“ Organic images / Dissolving earth…”

Arcturus is a shockingly good band, hence the fans have high expectations every time they visit Greece, even now that it has been eight years since their last studio release. There is a special bond with the greek fans that attend their show each and every time they come to Athens or Thessaloniki. The Norwegians were a joy to watch once more as they offered to us their unique blend of majestic/avant-garde/post black music and the setlist went back and forth to all their eras but the sound quality wasn’t at top quality levels which didn’t allow the gig to turn into something magical. Along with them were the Athenian blacksters Decipher which a gave a great performance.

The doors opened with a thirty minute long delay but the few at that time fans got inside and went towards the merchandise corner where you could grab some nice things for relativity good prices. But at 21:25 the first band was ready to hit the stage.

“Ιn a world full of terror…”

The opening act was the Athenian black metal band Decipher, a band that I saw for the first time three years ago when they opened for Wolves In The Throne Room. For one more time their performance was powerful and they had that extra passion during their 45 minute long set. Most compositions were coming from their album “Arcane Paths To Resurrection” along with two brand new ones from their upcoming album. The truth is that old and new stuff matched nicely, Gerochristos was great behind the mic, there were the expected black metal groove (the drummer was powerful) but also some necessary melodic additions on some guitar leads. Fans seemed to enjoy them and gave a warm applause at the end.

live video Decipher:

Decipher setlist:

Emanation I (intro) / Chants of the Unholy / Lost in Obscurity / Arcane Paths (intro) /  Enslaved to be / new song / Altar of the void / new song / Emanation II (intro) /  Penance Sanctum Regnum

“Chaos upon us spawn!…”


It was 22:30 when the lights turned off and everyone was ready to see Arcturus on stage. Τhe venue was half full  (the upper level was closed) but considering the fact it’s been eight years already since their last studio release it was more than enough. Their dedicated fans were there anyway since this special band has many great songs that worth to listen live. They have visit Greece many times although their last one in Athens was a great failure (due to a packed small venue and the awful sound quality) so tonight everything seemed to be upgraded.

We love this and so the fans started to cheer when they kicked off with “Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer”. They have a special appearance on stage, Skoll with a jester’s hat, Knut Magne Vall with his cape, Hellhammer with a black and white mask, Sverd like a captain behind the keys and Vortex with a straightjacket and the weird glasses.

Unfortunately after the initial excitement screams we started to wonder why the vocals were coming from the crypt, why the guitar wasn’t around and why the sound was so muddy in general. The nightmare of their last show started to scare us once more and the truth is that for almost twenty or something minutes everything sounded wrong and the gig was about to get ruined since all their magic couldn’t reach the fans. But the sound god had mercy on us and from that point we could enjoy the band much more. Hellhammer was a beast on the drum kit, a great drummer to watch while Vortex was walking around in a weird crazy dance but above all with his unique vocals on old and new compositions (ok he missed some lines here and there).

Their setlist was nicely divided covering all their periods but of course the trip into the old stuff brought many memories to their old fans while the fact that they didn’t waste time with unnecessary talk in between each song helped a lot to create a unique compact performance. They also seemed to enjoy it to the maximum, that’s why they returned back on stage to play “Alone” which wasn’t on the setlist.

live video Arcturus:

Arcturus setlist:

shipwrecked frontier pioneer / nightmare heaven / painting my horror / the arcturian sign / nocturnal vision revisited / the chaos path / collapse generation/ crashland / master of disguise / evacuation code deciphered / ad absurdum / deception genesis / raudt og svart / to thou who dwellest in the night / alone

® live report/photos/video: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos