Greece has finally its very own doom metal festival. Demons Gate overcame all the obstacles laid by the covid pandemic and came back for a second time, seemingly untouchable. An effort worth of high praise, executed with love, passion and above all respect to the fans of the genre. The doom sound seems to be kind of an exclusive trait for three countries since from all 12 bands of the festival, five where Swedish, three were German and four were Greek.
The day kicked off with Acid Mammoth and the ultra heavy Sabbath infused doom which also has obvious references to what we tend to call stoner. Electric Wizard is definitely a clear and present influence but the band’s pallet includes all soundscapes of the doom metal sound.
Moaning Silence took over and this was my first contact with their material. A radical change sound wise since they brought old Anathema to mind, the era of the British band that I am particularly fond of. The female vocals and the constant exchange with the male growls also brought Theatre of Tragedy to the forefront of influences while some guitar parts screamed old On Thorns I Lay.
Fvneral Fvkk was the first German representation of the day. I recently came across their work and the curiosity of watching them perform was instantly born. All members visually backed the band’s orthodox doom by ironically wearing the cloth of the Catholic clergy (see what they did there 😉 ?) but one of the guitarists had already stolen their thunder by wearing the traditional German footwear comprised of white socks and sandals.
The Ereb Altor studio kick off left me speechless back in the day with its fidelity to the epic side of the Bathory heritage. Moving onwards they blended the sound with more extreme elements and although they kind of drifted apart from my personal epic doom territory, I continued to monitor their progress and find interesting stuff along the way. Storming the festival stage, they immediately won the audience by delivering convincing renditions of songs picked from almost their entire career. Definitely the highlight of the evening for me and a great portion of the audience was clearly there because of them.
The nightmarish and drag paced funeral doom that Ahab represents, is not my favourite cup of doom tea. But if I could make a definitive statement, it would be that the Germans are definitely more appealing on stage than through their studio albums. I had friends in the audience that felt the same way prior to the show and by the end of it they were using words of praise. And that fact alone speaks volumes.
Lisa Johansson’s return kind of reignited the flame for Draconian and created a certain anticipation for their performance. The great number of Draconian shirts that were spotted inside Kyttaro were a testament to the popularity of the Swedes. I don’t have something to compare their performance with since this was the first time I encountered the band on stage, but the whole atmosphere they created definitely satisfied their numerous fans and won them some new ones. I would prefer a more sober version of Anders Jacobsson though since he seemed somehow “overwhelmed” by the Greek hospitality…
The Saturday curtain opened with the Greek act I Abyssick that immediately became one of the big surprises of the festival. Very interesting and well executed contemporary doom metal with a singer that steals the thunder with his delivery which spans from traditional doom to high pitched power metal. I will be monitoring them closely for sure because they clearly have things to offer to a genre that is somehow stagnant.
The Temple from Thessaloniki is a recognizable force as far as traditional doom is concerned. Solid and epic, holding the flag of the sound up high, with compositions of certain quality and convincing delivery like the one we witnessed at the festival. Unadorned and compendious, exactly as the genre dictates. But I think they should head back to the studio soon since Forevermourn remains without a successor for 6 whole years.
One could say that German band Ophis is the alter ego of Fvneral Fvkk since they share quite a few members. But the resemblance ends there. Their approach is much more cavernous, closer to the Ahab style in a way. I definitely prefer the more theatric Fvneral Fvkk way.
The Isole – Ereb Altor connection is somehow similar to the Fvneral Fvkk – Ophis one. This team of musicians has produced 16 albums in 20 years. What a feat! Daniel Bryntse steps to the spotlight holding the reins and the epic combative side of Ereb Altor gives way to the lyrical and melancholic doom of Isole which by the way had many supporters among the festival audience.
Memory Garden assumed the role of the spirit lifters with their trademark power-doom style. Classic Swedish sound, the Candlemass legacy filtered through the miraculous 90s that spawned great colleagues like Tad Morose, Memento Mori and Hexenhaus. The band never disappoints on stage and always appears firm and solid while choosing cuts from their entire career, reinforce by some strong additions from the great 1349 album. Too bad they rarely tour or do shows.
On 23:00 it was pretty evident that Tiamat were the epicentre of the festival. People flocked inside the venue and the lack of proper air-conditioning resulted to a borderline suffocating atmosphere. But as soon as the first notes of Whatever That Hurts filled the air, self-preservation became a trifling matter. There are many things that can be said about this performance depending on each one’s point of view. I decided to choose the somehow neutral one. The Tiamat set was advertised as Clouds-Wildhoney special show, raising expectations that eventually weren’t met in my opinion. From the 13 songs of the set, three were picked by the former and five from the latter. I would definitely be more satisfied if Undressed had made the cut. Maybe I wouldn’t be writing this complaint at all. The attendants had the rare opportunity of witnessing Magnus Henriksson from Eclipse performing guitar duties with corpse paint and without his signature hat plus Simon Johansson from Memory Garden assuming the role of the roadie plus the one of the guest guitarist that complimented Magnus during the Gilmour-laden ending of Gaia. And what about Johan Edlund? Well he was just being Johan Edlund. Cryptic, hidden under his hat and make-up with a presence that balanced between gothic theatrical antics and alcohol intoxication. Vocal-wise though, he pulled through remarkably. On many occasions he seemed overwhelmed by the love and overall reaction of the Greek crowd and that particular enthusiasm made him come out as a passionate supporter of a Greek sports club. That fact though raised some reactions from rival fans and some commotion occurred. Security intervened and at least one furious fan was escorted out by force…
Demons Gate impressions? Definitely positive. The promoter did everything in his power for a great experience. Delays were minimal. Disabled access was functional. The sound was spot on. The bands offered great professional shows. Air-conditioning and bar prices need to be re-evaluated though. See you next year!
Kostas Kounadinis
photos/videos: Konstantinos “Mindcrimek” Vlachos
