Azell‘s self-described style of American Space SludgeTM sounds like an “as seen on TV” product to help lay tile for your kitchen backsplash. Kidding aside, Azell‘s latest batch of slow heaviness shows the duo finding their niche slinging quality sludge towards those of us with a deficiency of this maligned relative to psychedelia. If you can let go of the fast-paced world and let the music stop time, read on.
Although a relatively new project, husband-wife duo Courtney and David Napier behind Azell have been in and around the metal scene for quite a while. Although linked to underground Christian black metal and comedy metal with TIMŌRĀTUS, they also experimented in doom and drone in their 2017 “Reverentia” which to me is a prototype of their current enterprise. Azell‘s debut “Death Control” arrived just last year and they are back with a concept album and companion novella. “Astralis” follows an astronaut duo that witnesses the earth’s destruction and gets stranded in space on the Astralis, their spacecraft with a malevolent AI, while a parasitic monolithic entity chases them across the universe. It is not just an album, but an immersive experience.
“Astralis” rightly fits their self-described style. It is heavy, dark, slow, and one can easily get lost in the expansive blackness. It has a two-fold oppressiveness with deep rumbly riffs that are heavy yet comfortable and blackened death screams that incite fight or flight: should I be crushed by the riffs or react to the terrified screams? The companion novella holds the key to the pessimistic lyrics that struggle with primal existential fears. Although there are long stretches of homogeneous musical textures, fun elements mark the journey.
I love the deep sludgy riffs. It is like Black Sabbath but slowed down to a crawl. The tuning is very low and rumbly, but has some harmonic qualities that elevates it above noise. The lead guitar work provides treble harmony and space noise against the bass-saturated riffing, but shies from providing melody. The drums provide a sense of time passing but are largely camouflaged in the larger sonic soup, so when they emerge, I wonder if they have always been there. Noticing and losing track of things is a common experience aboard the Astralis.
Courtney commands a controlled death metal style leaning on some blackish treble frequencies that remind me of air escaping, a terrifying sound in space. David’s vocals provide a complementing deeper timbre with a wetter gurgle usually in response to Courtney. Vocals are a little lower in the mix giving the lyrics and story second fiddle to the instruments, which may be their preference as there are two (three counting the outro) instrumentals that are great to space out to.
Although there are subtle differences in most of the songs, there are some neat moments that pop. Similar to “Death Control,” there is the odd duck in the thrashing “Invasion of Self” that shows they can really groove as the drums take the lead and the guitars turn to a fuzzy pulsing. The last track “Time Slows To Nothing” is aptly named as it moves slowly into a timelessness, until a stray saxophone flies out of a wormhole and into the song. It works beautifully, but I feel a little cheated that the sax didn’t accompany me earlier in the album.
The last words of the album are a recording left by Kurt Hudson, one of the astronauts, as he is continuing his journey to find Amanda Rawlings, his co-navigator, which may be lost on listeners without the story. The companion novella is a fun read that gives background to help make sense of the lyrics. I think there is an opportunity to consider wider ranges of emotion from the story in the music, which in my opinion could be done sludgily in a spirit similar to Om. The story ends on a cliffhanger as if it will be continued, which I really hope it does.
Azell have landed in a genre that they play well on “Astralis,” which will challenge many folks, but for the open-eared and open-minded, they will find treasure under the sludge. If you are down for the heavy droning and crushing riffs telling a story of existential dread out in space, “Astralis” is for you! Be patient and just let it wash over you. My question to Courtney and David: will Kurt find Amanda? I hope to find out on their next release.
And please pack the sax.
Rating: 8.5/10
Written by Sean Bailey
Tracklist
1 – From the Womb of Oblivion
2 – Monolithic Terror
3 – When Darkness Unfolds
4 – Waves of Remembrance
5 – The Crumbling Facade
6 – Hostage To The Machine
7 – Shifting Reality
8 – Invasion of Self
9 – Threads of Connection
10 – The End is Inevitable
11 – Time Slows To Nothing
Azell is:
David Napier – guitars, vocals, drums
Courtney Napier– bass, vocals, drums
Release Date: October 17, 2025
Record Label: Rottweiler Records
Discography:|
Death Control (2024) [review]
Astralis (2025)
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Video for The Womb Of Oblivion
Lyric video for The Crumbling Facade