It seems that being a stoner rock /stoner doom fan in Greece, is kind of blessing these days. The local “scene” has a solid presence, and lots of well-known bands of this genre visit Greece quite often.
On Saturday (5/4) it was Belzebong’s turn to pay a visit to our country, and more specifically to Six d.o.g.s. club in Athens. “Omega Monolith” and “Automaton” were also there, and judging from the result, they were something more than “supporting” bands.
On Saturday (5/4) it was Belzebong’s turn to pay a visit to our country, and more specifically to Six d.o.g.s. club in Athens. “Omega Monolith” and “Automaton” were also there, and judging from the result, they were something more than “supporting” bands.
It was nearly 20:50 when Omega Monolith hit the stage. I have to admit that it was the second time that I would be able to watch them live, and I had great expectations. Despite the fact that they decided to focus on new material, they didn’t let me down. It seems that the duo from Athens, has done a lot of work in order to make its personal sound and to create some very special music. Compositions in the direction of “Black Campaign”, slowly building and leading to a strange journey, sometimes within heavy passages, sometimes with post metal twists and turns. Unfortunately, some problems with the gear on stage were undermining the band’s flow, but this wasn’t enough to prevent someone from appreciating the “monolith”.

Just before Belzebong get on stage, the lights went green (and stayed that way till the end of the show) and the projector started to play footages of vintage horror b-movies in green sepia. A few seconds later the first notes of “Bong thrower” were vibrating the already thick air of six d.o.g.s. and the heavily fuzzed out trip had just started. The “Sonic Scapes and Weedy Grooves” material had of course the lion’s share in the playlist (we listened it in its entity) but we had also the chance to listen to the epic composition of “Dungeon Vultures” along with two new Belzebong tracks.
At this point, one thing I have to say, is that if you think that Greece is the only country that has the privilege of a boiling stoner rock/stoner doom scene nowadays, please think again. Poland seems to have made some serious steps at this music direction (e.g. Dopelord, Weedpecker) and Belzebong is undoubtedly among the pioneers in this country. This statement, was emphatically verified by Belzebong’s performance on Saturday, cause they gave us a sound result so great, that was really close to the epic sound their recordings have (congrats also to the six d.o.g.s. crew for this).

The show continued this way, full of heavy riffs hidden in the green shades of smoke. Nearly 70 minutes after Belzebong's appearance on stage, the members of this “community” (somewhere between 250 and 300 people - we were informed that it was a sold out show) seemed to be more than pleased having watched three very promising bands filling up with grooves their Saturday night.
by Vasilis Durden
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