Villagers of Ioannina City (VIC) hails from Ioannina, Greece, and was formed in 2007. They play a mix of post, stoner and psychedelic rock infused with a large helping of Greek folk music from the Epirus region. The music from that area of the country is characterized by polyphony and specific rhythms, with pronounced use of clarinet, kaval, and bagpipe. This brand of traditional folk music is combined with modern psychedelic styles, creating a sound where the clarinet often stands out as a dominant instrument. They have played at several major rock festivals, and performed sold-out shows at some of the biggest live venues in Greece.

Two 'yes' votes, and the band is marked as 'cleared' on Awesome Prog, so let's now add a bit more to the biography:

Villagers of Ioannina City (VIC) was formed in 2007 by a group of friends who grew up in the city of Ioannina on the western shore of Lake Pamvotis in the mountains of Epirus, Greece, and had been playing music together since they were very young. The band claim to gather their strengths from Greek nature and cosmic spirits, and play a unique brand of heavy post, stoner and psychedelic rock which utilises various folk instruments such as bagpipe, clarinet and kaval (a type of flute), their music being liberally infused with the style of Greek folk music typical of the Epirus region of the country.

The music from that area of Greece is characterized by polyphony and specific rhythms, and this brand of traditional folk music is combined with modern psychedelic styles to create a sound where the clarinet is often one of the most dominant instruments. Villagers of Ioannina City have played at several major rock festivals and European cities (including Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona & London) and performed sold-out shows at some of the biggest live venues in Greece.

In the early days the band consisted of Akis Zois on bass, Konstantis Pistiolis on clarinet, kaval & backing vocals, Aris Giannopoulos on drums, Alex Karametis on guitar & vocals and Achilleas Radis on keyboards - with Giannis Haldoupis contributing additional clarinet and backing vocals on selected songs. Later releases did not feature Giannis Haldoupis on clarinet, but added Konstantinos Lazos on bagpipes and wind instruments and Kostas Zois on additional guitar.

When the band was first formed they were essentially a heavy rock band utilising the standard guitar bass and drums instrumentation. They subsequently began experimenting with rhythms and melodies from Greek traditional music, and the music of the Epirus region in particular, and soon felt the need to diversify the instrumentation that they were using. Despite this, the band is always careful not to overfill their studio albums with lots of extra instruments to the extent that the music cannot be faithfully reproduced live, the intention being that the sound of a live show will always be very close to that which was originally recorded in the studio. Their influences are stated as King Buffalo, All Them Witches, Elephant Tree and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

1. Kalesma (1:29) 

2. Echoes (3:43) 

3. Nova (6:52) 

4. Jiannim (7:45) 

5. Tabourla (feat. Ioanninas Nobody) (5:37) 

6. Krasi (6:47) 

7. Ti Kako (9:31) 

8. Perdikomata (8:46) 

9. Chalasia (feat. G. Mitsis) (6:59) 

10. Skaros (3:54) 

11. St. Triad (9:54) 

12. Riza (2:00) 

Total Time 73:17

- Alex Karametis / guitar, vocals

- Akis Zois / bass

- Aris Giannopoulos / drums

- Konstantis Pistiolis / clarinet, caval, backing vocals

- Achilleas Radis / keyboards

With:

- Giannis Haldoupis / clarinet (2,3,6,10), backing vocals (6)

- Poylcheria Tsavdaris / vocals (2)

- Katerina Konstantinou / vocals (2)

- Giannis Mitsis / vocals (9)

- Heracles Kakavos (aka "Ioanninas Nobody") / vocals (5)

All music performed and arranged and produced by V.I.C

Recorded at Magnanimous studio, Thessaloniki Greece between January 2010 and January 2014

Engineered by George Pentzikis with the assistance of Asteris Partalios

Mixed by George Pentzikis

Mastered by Giannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Studios

Artwork by Diogenis Hantzopoulos

CD Mantra Records - MAN 001 (April 1, 2014, Greece)

Note: The above track list is taken from the CD version and the digital album on Bandcamp. The Vinyl LP version and some other digital releases include 'Tabourla' as track 9 rather than track 5.

The album includes the band's original compositions, plus some covers of traditional songs of Epirus which are all in the public domain apart from a part of the song "St. Triad", which includes a cover from the song "Eho Zali" by Tasos Zoumpas.

The samples on 'Riza' are taken from the 'Pogonisia Polyphonika' & 'Pogonisios' documentaries, of the show 'Ellinon Dromena', directed by Antonis Tsavalos.

1. Welcome (2:58) 

2. Age Of Aquarius (8:43) 

3. Part V (9:47) 

4. Dance Of Night (8:33) 

5. Arrival (1:52) 

6. Father Sun (8:37) 

7. Millennium Blues (8:42) 

8. Cosmic Soul (9:03) 

9. For The Innocent (5:02) 

10. Sparkle Out Of Black Hole (2:30) 

Total Time 65:47

- Alex Karametis / vocals, guitar

- Akis Zois / bass

- Konstantis Pistiolis / clarinet, wind instruments

- Aris Giannopoulos / drums, percussion

- Achilleas Radis / Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ

- Kostas Zois / guitar

- Kostas Lazos / bagpipes

With:

- Chrysa Tsolaki / vocals (2,7,9)

- Sofia Kamina / vocals (2,7,9)

- Anthie Kirkou / vocals (2,7,9)

- Pleba / backing vocals (7)

- Tzamala / backing vocals (7)

All music by VIC

Lyrics by Alex Karametis

CD Napalm Records - NPR 939 DP (April 3, 2020, Germany)

2 x Vinyl LP Napalm Records - NPR 939 VINYL (February 14, 2020, Austria)

Digital album Mantra Records (Sept 20, 2019)

3 x Vinyl LP Napalm Records - NPR1083VINYL (March 3, 2023, Europe)

2CD Napalm Records - NPR1083DGS (March 5, 2023, Europe)