Awesome live in our city today, with the “crazy” Canadian band VOIVOD and two very good Greek bands to accompany them, STEREO ANIMAL and SACRAL RAGE. The concert was scheduled to start at 9 p.m. but due to technical problems it was delayed a bit, a fact that didn’t bother anyone at all, judging from the smiles I saw around me…
The first band was STEREO ANIMAL from Thessaloniki. They entered the stage to warm up the audience with their weird style. It is a mix of Metal and Hardcore with a lot of groove, influenced from almost the entire range of extreme sound, even Industrial and Noise Rock! I was particularly impressed with their rhythm section that was tight and firm, causing “seismic” vibrations. There are also some very nice guitar parts that remind me of Prong, Helmet and Godflesh! The only negative thing in their appearance was the volume of the vocals that was quite low. Very good choice for supporting VOIVOD and I’m looking forward to their next live to enjoy them again!
Next band was the amazing SACRAL RAGE whom I saw for the first time live and they surprised me positively! They are all incredible musicians and their songs are very technical. With two albums of Speed/Thrash Metal in their possession I think that they were the right choice from the Greek scene to play with VOIVOD. They were very energetic on stage and won the love and applause of the crowd with their immediacy. I don’t want to say much about this band. If you haven’t heard them, do yourself a favor and listen right away!
After a 45 minute break for setting up VOIVOD‘ s equipment, the time has come to enjoy them! Their set featured songs from all the phases of their career except the Eric Forest’s period, focusing on their latest album, the awesome “The Wake”. At the end of the opening song “Post Society”, the Canadians received the love of the crowd (which has now filled Eightball club) with the endless applause and rhythmic repetition of their name. They played for about an hour and a half, their performance was superb and they interacted with the crowd to the point where you thought you were watching a Punk band. Snake and their guitarist Daniel did a grimace competition and they didn’t stop shaking hands with the fans. They closed the show with “Voivod” and with a promise that they would come again. Personally I’m very happy that I’ve finally watched this band live and I am optimistic about the new concert season which started in the best way!
Giannis Karakasis
