 To see the Swedish Progressive/Doom quintet live in my hometown is something I've been dreaming of since the first time I listened to "Forever" EP and "Tides", almost 12 years back. I was instantly caught in the sounds of epic melancholy that was unsparingly offered by the Nordic squad, and driven by my "poor" musical instinct, I ranked them right away in the top bands of doom metal. The addition of Simon Johansson and the turn they took towards more technical doom forms with "Verdict of Posterity", gave new boost to the band and filled me with a burning desire to see them live and meet the people that are writing the soundtrack of my dreams and anguish.
So 2008 was the year that my dream would come true. Lady luck was on my side, same goes for the whole universe as Paulo Coelho once wrote, Memory Garden were very enthusiastic about visiting Greece for the first time and the invaluable help of Greg (Rock Hard Greece), Giannis Tsakonas (Metal Perspective) Giannis Hatzis (Melodies and Words), Giannis Tagmatarhis (Sold Out Team) and Manolis (Up the Hammers fest), gave flesh to this vision. It all began on the first "Up the Hammers" day, on Friday 11th April, where Memory Garden shared a place in the billing list together with Omen, Dark Quarterer, Sentinel Beast, Airged L'amh and Heathendoom. The last opened the show and made quite an impression with their attractive compositions, solid performance and a very good sound. The "doom metal" future belongs to them for sure. The follow-up Airged L'ahm, who had recently released their new work, gave a good show and whipped up the crowd delivering a mixture of old and new songs. Even though the sound wasn't in their favour, it didn't stop the attendees from giving them a big applause. Then the (sorry to say, but it's true) ludicrous Sentinel Beast entered the stage and I got out for some air because the low-ceilinged An Club was sweltering as hell, so I totally missed them, but I enjoyed much Dark Quarterer that came next, even though I lost interest near the end of their set-list due to Memory Garden's imminent appearance, the main reason I was present that night.
Of course, and that's clearly the way I saw things, Memory Garden stole the show. Incredible amounts of energy, passion and flowing adrenaline. They gave a solid recital and seemed to enjoy every minute on stage and despite the fact that initially only their loyal fans seemed to fully realize what was taking place on stage at the time, within a matter of minutes more and more responded to their call. Melody, technically and intensity was brimming over Simon Johansson's and Anders Looström's guitars, Johan Fredrikson's and Tom Bjorn's rhythm section was in excess of power and passion, while Stefan Berglund leaned over backwards to arouse the crowd's reactions with his interpretation and interaction with it. The set-list consisted of "Genesis", "Forever", "Dream Horizons", "Hallowed Soil", "Marion", "Judgement Day", "Warlord", "Carnage Carnival", "Nameless" and the climax was the cover on Candlemass' "Well of Souls". The Swede's were overwhelmed by the reactions and warm applause of the Greeks and enjoyed every moment one stage, seeing that this was their first time in Greece and what's more in a festival with hardcore "true metal" fans, not usually open to new musical suggestions. So winning even one of them is quite an achievement. Then Omen, this legendary band I grew up with, entered the stage. Out of respect I'll only say that they were at least disheartening. Not bad, but absolutely not the band I was expecting to see. They seemed to enjoy it and interact well with the Greek fans, which by the way adores them (me included), but they had nothing to do with the American heavy metal legends I had in mind, not even close. I agree they are way past their glorious era, but I truly believe they can still do better than that. Hope to happen in the near future.
 The appointment with Memory Garden was rearranged for the town of Ioannina on Sunday 13th April together with Sorrow's Path and the local Lisa's Lick. All seemed to go just perfect and the agony was raised to level red just a few minutes before the start. Only discord was the poor attendance of the locals. It seems that they've had a bellyful of metal concerts in town so they decided to pass over. Of course I'm being ironic, but what else can I do? I shouldn't even bother myself with their ignorance. Anyway the lucky ones present enjoyed a unique and mind-blowing show.
Lisa's Lick opened the night, who by the way are working on their new cd. Even though their style is far from metal, more like modern rock I'd say, they stood pretty well in front of a sheer metal audience. The sound was good and helped them to render their set as best as they could. I wish you all the best guys with your new album. The Athenian Sorrow's Path followed and soundly proved me right to consider them as one of the best and more promising doom metal bands in Greece. A solid and lively display, by a band with zest for doom metal music. It was the second time I saw them live and I was totally satisfied with their offering. Aggelos interpreted the songs in a good fashion, fully supported by Kostas' excellent guitar work and Stavros' and Fotis' rhythm section. Only weak point the lack of volume in their music when played live, mostly due to the absence of a second guitar, but this didn't stop the fans from giving them a warm applause.
The highlight that night was again Memory Garden's show. Not disheartened at all by the unexpectedly small attendance, they promised as a night to remember and they vividly delivered. Their energy, spirit, power and lust for live overwhelmed the crowd who got carried away to their imposing doom rhythms and acted like they were double in numbers. They played as good as they did last Friday in Athens, not to say way better than that. Surprisingly the sound was crystal clear and helped the Nordic doom machine in unleashing a blast of epic/doom metal combined with flawless technically that lasted almost one and a half hour, with songs like "Genesis", "Forever", "Dream Horizons", "Hallowed Soil", "Judgement Day", "Navigate", "Badlands", "Inarticulo Mortis", "Marion", "Wasteland Foretold ", "Carnage Carnival", "Nameless", "The Downfall", "Warlord" and again the "Well of Souls" Candlemass cover that was the icing on the cake.
The only thing I want to add is a big thank you to all the bands, and especially to Memory Garden not only for their great shows (and the once in a lifetime experience) they offered me and all Greek fans, but also for being 5 amazing guys. I'm honored and privileged to have met you guys. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING from the bottom of my heart.
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