Some bands have been announced for the first edition of the Rock Hard Festival Greece which will take place at the Technopolis City of Athens, Greece, on the 12th and 13th of September, featuring a number of international artists.
Headliners in this event will be CANDLEMASS for an one-off, world exclusive 40th Anniversary show with Messiah Marcolin on vocals. This will be the first (and only) time in over 20 years that Messiah has performed live with the band.
In addition to CANDLEMASS there will also be the Gus G & Friends, THE CRYPT and Roy Khan & Tore Ostby from CONCEPTION for a special, exclusive acoustic set for VIP ticket holders.
Eight more bands to be announced.
Candlemass, a pioneering band in the Doom Metal genre, was formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1985 by bassist and primary songwriter Leif Edling. Drawing inspiration from Black Sabbath’s slow and heavy riffing, Candlemass became known for defining the “epic doom metal” style. Among their many line-ups over the years, the periods featuring iconic vocalist Messiah Marcolin (1987-1991 and briefly in 2002-2006) stand as the most revered by fans and critics alike, marking some of the band’s most influential and memorable works.
Messiah Marcolin’s theatrical presence, operatic delivery, and contribution to Candlemass’s classic era made him an indelible figure in heavy metal history. The band’s works with him remain some of the most influential albums in doom metal, shaping generations of musicians and fans who revere Candlemass as true legends of the genre.
Gus G. is one of the most respected and renowned metal guitarists of our time.
He served as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist through from 2009-2017, while also establishing himself as an acclaimed solo artist with albums like ‘I Am The Fire’ and ‘Fearless’.
Gus G. has also managed to find time to perform worldwide with acts as diverse as Arch Enemy, Nightrage, Dream Evil and of course his own band, Firewind (founded in 1988).
Firewind gained international recognition with subsequent releases, such as ‘Burning Earth’, ‘Forged by Fire’ and ‘Allegiance’, which featured a blend of melodic metal and intricate guitar solos, earning them a dedicated fanbase worldwide.
For this very special performance at the Rock Hard Festival Greece, Gus will invite some of his friends to join him on stage, promising an evening full of musical surprises!
THE CRYPT
One of the top albums of 2024 was their debut album “The Crypt.” With their catchy mix of doom metal and classic heavy metal with great choruses, they won over audiences and critics worldwide. The album, written by Leif Edling of Candlemass and produced by Marcus Jidell (Soen, Avatarium, Candlemass, etc.), immediately topped the critics’ charts at the local Sweden Rock magazine, as well as in several international magazines, and was included in numerous “album of the year” rankings worldwide.
Il gruppo si basa sulla carismatica ed enigmatica Sacerdotessa Metal, incarnata dalla vocalist Pepper, la cui presenza sul palco è diventata rapidamente un punto di riferimento, grazie al suo background sia nell’heavy metal che nel mondo del burlesque.
Roy Khan e Tore Østby dei CONCEPTION
The two frontmen return to Athens three years after Conception played their successful first show in Greece, this time to deliver an exclusive acoustic for the VIP ticket holders, set at the amphitheater in Technopolis City of Athens (Gasholder 1 – Auditorium “Miltiadis Evert”, September 13th. This is the first time Roy and Tore perform as a duo.
Tickets for this world-exclusive performance will be available starting next week from:
https://www.rockhardfestival.gr/tickets/
Rock Hard:
Rock Hard is one of the oldest and most significant heavy metal organizations in the world and one of the leading magazines in Europe since its inception in Germany in 1983. Its Greek edition first hit the newsstands in 2005, and since 2011 it has continued exclusively online at www.rockhard.gr.
In addition to Germany and Greece, Rock Hard is published as a magazine in France and Italy, boasting hundreds of thousands of readers every month and even more followers on social media.
