[Live Report] La Otracina, Kadavar, Psychedelic Trips To Death @ Thessaloniki, 21/05/2012

In the last month a lot of great bands visited Greece, like Radio Moscow, Truckfighters, Moon Duo, Sleep.... And as usual I missed them all. You see when you're having a lot of free time, you don't have money. And when you're having money, you probably don't have free time. I come under the first category (of course...). So when the chance to catch this gig came by, I grab it. Hard. It was definitely a not-miss. Kadavar have just released an amazing debut album and La Otracina are, in my opinion, one of the best neo-psychedelic bands of our time. Furthermore I'd have the chance to check Psychedelic Trips To Death, a newly formed Greek band.

We were the first ones arrived in the venue although it was passed 9. Half an hour after, Psychedelic Trips To Death got up on stage and started their set while below them were 10 people more or less... Their music is influenced by Spacemen 3 neo-psychedelia injected with a dose of shoegaze and a pinch of Joy Division's darkness. I enjoyed their faster, hazed moments while their slower, more "melodic" parts weren't my cup of tea. Their weak part was their vocals where they need some more work (sound didn't help them too...). Overall it was an interesting band and I'll keep an eye on them since they're releasing their debut on September.

After a while, Kadavar were ready to present their debut. I have to say that I was expecting more people to attend this gig (mainly because of Kadavar; since this vintage heavy rock revival has become a hype and a lot of people are stuck in it). I liked Kadavar's album since it really stands out among most of this wave of vintage rock releases. But after this gig, I don't think I'm going to listen it with the same enjoyment as I used to and that's because their live performance was absolutely amazing, making the songs sound 10 times better.

They know how to "stand" on stage, they had a lot of energy and the groove... Oh the groove was enough to satisfy my highly demanding ears. As I already wrote, songs sounded even better live and they really took us in a trip back to the 70's. In the end if you had to pick one favorite song, it was probably the hardest thing in the world to do.

La Otracina were the main reason I went to this live. I really appreciate their releases and I was sure that live would be even more awesome. Their mastermind, Adam Kriney is definitely one of the coolest guys ever. Their set was a fuckin' great one including a lot of my favorite tracks like "Beyond The Smoke", "Lost In The Sunrise", "Hail Fire" and "We Ride On" just to name few. It's quite hard to describe their sound but I think that their own description as "New Wave of Psychedelic Heavy Metal" fits perfectly.

What we experienced was an 1h+ mind-blowing set where Hawkwind's space rock was mixing with 70's proto-metal, fusion/jazz with punk and heavy psychedelia with thrash. What else would you probably want? Adam went nuts behind the drums (I love his "weirdo-spacey" vocals) while Alan Rigoletto was lost in his guitar world and Brian Murphey had an endless amount of energy making his bass bursting in flames... A brilliant performance which left me speechless...

Overall it was an absolutely amazing gig! Both bands are not to be missed if you have the chance to catch them live. The only downside was the really small audience (<35) and I can't see the reason. Ticket was cheap, all bands are in their best period (or moving towards in their peak)... I'm starting to question our taste as Greeks (to be honest I've started for a long time now). Yeah, I know you're keeping your money and energy to see Ozzy and friends... or any band coming for 100th time in Greece for their 20th reunion tour. Anyway. Fortunately all three bands didn't get disappointed by the small attendace, gave their best selves and offered us a gig that we're going to remember for quite a long time!


Written by Thanos
Photos by Victor Malkievic