Samavayo Premiere Video for “Sirens”; Vatan out Friday

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Comprised of seven tracks running 45 minutes, Samavayo‘s sixth album, Vatan (out this week on Noisolution), proves an immediately intricate affair. The previously unveiled “Prevarication Nation” is the opener and one of only two songs to top seven minutes long, with the other being the title-track that directly follows. The effect of these two pieces on the rest of the listening experience isn’t to be understated. Based in Berlin with Persian roots — the album’s title translates to “homeland,” and indeed the title-track’s lyrics are in Persian — Samavayo have previously explored textures of psychedelia and heavy rock, and those elements aren’t absent from Vatan either, but a socially and politically conscious mindset in songs like “Sirens,” “The Hate of Thousands,” “Prevarication Nation,” “Marionette” and “Children of Kobane” comes accompanied by a tightening of the trio’s performance and a sonic cohesion around progressive metal elements. A Tool influence is notable from the outset, but doesn’t necessarily define the whole work, as the rolling riff in the apex of “Vatan” itself, or the rampant hookmaking in “Time to Die” or the the jammy drift in the midsection of “The Hate of Thousands,” which also serves as the centerpiece. The very heart of the record, then.

And like the rest of Vatan as a whole, that placement doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. Nor should it be for a band six albums deep into their career, but Samavayo‘s execution across these tracks is all the more pointed than it has been in the past, and that’s shown even in the shortest of the inclusions, “Sirens.” Following the record’s initial salvo, “Sirens” is the only song under five minutes long at 4:41, and brings an intensity in its percussion and overarching rhythmic thrust that readily distinguishes it among the samavayo vatanother material as well as from Samavayo‘s 2016 offering, Dakota (review here). Like “Children of Kobane” and “Prevarication Nation” and much of what surrounds, it retains a memorable chorus in addition to showcasing the drums, but it’s grim, and the sirens in question seem as much to be tortured human voices in frontman Behrang Alavi‘s Middle Eastern native region as those of the personnel presumably responding to them. Such is the plight of the emigrant: removed from the capital-‘h’ Homeland but still tied to it emotionally and existentially.

Vatan is all the more poignant for this human edge brought to its point of view, and as the three-piece of Alavi, bassist/backing vocalist Andreas Voland and drummer/backing vocalist Stephan Voland embark on this ambitious outing, it’s also worth noting that it rocks. That seems almost silly to say, but it’s true nonetheless, and it’s not necessarily a given that an album with such a weight of message would present that without a sacrifice of songcraft or performance. Samavayo, whose creative evolution is writ large throughout their catalog, have never sounded sharper than they do here, and rather than give up the raw impact the material might otherwise make in the name of making a political statement, or at least examining the world as it exists around them, Samavayo bring all of this into the fold of the songs and continue to serve the best interests of the material first, whether it’s a quick turn from one part to another, a melodic impression in a quieter moment like that in the playfully rhythmic “Marionette,” or a more frenzied burst as in “Time to Die.” It can be a difficult balance for a band to strike between the one and the other. Samavayo make it sound as natural as any other form of expression by coming from a place as emotional as it is cognitive or critical.

They’ve just wrapped a tour heralding the release alongside Greenleaf — that run has been mentioned around here a few times, so pardon the redundancy — and no doubt other show plans will surface soon for next year. In the meantime, they’ve unveiled a video for “Sirens” that you can see below. I’ve tagged it as a premiere(-ish) hosting because as I understand it was revealed on a German site or two last week. Either way, I’m happy to showcase it here as well.

And, as always, I hope you enjoy:

Samavayo, “Sirens” official video premiere(-ish)

Sirens is the first official video of the upcoming (Nov 23rd 2018) album Vatan from the German heavy progressive stoner rock band Samavayo.

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