Band:	Naxatras
Album:	IV
Style:	Psychedelic rock, Stoner metal
Release date:	February 2022

01. Reflection (Birth)
02. Omega Madness
03. Journey To Narahmon
04. The Answer
05. Ride With Time
06. Radiant Stars
07. Horizon
08. The Battle Of Crystal Fields
09. Reflection (Death & Rebirth)
10. Shape Of The Evening

Naxatras are still serving up slick jams, but there’s been some changes since the last album.

I discovered this Greek band through their 2018 record III, a hefty collection of long-form psych-rock jams that had groove and fun in abundance. Songs on III regularly exceeded 10 minutes, and aside from the ‘odd one out’ closing track “Spring Song”, vocals were largely absent. Well, things have changed in the intervening years between then and now, as despite having several more tracks than III, IV is 15 minutes shorter. The song lengths have shrunk, and a shift towards greater use of vocals has occurred at the same time. Add in a new member, with Pantelis Kargas joining on keyboards, and IV is by no means a repeat of its predecessor.

Naxatras pull off this transition fairly successfully; there’s a good degree of variety across the record, and the band are competent at each style they dabble in. While they’re not a metal band, Naxatras can rock fairly hard, whether it’s space rock on “Omega Madness” or the driving energy of “Journey To Narahmon”, which brought to mind the classic instrumental “Wedding Nails” from Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia, albeit with some well-used ethereal female vocals woven into the mix. At the same time, there’s space for a delicate rock ballad such as “Ride With Time”; Steven Wilson was presumably an influence across this album, as, although the tones of their voices are different, I could easily hear Wilson singing the vocal melodies John Vagenas chooses on this track, as well as those on “The Answer”, a song that opens with some lush Floydian guitar leads.

At the same time, there is something to mourn in the loss of slick drawn-out meanderings such as those found on tracks such as “On The Silver Line”; the only song that really has the time in which to really spread its wings is “The Battle Of Crystal Fields”, and it takes full advantage. The shorter and greater number of tracks on IV allows for more variety, such as jumping from funk on “Radiant Stars” to Riverside-esque atmospheres right afterwards on “Horizon”. Still, the record doesn’t always flow quite as well as I’d like it to between these different tones, in comparison to how smoothly the tracks on III bled into one another. I wouldn’t say any of that range should be removed; the tracks that stand out most strongly to me can be found at the harder-rocking (“Journey To Narahmon”) and more mellow (“Horizon”) ends of the spectrum, so there’s no one extreme that I’d prefer them to focus on. I just don’t quite click with the complete package quite as strong as I’d like to, although I have warmed to it across repeat listens, so that could still change.

Overall though, it’s a solid next step by the new-look Naxatras. The Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Riverside and other influences come through clearly, but they’re well integrated and executed, and the guitar work across the album is consistently delightful, particularly the extended solo on “Horizon” and the guitar/keyboard collaborations on “The Battle Of Crystal Fields”. Furthermore, Kargas really makes his presence felt on the keyboards, making an immediate impact upon the band’s sound and ably assisting the transition to a more prog rock style.