This one almost slipped past my radar! Psychedelic rock act NAXATRAS, hailing from Thessaloniki, Greece, released their fifth, independent studio album, assigned with the simple Roman numeral, “V,” on February 28th, 2025. Since their inception in 2012, this four-piece has evolved from a simple space-rock jam band into a formidable psych-rock force to be reckoned with. The new album traverses waist-deep through highly expansive, psychedelic soundscapes, recalling the sonic adventures of such pedigree acts as ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, OZRIC TENTACLES, HAWKWIND, and vintage PINK FLOYD. Thus, it would be a crime not to put in a few good words for the band, even though I slightly missed the release date.
As per the conventions of the genre, the songs are all entitled with references to astronomy, science fiction, or general fantasy imagery. So, I guess it’s within the realm of possibilities that there is an overarching theme to the songs, lyrics-wise, but even if there isn’t, the flow throughout this selection is pretty immaculate, straight from the atmospheric, “OZRIC TENTACLES meets PINK FLOYD”-vibes of the opener, “Celestial Gaze,” to the cinematic, somewhat HAWKWIND-like riffathon of “The Citadel,” closing the album. The band’s Bandcamp profile dubs their style “hard psychedelic rock,” and I guess it’s rather spot on. When the riffages gear up on momentum, they resonate on occasion with an almost stoner-like air, or postrock of a more riff-driven variety – RUSSIAN CIRCLES, PELICAN, LONG DISTANCE CALLING, and the like.
The mixture of prominent Middle-Eastern flourishes and atmospheric soundscapes is nicely reminiscent of many a psybient classic as well as some post-rock acts of late, like GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT‘s new album “Embers” from 2024. The flow on the album is so seamless, actually, that it makes it pretty hard to single out the highlights – this is one of those albums that you simply have to enjoy from start to finish in one go. That said, depending on my mood, I might put the Phrygian-vibed septuple riffage, “Spacekeeper,” on repeat if I were in the mood for something slightly more progressive. With a tad more electronic approach, this song could easily be from the SHPONGLE songbook.
If I were in the mood for some Kosmische Krautrock flashbacks, I would choose “Numenia” or the slightly tighter riffer, “Breathing Fire.” The Middle Eastern strings and flutes add a particularly nice touch in the former. Then, the transition from the atmospheric first half of the song to the riff-driven latter half works pretty nicely, too! It keeps the momentum going. I wouldn’t mind listening to some mellow Middle-Eastern improvisations for 5 minutes straight, but the change of pace does work wonders. There is a similar transition in the latter as well. It seems to be one of the band’s signature quirks, but I don’t mind – it simply works. In the latter song, there are some haunting chant-like vocals in the coda, too, and they do further pronounce the song’s somewhat mystic aura.
In a more mellow mood, I would rather opt for the ambient psychedelia of “Utopian Structures,” recalling the ambient side of OZRIC TENTACLES as well as some of those early atmospheric jams by PORCUPINE TREE, here and there. There is a nice change of tempo here as well, about halfway into the song, and it’s proving a rather nice trick to keep the momentum going. Then, for a synth nerd like me, the Moog solo in the song’s coda is simply breath-taking.
However, if I wanted to vibe what the vintage, late-1990s psytrance would sound like if it was played with vocals and rock instruments, “Legion” would be my go-to song. OZRIC TENTACLES has carved out a career, spanning decades, in this vein and this is yet another case in point proving that it sounds fantastic. The strings in the song’s coda put the final, delicious frosting on the cake! That Middle Eastern style of playing glissando with strings is simply enchanting.
The song has some really nice Middle-Eastern strings, too! Last, “Sand Halo” triggers nice vintage prog flashbacks of the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT variety, so that would be the song of choice, should I feel inclined to vibe that sort of stuff, especially. The guitar solo has a nice David Gilmour-like ring about it and the Rhodes-stabs have Richard Wright written all over them, not to mention the delay-synths harkening back to the “Dark Side of the Moon”-era PINK FLOYD.
So, you see, even with the album flow being of such immaculate and coherent nature, there are all sorts of delicious nuances in the songs. This album is not my first introduction to the band’s psychedelic magic, but it is definitely something that piques my interest to revisit those earlier albums, in depth this time. (As luck would have it, on the band’s Bandcamp profile, there is quite an alluring bargain on their whole digital back catalog!) Stumbling across this little psych-rock gem was quite a pleasant surprise!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Celestial Gaze
- Spacekeeper
- Numenia
- Utopian Structures
- Breathing Fire
- Legion
- Sand Halo
- The Citadel
Lineup
Kostas Charizanis – drums, percussion
Pantelis Kargas – keyboards, synths
John Vagenas – vocals, bass
John Delias – vocals, guitars
Label
Independent
