The only thing I don’t get about the new video for the title-track of Dead Rock Commandos — the 2012 Small Stone debut from long-running Greek rockers Nightstalker — is the kidnapping. Okay, so Nightstalker are getting chased through the woods by mysterious gasmasked paramilitary forces. I got that. But then they get kidnapped, the hoods over their heads and the whole bit, and marched single-file to an also-mysterious white room with instruments… and they start rocking out.

So the part I don’t get is, weren’t Nightstalker going to rock out anyway? Why would these commandos need to bring them into this room? And what is the room? Could it be that the volume from their heavy riffing output is being harvested to power some kind of sinister death ray? Or worse, that Nightstalker are being set up as some kind of exhibit in a terrible post-apocalyptic rock and roll zoo? Truly, there are many questions still to be answered.

What’s way clearer in watching “Dead Rock Commandos” is that Nightstalker have the stoner thing on lockdown. The video premiered today, and Nightstalker will bring the rock directly to the people starting May 31 with Ape Machine supporting. Dates follow the clip below:

Nightstalker, “Dead Rock Commandos” official video

Including an appearance at the 2013 Freak Valley Festival, Nightstalker will be heading out on a European tour in support of 2012’s Dead Rock Commandos. The ultra-catchy riff-fest was released by Small Stone last year and found the long-running Athens outfit right at home in classic heavy fuzz ‘n’ roll.

Nightstalker tour dates:
May 31 Munster, DE Rare Guitar
Jun 1 Netphen, DE Freak Valley Festival
Jun 2 Antwerpen, BE Antwerpen Music City
Jun 4 Paris, FR Les Combustibles
Jun 5 Leuven, BE Rockbar
Jun 6 Wild Rover Aachen, DE
Jun 7 Hasselt, BE Carpe Diem
Jun 8 Wurzburg, DE Immerhin
Jun 9 Salzburg, AT Rockhouse
Jun 11 St. Gallen, CH Rumpeltum
Jun 12 Feldkirch, AT Graf Hugo
Jun 13 Erfurt, DE Stadtgarten
Jun 14 Berlin, DE White Trash

A rock and roll powerhouse for more than two decades, Greek heavy heads Nightstalker got their start founded by frontman Argy in 1989. They were a far cry then from they band that 2012 finds them, but they held onto “best kept secret” status and managed to survive the grunge movement, the semi-commercialization of stoner rock, and, to date, the Euro. In 2009, they released their MeteorCity debut, Superfreak (review here), and to follow-up, they present their brand new, self-produced effort, Dead Rock Commandos, on Small Stone.

Seems kind of ignorant to say a band that had already been around for 20 years at the time were making a debut of sorts with Superfreak, but as it was their first album to really get a North American push, it’s not much of a surprise to find Dead Rock Commandos released through another US label. All the elements that make heavy rock what it is are there: Fuzz distortion, catchy hooks, classic rhythms and an ultra-straightforward, keep-it-simple approach render Nightstalker not nearly as foreboding as their name might imply, and Dead Rock Commandos proves they’re very much alive after all this time. The songs are varied, engaging, familiar but still unpredictable. Sometimes there’s just no arguing with rock done well, so I won’t waste my time to try.

I’ve included the band’s bio to help give some sense of their history. Dead Rock Commandos is streaming in its entirety on the player blow. Please enjoy:

[mp3player width=470 height=350 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=nightstalker.xml]

Formed in Greece, in late 1989, by singer (and at the time drummer) Argy and made truly stable with the addition of Rotting Christ bassist Andreas in 1992, Nightstalker managed to meld their heavy rock influences with funky rhythms and grungy melodies to create a whole new beast.

With all these elements in place they released the first EP in 1994, titled SideFx. With the release of their first full-length album, USE, in 1996, the band established themselves and their own trademark brand of dark heavy sounds. 2000 saw a slight shuffle in membership as well as a new EP, The Ritual, which found Nightstalker treading further in to the realms of deepest, darkest psychedelia. Lineup fully entrenched, the ensuing pair of albums, 2004’s Just A Burn and 2009’s Superfreak garnered the band a new and loyal following across the world.

Which sets the stage for their newest dark masterpiece, Dead Rock Commandos. Another album’s worth of raw rock ‘n’ roll simplicity, filled with stunning riffs and electric haze. More heavy sounds, groovy rhythms and intense bass playing all merging with the power of Argy’s vocals, which is the secret to the music of Nightstalker that has kept the band going for more than 20 years and made them one of the most important bands in the history of the European Hard Rock scene.