“the burden of feeling alive…”
Darkness covered the Temple on a night that the old school black metal by Dødsferd satisfied to the maximum the fans of a band that lives and honors the underground scene. Along with them some special guests, Manos Six + The Muddy Devil were the opening act that offered us dark americana.
“ lucifer embrace my soul …”
Doors were supposed to open at 20:30 but until 21:00 were walking nervously around the block checking the small stores while the store owners were wondering who the hell are all these people dressed in black. When we finally got inside the venue we first checked the merchandise corner and then we had to wait patiently for the opening act although the slow drone music and the A/C temperature didn’t really help to relax and drink a beer or two. At 21:35 smoke covered the stage but no, we had to wait until 22:00 to see the opening act on stage and at that point we knew already that some of us would take a taxi to go back home after the gig.
This was the third time in 1,5 year that I would watching a live show by Manos Six + The Muddy Devil and although the impressed me the first two times I was curious enough to see if they had something more to give. The decoration on stage was pretty cool, in a dark way of course, but still cool as the large goat heads were impressive accentuating the aesthetics of the band.
“devil will take me by the hand…”
Although in essence, this is a duo when they play live they have several guest musicians with them that give those extra points that make the difference in their music. So, apart from Manos Six on vocals/banjo and Stamos Abatis on acoustic bass they had some special guest in between them, Elena Malamou on banjo, Gina Selini on synths and Jan Westermann (Kawir/Abyssus) on percussion. The difference this time was that we noticed another figure at the back of the small stage, it was Takis from Omega Monolith that added some colors in some of the tracks.
Their music is what is known as dark americana/dark country, a music that is based on banjo of course, but in this case it’s the thematic behind the dark lyrics that makes the difference, lyrics that tell stories from the swamp and it is -by no doubt- the main factor that at first attracts people that tend to like different genres and most probably they are not even familiar with dark americana. One thing is for sure, most blacksters in the venue were curious enough to focus on them, as they were hearing the word Lucifer in almost every song. The setlist wasn’t really that different than the previous time but some new compositions and the announcement of a new EP were some great news along their 45 minute long set. Once more, they did a great cover for “You Are My Sunshine” with Manos saying how weird is the fact that we are used to listen this song with happy tunes although in reality it carries some really dark lyrics. Just before “Fire” the necessary fire was lit in the middle of the stage but a broken banjo string caused a short interruption but Gina covered the gap with some synth sequences and then they played the song from the start. The fire was out at that point but no one really cares as the music was still burning…
live video MANOS SIX+MUDDY DEVIL:
Manos Six+The Muddy Devil setlist:
Evil is the Law (intro) / Lucifer / Devil take me by the hand / Sound of the dead / Willow tree / Sunshine / Hell is the Law / Fire / Ain’t no grave
“the hate goes on…”
When the opening act left the stage the venue’s staff started to rearrange it for the headliners but it was really strange that we had to wait thirty minutes because it was already 23:30 when Dødsferd started to play! But when they did no one really cared because the music is the only thing that matters. At first we heard the intro which was “Back to my Homeland…my last Breath”, a track that made the appropriate set up (Cretan lyra, hell yeah!) to match nicely with the all-out attack of “Breeding Chaos” and most fans gone crazy. It’s been already seven years since the last time we saw Dødsferd live on stage and all the members seemed hungry to give their best this night.
Watching them performing live on stage the first thing I noticed was the fact that they seemed very tightknit, which means they did several rehearsals to be sure they will have high standards of quality on what they wanted to offer us and yes, they made it happen. Thanasis plays with Nick since 2009 but Nikos and Aggelos from Diablery on guitar and drums seemed to be part of the team since forever too.
“breeding chaos…”
So, when the performance and the sound issues are solved what is left to have a great show? You need some compositions of course and the great harsh vocals that Mr Wrath was screaming by heart, and yes, in songs like “Stachtes” it was even more intense because of the use of Greek language and some lyrics that can really hit the target when we are talking about anger, despair and abhorrence. You see, it is obvious that this is actually a beast that has taken the form of a band, a beast that was carrying lot of angel and pain and you could feel that even if it was just your first contact with them or you haven’t really noticed the lyrics. The latter is a mistake of course because if you do this you half of the magic is gone in some way but ok, I respect the fact that many enjoy black metal because of the music and Dødsferd’s music has this impact anyway. To confirm the latter there were compositions like “Fucking Your Creation”, a title that characterizes Wrath’s artistic vision, something that has to do not only with Dødsferd but also his other projects but also the release of a book with poems. For me everything is part of a bigger puzzle, it doesn’t matter if we are talking about studio albums or the live performance of the songs and it is really a great feeling when all the pieces match together. The curtain dropped with “Hypocritic Shitfuckers still Breathing” which was the final strike on our tired bodies and souls but mostly on our frustration and they are concerts like this one that help to seek catharsis through an emotional outburst. Support the underground till the end!
Dødsferd setlist:
Breeding Chaos / Dødsferd / Stachtes / Decay / Fucking Your Creation / Withered by Death / Suicide was created by Your Incopetence / As the Light revealed Hus Wound / The Hate goes on / Hypocritic Shitfuckers still Breathing
Dødsferd video:
® live report/photos/video: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos
