Kaisas’ songwriter, guitarist and bassist, Babis Kaisas hails from Thessaloniki, Greece and has been making music since 2006, playing in a band called Zandem before going it solo and then forming another band, this time settling on the inventive name Kaisas and releasing their début album “Unify” in 2011. The band personnel has changed a little over the years and this, their second album “Degitalize”, features Mark Evans on vocals, Allen Brunelle on drums and Babis on guitars. Listening to “Degitalize” is a bit like going back in time to a different time in rock, to a time where mainstream AOR rock/metal was king, both in terms of content, instrumentation and production values, to the late eighties/early nineties. Whether you enjoy this album depends almost entirely on whether you like this era of music. If you don’t, then there’s not much point in reading any further. If hearing a celebration of the heavier side of AOR rock from a period of music that was virtually killed off by grunge is your thing, then you may just think Kaisas’ latest album is rather enjoyable.
The promo copy I received has a completely different sequence to the track listing on the information about the album I received, which has made it a little bit difficult to know which song I was listening to at first. I’m left wondering if it was a mistake or whether it was a deliberate move to make reviewers listen to the album a little more intently. Either way, it has resulted in many repeat plays meaning that I’ve got to know the songs really quite well. It’s been a pleasant surprise that it hasn’t been a chore listening to Kaisas’ second album over and over again, either, it’s a very listenable piece of work and some of it, had it been released in the glory days of radio-friendly mainstream rock, would probably have been really quite successful. There’s nothing particularly ground-breaking on offer here, just early Ozzy-esque vocals, double-tracked guitars a-plenty, plenty of reverb and some good old-fashioned eighties rock harmonies. There’s even a cover of Cutting Crew’s “(I Just) Died In Your Arms” which is a touch darker and grittier than the original and if I had to pick a favourite track on “Degitalize”, it would probably be this one. Always annoying to say that you like the cover version best on an album, I know, but, honestly, it’s different enough from the original for Kaisas to be proud of what they’ve done with it.
The original songs are all a little more than decent, although I suppose paying close attention to the lyrics isn’t the best idea, as the chance of finding Dylan-like prose on this album is rather slim. There’s lots of vivid imagery and living on the edge, fighting for life/love type themes, very much like the kind of dramatic eighties rock/metal albums Kaisas’ second sounds very much like. My personal highlights from the album include “Strangers In The Night” and “Bloody War”, plus there’s also a bonus track, a cover of Def Leppard’s “Hysteria” which adds a touch of familiarity to the material. Whether you like this album or not, it’s simply a matter of taste. Kaisas have produced a well-presented and written collection of songs, Babis’ guitar work is more than competent and Mark Evans sounds every bit the great rock voice he is. They’re a good outfit and certain people will lap this up, but many rock fans will also see this as an unwanted throwback to an era that was well covered by the best bands of the age. My own viewpoint is that although I have enjoyed listening to “Degitalize” and will certainly rip their cover of the Cutting Crew classic to my iTunes, it’s a pleasantly average eighties-style classic/heavy rock album with occasional hints of metal, too good to be a pastiche, but falling quite a way short of actually being a classic album itself. Well worth a listen, though, if late eighties/early nineties AOR is your thing, because they’re a talented bunch and at least you get an interesting cover version out of it, if nothing else.
“Degitalize” by Kaisas is out now on the independent Sleaszy Rider label. Digital copies are available on iTunes, physical copies can by purchased via eBay.
Andy Sweeney, 1st June, 2014.
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