Time for a double shot of Musings
featuring not two, but three bands! First off, a Texan supergroup of sorts by
the name of Suspiriorum featuring Tim Driscoll on lead guitars (of Runescarred),
Suzy Bravo on vocals (of Witchcryer), Steve Colca on rhythm guitars (of Destroyer
of Light), Joseph Maniscalco on bass and synth (ex-member of Hinayana), and Adrian
Voorhees on drums. Their self-titled debut EP is a blend of progressive and
occult rock with horror-themed lyrics and atmosphere.
The three-track EP (four tracks
if you get it on CD) covers a good range of musical styles. “Regina Di Sangue”
is a haunting song and a homage to classic horror flicks. “Mother Suspiriorum”
evokes and is inspired by the great Dario Argento film Suspiria and is a terrific classic rock tune. “The Dark Knows” has
a riff to die for and is an all-around kick-ass song. The bonus CD-only track
is a gorgeous rendition of Blue Öyster Cult’s lesser-known gem “I Love the
Night.” It’s a shame that it’s a bonus track as it surpasses the original in my
humble opinion.
Suspiriorum is definitely a band
to keep an eye on. Their EP is a superb taste of things to come. Fans of Blue Öyster
Cult, Coven, Italian prog/occult bands like Goblin and Claudio Simonetti will
really dig this mini-album. It plays like a horror movie soundtrack from the
days of classic Giallos from Argento, Bava, Fulci, and Martino. Pick it up
today!
Suspiriorum on Bandcamp: https://suspiriorum.bandcamp.com/album/suspiriorum
Next up is a 28-minute, two-song
split featuring AAWKS and AIWASS. Readers of this blog are no stranger to
Canuck trio AAWKS; their phenomenal Heavy on the Cosmic debut LP landed in my Top Five albums of the year in 2022 and
I’ve covered them a lot last year. Texas’ one-man army AIWASS I’d heard of, but
had never gotten a chance to sample his music. I’ve heard a lot of good things
about their 2021 outing, Wayward Gods.
The two entities join forces to deliver a stellar psychedelic EP titled The Eastern Scrolls. It’s a concept
album which explores the life and legend of Russian mystic Madame Helena
Blavatsky. She was best known as one of the founders of Theosophy, a spiritual
movement based in the ancient tradition of occultism and the esoteric doctrines
of Hermeticism and Neoplatonism.
AAWKS, formerly a quartet and now
a trio, is composed of Kris Dzierzbicki on vocals/guitar, Roberto Paraíso on bass,
and Randylin Babic on drums. They kick off the collaboration with the song
“1831.” This song has that trademark spacey, distorted AAWKS sound that we love
from them and they manage to sustain an otherworldly vibe for the duration of
the 14 and a half-minute runtime. It gets extra fuzzy and heavy at the halfway
mark to later quiet down and go all zen on us to put the listeners into a
musical trance.
AIWASS’s track is titled “The
Unholy Books” and has a runtime of 13 minutes. From the get-go, it’s a hypnotic
song with a quasi-Middle Eastern vibe. It is the quieter flipside of AAWKS’s
fuzzier track. The vocals feel ethereal at times and add an extra layer to this
esoteric sonic number. The song’s final three minutes feature an entrancing guitar-driven
instrumental. The two songs are drastically different yet fit perfectly well
together for this concept album. It’s like having night follow day, a perfect
order of things.
The
Eastern Scrolls is a brilliant collaboration between two of
today’s most ground-breaking bands. We are treated to such an eclectic array of
musical genres ranging from psychedelic rock to doom to desert rock and even
prog. It’s heavy, it’s spacey, it’s meditative, and most of all, it’s spellbinding;
it’ll take you on a trip you’ll want to take over and over again. Fans of
Monolord, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and Fu Manchu will love
what AAWKS and AIWASS have to offer. The
Eastern Scrolls will be out on August 25th via Black Throne
Productions.
AAWKS on Bandcamp: https://aawks.bandcamp.com/
AIWASS on Bandcamp: https://aiwassband.bandcamp.com/
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