AZUSA —the globally-based band featuring vocalist Eleni Zafiriadou (Sea + Air), bassist Liam Wilson (The Dillinger Escape Plan),
guitarist Christer Espevoll (Extol), and drummer David Husvik (Extol) — have shared the new song “Detach” over at Metal Injection.
Listen here.
“Like a smokeless fire ripping through dry grass, ‘Detach’ moves in and out of the heaviest groove Azusa has concocted thus far,” the band says. “The lyrics are a deep dive into how we accept and respond to the downward spirals life inevitably throws us all into. The track builds like a runway cleared for the maniacal solo of Testament’s Alex Skolnick to launch the listener into the stratosphere.”
The song appears on the band’s second album Loop of Yesterdays, due out April 10 on Solid State. Loop of Yesterdays is available for pre-order here.
Previously, Azusa premiered the video for “Monument” at Revolver. Watch + listen here.
The band also shared the song “Memories of an Old Emotion.”
Loop of Yesterdays follows Azusa’s critically adored first album Heavy Yoke, which was described by NPR as a “debut album wrapped in rapturously beautiful discord.” Everything Is Noise called it “a singular experience” while Metal Injection deemed it”basically perfect progressive metal” while MetalSucks said it was “one of the strangest, most dynamic, and utterly captivating releases of the year, leaping from avant-garde wackiness to dream-like, psychedelic art pop without a flinch.” The record was also described as an “expansive, all-encompassing sound in which tradition spins on its head and heavy music gets made new” by New Noise Magazine.
Loop of Yesterdays finds the band with more to say but less to prove — achieving a more aerodynamic and accessible approach to their intricate sense of songwriting and inherently technical style. On their sophomore release, Azusa step off the tightrope and stand with feet on solid ground.
“The line ‘cannot lose myself in a loop of yesterdays’ was inspired by an eerie dream I had and became a recurring reminder for me. I had been out of focus for a long time that I wanted to get back to reality, to the present,” says Zafiriadou.
As Wilson says, “Heavy Yoke was the initial impact, Loop of Yesterdays is the aftermath.”
LOOP OF YESTERDAYS TRACK LISTING:
“Memories of an Old Emotion”
“One Too Many Times”
“Detach”
“Seven Demons Mary”
“Support Becomes Resistance”
“Monument”
“Loop of Yesterdays”
“Rapture Boy”
“Skull Chamber”
“Kill-Destroy”
“Golden Words”
“Ritual Aching”
