Taking its name (to be spelled as kay – log - are) from the 9th Century mathematical law of Weber-Fechner (S= K logR), this Italian Alternative Rock/ Metal act was originated in 2011 as a studio project by singer/ guitarist Gabriele "Rusty" Rusticelli, producer at Carpi based ZetaFactory Studios, whom invited guitarist Nicola Briganti, American bassist Todd Allen, and drummer Filippo De Pietri to start recording the band's debut album Till You Decay, which was released on January 1st of 2012, during the band's debut show.
Getting positive response from the audience, Klogr decided to make the best of the project, and therefore stuck together for ensuing shows. Taking off to the US for a promotional West Coast tour during the rest of that first month of 2012. Additional Italian shows followed, and during June the band embarked on a mini-tour of France, again receiving positive response from both audiences and local music journalists alike...consolidating the band's idea that they had something good goin'.
So, in September 1012 the band (with a different line-up) convened back at ZetaFactory Studios, and canned a new EP, aided out in co-production by some outsiders. First outsider being producer Olly Riva, whom co-produced the EP's first two songs "King Of Unkown" and "Vultures Feast", which were recorded with the help of Italian Alternative Rock act Timecut (Giampi on guitar and backing vocals, Joba on the bass, and Ste on the drums) and Lacuna Coil bassist Maki (on one of the two tracks only, in fact, but info is somewhat sketchy as to which one exactly). Second outsider is producer Dysfunction, whom co-produced the songs “Voice Of Cowardice” and “Guinea Pigs”...which were mixed with help of Logan Mader of Machine Head and Soulfly fame. Line-up for these recordings, besides Rusty, consisted of former band members Nicola Briganti (guitar) and Michele Zanni (bass), with the aid of Paolo Valli on drums (on only óne of the songs, but again, it's unclear which one) and additional guitar by recording engineer Eddy Cavazza. To give the EP a decent length (?) Rusty added 3 live songs (which he recorded, mixed & produced himself).
With the release of the EP in November 2012, Klogr started a new chapter in its existence, as Rusty invited Timecut to be his backing band. According to the info, this led to an invigorated intensity and on-stage energy. A special edition of the EP (including all 7 songs and the complete video of the band's 11-11-11 Ground Zero Show) was issued on USB on a limited rotation of only 150 copies, offered to the fans that visited the November 2012 release show. Touring through Italy in support of the new release took place in December, and in January 2013. The band has since gone on through the rest of Europe : after a couple of stops in Belgium and Holland, they went on tour through France and Germany during March, and in April took on venues in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland. They ended their promotional season with an attendance at Sweden Rock on June 7, for a show which also featured added singer Alteria (see further for details).
So, time to turn out attention to the music at hand, the studio part if which is said to explore new sounds...not that I can actually hear any difference with the live tracks on the EP (perhaps I should've been enabled to hear that debut full-length to make a proper comparison). The band brings a nice groovy Alternative Rock with Metal flavourings (for “comparison”, the band cites acts such as A Perfect Circle, NIN, Alter Bridge, Metallica, Deftones, Tool and Porcupine Tree as “Artists We Also Like” on their facebook page – not that all of 'em come through in the music the band makes) and nice melodic lead guitar alternated against the more rhythmic rhythm guitar. Rusty (at least on most of the studio tracks) has a warm voice which is almost without accents, but which he all to often uses at an annoying high end, which has been prone to give me a headache when listening to the EP in consecutive sessions (which, as one might know, is an essential thing to do for music analysts, if they wanna get a good idea of the contents of any music piece!). At first, I thought it was only the live tracks which induced that unpleasantness, but on repeated listening sessions, I can only say that the studio tracks provide that same feeling of unease! For a decent introduction to the band (and your possible next headache – you stand warned!), consult the “Shop” section at the band's own (www.) klogr.net, where you can listen to all songs off the Till You Decay album, as well as all 3 songs off an outtake EP from the latest release entitled King Of Unknown (besides the title track, it also includes the live tracks). The band also has pages on ReverbNation, MySpace, and YouTube (5 videos available at (www.) facebook.com/klogr).
Now...for the AlteriA bit...apparently she's been over at ZetaFactory, to record a first single for her solo project. From that came the idea for her to perform with the band at Sweden Rock on 3 songs. One of the songs is to be used on a new single by Klogr, expected in September. Meanwhile, the band Klogr already released a video for “Guinea Pigs” during May, and pay-for-view (at 5 cents a time) of the video on YouTube will serve to raise funds in support of the international organisation Sea Shepherd (actually, Klogr is donating àll of its earnings from May to September). In further news, Klogr has already started work on a new album during Summer. As for my personal rating of the album...it's a high as it could get, thanks to the exciting music. Evidently, points were taken off due to the unpleasantness caused by the vocals. Of course, and as to be expected, our readers remain free to make up their own opinions about this band.