Wazzara – Cycles

Releasedate:  31-10-2021
Label: Self-released
 

Intro

Wazzara is a culmination of a themed solo project from Barbara Brawand, the former lead singer of the folk metal band, Caladmor. The band unites elements like post metal, doom and psychedelic rock. After having released the first EP “Zessa” in 2019, the band is back with the debut album “Cycles”! Inspired by the nature’s infinite wandering phases, “Cycles” praises the end that is always a beginning.

 Review

“Cycles” offers us magical and dark melodies. The overall atmosphere made me think of a dance under the moonlight as we are taken to different worlds. There is a soft darkness to it with Barbara’s vocals in the spotlight, at times clean and at times harsh! There are many emotions embedded within the record in this sense, which many will enjoy for sure! The overall pace is slow so instead of rushing to it, the listener can take it easy devouring it. The nature and the spiritual aspect of it plays a huge part in this album and can be felt through every song.

Soundwise, there is a nice balance between the melodies and vocals. The dark and melancholic atmosphere present itself in those black metal (at times leaning into the post-rock sound) riffs and the lightness in the vocals and the melodies. This harmony is the biggest strength of the band and makes “Cycles” a fresh record. There is a natural flow to it and even though there are elements from certain genres such as celtic and post-rock, the overall sound does not know any boundaries.

One nice surprise is “Wolf Moon”, a song Type O Negative fans will recognize right away. “Wolf Moon” happens to be my favorite TON song and hearing a completely different interpretation in this cover version blew me away! Again, there is this contrast to the original and Wazzara did a fantastic job at presenting their version.

“Cycles” is the fantastic debut album and shows how much potential the band has. I can totally picture Wazzara playing with bands like Alcest or Cellar Darling. Can’t wait to see what they have for us in the future.

Line up:

• Barbara Brawand – vocals, plucked guitars
• Mäsi Stettler – lead & rhythm guitars
• George Necola – bass
• Andrei Jumugă – drums

Links:

Bandcamp
Facebook