Pitch any references you want into the equation – Clutch, Mastodon, Skynyrd, AC/DC – but what makes the fourth album from these Greeks work so well is that they’re individual.
You might start off nodding towards past icons when you hear Them Nights or Little Deceiver, yet once the riff kicks in and the Babis Papanikolaou’s vocals get going, all those comparisons fade away. Planet Of Zeus might have a hankering for 70- style hard rock, but they know how to slip everything into a contemporary gear. There are many glowing moments, from the chiming chords of Your Love Makes Me Want To Hurt Myself to the laid- back midnight smoke of Retreat and creeping staccato rhythms of Sea Bastards. Best of all, Indian Red takes Native American motifs in its majestic stride. This leads into the instrumental Athens, with its authentic Mediterranean momentum. Loyal To The Pack is joyously engaging.