crowd digging it as well giving them a warm applause. I’d like to add that the band is currently working on their new album and I wish them all the best because they truly deserve it, being active all these years.
 The bitter truth is that I’d never listened to Ataraxie much until that night and I bang my head against the rocks for that (ha ha). The ones present know exactly what I mean. Total holocaust, and “Death” was surely there that night, somewhere between the crowd. Funeral doom/death à la diSEMBOWELMENT, with “piercing” vocals. This French foursome belongs in the elite of the scene universally. They performed songs from both albums and a killer execution on Bethlehem’s “Aphel-die schwarge schange”. The crowd was standing and watching like a “pillar of salt” not because they didn’t like what they were seeing, but because they were unable to turn their eyes away from the stage, not even for a single moment (isn’t that right Manos?). Basically, I can’t say enough and make you understand what went on during their play, so just stick to their studio albums for the time being and for crying out loud, don’t miss them next time they perform somewhere near you. Merci boque Ataraxie.
 Last time I had a blast, seeing the best modern doom/death band live, and since then I became a loyal devotee of their grandiose sound. Same happened this time. Of course when a band releases the album of the year (according to me, that is) it’s hard something like this not to occur. The severe set-up, consisted only of a banner with their logo, was in total contradiction with their hellish, soul-wrecking, skull-crushing performance. I was wishing for an opener like “Sickness” and my prayers were heard. Kicking off like this, how the hell could anything go wrong? But there were more to come. They unleashed some vicious pieces covering most of their releases (that’s right, even from the split with Lunar Gate). Darren on brutal vocals was amazing and Frank on clean, too. The guitars were spewing up some incredible riffs while the rhythm section was lead-heavy. The crowd was digging it and cheering and the interaction between them and the band created a “family-like” atmosphere. Mourning Beloveth seem to enjoy the whole thing as well and despite the fact that technically the show was over after a certain moment, since the club was opened to public, they played on and closed with the magnificent “Narcissistic Funeral”.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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