Dimlight, Meden Agan, Humayrah, Layil @ Kyttaro Live, Athens, Greece, 31/03/2012

Every time there is a concert going on, most of the times, afterwards, we complain about the smaller-than-expected crowd. So, this Saturday night, at a live of four Greek underground bands and in a venue that, even though it's historic, it's not in the safest region of Athens, especially nowadays, my expectations were a bit low. But the almost 300 persons gathered showed me that, if the band does a decent and honest job, the fans will support it nevertheless.

Review: Pilgrim - Misery Wizard

Doom metal fans your attention please! Everybody else, who isn’t truly into that genre, should skip this review. Pilgrim address only to hardcore doom lovers. What they offer is old-school, heavy, slow, very slow doom metal, and you will need patience to listen to it. Take Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre and early Cathedral, put them all together and there you have “Misery Wizard”.

Review: Lethian Dreams - Season Of Raven Words

 Coming from France, Lethian Dreams formed in 2002. After three demos, they released their debut album, “Bleak Silver Streams”, which got quite decent reviews, but wasn't good enough for a breakthrough. 2012 found them with far lesser members, as Matthieu Sachs is on the guitar and Carline Van Roos has taken over pretty much everything else, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and is in charge of the vocals. And like that, they did their second attempt to become known to the world with “Season Of Raven Words”.

Opeth @ Fuzz Club, Athens, Greece, 04/03/2012

The first time I saw Opeth live was last summer, as they were one of the support acts of Judas Priest. Even though this live was amazing, the burning sun and the stage by the sea do not provide the proper environment to enjoy Opeth fully. They need dark and smoke in order for their music to create the right atmosphere. When I heard that they would be coming to Athens a few months later for the promotion of “Heritage” I knew that this was it. 

Review: Nightwish - Imaginaerum

Almost a year ago, Nightwish announced their latest endeavor. Tuomas Holopainen, being known for his adoration for soundtracks, decided to create a concept album, whose music would be playing in a movie. Quite an ambitious project that is. The movie will be out in about a year, but the album is already in our hands, so let's see what the pirate boy, as they call Holopainen, has come up with this time.

Review: The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre

When you hear that a band's main themes are Chaos, Death and Satan, you well expect its music to be closer to black metal. But that's not the case here. Coming from the Netherlands, The Devil's Blood is a hard rock band that incorporates a very vintage sound. Take early Black Sabbath, put in a little bit of Coven and a little bit of Jefferson Airplane and there you have it. On 11/11/11, The Devil's Blood released their second full-length album, “The Thousandfold Epicentre”. It only takes a few seconds for the opening track “On The Wings OF Gloria” to demand your full attention.

Studio Report: Dimlight - Psychosynthesis

Dimlight, in my opinion, is one of those few very promising bands that can offer something more to the Greek metal scene. They started in 2009 with “Obtenebration”, a quite good debut album, which I really enjoyed. Now it's time for them to take the next step, with their second full-length album. Metalpaths, along with some other metal webzines, had the chance to be present at the press listening session of “Psychosynthesis” at Devasoundz Studios. After a very warm welcome from the band members and Fotis Benardo of Septicflesh (and owner of Devasoundz Studios) we got comfortable in our chairs and with our drinks, and we got started.

Arcturus @ Gagarin 205, Athens, Greece, 04/02/2012

When I heard a few months ago that Arcturus would visit Athens, I couldn't hold my enthusiasm. From the beginning of their formation, they have been one of the most distinctive Norwegian black metal bands, incorporating to their music avant-garde elements and making their concerts an amazing theatrical show. I never had the chance to see them live, then to my misfortune they split up for five years, so Saturday was the time for me.