Greek heavy rockers (for that’s what the press release dubs them) Villagers of Ioannina City deliver a ten-minute journey (I’d have said “Odyssey” but come on, even I’ve got standards) of epic breadth, from the gentle Folk guitar opener, to swooping Heavy Metal with enough distortion to run for office as the opening song to Venceremos (Napalm Records). The only really important other thing the press kit gave me was “folk”. Really important, like, “pretty much every track is infused with generalized Folk Rock during the slow moments” important. I like the mix. Even the occasional use of hurdy-gurdy feels more “tonal landscape” than “folk.” Continue reading
Tag Archives: Larry Rogers
ALBUM REVIEW: Green Lung – Necropolitan
British Neo-Classic Rock band Green Lung perform the ultimate tribute to Black Sabbath and NWOBHM pioneers with Necropolitan, the latest from Nuclear Blast Records – and it’s a banger.
“Open the Helmouth” slowly brings you into the album, a spooky chant on slow riffs, building to “Dance to the Grave,” an upbeat Sabbath-esque rant against what AI and far-right technocrats are doing to us and the planet. Excellent sing-along with a monster guitar solo (I think so, it ends a bit Theramin-y as it ends. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Airborn – Utopia
In the before times, I enjoyed a band called Airbourne. I’m pretty sure they were Australian, and they sounded remarkably like AC/DC. Highly recommended. So, on the list of available albums, I saw Airborn‘s Lizard Secrets Part 3: Utopia (Fighter Records) and figured I’d give it a shot. Very glad I did. This Italian group delivers a Power Metal tour de force. Bonus, the vocals pitch up in a range most of us can reach.

