Axis

I've noticed that the greek band Axis is not in the archives. Any thoughts?


Their second album (1973) is excellent.



Reviews (gepr.net)

The members of Axis are all from Greece, but they lived and published in France. I know of three LPs by them. The first one from around '71 is really horrible pop-stuff, avoid it!!. But the second from 1973 is a masterpiece! These four guys (keyboards, bass and two drummers) perform excellent Jazzrock/Fusion in the Canterbury-Style. Highly recommended!! (its by the way the only LP by them which came with a foldout cover and prog-like cover art). They also published a third one (again called just Axis), but here you find only hard rock. (Danger!! There is also a Heavy Metal Band called Axxis, two x's, don't mix them up!!). -- Achim Breiling
Regarding Axis (1973):
The music on Axis' self-titled LP from 1973 is an interesting hodge-podge of straight-up hard-rock w/good vocals and lyrics in English ("Waiting a Long Time"), keyboard-dominated symphonic progressive rock ("Sewers Down Inside", "Pa Vu Ga Di"), avant-garde jazz / weirdness ("Asymphonia I and II", "Dancing Percussion"), and Soft Machine-ish / Crimson-ish / Brand X-ish jazz-rock ("Materializing the Unlimited", "Suspended Precipice", "Roads", "The Planet Vavoura"). Despite what I just said, none of Axis' music is derivative of anyone in particular. Though Axis remind me somewhat of Morris Pert's Suntreader trio with keyboardist Peter Robinson, this seems a purely coincidental consequence of the musical direction and basic multi-keys / bass / drums instrumentation. Some of the tracks seem to run together, giving the music a sense of continuity despite all of its strange stylistic transitions. The best thing about this LP is that the musicians are able to pull off each of the different styles in a convincing manner. The star of this particular show is keyboardist / vocalist Demis Visvikis - he is a great player and a master of tweaking all sorts of unexpected sounds out of his keyboards (Fender Rhodes, Mellotron, organ) without resorting to clichéd synthesizer patches. Other members include drummers George Hadjiathanassiou and Christos Stassinopoulos, and bassist Alezandros Fantis. This LP was recorded in France, at the famous Chateau d'Hérouville, the production team is French and it was subsequently issued on a French record label (Riviera, a Barclay subsidiary). Drummer Christos Stassinopoulos later appeared on the second Clearlight LP (his name was misspelled "Stapinopoulos" in the credits), but I don't know anything about the subsequent activities of Visvikis or the others. A shame - Visvikis is quite a talented musician, and this particular LP is worth seeking out if you can tolerate all the different styles. Certainly a must-have for all Mellotron fans. -- Dave Wayne

    
   

Edited by oliverstoned - April 27 2006 at 02:39

Oliver, there is a section for suggested bands, I have moved your thread there. (The Prog music lounge is for bands who are listed).

I've suggested this band some weeks ago.