You take a look at the album cover and you get a feeling that either you will be lost somewhere deep or you will fly up in the clouds near the sun (in any case the usual drudgery of everyday life will be left behind). The vinyl record is already on the turntable, the needle touches the record and the trip to some vintage soundscapes begins.
Lokruz is a Greek band from Athens that released their debut album in late November and their name is a reference to the ancient Greek tribe of Locrians. It’s a power trio that has Alessandro Castagneri on vocals/guitar, Christos Chorianopoulos on bass and Thanos Tampakopoulos on drums and they manage to bring to today sounds of an era that rock was blending with psychedelia. But wait a minute, Lokruz isn’t just a band that got into the revival chariot of old genres, they seems to know what they want and that’s why they keep things interesting for the listener through the six compositions of the album. Lokruz seem to start from heavy rock as many other Greek band the last years but apart from some improvisations there are many other interesting corners in their work, you can hear the band getting lost in space rock paths or even some atmospheric –almost cinematic- patterns that give the album a wide variety across its 44 minutes.
The rhythm section of the band pull no punches (it will be catastrophic for a power trio) but it is mainly the guitar that lead the compositions and sets the mood almost everywhere and manages to color like a kaleidoscope the album. The 12 minute long “My Naked Pride” packages everything Lokruz has to say, a great composition with beautiful swings (on tempo and styles) that comes in contradiction with other –more straight forward- composition like “Runaway” or “Bullets Hail”. Just before the end we find another great composition, the beautiful “Man In Hope” that I just never get tired listening again and again. Eventually, it seems the trip was towards or under the hot Mediterranean sun, you know that you will get burnt but it keeps pulling you closer, you close your eyes and the notes are the only source of coolness…
