Live Report: Meden Agan, Negative Contrast, Sacrificial Death (Temple club, Athens, Greece – 11/01/2025)

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Live Show: Meden Agan, Negative Contrast, Sacrificial Death
Place: Temple club, Athens, Greece
Date: Saturday, January 11th, 2025
Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos

Live-wise, I really hope that 2025 will be as good as my first live of the year. To be honest I didn’t expect such a night! First live of the year with MEDEN AGAN who finished their mini tour in Greece with their appearance at Temple club. And for starters, two more really good and fresh bands, SACRIFICIAL DEATH and NEGATIVE CONTRAST.

Essentially, the two support bands of the evening mirrored the two sides of MEDEN AGAN. On the one hand, SACRIFICIAL DEATH their hardest and more extreme, while NEGATIVE CONTRAST their melodic face. I don’t know if that was the intention but I found the combination very fitting even though a little odd. The live started with SACRIFICIAL DEATH and their classic Thrash/Death Metal. They may have only released one EP so far, “Glory Of The Dead” which includes 3 songs but they managed to create a satisfying setlist with their own songs as well as a cover of DEATH’s “Zombie Ritual”. However, they are in the process of releasing their first full-length album, so they have enough songs for a fulfilling set. One thing is for sure after what we’ve heard, SACRIFICIAL DEATH are on the right path to earn their place in the Extreme Metal music scene. Fast, impetuous and destructive Thrash Metal that reminds of other eras that the older fans of the scene reminisce about. SACRIFICIAL DEATH offer exactly that in an honest and truthful way. We await their album to get a full picture!

Setlist

  1. Intro – Hell On Earth
  2. Absolute Catharsis
  3. Darkness Returns
  4. Fetch Us Their Souls
  5. Zombie Ritual (DEATH cover)
  6. Sacrificial Death
  7. Demise Of The Ritual
  8. Flesh Of Deceit (Death To Humanity)
  9. Glory Of The Dead

The next band were the Alternative Metallers NEGATIVE CONTRAST. Here the vibe changes completely as we have a clearly more melodic band with female vocals from the excellent Efremia Michou. The band since 2016, they have released a full length album in 2019 (“We ‘re All Pawns Here”) and an EP in 2022 (“Outcast”), so there was the material to present a full 45-minute set. Of course, it should be noted that unlike SACRIFICIAL DEATH who played 9 songs in less than 40 minutes, NEGATIVE CONTRAST chose long and rather difficult songs, showing that they are not afraid to dare. Of course their efforts were rewarded with the reactions of the audience that had already almost filled Temple. In fact, they blatantly ignored their only full-length album, selecting only ‘Machines’ from it and focusing on their more recent compositions. I think the time has come for a new release and maybe the above event is a sign of what will follow in the near future.

Setlist

  1. Used
  2. Paralyzed
  3. Sick
  4. Owned
  5. Heavens Above
  6. Outcast
  7. Machines

t’s nice (and necessary) to see that each band has their own fans in a live show and those fans actually stay until the end of the show. However, most of the 300 spectators had clearly come to honor MEDEN AGAN, who are among the top bands in our country in their genre. In fact, with Dimitra Panariti on vocals, they have found exactly the style that suits them, hence in their set they focused exclusively on their last 3 albums. Of course, we heard “My Name Is Katherine” in its entirety, but also many of their older songs. After all, they now have the material to support not a 1.5 hour but a 3 -hour show if they want to. However, I don’t think anyone was left unsatisfied with the 18 (!!) songs that were presented to us, among which was the classic “Wish I Had An Angel” from NIGHTWISH with the guest participation of the sick but unaffected Dimitris Giannakopoulos of DEIFIED ( formerly SECRET ILLUSION and SUNLIGHT). Panariti proved once again that she is not only a very good singer but also a performer while at the same time she is responsible for the communicating with the audience. Dimitris (Diman) Koutsogiannopoulos is one of the best guitarists in the field and shows it at every opportunity. In general, the quintet showed that after so many live shows in festival or in smaller venues have bonded them and they are becoming better and better each time.

Setlist

  1. Awaken The Nightmare
  2. Moth
  3. Rejection
  4. Trapped
  5. Embrace The Sorrow
  6. The Purge
  7. Time Like Space
  8. Shedding
  9. Confident
  10. Everlasting Pain
  11. Portal of Fear
  12. Wish I Had An Angel (NIGHTWISH cover)
  13. Beyond Any Suspicion
  14. Victorious
  15. Sickness
  16. Transition
  17. No Escape
  18. Lustful Desires

This is how live shows with Greek bands should be. Well organized, with energy, lots of people, good sound (yes, the sound was very good for all 3 bands). To see the joy on the faces of the spectators and the excitement on those of the musicians. Music for most of us is something like psychotherapy (I think Dimitra would totally agree with that) and that’s how it should be seen by those who one way or another belong to this scene.

Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos
Design & Editing: Kostas Boudoukos
Photographs: Kostas Boudoukos
External Links: MEDEN AGAN – Facebook Page
NEGATIVE CONTRAST – Facebook Page
SACRIFICIAL DEATH – Facebook Page
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