I dont know why all the time I see the word ‘azimuth’ it kind of addresses me to something related to Jazz. Well, this CD cover does remind a little some Jazz or the likes a little. Ok, I wo’nt say that Arriver with “Azimuth” go to the Jazz lane. No, no, they don’t. However, “Azimuth” isn’t a standard Metal album in no way. It’s just the kind of album that is really hard to label it in any sense because many Metal facets are present here. I dare to say that the most important influences to Arriver are the good old Heavy Metal with some strong traces of Doom Metal intertwined with some Extreme Metal elements as in vocals, for instance. By the way, my dear child of the night will find many kinds of Metal vocals here in this album. From the sweeteste to the bitterest, from the cleanest to the killing death growls and go one.
Maybe the idea of azimuth fits perfectly the main aim Arriver decided for the album. Azimuth means The azimuth is the angle between North, measured clockwise around the observer’s horizon, and a celestial body (sun, moon). Musicwise, that’s the right term for the music the band performs here. Maybe “Constellate” represents best what happens “Azimuth” musically. The track has a Progressive Metal grip, but Progressive here doesn’t exactly fit perfect to what my dear fan will listen. It’s also experimental and by experimental I mean that the band looks for dissimilar or dissonant sonancies. From Jazz, the band brings some weird tempos where the drumming shines. From experimental there are some guitars that are out of tune or, even, on the edge of tunning. Vocals? Well, vocals change constantly as the tempo and the cadence. Tittle track “Azimuth” maintains the experimental grip with some guitars that go echoing as if they were from the 1980’s Post-punk with a vocal that follows this idea. On second thought, “Azimuth” is the track that even being experimental is the most in the box track of the album. Funny thing. Maybe the 1980’s Post-punk influences made it this way. I’m not so fond of 1980’s Post-punk as my dear child of the night may notice.
It’s always a challange to review an album like “Azimuth,” if you know what I’m saying. It’s not easy to find the words that fit perfectly to the music this reviewer is listening. An album that may take my dear fan out of the tune. A strongly recommended album to my dear child of the night who dares to try something different.
Arriver “Azimuth” will be released on March 03rd.
Track Listing:
- Reenactor
- Knot
- In the Only
- Only on
- Constellate
- Carrion Sun
- Azimuth
- None More Unknown
Watch “Only on” official music video here:
