From the ashes of the melodic Oi!/Punk band Hexen (Basque Country), will rise Labana (razor in english) and "Blacklist" is their EP debut! If Hexen reminds me to the 2000's Oi! bands as the early years of Deadline, Labana reminds me to Punk Rock, Glam Rock or even Hard Rock from latest 70's. Maybe a mix between The Adverts, The Runaways and Penetration or something similar, and of course also to most recent bands as PennyCocks or Suede Razors. Obscure Punk Rock with english lyrics, but keeping that melodic Hexen sound. 3 tracks!

Now the fact that Hexen is no more never landed here. My bad really – because where I was patiently awaiting a third ‘Akt’, the ladies in question already announced that Hexen was as good as over at the end of 2019 – whoops! Luckily enough four of Hexen’s five original members formed an all new band called Labana and coincidentally (though not really of course), their debut EP for Common People Records is making its rounds on my turntable as we speak! Though hints of Hexen are obviously inevitable when your band fully consists out of old members, Labana is definitely a new direction with a new style, that surely suits them well! Titled “Blacklist”, the 7” features the band’s first three recorded songs ever – namely “Blue”, title-track “Blacklist” and “Midnight”, all rocking harder than ever before – literally! Because where Hexen’s style was a vibrant mix of punk and Oi!, Labana labels their style as power-rock and I can definitely see where that’s coming from! Great melodies, hard rockin’ guitars and Vir’s vocals – wow – they’re off the wall! Just listen to A-side “Blue” (on the left) yourself, an impressive, catchy and extremely powerful song to say the least – love it! Available since the 1st of October (2020) and only 300 copies (all on black vinyl) were pressed and I can’t believe this hasn’t sold out yet! The drive and sound is definitely there to outsell a run like that in no-time, but perhaps this is only a matter of time. So if you like power-rock made by power women, than Labana is definitely worth checking out!

1. Blue
2. Blacklist
3. Midnight