I was really looking forward to the Death (DTA Tours) concert on April fool’s day since the moment it was announced. So I arrived at Fuzz club quite early joining an ever growing crowd. A delay on the bands’ arrival led to a one hour delay.

The crowd grew bigger and bigger and when the doors finally opened, the long queue kept most people outside during the Memorain set. Myself included. A chat with some early birds later on included some flattering words concerning their performance.

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Obscura is one of the best technical death metal bands of our times and since I was absent on their first visit in Greece 6 years ago, was really looking forward to watch them perform. Unfortunately the bad sound affected the experience. The double bass triggers overshadowed everything else for half of their set to say the least. A set that was sadly reduced from 50 to 40 minutes because of the initial delay. The crowd was very enthusiastic though and the band seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

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The clock stroke 23:00 and the opening of the curtain revealed a huge banner with the Death logo on it. The fact that the logo was the exact Death one without any modifications raised some questions but all irrelevant thoughts were put aside along with the first notes. Out of Touch, Philosopher and Fuzz club caught fire. Even the skeptic where convinced with the striking resemblance of Max Phelps’ voice to Chuck’s own. Phelps was in character depending the albums and periods of the band.

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So during Bite the Pain and Spirit Crusher he utilized higher screams compared to the lower ones on Zombie Ritual or Pull the Plug. The singer-guitarist kept a very low profile and Steve Digiorgio managed the frontman duties as far as it concerned interaction with the audience. Speaking of Digiorgio I have to admit that watching him torture his 3 and 6 string fretless bass guitars I erased all performances I ever witnessed concerning this underestimated instrument. Although I would prefer the bass higher in the mix and the same goes for Bobby Koelble who was visually shredding but sound wise was lower than desired. A ground leveling Gene Hoglan was the final piece to this relentless metal machine and joined Digiorgio to what could easily be named as the best rhythm section on this planet.

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Song after song memories clashed with emotions in a live experience that lasted 1:45 but felt like 5 minutes. Now that we got our taste, let’s hope that this will happen again in the near future… Until then I keep in mind Digiorgio’s words: “We are all friends of Chuck, picked by him to play his music, celebrating his memory and honoring what he left behind. His legacy”.

Kostas Kounadinis
Photos: Chris Kissadjekian / www.livephotographs.com

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