Members of Extol, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Sea + Air joined their creative forces and will sonically shock you with one of most experimental and mesmerizing releases of this year! Azusa’s debut album titled “Heavy Yoke” will be released on November 16 via Indie Recordings (Europe + the rest of the world) Solid State Records (North America), Ward Records (Asia). Their debut video for their single ‘Interstellar Islands’ can be seen below.
With ‘Interstellar Islands’, Azusa takes you into an exploration of dissonant, eerie musical universes; it’s a trip to inner and outer space, an interstellar sensory experience.
A carnival of contrast, Azusa make captivating music with unconventional nerve. Uniting the complementary skills of its members, Azusa’s sound is a thrash-fusion tour de force. Can you imagine Kate Bush fronting Slayer; Death collaborating with Annette Peacock? These allegedly incongruent influences dissolve seamlessly in an alluring sonic alchemy.
Uncompromisingly experimental, Azusa’s curated approach showcases each member’s unique strengths as a reaction to previous endeavors, more so than an extension of them.
Reflecting on life’s existential mysteries, Azusa’s lyrics seek to explore cognitive dissonances at the crossroads of upbringing, mysticism, belief and betrayal. Defying expectations by embracing contradiction, Azusa finds strength in vulnerability, harmony in dissonance and melody in discord.
The band commented: “This album is special for all of us and we’re currently feeling the same excited feelings we got before we debuted any of our previous efforts. We are really fortunate to have been able to create these songs together and to be able to share them with fans of our former and current bands, as well as new fans. It has been such a relief crafting music without having any outside expectations placed on us. Turning to creative playfulness with a more relaxed and intuitive approach to songwriting, we feel that this collection of songs will hold a unique space in the atmosphere of heavy music.”, and they have continued about signing with Indie Recordings: “As for the signing, since Extol had worked with Indie before, they were both located in Oslo – old friend’s and co-conspirators at this point – it made sense for them to release the record as the working relationship was already there. When we met Erlend to discuss Azusa, we felt his vision for his label, his ideas about the industry in general and where he believes our band fits into all of that was impressive. The decision was a no-brainer!”.
Head of Indie Recordings, Erlend Gjerde, has added: “Hearing Azusa for the first time was a trip. It struck me as incredibly fresh and diverse, but still perfectly coherent. For me they bring a new angle to the scene which is so much craved for, and I am extremely excited for this release.”
Azusa has commented their first single: “’Interstellar Islands’ was one of our first creations and it is the perfect example of what Azusa is all about musically. It’s the obvious introduction to the Azusa universe.”
Track listing:
1. Interstellar Islands
2. Heart Of Stone
3. Heavy Yoke
4. Fine Lines
5. Lost In The Ether
6. Spellbinder
7. Programmed To Distress
8. Eternal Echo
9. Iniquitous Spiritual Praxis
10. Succumb To Sorrow
11. Distant call
Azusa is:
Eleni Zafiriadou (Sea + Air)
Liam Wilson (The Dillinger Escape Plan)
Christer Espevoll (Extol)
David Husvik (Extol)
Weblinks: Facebook
Video for ‘Interstellar Islands’