Channel Zero Kicks Off the Season with Delirium Tremens, Hammered, Eliminator and Keller

Author: Rok Klemše

Venue: Channel Zero (Metelkova) / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 29.09.2008
Attendance: 50
Ticket price: 7,00€

With summer over, and the festivals all across Europe along with it, it was time for the club scene to fire up again. Gigs are back at Metelkova’s Channel Zero too, under the watchful eye of the unstoppable Nataša and Matevž. This time the concert season kicked off thrash-style, with three local bands, Delirium Tremens, Eliminator and Keller, plus Hammered, our neighbors from the west, taking over the stage.

First to shake the pillars of Channel was a fresh-out-of-the-oven band from eastern Slovenia. Even though the band is brand new, its members come from proven outfits like Wastem, Nothing Over Beer and Hellraisers. Delirum Tremens played for three quarters of an hour, running through their material, which keeps piling up. These guys deal out dynamic, raw old school thrash, topped off with the brutal growl of vocalist Ozy. Their own songs like Death Domination and System Failing hit you like a shot to the head, although the vocals come across a bit one-dimensional at times, even when the guy drags them up from the deepest pits of hell. Delirium Tremens said goodbye with the eternal thrash classic The Four Horsemen and proved they’re a band with promise. They still need to work on fresher riffs that stick in your memory faster, and on blending the vocals better with the instrumental side, but I can say with a clear conscience that another good thrash band has been born.

The foundation-shaking continued with the only foreign act, Hammered from Gorizia. These guys swear by more melodic thrash with dynamic, lively “Iron Maiden” guitar lines. No wonder, since the frontman is Andras Csaszar, who runs an Italian Iron Maiden tribute band. The guy won over the crowd, a measly 70 heads, with an outstanding voice. He soared into the heavens, and his mid-range sits nicely too, but unfortunately the instrumental foursome limped along more than not. It wasn’t bad by any means, but we’re talking riffs heard a million times, chewed-over lines, copied Maiden harmonies and an average rhythm section, which showed most in the instrumental track No Time For Us. The best moment was the song Space Invaders, which Andras introduced as The Four Horsemen of the band, though despite its variety and liveliness it’s far from that. The demo 2010… Live the Terror is definitely very listenable, but sadly these days there are simply far too many better thrash bands out there.

The second half of the night brought the Bringing Out the Evil tour to the stage, with two fresh thrash bands from the home scene, Eliminator and Keller. Styrian Eliminator took the first slot this time and blew everyone’s socks off with the very first song. These guys play truly phenomenal Bay Area thrash with outstanding, varied and interesting riffs, ultra-speedy songs and a killer rhythm section. All that stage mileage they’ve been racking up really shows: guitarists Tim and Klemen are nicely in sync, Fabot’s drumming is tight and torpedo-like, and Žiga’s bass lines are refined, well thought-out and dynamic. The guy also handles the excellent thrash vocals, which fit the music like a glove. He just needs a bit more practice at pronouncing English lyrics at speed. The songs on their demo And You Think You’re Holy are phenomenal and come alive in an even better light live. Eliminator are without a doubt among the best things the Slovenian thrash scene has to offer. On top of that, they flawlessly played covers you don’t exactly hear every day (well, actually never) of Heathen’s Death By Hanging and Testament’s Alone in the Dark! Eliminator are the pure definition of thrashaholics!

But the headbanging was nowhere near over, since the last to step on stage were the thrash hopefuls from the coast, Keller, who ripped heads off necks with fantastic thrashing. Keller are probably one of the nastiest thrash bands around, mostly thanks to the raw and aggressive vocals of Martin Lukač, who couldn’t have wrapped up the excellent “Bayern Area” thrash any better. The riffs fly like greased lightning, and Vasko on bass and Winko behind the kit make up probably the best rhythm section in this genre in our country. Keller are the true Slovenian Dark Angel, with just the right dose of thrash aggression for “Good Friendly Violent Fun”. The improvised drum solo also turned out great, slotting nicely in between the songs from the demo Awake the Forgotten, which live do nothing but slaughter in the cruelest ways. The Keller demo is a real “must buy”, and if not, you have to see them live at the very least. Keller Command!

The show was truly a great opening for the autumn concert season at Channel Zero. The organization was very good as usual, the bands were confident and uncompromising, and the atmosphere was fantastic. The only thing missing was a few more people in the crowd. Delirium Tremens, Eliminator and Keller prove that the saying “Thrash ’till Death!” holds more and more true in Slovenia. See you soon at Channel again, right?

Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Text: Rok Klemše

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