Ελληνικά
Genre: Folk/Punk/Rock
Country: Greece
Label: Louvana Records
Year: 2018
Some years ago, Villagers of Ioannina City caused a sensation with their original idea of mixing up stoner rock and some psychedelic influences with the traditional music of Greece’s Epirus. Since then it seems that Aeolus’s bags of winds have been opened and any taboos are left behind, making heavy sound and the country’s traditional music a thing that waited to be discovered it seems. I think that the band’s name, the title of their album as well, say it all about what to expect. With that in mind, I find it pretty arousing and imaginative. So, Balothizer is a power trio that consists of Paulos Mauromatakis, Nikos Ziarkas and Stephen J. Payne. The three of them met at North London and decided to coalesce their music and cultural backgrounds. I think Great Britain was the perfect place to do this, as it has always been. The result is none other than this peculiar hearing. It is pretty common when we are asked to review newcomers or underground bands to list some plausible influences or similar artists to get our message across. If that’s the case, we can surely say that the band mixes equally rock sounding with more traditional elements, all accompanied with a dynamic drum playing. Vocals seem faithful to their Cretan roots, filled with a poetic, almost recital vibe. Upon hearing all this, someone would consider it almost unnecessary to inform him that the band’s lyrics are all in Greek, and to be precise, in the form of the Cretan dialect. Secondly, to please the listener, the music incorporates punk influences and some psychedelic “puffs”. It’s a pretty unique and tough hearing to begin with; it may be aimed at a certain audience as well who may be more willing to appreciate the final result. The above make the present review just an attempt to cover the whole scope of the music experience, so one will be called to judge on his own after listening to the whole album. I would suggest doing so whilst accompanying your listening experience with some beer, or even better, raki.
