Rockcelona "La Bruja" 1979****

I was recently in Madrid, doing the rounds of the city's record stores as usual (expect my report on them, soon). Every time I'm in another country, I try to get some albums by local groups. I've been to Spain so often that by now I own records from almost 30 Spanish rock bands - more than any of my Spanish friends! But there are still new discoveries to be made, so while browsing the "rock nacional" section at FNAC, I came across this LP for the first time. Never having seen it before is not strange, since it's been out of print for 40-odd years, and only got reissued in 2022. To be honest, the album cover and band name stroke me as rather childish. But I googled it, and it only took a few seconds of listening to a sample on youtube to decide this was indeed a great find. There isn't a lot of info on the band available online: just that they were formed in Barcelona in 1977, by singer Alfredo "Fredy" Valcarcel. The rest of the band are Kiko (Aparicio) drums, Javi (Latorre) bass, and guitarists Albert (Balsells, lead) and Tony (Cruz, rhythm). La Bruja, released in '78 or '79 (reports vary), was their sole LP. Based on the year, one might expect it to sound closer to NWOBHM, but this is more like late 60's - early 70's heavy psychedelia. So, despite the release date, one might call this album proto-stoner, proto-metal, or proto-punk... really primitive heavy rock with screaming vocals, scorching fuzz guitar and pounding drums. IRockcelona were probably influenced by A-list bands like Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin, but their unrefined and brutal approach is more reminiscent of Sir Lord Baltimore, Leaf Hound, or Buffalo. Had they been formed in the US, England, or Australia, instead of Catalonia, they might have become as "famous" as those other bands. Fredy sings mostly in Spanish, but there are also two songs in English - which I didn't notice at first, so clear is his enunciation. These are classic boogie "Lovespell", and Thin Lizzy-like "Queen, Friend And Dread". Opener "La Bruja" is one of the album's highlights: It starts off with a heavy blues riff à la Cream - don't change this, autocorrect, I didn't mean à la crème as in cooking, I'm referencing the band Cream. Then, 1,5 minute in, it picks up pace almost hitting Motörhead speed. One more heavy mid-tempo section, then again a fast one featuring manic "witchy" laughter. "Colt 45" is another hard rocker; this one reminds me more of Montrose. I  know I'm bringing up other band names left and right, but don't take that to mean that Rockcelona's music is derivative. On the contrary, where you hear of too many influences, that means a band has achieved its own sound. Whereas, if I say that Oasis sound similar to The Beatles, well... Anyway, Side 1 of La Bruja closes with blues rock instrumental "Magbalino" allowing Balsells to show off his considerable guitar chops. "Hombre Triste" is another chugging boogie, this one featuring a fantastic shredding solo. It's followed by the heavier sludge rock "Tierra De Fuego". "Buscandote Rock 'N' Roll" starts off in a similar slow and heavy tempo, then halfway through the song the band are seemingly replaced by The Ramones, or at least they adopt a Ramones-like breakneck pace. Screaming vocals, drum rolls, and galloping guitar solos complete the picture. All in all, this LP made for a very satisfactory listen. Don't get me wrong; this isn't a masterpiece in any sense. The songwriting is forgettable, production is rudimentary, and the musicians' technique is less than impressive. But their playing is powerful and passionate. At the same time, the music is remarkably timeless, sounding both too retro for '79 and uncannily similar to modern-day stoner rock. It's as if Rockcelona were some distant Spanish uncles of Queens Of The Stone Age: at first glance, they have nothing in common. Then, the DNA reveals itself. As it always does.

**** for La Bruja, Lovespell, Colt 45, Hombre Triste, Buscandote Rock 'N' Roll, Queen Friend And Dread

*** for Magbalino, Tierra De Fuego 

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

Nightstalker "Just A Burn" 2004****

I was pleasantly surprised to read that Nightstalker would play in nearby Rotterdam. It must have been almost 20 years since I last saw them - during the 90's I saw them play many festivals as well as support foreign bands (Uriah Heep come to mind). At the time Argy was still singing from behind his drums set, and they were considered to be Greece's first grunge band along with Honeydive, the band of an old collegemate of mine which I will present in a future post. Having not seen them for so long, and having left Greece a decade ago, I didn't know what to expect from the concert: had the band retained their original energy, and had they managed to outgrow their cult status? Well, the fact that they're touring Europe should be answer enough, but the welcome they received in Rotterdam confirmed it: There was quite a large turnout, mainly Greek expats most of whom were unborn when the band formed. The audience was really enthusiastic, slam-dancing, stage-diving and singing the lyrics out loud. The band played with passion and confidence, Argy moving freely center-stage now that he has a permanent drummer. The grey hair and beard suit him well, giving him the look of a rugged sort of psychedelic prophet. The very good support group Playgrounded is also worth a mention. They're a bunch of Greek guys currently based in Rotterdam, and they have a modprogressive/dark wave/metal sound somewhat reminiscent of Tool.

Although they predated "stoner" as a musical term, Nightstalker are nowadays labeled as a stoner, instead of grunge, rock band, which is I think more accurate - not just musically but in terms of lyrics. Until them, drugs were referred to purely in negative terms in Greek Rock. Nobody would admit enjoying getting stoned. Even notorious junkie Pavlos Sidiropoulos wrote anti-drugs songs, I even remember seeing him play an anti-drugs concert about a week before he died from a heroin overdose. Argy, on the other hand, is apparently quite happy about his drugs intake. Check out the lyrics on this album's opener "All Around (Satanic Drugs From Outer Space)": "So come on, we’re lost in space"/So come on, let’s burn it all/Just like a kick, right in your face/So come on, let’s fuck the world". I'd say that's celebratory rather than apologetic, wouldn't you? Musically Nightstalker have settled in their sound: it's the kind of hard rock usually refered to as stoner of desert rock. I know they hate these labels, so let's just say they have a dirty rock'n'roll sound with a funky groove, metallic riffs, and distorted Hendrix-like solos. The Stooges and Black Sabbath seem to be important influences, while contemporary soundalikes include Monster Magnet and Soundgarden. They rarely deviate from their established sound, the biggest exception here being the slow and spacey with whispered vocal "Shadows". I guess it's supposed to play a role similar to "Planet Caravan" in Sabbath's Paranoid, but it doesn't stand as well on its own. "Explode" and "Voodoo U Do" are heavy blues, while "Staripper" is more Stooges-like and "All Around" introduces the album with some Judas Priest-like riffage. Other details elevating some songs above the rest are the playful bass riff on "Line" and anthemic choruses of "Just A Burn" and "Don't Blow My High". Just A Burn was the band's first self-produced album (with a little help from Last Drive's Alex K) and the last one featuring Argy on drums. It's also the last one I had heard before the recent concert. Apparently they've released 4 more albums during the decade I've been away, but songs like "Just A Burn" and "Line" still figure among the highlights of their live set, 15 years later. A great band, and a great CD for all fans of Heavy Rock'n'Roll.

**** for All Around (Satanic Drugs From Outer Space), Just A Burn, Don't Blow My High, Line

*** for Voodoo U Do, Iron, Silver Shark, Explode, Staripper, Give It All, Shadows