The triple deadly attack of DTA, Obscura & Memorain got quite a few people quipped up and had the obvious nay-sayers, obviously taking pot shots at DTA for having the gull to tour without “Chuck”… well not that anyone would have expected him to be present anyway, but you know how some people treat “tributes” even if they are done by a lot of the original members… like some cashgrab, which is fair, but in some cases unfounded as the people involved are many times well off anyway, or could tour with any band and make a decent living anyway… but that’s another story.
Outside Fuzz club, it all seemed like a lie, being April Fool’s Day and all that there was going to be a significant delay, because of a delayed soundcheck, but unfortunately that just happened. Memorain have been around for a while and in the past have featured SdG in their ranks (as a guest) have enough experience, but because of all the issues, had to trim their show to only fifteen minutes, which was way too little… they tried to give it their all, but I’m guessing it must have been quite a letdown to get on and then almost immediately off…
Obscura played for about 50 minutes mostly presenting stuff from their new album “Akroasis”. Even though their lineup is largely new, they had no problem to perform their incredibly technical death metal and they easily brought the audience into submission. The sound problems during their show were obvious, but didn’t hamper their show too badly. It was their third appearance in Greece, and the second concert of their current tour. Already a fairly big name in tech death metal, the Germans are definitely worth all the buzz they’ve been generating and I’d gladly check them out again should they happen to tour in Greece and so should you!
DTA… OK, let’s be crystal clear about last Friday’s night Death To All show at Fuzz Club...
First of all it was not a Death’s concert! It was one of the closest approach to Death’s music by original members, who were handpicked by “the legend” himself many years ago. Was that experiment successful at the end? That’s the main -and the only- question that needs to be answered... From my point of view “it was”, big time!
The musical abilities of the band-members are beyond any doubt, or they wouldn’t have played in Death in the first place .The setlist was kind of best of... so it catered to most of the fans and the passion and the respect that the ex-Death members showed to Chuck’s music was evident, including Max Phelps (Exist, Cynic), whose role was the most difficult one...
The rhythm section beasts, Gene Holgan and Steve Digiorgio, were as solid as you would expect them to be throughout the show. Actually you cannot easily describe such an extraterrestrial rhythmical team. You should be present in order to fully understand how unbelievably tight those guys are! Both musicians are masters of their instruments and they can easily be considered as one of the best rhythm section couples in metal music nowadays. It is really amazing to see Steve performing live either with his 4-string or his 6-string fretless bass... and I won’t say a word about Gene, whose performance made many drummers in the audience burst into tears of joy... Chuck knew how to pick up partners, no doubt about that. On the other hand, Boobie Koelble, who was part of the “Symbolic” album, proved why he had a place in this legendary band, even though he was absent from the metal scene for a number of years…
The Athenian crowd honored the band and especially the memory of Chuck through their presence and their reactions during the concert. It was not a sold out concert, but those who were in attendance, mostly youngsters, who didn’t have a chance to see Death back in the day, created a nearly perfect atmosphere... and how it could have been any different when you have such great musicians playing death metal hymns such as “Spirit Crusher”, “Zombie Ritual”, “Pull the Plug”, “Crystal Mountain” & “Symbolic” among others... at some point we even heard Chuck’s voice through the speakers, just before the encore... a touching moment... for everybody.
Another thing that I should mention was the stage appearance of DiGiorgio, who looked like Uli Jon Roth’s little brother in a way! Obviously, except their virtuosity, both of them are sharing the same love for the 60s... just check out the photos below.
The concert finished after two hours and everybody seemed really excited as they were exiting the club… Of course there is no comparison with the first show of the real Death in Athens, 18 years ago, and I don’t believe that I have to explain why...
DTA Setlist:
“Out of Touch”
“The Philosopher”
“Open Casket”
“Suicide Machine”
“Overactive Imagination”
“Trapped in a Corner”
“Living Monstrosity”
“Lack of Comprehension”
“Jealousy”
“Flattening of Emotions”
“Destiny”
“Symbolic”
“Zero Tolerance”
“Bite the Pain”
“Spirit Crusher”
“Zombie Ritual / Baptized in Blood”
“Crystal Mountain”
“Pull the Plug”
Obscura played for about 50 minutes mostly presenting stuff from their new album “Akroasis”. Even though their lineup is largely new, they had no problem to perform their incredibly technical death metal and they easily brought the audience into submission. The sound problems during their show were obvious, but didn’t hamper their show too badly. It was their third appearance in Greece, and the second concert of their current tour. Already a fairly big name in tech death metal, the Germans are definitely worth all the buzz they’ve been generating and I’d gladly check them out again should they happen to tour in Greece and so should you!
DTA… OK, let’s be crystal clear about last Friday’s night Death To All show at Fuzz Club...
First of all it was not a Death’s concert! It was one of the closest approach to Death’s music by original members, who were handpicked by “the legend” himself many years ago. Was that experiment successful at the end? That’s the main -and the only- question that needs to be answered... From my point of view “it was”, big time!
The musical abilities of the band-members are beyond any doubt, or they wouldn’t have played in Death in the first place .The setlist was kind of best of... so it catered to most of the fans and the passion and the respect that the ex-Death members showed to Chuck’s music was evident, including Max Phelps (Exist, Cynic), whose role was the most difficult one...
The rhythm section beasts, Gene Holgan and Steve Digiorgio, were as solid as you would expect them to be throughout the show. Actually you cannot easily describe such an extraterrestrial rhythmical team. You should be present in order to fully understand how unbelievably tight those guys are! Both musicians are masters of their instruments and they can easily be considered as one of the best rhythm section couples in metal music nowadays. It is really amazing to see Steve performing live either with his 4-string or his 6-string fretless bass... and I won’t say a word about Gene, whose performance made many drummers in the audience burst into tears of joy... Chuck knew how to pick up partners, no doubt about that. On the other hand, Boobie Koelble, who was part of the “Symbolic” album, proved why he had a place in this legendary band, even though he was absent from the metal scene for a number of years…
The Athenian crowd honored the band and especially the memory of Chuck through their presence and their reactions during the concert. It was not a sold out concert, but those who were in attendance, mostly youngsters, who didn’t have a chance to see Death back in the day, created a nearly perfect atmosphere... and how it could have been any different when you have such great musicians playing death metal hymns such as “Spirit Crusher”, “Zombie Ritual”, “Pull the Plug”, “Crystal Mountain” & “Symbolic” among others... at some point we even heard Chuck’s voice through the speakers, just before the encore... a touching moment... for everybody.
Another thing that I should mention was the stage appearance of DiGiorgio, who looked like Uli Jon Roth’s little brother in a way! Obviously, except their virtuosity, both of them are sharing the same love for the 60s... just check out the photos below.
The concert finished after two hours and everybody seemed really excited as they were exiting the club… Of course there is no comparison with the first show of the real Death in Athens, 18 years ago, and I don’t believe that I have to explain why...
DTA Setlist:
“Out of Touch”
“The Philosopher”
“Open Casket”
“Suicide Machine”
“Overactive Imagination”
“Trapped in a Corner”
“Living Monstrosity”
“Lack of Comprehension”
“Jealousy”
“Flattening of Emotions”
“Destiny”
“Symbolic”
“Zero Tolerance”
“Bite the Pain”
“Spirit Crusher”
“Zombie Ritual / Baptized in Blood”
“Crystal Mountain”
“Pull the Plug”
text & photos by Jason Filis
