Sound Effect proudly presents Lokruz! Forged under the hot Mediterranean sun and inspired by the dry and rocky landscape of their native land, Lokruz’s sound is an amalgamation of late ‘60s/early ‘70s heavy-psych and Italian soundtracks of the same era. Their self-titled debut album, recorded live in the studio, is due for release on November 19th on limited edition black and deep purple vinyl. “The Locrians (Greek: Λοκροί, Locri) were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Locris in Central Greece, around Parnassus. Among others, Ajax the Lesser and Patroclus were the most famous Locrian heroes, both distinguished in the Trojan War.” The band was born in Athens in 2014 in a basement used as a rehearsal room between beers and homemade grappa, and is composed of 3 members (Alessandro Castagneri guitar/voice, Christos Chorianopoulos bass, Thanasis Tampakopoulos drums) all descendants of Locrians: the Lokruz. The name of the band is inspired by the tomb of King Lokro, the legendary progenitor, which is located in Galaxidi where the three musicians usually stay. It is influenced by psychedelic rock, heavy blues, space rock and prog rock of the bands that operate at the turn of the 60s and the soundtracks of the same period, but also the indigenous musical tradition and places of myth, ancient and childhood memories made of salt and rocks, sacred mountains and nymphs, scents of thyme and grilled meat, barren landscapes and all shades of blue from the sea to the sky. The drafting of the pieces of their first work took place in conjunction with the participation in numerous events and concerts in Greece, also automatically determining the way in which the material and therefore the disc would be recorded. The recording sessions took place in the Shakti Studio in Athens mixed by Simon Nikolaidis and lasted three days during which all the material was recorded live with no overdub except for the voices recorded at the SNFCC. The band tried to keep alive the spirit of the psychedelic rock golden years of the power trio bands by recording the whole album live and using only old instruments and equipments from this specific era. The meeting with, Sound Effects Records’ head honcho, YIannis Andriopoulos, who embraced the cause of Lokruz, led to the mastering genius Kostas Ekelon post-production treatment at The Cave and the imminent vinyl release.
