OUT OF THE LAIR – Psychotears

The band Out Of The Lair comes from Greece and was formed in 1995. After some line-up changes and many rehearsing hours the band entered the Rock Sound Studios to record the first official self-financed album named Psychotears. The release of the debut album took place in 2003 and was only for promotional purposes. The nine songs on the album received an adequate number of good reviews to convince the French label Dead Sun Records to offer the band a record deal.

The band lurks in Power Metal territory with distinct characteristics of the European sound; which means fast and catchy guitar riffs, and the classic high-pitched vocals. Usually, in albums from the Power Metal genre, the feeling of “I’ve heard that before” hits you in almost every song at some point. Fortunately, Psychotears doesn’t belong in the above category due to the Progressive Metal tendencies and the vocal changes found in some of the songs.

The fact that almost every Greek singer has English pronunciation problems works as a hindrance in the evolution of the particular band they serve. Spyros, who is the second guitarist and the voice of Out Of The Lair has some similar problems that are enhanced by the fact that he is unstable when hitting the high-pitched notes. The production and mix could have helped this situation if only the guitars sounded more powerful, taking the vocals one step back and therefore covering some of the problems discussed above.

Leaving the vocal and the production issues behind, the 9 tracks on this album prove that Out Of The Lair have strong composing potential since they have managed to create an almost “personal” sound.

After the annoying and thankfully short intro, “Intronoise-X,” there is the up-tempo “Flying Surf” that includes powerful riffs and some Progressive Metal guitar leads. A catchy guitar riff opens for “G.O.D.,” which continues with a melodic and fast rhythm section. The presence of some aggressive vocals adds music diversity, while all the high-pitched attempts fail completely. In the classic Heavy Metal song “Nosferatu,” some Iron Maiden and Saxon influences can be found. Somewhere in the middle, the song turns into a Power Metal song with fast guitar leads and licks that are really solid. After the epic “Wolverine’s Knights,” there are the groovy/almost stoner tracks named “Vampire Lady” and “Last Time of Fire Child,” where the guitars are really shining. “Psychotears” follows the Iced Earth rhythm guitar pattern, with fast galloping riffs. The presence of Sakis’s voice (Rotting Christ), and of some female operatic vocals creates the perfect melodic vs. aggressive balance in favor of music diversity. Sakis is present in the last and homonymous song, which is probably the best of the album with epic guitars that bring to mind the glory days of Running Wild.

Some extra credit must be given to the band for the excellent CD package that includes a lyric book with very good artwork and an impressive multimedia section with pictures, a band biography, and a video clip. All of the above proves the band’s intention to offer the most value possible in their releases. For sure, you should keep your ears open for the next step by this Metal band from Thessalonika, Greece.