Near the end of the sixth minute everything empties out for some spacious solo echoed (and effected) jazz guitar play. The chord progression used is so great-so uplifting-soundl ike it came straight out of a UNAKA PRONG song. "Notwatch" (14:54) opens with a very engaging blues-rock jam over which Kostas Konstantinidis does some very impressive lead guitar soloing. Weird segue at 4:15 into a kind of laid back (13.25/15)Ģ. Are Kostas and the Georges secret LED ZEPPELIN wannabes? Who knew! Tight and fun. "Zigu Zigu" (6:50) instrumental hard rock musings and playfulness. The band mixes successfully elements from symphonic, folk, neo- and heavy progressive with the latter potentially standing out a bit clearer in their influences they still though remain a band difficult to categorise and come highly recommended.īiography kindly provided by the band - edited by aapatsosĢ019's offering from Greek prog virtuosi Mother Turtle.ġ. The whole album is available for online streaming and digital downloading in their page on Bandcamp. The first self-titled 7-track album was released on 4th of October 2013 and was recorded, mixed and mastered from February to July 2013 in Sin City Studios, Thessaloniki by sound engineer Kostas Kofinas. The name changed to MOTHER TURTLE a little bit later and since they played various gigs, sharing the stage with fellow bands such as POEM, LAZY AFTERSHOW, 3-FOLD PAIN and also Swedish vintage heavy rockers SIENA ROOT in Athens in April 2013. The band consists of Kostis HASOPOULOS (bass, backing vocals), Kostas KONSTANTINIDIS (guitar, vocals), George MPALTAS (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and George THEODOROPOULOS (piano, organ, synths, programming).įirst live gig was under the name HOGWEED in April 2012. Main influences include the greats of the genre such as progressive rock RUSH, CAMEL, GENESIS, FRANK ZAPPA, MARILLION and many others. But during those jam sessions, some solid musical ideas were developed and after a lot of rehearsing they evolved into songs. MOTHER TURTLE started as a jam band by musicians that were already very active, being involved individually in several other music projects and doing live gigs on a weekly basis. Founded in Thessaloniki, Greece in 2011 (Initially as "HOGWEED")