The once impressive number of dates for Ahat's 2007 national tour was reduced to just a few, but who cares? On September 27 they played in Sofia. I take this as kind of a pay off for the tour a few years ago when they played anywhere else but here.

Before "the Bulgarian Maiden", the warm-up band Boxer took the stage. They were a quite nice surprise to most of the audience, and this definitely says a lot, since the expectations towards them were... none. In short - Boxer played their unconventional rock for approximately half an hour, their performance was tight and with a good sound.

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When it was Ahat's turn to play, the Universiada Hall was quite full. There was free space only to the left and right of the stage. In front of it, as well as the seats above, were absolutely full of people. In such a moment you'd start thinking how many Bulgarian bands would gather so many people at a show of their own. Maybe Hypodil and that's about all of it.

Ahat's setlist was exactly what you'd expect from them - practically the same songs as at their previous show in 2004 - "The Axe", "Fiery Souls", "The Tree", "Land of Blindmen", in which they had fit Tonto's keyboard solo again... Well, you can't expect anything different - a classic band is supposed to play its classics, not some wank-offs.

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As promised, there was also a new song off the quintet's upcoming album. Despite the most un-metal title in the history of the universe , "Springtime Morning" was actually quite nice and set the bar of expectations for the upcoming CD quite high. It featured eastern ethno motifs with 3-voice singing that would flow into Sabbath-like heaviness. Put shortly - it kicked ass!

Then the classics continued - "The March", "Motto", "Monologue" and of course the timeless "The Black Sheep". All of this was sung along word by word by all of the more than 1000 people at the venue. Everyone who was there - from teenagers with acne covered faces to fathers who brought their kids and kids who brought their fathers - sung together every single word from the classic songs.

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In a moment like this... I don't know actually... You comprehend that Ahat are THE Bulgarian metal cult. Good, bad, frozen in time - they are what they are! There is no other band that can gather so many people by itself and make them feel like that every moment of the entire show.

Words: Stefan Topuzov / Tangra Mega Rock

Photos:В Nicki VassilevВ / Tangra Mega Rock

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