Review: PLANET OF ZEUS “Vigilante” 2014

Review By Ivana Prica

Planet Of Zeus cover Artist: PLANET OF ZEUS

Album: VIGILANTE

Label: ihaveadrumrecords

Release Date: 13th October 2014

Tracklist:

1. The Great Dandolos

2. Second Coming

3. A Girl Named Greed

4. Burn This City Down

5. Tornado

6. No Tomorrow

7. Vigilante

8. Sky High Heels

9. Disappointment Blues

10. The Beast Within
PLANET OF ZEUS is a Greek stoner/heavy rock band, formed in 2000, that has issued two albums so far – “Eleven The Hard Way” (2008) and “Macho Libre” (2011). Both albums have been sold-out and are waiting to be re-released.
A couple of days ago I received their new album- “Vigilante”, which was released on October 13th 2014.
The first thing I saw was the cover artwork. It shows Zeus above Greece’s temple shooting lightning which form into the letters VIGILANTE. It reminds me a bit of a comic artwork. As a nerd, I must say that’s kind of cool.
The first song is ‘The Great Dandolos’; an excellent choice for an intro. Fast rhythm and heavy guitars resemble the Black Sabbath era, while the vocal parts in the first few verses sound like something Chad Kroeger‘s performing; but then, you are ‘WOWed’ by the sudden screams and energy with which Babis enriches his performance.
The next song is ‘Second Coming’, a brilliant name is followed by a catchy chorus. In this one Southern rock meets good old blues creating melodies and harmonies you can’t stop whistling and singing all day long. I’d say this is one of my favorites from “Vigilante”.
About three minutes later you encounter ‘A Girl Named Greed’. I have mixed feelings about this song. One minute I love it, and another- hate it. It confuses me. I adore the hard rock beginning that fades into blues which is followed by Axl Rose kind of vocals, but then, the screams kick in. A couple of seconds later, Axl is back. In the middle of the song you hear a guitar battle that is typical for System Of A Down. After that, stoner rock overtakes. I am not sure if this was done by a genius or an insane person. You simply don’t mix so many genres together, and yet, it sounds so good. No matter how many times I listen to this song, I always get different impressions. Right now, I love it. What will happen in the next five minutes, I don’t know.
The fourth track is ‘Burn This City Down’; a classic stoner rock song. It’s not bad, but it’s not as catchy and unique as the previous ones. For me this one is too predictable, and I’d classify it as my least favourite.
Half way through the album we’re hit by a ‘Tornado“. Kid Rock would be proud of Babis‘ vocal performance. The forced southern accent is what makes this song so special; and the funny thing is- something that would usually bother me, here, amazes me. Lyrically, this is my favorite piece. It talks about people who are like tornadoes. They pretend to be nice and when they gain your trust, stab you in the back. I’m sure we have all encountered people like this in our lives. Who knows, maybe we were the ones doing the back stabbing. Either way, everyone can find themselves in this song. As Planet Of Zeus would say: “I KNOW A LOT OF PRICKS LIKE HIM WHO PRETEND TO BE NICE; THE KIND OF ‘CARING FRIEND’ WHO TRIES TO FUCK YOU TWICE; THE KIND OF SELF-HATING MAMA’S BIG BOYS”.
Seventh track is ‘Vigilante’. The band has released a video for this song which features prisoners that are rising against guards and other staff in prison. (see below) Perhaps this is a metaphor for people of Greece rising against their government. Here, the Greek rockers have invented a whole new genre- SOUTHERN STONER HEAVY ROCK.
Eight song is ‘Sky High Heels’. It’s fun! You find yourself in one of those old movies where a girl enters the bar and everyone is looking at her, yet, she doesn’t notice the glances. I see this one being included in a movie soundtrack.
Getting closer to the end we hear ‘Disappointment Blues’. Again, a classic stoner rock- good guitar work, good vocals and rhythm- good, but not great. After ‘Burn This City Down’ this is the one I like the least. As I said before- neither one of these two is bad. It’s just that they are not as good as the other songs on the album.
Slowly, we have come to the end and discovered ‘The Beast Within’; a great piece for closure. It has about a minute and a half long instrumental intro that is followed by Babis‘ screams. This is the kind of song I’d like to hear live and headbang together with the band. I’d call this a seven minute long piece of art.
The average duration of the songs is about four minutes.
Make sure to get your copy of the album. I guarantee, you won’t regret it!