This year has brought a lot of surprises, all of them positive. The new season has begun very beautifully with Death playing their first show ever here. Chuck Schuldiner’s band has not only a good history, but a bright present as well and if we try to judge them, Death seem inexhaustible. Having “The Sound Of Perseverance” still fresh in their ears, people came to Rodon so they can honor the man who gave so much. Besides all the people around, the club was so hot that the whole thing became harder. The first band that came out was Descent, who I learned are successors of Epidemic. They presented modern, Swedish death metal and despite their little problems and the need for tighter playing, the Greek band left a good impression, setting the stage for Death with a cover of a cover, Sepultura’s version of Orgasmatron originally by the gods, Motorhead.

The four Americans brought the adrenaline up high with the song “The Philosopher”. As time passed by, there was explosive intensity, fearful sound, metallic passion, intelligent technique, and unmistakable interpretation… What can we say? Death taught a lot of people. In the 100 minutes of the show Death played: Crystal Mountain, Scavenger Of Human Sorrow, 1,000 Eyes, Trapped In A Corner, Spirit Crusher, Zero Tolerance, Suicide Machine, Together As One and immediately where the 7 gates of hell opened, Flesh And The Power It Holds, Zombie Ritual, Pull The Plug, Bite The Pain and Symbolic. Lack Of Comprehension stood out as it wasn’t played, and the Spiritual Healing record was totally ignored. Death unleashed a merciless assault, pummeling the anvil of volume and noise with the hammer of technique and melody, convicting to death the vanity and fear of being different.

The crowd was wonderful as well, showing embracing the composing superiority of the group with hardening and moments of paranoia or ecstasy. It was a wild experience my friends, to hear right before the entrance of the group a lot of “Death, Death, Death…” to crown the hardening club, it was savage to hear Chuck thank or spit with the blade of the horned words of his songs… When it came to solos, Schuldiner left the center of the stage and went at the left of it, as we look, so he could bathe in the light of his shining themes, as for Richard Christy, I believe that everyone bowed (it’s funny that I didn’t believe Chuck when he was telling me about it!). The other two, Shannon Hamm on guitar and Scott Clendenin on bass, except that they didn’t make a single mistake, it was obvious that they would make miracles if the part that they accepted was a little less ungraceful in its essence.

That is the way that 1400 people where surrounded with decibels of hard, native beauty, given in notes and there was no need of gigantic synthesizers or besieging rams of feminine vocals. Bowing to the uniqueness of the experience, bleeding from pleasure, we witnessed the metallic essence. We already miss you. Like Chuck said: Worry about your own life, then you will know what is like to live than merely exist.