[Live Report] Kadavar, 45Rats, Astray @ Eightball, Salonica, 29/11/2014

Kadavar visited Greece for the second time in their career, after releasing their amazing second album for two shows in Thessaloniki and Athens.
Along with them, we enjoyed the well-known Greek band, 45Rats and Astray, a fresh new stoner rock band. Kadavar’s retro sound spread quickly with their first self-titled album and until their second release, “Abra Kadavar” (released by the almighty Nuclear Blast) they have already been a must-listen retro band.



Everybody was chilling on Eightball until Astray took the stage. In 2013, Astray released their first EP and they’ve been composing their first full-length release since then. They have a clear stoner rock sound with heavy riffs and an obvious love for classic stoner rock band such as Kyuss and Corrosion of Conformity. You don’t get the chance to hear new stoner rock bands without other influences, but Astray was pretty close to that. The audience warmed just fine and we listened to a fine band with classic roots. We wish them the best and we’re waiting for their first release.

Afterwards, we watched the Athenian 45Rats. Last year, 45Rats released their first full length album, “Electric” and later soon, “GQ” took their opening track for a promo video with Michael Fassbender! Their sound could be described as instrumental heavy rock with definite 70’s heavy psych and progressive influences. 45Rats was a total fit in this time machine, they shooked us and everyone could feel the evening’s vibe. They also introduced us to two new songs that we’ll be able to listen in their upcoming second release, which we hope to hear from soon.

Eightball was close to full and we were happy to see a variety of age groups in the audience, waiting for Kadavar… Soon enough the first tone of “Liquid Dream” sounded with a more heavy feeling and we dived into Kadavar’s time machine. A lot of bands tend to revive the classic 70’s bands and sounds, but a few make it to have their personal sound at the same time. Kadavar is the kind of that exception and their performance proved us that they actually are professionals. We had the chance to enjoy a full set from both their releases, along with a brand new blast song named “Into the night”.


The impressive thing with their performance was the balanced sound, especially between their rhythm section. Drums were extremely heavy and powerful (Tiger didn’t stop head banging in the whole live!) while bass guitar was grooving in a more steady way. At the same time guitar had many amazing solos and riffs at a very skilful level. A characteristic moment of this description was their beloved “Black Sun”. For an hour and a half Kadavar were endlessly grooving, Eightball went crazy! Soon after their typical closing, they returned and treated us with “Creature of the Demon” and “Purple Sage” for encore and it was just the right thing… It was definitely a gig that the audience loved and that they’ll remember. Kadavar merged their unique cool sound with a retro performance. What makes them so special is that they don’t just cover usual 70’s sounds, they transform them into something new and personal and that was exactly what their performance was about!

(Thanks a lot Gaia for words & Assumpta for photos)
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