Last Update: June 17, 2003 Kruiz is one of Russia`s oldest metal bands, with a storied and sometimes confusing history that dates back to 1980, when they formed in Moscow. At that time (indeed, for the first several years of their existence), they had nothing to do with metal, instead playing soft and hard rock with Russian lyrics. Nonetheless, they somehow drew the ire of the Communist government, who ordered them to disband in 1985. Guitarist Valeri Gaina wanted to push forward, and decided (with permission) to reform the band, with a new lineup and a new sound, and thus the metal version of Kruiz was born. A demo (featuring Gaina and drummer Sergey Efimov) was recorded, and eventually was released in 1986 as Kruiz-1, followed by a proper full-length album (self-titled as Kruiz) released in 1988, by which time they were a proper trio. A European tour ensued, but they weren`t able to keep it together, and so they broke up, with Gaina moving to San Francisco, recruiting another new lineup, and recording the poorly-received Gain before disbanding. Meanwhile, several of the original Kruiz members (minus Gaina) reformed and released a couple of new albums, and may even be active to this day, though they still don`t play metal and in fact want nothing to do with the "Metal Kruiz". Finally, in 2002, Gaina regrouped the 1988 lineup, recorded a demo, and announced plans for a full reunion. Of the many albums Kruiz has released over the years, only two are really worth mentioning in a metal context (and thus the only two reviewed here), those being Kruiz and Kruiz-1. Kruiz-1 is a bit rough (sounding like the demo it is), with the followup Kruiz being the far more mature and better recording. The style, especially on Kruiz, is speed/power metal, sounding a bit like some of the German metal bands of the day. It`s hard to know exactly how they intend to sound now, as it`s been fifteen years since Kruiz`s release, but there is certainly potential here.
