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LIZARDIA
Lizardia

Self-released (2014)
Rating: 7/10

Somehow successfully combining sun-blessed stoner rock, retro groove and doom metal, Greek rockers Lizardia are a band to keep an eye on when it comes to writing accessible yet heavy metal. The quartet consists of vocalist Bluff, guitarist Jeje, bassist Gary and drummer Pijo, and on this ten-track debut they’ve married to effect elements of cosmic rock with the usual Black Sabbath-inspired blackness with a sprig of psychedelia.

I often get tired of this type of metal, but Lizardia have managed to keep me entertained throughout. The band open up this hour-long groove-fest with ‘Turn To Smoke’, which has hints of Corrosion Of Conformity, Monster Magnet, Pentagram, and traditional rock.

The riffs don’t really dazzle – in fact, they are the sort of grooves you’ll swear you’ve heard a thousand times before over the years – but coupled with the purposeful vocals of Bluff and the hard-hitting drums of Pijo, there just happens to be an air of menace as the band stride with confidence into ‘Like God’ and the distorted fuzz of ‘Tomorrow’s Gift’.

While Lizardia are targeting an audience that may well have become saturated by this sort of metal, there’s no shame in churning this sort of retro rock if the songs are good enough, and I really do believe that these guys have something decent in the locker. Okay, so Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan) mastered this art long before these guys were even born, but I really do like the brooding atmosphere of ‘Tomorrow’s Gift’ and its subtlety, too. When put alongside the weighty trudge of ‘Sutter Cane’ or the cosmic fizz of ‘Mountshake’, I hear a band energetic and passionate and able to construct good melody within those smoking guitars.

I did ask myself before putting this on if I needed to hear another band that bridges the gap between, say, Sleep and Kyuss, but now that I’ve dived in I’ve become endeared by the pummelling shake of ‘Ultrasonic Supervision’ and the spaced-out sprinkles of ‘Aurora On Jupiter’ which, for all of its 12 minutes, had me reaching for those crusty Hawkwind albums again!

For all their hooks and whiskey-drenched grooves, Lizardia are not going to change the scene in which they’ll drown, but I’d rather applaud this kaleidoscopic venture rather than condemn it to the pits of eternity. And while I doubt they’ll be put up there on the roster with the bands that created this noise many years ago, Lizardia’s debut chunk of cheeriness is still worth your time if this sort of stoned groove is your thang.

Neil Arnold

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