Infidel: Really, loved “I, the Oathbreaker”. Traditional doom, to the bone. Lyrics that remind Messiah. Heavy sound. Epic feeling. I loved everything about it. The band on this live played exclusively songs from their upcoming album. So, it’s sad to say nothing from the oathbreaker… How do the new songs sound? Well, not as good. Many brutal/death parts (I sense Mr. Pousios played a role on this direction). Much more space vibe.
More experimentation in general and definitely less traditional doom.
Near the end I heard also many mistakes but as the band admitted they didn’t have the chance to rehearse properly. I can’t judge the new record from that live performance, I just hope it‘ll sound better.
Pentagram: The club was full, not sure about a sold out but there was a lot of people. All familiar doom faces of course and many cute looking women! We didn’t have to wait long, but when we are talking about the first Pentagram show every second counts!
After Griffin and the rest of the band members got on stage Bobby finally made his appearance. Wearing an unusual (for Bobby) all-leather outfit he just stood in the middle of the stage for several minutes doing…nothing! To tell you the truth the way he seemed right then made me wonder if he really kicked “the habit” after all. At that point the entire club was screaming “Pentagram-Pentagram” while I was thinking that Bobby isn’t in the mood for a good live tonight.
First notes of “The Day of Reckoning” sounded from Victor’s guitar and Bobby said: “It’s the first time we play in Italy”. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. Well, it’s true Athens was conquered by the Romans in 146 BC, and he is old enough to have lived at those times, so I thought it was a small mistake. From that point about 10 seconds passed to make me convinced that the old man still has it!
The guy suddenly switched his mode into “live”. It was Bobby from the past we’ve only had the chance to watch on Youtube, now singing right in front of me! Shit! A dream came true! The old man was taking the classic “stunned” poses. Although, Griffin and the rest of the band were great, it was clear: This was an one man show! At some point he said: “I feel like I am trapped in a cage here!” The guy didn’t neglect to give his compliments to a beautiful girl standing next to me. Before I know it we were already in the middle of the show when “The Ghoul” started. The crowd when berserk. Probably it was the wildest moment of the entire show. Constant, stage diving, crowd surfing etc. As Bobby admitted later on: “Athens, you are the smallest but the wildest crowd ever”. The crowd continued its frantic behavior in “Evil Seed”, “Relentless”, “Sign of the Wolf”.
The band played “When the Screams Come” for encore. At that point a weird thing happened. At least I haven’t seen it on a Pentagram show before. A fan from the front row was invited on stage by Griffin. I agree with Victor’s remark: “This guy looks like Bobby’s twin brother 30 years ago”. They both sang the first part of the song. Shit! What an experience this had to be for him! Bobby thanked everyone by saying “Among the 17 countries I’ve played live you are the best crowd”.
To make a long tale short: One of the best lives I’ve seen in my live and trust me I’ve seen more than enough. I also like the setlist! Of course there could be some songs from their “neglected” albums instead of the new ones but oh well…you can’t ask for everything!
My kudos to the club owners for the extra white lights and the stronger air-condition!
Review and videos by Dr. Doom
Here are some videos as well:
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