Villagers Of Ioannina City "Age Of Aquarius" 2019****

Having recently reviewed The Hu, I couldn't help but make the connection to the Villagers Of Ioannina City (VIC), which is in some ways their Greek counterpart. Their breakthrough album Age Of Aquarius came out on the same year with Gereg, getting a worldwide release from Napalm Records the following year, and gained positive reviews. Similarly to The Hu, VIC mix hard rock with elements of local folk music, utilizing traditional instruments. Unlike them, they refuse to dumb down their music: this rich stew of Greek folk, metal and psychedelia, may not have you punching the air and singing along - though headbanging is a strong possibility. The first thing that caught my attention regarding this band was their awkward name: "villagers" and "city" don't go that well together, do they? Mind you, despite being the biggest city in the Epirus province, Ioannina is hardly a modern metropolis: a medium-sized city perched by Lake Pamvotis, it has 100,000 inhabitants and is renowned for its university and for the beauty of its surroundings. Epirus in general is a wild and mountainous place, with thick forests and rivers. One of them, river Acheron, was believed to lead to the underworld; on its banks there was the famous Necromanteion, a place where the priests of Hades communicated with the dead. Death casts its shade over Epirotan music as well; one of its most famous genres is moiroloi (lament for the dead), characterized by slow and prolonged vocals or instrumental phrases. The other kind of Epirotan music is reserved for feasts and festivals, and it's based on the piercing sounds of the klarino (clarinet) and gaida (bagpipes) as well as the more melodic fiddle. This music, despite being slower and heavier than the jaunty tunes of the Greek islands, has an ancient Bacchic quality to it, inviting you to dance. It is bucolic in a literal sense, since Epirotan villagers have always mainly been sheep and goat herders, and their lifestyle has hardly changed in millennia. I'm guessing that, by calling themselves Villagers of Ioannina City, they want to stretch their bonds to the ancient pagan tradition which still largely lives in the music and customs of Epirotan villages.

The klarino and gaida are very much present in VIC's music, along with the floghera - an end-blown flute used by Greek shepherds since ancient times, it produces a sweeter, more pastoral sound. Next to those, the arrangements add touches of 60's - 70's psychedelia, including groovy Hammond, heavy guitars, and on some cases backing vocals. This album begins with a short semi-acoustic piece called "Welcome" marked by powerful singing. The vocals throughout the album are very strong, and remind me of the golden age of grunge vocalists, specifically Eddie Vedder and the late Layne Staley. I don't detect a Greek accent, but maybe that's because I'm Greek myself? This segues into "Age Of Aquarius", a heavy/space rock number with a suitably pagan/mystical theme. "Part V" is a proggier piece, reminiscent of Tool or the heavier side of Porcupine Tree. There's a rich heavy psychedelic scene in Greece at the moment, with bands like Chickn, Planet Of Zeus, 1000 Mods, the poppier Prins Obi and Baby Guru, and of course the patriarchs of Greek Stoner rock, Nightstalker - all worth your attention. VOIC certainly fit into this scene, but the use of traditional elements also sets them apart from the rest. Up to this part of the CD, the Epirotan influence wasn't all that evident, except for the elongated vocal which is reminiscent of moiroloi. This all changes with "Dance Of The Night", which is strongly influenced by Greek pagan lore and the aforementioned festival music, and which places the clarinet and bagpipes in the forefront. Here is a song that makes you want to drink strong tsipouro, and to dance naked under the stars like the followers of Dionysus did in the ancient times. It is followed by a short folk instrumental called "Arrival". "Father Sun" and "Millennium Blues" continue on the same heavy/psychedelic/folk path, neither adding to nor subtracting from the album's worth. "Cosmic Soul" plays down the folk element, giving off a more new-wavey Madrugada-meets-Porcupine Tree vibe, and augmenting it with lots of distorted guitars. Like most of the songs that preceded it, it goes on for more than 8 minutes; something that, despite the loudness, gives them a hypnotic quality. "For the Innocent" is faster and shorter, rendering it the best-suited for radioplay. The CD closes with "Sparkle out of Black Hole", at 2:30 more of a coda than a standalone tune - almost the mirror image of the introduction: where that was a melodic (albeit heavy) vocal piece, this is an experimental instrumental. To round up: This is a highly original but superbly listenable heavy rock and folk hybrid, one of the few alternative/experimental albums that justify their enthusiastic reviews. VIC seem to have struck the perfect balance between folk and rock, local and universal (previous albums were much more folk oriented and had mostly Greek lyrics). Age Of Aquarius getting distribution by Napalm Records is a good start. Hopefully, they have a great international career in front of them. The only requisite is that more people must hear them, so share the link to this page or the youtube videos below with anyone you may know who is interested in intelligent heavy rock music. Your friends will thank you for it!

***** for Age of Aquarius, Part V, Cosmic Soul, For the Innocent

**** for Welcome, Dance of Night , Father Sun, Millennium Blues 

*** for Arrival, Sparkle Out of Black Hole