Review: Otrovna Kristina - Otrovna Kristina

I must admit to being a bit sceptical when the promo for this fell on the doormat - Sulatron Records releasing a straight-up rock record? A label I, and many others, associate with blistering acidrock, shimmering space rock and lots of warm, fuzzy psych...well, if I've learnt one thing it's never to doubt Sulatron and head honcho Dave...the guy knows what he's doing! Otrovna Kristina are a band from Croatia with more than one foot left back in the 1970s, and have made an album that will have many an old rocker tearing up in nostalgic revelries.

The album kicks off with the hard rockin' 'Vrata Moći' and straightaway we are transported to the seventies with some heavy psych guitar wailing over some workmanlike drums. It sets the band's stall out and leaves the listener in no doubt that this album rocks. 'Sa Svima Si Bila' has a very prog rock guitar intro before evolving into a chugging juggernaut of rock....you can almost smell the patchouli. 'Demon' is a belter of a track, the locomotive rhythm section and balls-out guitar solo feel like the bastard spawn of Steppenwolf. 'Došao Sam Da Ostanem' sees the tempo shifted down a gear and the guitar taking on a more blues-like stance. The vocals are impassioned (but, like the rest of album, I haven't got a bloody clue what they are singing about - my Croatian is a bit rusty) and imbue the track with real feeling....and the short guitar solo at the 3 minute mark is hot! 'Poljubi Me U Treće Oko' is another mid-tempo number, far more relaxed and laid back which is reflected in the languid guitar. There are times within the track when you can hear traces of a folky, cultural influence on the music. 'Pita' is fairly simple in structure, no musical histrionics apart from another blistering guitar solo and is followed by 'Zmija' with another prog intro which mutates into a classic 70s rock riff, all denim and leather..probably my favourite track of the album. 'Igram Da Zaboravim' begins with what sounds like a dice rolling before launching into another paean to hairy seventies rock...these guys really know what they are doing! 'Ljubav Je Bol' has the heaviest riff of the album, almost Sabbath-like in it's density and the drums are their equal, providing some rock-solid support. 'Viking' closes the album in the same it opened, with another hard-as-nails rocker.

I won't lie, this is a very different record for Sulatron....where there is normally wah-wah, on this album you get clean, ringing guitars; where the solos normally take us up to the stratosphere, here they have their feet firmly on terra firma. But (and it is a big but) Otrovna Kristina have the seventies rock sound nailed down...this has more than a whiff of authenticity about it, and it rocks!! Without this type of rock'n'roll in the seventies we would not have the likes of Electric Moon now, and Otrovna Kristina pay respect to this legacy....Rock on dudes! The album is available from Sulatron Records - CD version in Superjewelcase is out now, the vinyl LPs, (limited to 500) on red 180 gr. vinyl and with a poster handsigned by the band, will be released in February.