Live Report: Methedras, Piranha, Corax BM
Place: Temple Club, Athens, Greece
Date: October 20th, 2024
Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos

Last Sunday, we experienced an exteme metal feast from 3 bands of different subgenres.  From CORAX BM’s Black and PIRANHA’s Thrash/Death to METHEDRAS’ unrelenting Thrash. The Milanese METHEDRAS, shortly before turning 30 years old, decided to visit Greece for the first time with a mini-tour on the occasion of the release of their latest album “Human Deception”.

After Komotini, Thessaloniki and Larissa, it was time for Athens to welcome them. In each city, a different band opened the show. In Athens we had the pleasure of seeing CORAX B.M. opening the concert. The Athenian Pagan Black Metallers started with a minor delay and spread their abysmal darkness in the air of the venue with the crowd still gathering. They have already released a full length album (“Pagana”) and they managed to create a very dark atmosphere. Even their clothes enhanced this feeling mostly with their female singer Ennea and her ceremonial dress which covered her from top to bottom. It would be nice to hear her voice better but there were some minor sound problems. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed their set and CORAX B.M. proved that they have a bright future in the Greek Black Metal music scene which is supposed to be one of the best in Europe.

CORAX B.M. Setlist:

• Taphos
• Apostatis
• Mythos
• Antara
• Aniliagos
• Zophos

After a short inerval, the stage belonged to the Greek veterans PIRANHA who were formed in 1987. They may have released only two full length albums (“Reborn” in 1998 and “Arise From The Shadows” in 2020) but their experience on stage was evident. Despite their fatigue from touring they managed to maintain their energy and enthusiasm and make the crowd cheer. Thankfully the sound was even better than before and we had the chance to dwelve in an old school but fresh at the same time setlist with their last album being on the center of the attention. It is very fulfilling and refreshing to see musicians that are not in their prime agewise (sorry guys) to have an amazing energy in stage and pure joy to perform for their fans. At around 22:30 they left thanking us for our support. We expect a new album in 2025 as promised…

PIRANHA Setlist:

• Nuclear Desease
• Human Fear
• Worlds Grave
• Arise From The Shadows
• Dead Boat
• Reborn
• Endless Dream
• Cancer
• Eternal Night
• No Escape
• Unholy Lie
• Rotten Mind

Next on stage were the mighty METHEDRAS or in other words the Italian killing machine. It is really a shame that such great bands do not play in front of a packed venue. I am sure that the Greek fans of Thrash Metal lost a great opportunity.  Having shared the stage with Metal titans such as OVERKILL, SANCTUARY and especially SLAYER they had no problem giving 100% whether in front of 1,000 or 20 people. They mainly focused on their 2 last albums giving emphasis to their last excellent full length “Human Deception”. I can’t tell for sure, how much the band might have been affected by the satisfied but few faces they saw in the audience but since we are talking about professional and experienced musicians they didn’t show any displeasure for a second. The sound was excellent this time, Edo Sala on drums was everywhere as did Guiseppe Caruso on vocals and Andrea Bochi on his bass. My favorite is definitely Daniele Colombo on guitar with his excellent solos. At the end of the night they promised to come back although I highly doubt it. Maybe participating in the line up of a festival…

METHEDRAS Setlist:

• Another Fall
• Injected Thoughts
• Envy Society
• Dead Silence
• Blind
• Know It All
• Chernobyl
• Phychotic
• Layers Of Grief
• The Abyss

Regarding the disheartening attendance… every time an important band is announced, I read dozens of comments telling that “the same bands keep coming” or “it’s enough with the old folks” or “we want new bands” … and staff like that. So, for the first time in their career, a well-known and experienced band came to our country but few of us showed up. Not to mention the very strong support bands like PIRANHA and CORAX B.M. that covered the needs of all fans of Extreme Metal scene. Even worse is the fact that while during PIRANHA’s show the venue was at least half full, during the break more than half of them left. I hope it was a coincidence and at the next event there will be support from a metal audience that describes itself as dedicated and loyal to metal music. Let’s see…

Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos
Design & Editing: Kostas Boudoukos
Photographs: Kostas Boudoukos
External Links: METHEDRAS – Facebook Page
PIRANHA – Facebook Page
CORAX B.M. – Facebook Page
Copyright © 2024 THEGALLERY.GR