I really love those nights! When a venue, Temple in this case, is filled with youth and talent like on Saturday, November 1. Youth both on stage with the three bands, STILL DUSK, SUBSTANCE, and DESOLATION ROW, and off with the large crowd that honored the event of the official presentation of STILL DUSK’s debut album, “Chronicles Of Dystopia.”
The evening kicked off with Alternative Metallers DESOLATION ROW at around 9 p.m., according to the official program. DESOLATION ROW was founded in 2019 in a café in Nea Smyrni, but their journey really began in 2022 when they acquired a full 5-member lineup, to which a sixth member, Christina on keyboards and backing vocals, was added in 2024. Having already released an EP in 2024 entitled “Afraid To Dream,” a cover of LINKIN PARK’s “Breaking The Habit,” and another single, “The Devil’s Blessed,” there was enough material to get an idea of what to expect from the full album, which will be released in the near future. After all, they honored us with two unreleased songs, “Nothing” and “Moon and Earth,” which I imagine will be included in their debut album. A modern sound, very full and warm, aided by the two guitars and keyboards that play a distinct role in their compositions, as well as an excellent singer, Phil, behind the microphone. Beyond the very good cover of “Breaking The Habit,” one of the most characteristic songs of the 2000s, which DR made it their own, they also honored the Lord of Darkness, Ozzy, dedicating the last song of their set to him by playing the intro of “Mr. Crowley.” In their official homepage they mention that 2 of the bands that influenced them were LINKIN PARK and BLACK SABBATH, so it makes sense. We will definitely get to know them better in the future!
Setlist
01. Chasing Shadows
02. Peaceful Scenes
03. Nothing
04. Better Without Me (Muses)
05. Moon and Earth
06. Breaking The Habit (LINKIN PARK cover)
07. The Devil’s Blessed (Mr. Crowley Intro)
The next band was SUBSTANCE whom I have seen before and I think they get better every time. They came on stage on time, looking very stylish, as they were all wearing red clothes. A large part of their energy and performance on stage is certainly due to their excellent singer, Yiannis Hatzigeorgiou, who makes use of his experience in theater and television and essentially behaves more like a performer. In addition, he has an impressive range of vocal abilities, covering everything from high notes to growling vocals. Obviously, their compositions are made to fit his voice and are ideally served by the band’s high-level musicians. They presented a full set with 8 songs that included everything they have released so far and some more since they are preparing their first full length album in the near future.
Setlist
01. Dark Sun
02. Twilight
03. Me N Myself
04. Gallows
05. Running Out of Time
06. Full of Nothing
07. Waldosia
08. Burning Inside
Shortly before 11 p.m., however, it was time for the hosts of the evening, STILL DUSK, who for the next hour would present their debut album “Chronicles of Dystopia” almost in its entirety. Along with 8 of the 9 songs from the album, we also heard “Garden” from their EP, “Garden” from 2023, as well as a very nice cover of “Just Pretend” by BAD OMENS. In general, I believe that it takes guts and confidence to dare to cover songs by well-known bands that are obvious influences of many artists. The comparison is inevitable, and STILL DUSK (like DESOLATION ROW before them) have won that bet. STILL DUSK’s music has a very distinctive depth and a rock roughness (if I may describe it that way) that is enhanced by Konstantina Damianidou’s dynamic and emotionally charged voice in many ways. All this emotion, sometimes full of sensitivity and sometimes full of rage, came out on stage and the audience recognized it and applauded it.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. 0.003
03. Born to Believe
04. Into Fractions
05. Eigengrau
06. Black Water
07. Midnight Run
08. Just Pretend (BAD OMENS cover)
09. Insidious
10. Sugar
11. Garden
12. Outro
Many times before, we have mentioned the mediocre sound at Temple but on this particular occasion, the sound was (given the circumstances) flawless for all three bands. Another positive aspect that unfortunately should not be taken for granted was the fact that the audience supported all the bands from the beginning and stayed in large numbers until the end of the event. Only the faces in front of the stage changed, as each band obviously had its own fans. The majority of them were young, giving hope for the future of our scene.
Live Correspondent: Kostas Boudoukos
