Akritas - 1973 - Akritas (Ακρίτας)

Akritas

1973

Akritas

Ακρίτας

01. Εισβολείς [Invaders] (2:02)

02. Γέννηση [Genesis] (2:17)

03. Τα Παιδιά [The Children] (3:24)

04. Μνήμη [Memory] (1:48)

05. Επιστροφή [Return] (2:50)

06. Αγάπη [Love] (4:24)

07. Ego (0:58)

08. Τραγούδι [Song] (3:50)

09. Το Πανηγύρι [The Festival] (2:34)

10. Το Θαύμα [The Miracle] (1:37)

11. Το Όνειρο [The Dream] (3:19)

12. Και Ιδού Ίππος Χλωρός [And Behold a Pale Horse] (1:02)

13. Κατάκτηση & Ζέτα Ζωρζέτα [Conquest & Zeta Zorzeta] (3:06)

Aris Tasoulis / keyboards

Stavros Logaridis / bass, vocals, acoustic guitar

Giorgos Tsoupakis / drums

With:

Dimos Papachristou / electric guitar

The empire strikes back! An "Akritas" was a frontier soldier of the Byzantine Empire, guarding against the Muslim hordes from the Middle East. Alternatively, it's also the name of a Greek-Cypriot football club, although we'll stick with the former definition as it's more in keeping with the theme of Akritas' compelling concept album. The stunning artwork on the album cover depicts a young girl floating in the endless depths of space with a huge spiral galaxy pictured in the background. "Fascinating!" - as Mr. Spock would have said. And so, onto the music itself, which takes us to the final frontier of prog, - and just like Captain Picard - it's baldly going where no one has gone before. It's really difficult to pin this enterprising band down to one particular genre. One thing I can say about this amazing album is, it sounds like the best album that Aphrodite's Child never did. It's a rare treasure of Greek psychedelia, which sounds so Greek that you're almost there in the ancient Acropolis of Athens with the warm smell of moussaka rising up through the air. So why not break open a bottle of ouzo and celebrate one of the most obscure and mesmerizing albums to ever emerge from the Greek archipelago. Go tell the Spartans, and go tell all of your friends too, because this is the most exciting musical act ever to come from Greece.

A friend of mine from Greece, big fan of prog, told me that ''Akritas'' is the best progressive album ever made in his country. After listening to some prog and prog-related Greek bands like PLJ BAND, APOCALYPSIS, PELOMA BOKIOU, PANOS DRACOS, SOCRATES and obvious APHRODITE'S CHILD I completely share his opinion.

AKRITAS created a unique piece of art, Greek in nature (vocals in Greek, though there are not many vocal parts, Mediterranian tunes throughout the album) and similar to Italian symphonic prog in approach, when lots of musical ideas change each other in a short period of time, making the music always unpredictable. The mood of the whole album slightly reminds me of BALLETTO DI BRONZO's ''Ys'' (though I don't think AKRITAS were familiar with ''Ys'' back then in 1973), maybe less dark. There are also hints of jazz and some ELP influences. Lots of contrasts, powerful organ chords, propulsive and at times aggresive drums, testful use of synthesizers, interesting guitar passages are the components of this short record. My only complaint is the final part of the album, it seems to me a little crumpled, while I expected some impressive coda.