Draconian

The Athens- Greece experience.
Category: Travel and Places

The first legislator in Greece was named Draco (or Drakon) and raised some hell during the 6th century BC. He was a very malicious, tyrant-like lawgiver who handed out death penalties very generously, even for minor offences and petty crime. Each and every unlawful deed was punished by death. Therefore the adjective "Draconian" usually refers to this particular Greek lawgiver, as the word definition translates: Exceedingly harsh; very severe.
In the past (and sometimes still) the general implication of the word "Draconian" came up in interviews, and asked for an explanation from the artist. "Draconian" for us was never connected to Draco/Drakon and his means, but when we finally came to Greece I couldn't help thinking about this. There we were, in the land were the general definition of the adjective "Draconian" was born; in the cradle of civilisation ---> hence the common misconception of our name. It might seem as a bullshit co-incidence with little or no relevance, but it lingered in my mind for a while.

The primordial beauty of Acropolis, the Ancient market; the statues, the ruins and the splendour of it, where so many existential and central questions was raised, the poignant realizations, issues and ideas that would reflect a long history to come. Wandering there, I couldn't help feeling a presence of some old essence floating and along over the place; protecting and keeping its magnificent ambiance.
And in this spot of the world Draconian would finally perform. It was an exciting and beautiful thought.

So the day finally came; Saturday the 9th of January. Fans were gathering outside the venue, waiting for a much better Draconian experience compared to 2400 years ago. And it was great. We mattered to them and they mattered to us. We shared something magical together.
An Club is a nice little underground venue with a capacity of approximately 400-450 people. After dinner the time was a little over 10PM and the venue was full.
For me personally the actual live-experience at An Club this special night was one of my hardest ever. Due to some kind of parasite or whatever I'd picked up along the way, through food or God knows what, my stomach started to roar from the inside. Actually, I even think it started before dinner with smaller signs such as feelings of tension, raging heartbeats and cold sweat. I wrote it off as nervousness. On stage, after a few songs, this malice decided to manifest. I had to walk off stage in between two songs and hurl very quickly at the bathroom. I remember that I sat in there thinking to myself that I must pull this through. I sat up, splashed some water in my face and hurried back on stage, just in time for my queue in "Earthbound". It was just to pull through. Pure willpower and nothing else. But well, this incident lead to some minor discomforting mistakes, but nothing too devastating.
It was a very special gig however. The sound was really good and the response was amazing. The organizers had made great job in promoting the show and the package in whole was an okay deal.
Next door to An Club, in another venue, an afterparty had been organized. It was a great atmosphere with lots of wonderful people, but unfortunately I didn't stay very long due to my condition. I was pretty exhausted and I felt sad and a bit despondent that I had to go.

Athens has a great deal of metal-and-rockbars, shops with all kinds of stuff metalheads and gothic people would kill for. Even a wonderful metal café just around the corner from our hotel. Athens has a lot to offer for people like us and I hope we'll be able to return rather sooner than later.
It was still nice to finally come home though, after a trip which felt very long, with lots of impressions, nice people, alcohol, rock n' roll, Moussaka and pizza slices.
It's a very peaceful atmosphere here in the quiet cold silence of winter. It's a sanctuary.


Today I received a mail from a guy called Sakis Nikas from Rockpages ....Greece...., with a link to a review of the show written by Nick Astifidis. I would like to conclude this blog with what he has to say about this special night.


Draconian is a brilliant band from Sweden whose basic elements are the inspiration in music and lyrics along with a particular romanticism that makes you travel to unnamable dark paths. We had the honor to welcome those guys in our country for their first concert here. I believe the best possible way to start a great year.
I have to admit that I didn’t know what to expect for this live, because I thought that there were not so many metal heads that listen to their music. Hopefully I was wrong as the club was full of people, who kept on coming until the beginning of Draconian’s show.

First band of the night was Daylight Misery. I have to apologize as I didn’t have the opportunity to see them from the beginning of their show. From their last two songs I can say that their music is a mixture of extreme and black metal. Their sound resembles to Rotting Christ as they covered “Nemesis” from their last album. On stage they were really good as they seemed to enjoy every single moment. I am interested in listening to a full length album from them.

Next in line were Shattered Hope who traveled us to more hypotonic paths. They tried to pass the dark feeling of their songs and from what I understood from the reactions of the crowd they managed to do so. I don’t think that I am the appropriate guy to describe their music. So, I wish them good luck to everything that they will do in the future.

The last of the support bands were Elysion, a well known band in Greece who managed to set high standards to their music from their very beginning. Their contract with Massacre Records proves it. So, a strong and powerful band on stage with the great voice of the front woman, Christianna, is definitely a killer combination. The best moment of their show was their Rammstein cover on “Mein Herz brennt”.

Around 23:40 Draconian appeared in front of the crowded An Club and without any delay they started with their song “When I Wake”. Most of Draconian fans couldn’t realize that they actually had the opportunity to see them live, but those thoughts disappeared just in seconds in order to enjoy Draconian’s show with all our senses. The magical moments that they gave to us continued with songs from their past albums and of course from their last one, “Turning Season Within”. “BloodFlower, A Scenery Of Loss, The Cry Of Silence” and the time drifted away until a technical problem forced them to stop their show for a couple of minutes. My personal best moment was when they played “She Dies” as it is one of my favorite songs. The stage appearance of the band was really great, not to mention the vocal abilities of Lisa Johansson and Anders Jacobsson. A dark Gothic Death/Doom aura seemed be perfect for the Athenian metal heads, who enjoyed every single moment for the 110 minutes that Draconian’s show lasted.
They finished their show with “Death Come Near Me”, as they are used to and we all hope to have the chance to see them live again soon. The only certain thing is that they did whatever they could in order to make us leave satisfied with a huge smile on our faces.

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I want to thank Panos and Alex of Metal Defiance, Thanos of Shattered Hope for help and friendship and especially Jim and Elena for showing us around in ....Athens...., taking some nice bandpictures, for their kindness and being a great company.


Anders and DRACONIAN

Finally started with some lyric-writing for real. Old and new ideas brought together.