AILAFAR – State Of Mind (2021)

Greek AOR / melodic rock outfit AILAFAR are back with their new effort “State Of Mind“, a 12-song collection that is sure to please classic fans of the genre. Led by guitarist John Tzortzis who is responsible for writing all the material, the recording, mixing and production, in the past AILAFAR worked with guest singers but now has settled on female Tatiana Economou (who already worked with John on earlier Ailafar records) giving the album a more cohesive sound.
This is by far the strongest and most mature AILAFAR album.

The rocking “Zombie Town” with its excellent guitar work and the distinctive voice of Tatiana is a tailor-made prelude, followed by “Tide Of Spirits”, a song with a wonderful refrain and a heavenly melody.
More melodic stuff continues with “Life Is A Chess” (with a killer solo) and “Step Up the Stairs”, where the boundaries between melodic rock and pop merge with great results.
Ballads shouldn’t be missing, of course: “Teach Me To Dance” (Tatiana duets with Dean Mess – the only male voice on the album), and “The Last Day”, with Maria Katikaridou’s sharing magical lead vocals.

All songs are bursting with catchy melodies, distinctive hooks, riffs and refrains, building varied songs and interesting instrumentation. Since AILAFAR is now a female-fronted melodic rock band, referecences for “State Of Mind” should be Issa, Pat Benatar, Robin Beck, Romeo’s Daughter, etc.
However, and while Tzortzis’ songwriting is firmly plante in the ’80s all songs here show a fresh approach and a bright updated production design.
Highly Recommended

01 – Zombie Town
02 – Tide of Spirits
03 – Life is a Chess
04 – Step up the Stairs
05 – It Means Nothing to You
06 – Teach me to Dance
07 – Eagle in the Hail
08 – Bleeding Rose
09 – Celebration
10 – Somewhere
11 – Mark on the World
12 – The Last Day

Pre Order:
www.replayrecords.co.uk/product-page/ailafar-state-of-mind