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Varego Finish Recording New Album

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 17th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Let’s make a couple assumptions here. First of all, let’s assume that at some point, Varego will note what happened with their lineup to go from a four-piece to a power trio, and that at some point they’ll announce that their fourth album — yet untitled — is set to come out through Argonauta Records, since guitarist Gerolamo Lucisano doubles as the lead vibe-bringer for the label. As for Varego‘s music, last heard from in 2019’s I, Prophetic (review here), the band dig into post-metal-style quirk with a good flair for the adventure tossed in along the way. They’ve yet to offer up a record not progressed from the one before it, and with plenty of time this year to sit and write material, it’s easy to imagine their new stuff will follow suit.

And I am just imagining that for now since there’s no audio yet. One assumes we’ll get there sooner or later.

See what I did there?

From the PR wire:

varego

VAREGO complete recordings for forthcoming album!

A new chapter begins for Italian post prog band VAREGO. Today, the renewed trio announced that they finished recording their new studio album, which will see the light in 2021.

“We went into the studio very prepared, with the intention of recording in real time,” says the band. “We were confident and excited to collaborate once again with the producer and dear friend Mattia Cominotto, who welcomed us with willingness, professionalism and enthusiasm. We recorded everything in three days in which we really let ourselves go and gave vent to all our passion with a smile on our lips and having fun. Mattia took care of the rest with a mixing and mastering of the highest level, in our opinion. We are enormously satisfied with the product that came out and we can’t wait for you to listen to it”.

VAREGO’s sound has found a new energy and it is distinctly more powerful, a rash with grunge echoes, stoner rock riffs, post-metal and prog rock nuances that pushes the band’s evolution a step further. It is the manifest result of the band’s creative peak and, in the meantime, a point of arrival and a new start.

Their fourth studio album was recorded in a few days almost entirely in real time at Greenfog Studio in Genoa, with producer Mattia Cominotto (Meganoidi, Tre Allegri ragazzi Morti, Punkreas) who also did the mixing and mastering.

Stay tuned, more details will be announced shortly.

www.varego.it
www.facebook.com/varego
www.instagram.com/varego_band
https://varego.bandcamp.com/

Varego, I Prophetic (2019)

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Days of Rona: Gero Lucisano of Argonauta Records

Posted in Features on May 27th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

The ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the varied responses of publics and governments worldwide, and the disruption to lives and livelihoods has reached a scale that is unprecedented. Whatever the month or the month after or the future itself brings, more than one generation will bear the mark of having lived through this time, and art, artists, and those who provide the support system to help uphold them have all been affected.

In continuing the Days of Rona feature, it remains pivotal to give a varied human perspective on these events and these responses. It is important to remind ourselves that whether someone is devastated or untouched, sick or well, we are all thinking, feeling people with lives we want to live again, whatever renewed shape they might take from this point onward. We all have to embrace a new normal. What will that be and how will we get there?

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

argonauta gero

Days of Rona: Gero Lucisano of Argonauta Records & Varego (Arenzano, Italy)

How are you dealing with this crisis as a label? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?

Health is good, even if there is so much things to do here in Argonauta. So many releases planned and a lot more on printing. With our partner ALL NOIR, we thought it’d be better to not stop any activity, rather to push each release regularly with promotion and with a distribution “digital first” method. Keeping preorders with discounted prices and waiting for better times to ship them all around. Substantially not a big rework, only some reasonable rules: to do what is possible doing in this very moment that can be turn us useful in the near future, hopefully.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

One month of lockdown currently, now extended for another month. Schools and shops are closed and you can reach out to buy food and important genres only via a paper by the police, few hours a day. Now hopefully some shops will reopens these days and other ones next month. Schools closed till September.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

Yes, unfortunately I’ve seen it, I lost two uncles and we were not able to see them even for the last time to say goodbye. I’m also reading a lot of news by bands with members affected and struggling with it.

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a label, or personally, or anything?

The very biggest problem is that bands can’t tour, we had a lot of releases and our bands had to cancel many events and release shows. Also the pressing plants (or a part of the) are not working in the full of their capacity, thing are delayed and there is a lot of details to follow. Last but not least, shipments suffer too because of tons of flights canceled. But I’m here working to keep up all the good work. Music is so useful for me each day, helped me many times and helping me now too. I’m planning so many things and Argonauta is still here to give voice to the underground we love.

www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords

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Review & Full Album Premiere: Varego, I Prophetic

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 13th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

varego i prophetic

[Click play above to stream I Prophetic by Varego in full. It’s out Feb. 15 on Argonauta Records.]

Sure, Varego have the piano intro. Sure, they have all kinds of progressive nuance. They’ve got the six-and-a-half-minute title-track full of Voivodian sci-fi weirdo crunch. They’ve got the off-in-the-distance, spaciously-mixed vocals of bassist Davide Marcenaro. But you know, listen to the start of that title-track, or to the central riff from Alberto Pozzo and Gerolamo Lucisano of “When the Wolves,” or the intensity of Simon Lepore‘s drum changes in closer “Zodiac,” and Varego are still very much a metal band. Shades of Judas Priest can be heard throughout in Pozzo‘s and Lucisano‘s guitars, and while they’re definitely just shades — since it’s not like Varego are carbon-copying, well, anyone — that gives the clean 36-minute run of I Prophetic a foundation from which it’s working its way out. I don’t think they’d call it space metal or cosmic metal — the latter somehow would imply less psychedelia, so might fit as a tag, though “Zodiac” and others do touch on the ethereal as well — but it’s definitely in that nebulous region where “progressive” becomes a catchall standing in for saying the band are conscious of what they’re doing as songwriters.

There are eight tracks on the Argonauta-released I Prophetic, counting the aforementioned piano intro “Origin,” and while they open with the catchiest of them in “The Abstract Corpse” and thereby answer the question of what might’ve been if Primordial had been from Mars instead of Ireland with a fervent forward drive that stands tall among any of those to follow — at least before they hit the brakes — the Italian four-piece subsequently find themselves expanding parameters of structure and sound alike on the title-track and only continue to go further out from there. Regardless of genre, one might read I Prophetic as a kind of linear path. Following the brooding “Silent Giants,” which opens the second half, “When the Wolves” provides some measure of grounding, but still, it’s clear by that point that there’s really no coming back, and the closing wallop of “Duelist” and “Zodiac” bear that out.

So what is it? It can’t just be the echo on Marcenaro‘s vocals. Looking back to 2016’s Epoch (review here), their second album, it seems like I Prophetic has a tighter, sharper overall approach. Its songs are more sure of their purpose, and that underlying foundation of metal weaves itself like a thread throughout the tracklisting. One can hear that even on side A capper “Of Dust,” which moves from its initial progression toward more expansive fare while still holding to a core groove in the drums and bass. The interplay of the two guitars is definitely part of it, and the breadth of the mix is definitely part of it, but as “Of Dust” ends with a guitar solo, there’s still something so intentionally traditional-metal about the proceedings. Craft has definitely become more of a factor for Varego, though, and as the abiding buzz of the guitars work alongside the drifting bassline at the mellow-but-tense outset of “Silent Giants,” the sense of atmosphere becomes all the more prevalent.

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After “When the Wolves,” which at 3:03 is the shortest non-intro inclusion here, that continues into “Duelist” as well, and the more Varego depart from their sludgy beginnings, the more they seem to find themselves out there in the cosmos, frozen like in some lump of comet ice charting an irregular orbit all their own. Individualism suits them, unsurprisingly, but one doesn’t necessarily get the feeling they’re done growing. “The Abstract Corpse” howls into its barrage after its quick drum-fill introduction, and together with “I Prophetic” itself, it forms a statement of purpose that’s varied and rich, not without melody, but coated in effects — the title-track will earn them some Monolord comparisons, particularly as it moves into a bigger riff after the verse around the two-minute mark — and working on its own level. The end stemming from their means isn’t entirely clear yet, but the unsettling element of I Prophetic — its refusal to simply be one thing; metal or sludge, progressive or traditional — is part of its appeal and in the end, the basis for its success.

With Epoch, Varego made the transition from a five- to a four-piece lineup. With I Prophetic, they refine their approach to a striking degree, making it all the more their own and all the more intricate. Even “When the Wolves,” which is the most willfully straightforward thrasher included, has a level of sonic detail that begs for multiple listens and a kind of mental dissection: “What are they doing here?” The answer to that question, though, requires stepping back and taking the album in its entirety. What they’re doing is melding heavy metal to their own purposes. It’s not about homage to the past so much as building off the past, their own as well as that of others. It takes time for a band to discover who they really are in terms of sound — and, I suppose, everything else — but it feels like Varego have found themselves here, and like I Prophetic works so fluidly across its span to move outward from where it begins, one would expect the band to do no less their next time out in continuing to progress along the line they’re drawing.

A key, perhaps telling moment is shortly before three minutes into “Zodiac,” when the song hangs a left and slows down in the guitar, vocals layering over what’s clearly the final march. They ring out for a while to end it, but before that, they stake their claim on a marked distance from where they started out in “The Abstract Corpse,” and the spectrum they’ve run in that time — still an utterly manageable 36 minutes — is an accomplishment unto itself. Do I think they’re done growing? No. This kind of progressive songwriting rarely stagnates. But I Prophetic serves a crucial function as that moment of arrival for them, and of course thereby sets up the inevitable departure to follow. Varego have come into their own. What they do now is entirely up to them.

Varego on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

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Varego Set Feb. 15 Release for I Prophetic; New Song Streaming

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 17th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

varego

I’m planning to review Varego‘s third full-length, I Prophetic, closer to its release in the New Year, so I’ll spare you the overblown whatnot, but as the band hits the decade-mark in 2019, they do so having really come into their own in terms of sound. Their prior outing, 2016’s Epoch (review here), was directed and well executed, but also marked by a change in dynamic from a five-piece to a four-piece, and with I Prophetic, the band seem ready to move forward with their sci-fi-infused progressive metallurgy as it is here. You can get a taste in the post-intro opener “The Abstract Corpse,” which is streaming at the bottom of this post, and basically consider this advance warning for what’s to come. The PR wire is not wrong in the Voivod comparison, but there are aspects at work as well here from sludge and post-metal that add nuance to the prog-thrash roots.

It’s interesting stuff. More to come.

For now:

varego i prophetic

VAREGO UNVEIL FIRST DETAILS ABOUT UPCOMING ALBUM!

+ Premiere Brand New Song!

Born in 2009 in Arenzano, Genova, after their previous and critically acclaimed full-lengths and a 2013- ‘Blindness Of The Sun’ EP, Italian heavy sludge rockers VAREGO return with their forthcoming album titled ‘I Prophetic’ in February 2019!

On their third album, the band will deliver eight new songs of unrelentless energy and fury, unceasing guitar riffing, yet built on progressive structures with a sort of cinematic touch and take us on their voivodian, atmospheric trip and a sound journey through space, dimensions, minds and avant-garde chaos. Today, the band is not only sharing a first glimpse while they have just unveiled the artwork, tracklist and release date with us, VAREGO have also just celebrated the premiere of a first track taken from ‘I Prophetic’!

Says the band: “We’re so much excited to reveal the first details of our forthcoming album. This one represents for us a huge goal of our history, celebrating our first decade. This first single is the sum-up of our actual influences, that generate our particular sound made of heavy sonorities, progressive pursuits and Sludge drifts. “The Abstract Corpse” is the song that today represents VAREGO at its best, with its tempo changes, compelling vocal lines and guitars ridings, we could not be more happy!”

The tracklist of ‘I Prophetic’ will read as follows:
1. Origin
2. The Abstract Corpse
3. I Prophetic
4. Of Dust
5. Silent Giants
6. When the Wolves Howl
7. Duelist
8. Zodiac

Set for a release on February 15th 2019 with rising label Argonauta Records, the pre-order for the band’s upcoming CD & Vinyl formats is now available:

Bundles: www.argonautarecords.com/shop/en/home/313-varego-i-prophetic-lp-cd.html
LP: www.argonautarecords.com/shop/en/home/312-varego-i-prophetic-lp.html
CD: www.argonautarecords.com/shop/en/cd/311-varego-i-prophetic-cd.html

VAREGO are:
Davide Marcenaro – Voice/Bass
Alberto Pozzo – Guitar
Gerolamo Lucisano – Guitar
Simon Lepore – Drums

www.facebook.com/varego
www.varego.bandcamp.com
www.argonautarecords.com

Varego, “The Abstract Corpse”

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Review & Full Album Stream: Varego, Epoch

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on October 10th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

varego-epoch

[Stream Varego’s Epoch in full by clicking play above. Album is out today, Oct. 10, on Argonauta Records.]

It’s not always easy to find, but for each tempest that Italian atmospheric sludge rockers Varego create on the six tracks of their second full-length, Epoch, there is a calm center at the core. That is, while their material offers a veneer of chaos, they never let go of an underlying sense of control, and whether it’s the metal influence that shows up late in the guitar work on “Swarms” or the closing “Dominion,” the earlier Ufomammut-style cosmicrush of the prior-issued single “Phantasma,” or the progressive impulses that seem to be at play there and beneath the churn of “The Cosmic Dome,” the Argonauta Records release succeeds in conveying a diversity of influence on a cohesive, heavy and intriguingly opaque package.

Like Varego‘s 2012 debut, Tumultum — they were a five-piece at the time, they’re now the foursome of bassist/vocalist Davide Marcenaro guitarists Alberto Pozzo and Gero Lucisano (also the head of Argonauta) and drummer Simon Lepore — the prevailing impression on first listen is one of strange immersion. This is thanks in no small part to a heavy effects treatment on Marcenaro‘s vocals, but that semi-psychedelic, spacious echo, in combination with a range of guitar soundscapes, winds up doing a lot of the work of tying Epoch‘s manageable 36-minute run together. It is an album with a sense of presentation more than pretense, but as the sparse guitar build of opener and longest track (immediate points) “Alpha Tauri” gives way to the ensuing rush that sounds something like Mastodon beamed in across several lightyears’ of interstellar signal decay, it’s clear Varego are up for a bit of exploration as well.

As to where that exploration takes them, they seem to display some measure of self-awareness of the journey they’re on. To wit, titles like “Alpha Tauri,” “Flying King,” “The Cosmic Dome,” and even “Dominion” — not to mention the otherworldly mastery conveyed through the album’s cover art, objectification notwithstanding — speak to elements of space, of moving from one place to the next, of something grander than the human sphere, and the music within backs that up with a fervent hypnosis that carries through as “Alpha Tauri” shifts directly into “Phantasma,” which likewise bleeds into “Flying King.”

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Bringing the bass forward in the mix gives Epoch an immediate strike of heft, and sets up the dynamic of the buried vocals and the far-out guitar work of Pozzo and Lucisano, but it might be Lepore holding the songs together ultimately. “Flying King” finds him cycling through fills as the guitars and vocals stretch themselves to and beyond oblivion, and though it’s the shortest cut on the album at 4:44, and among the more straightforward, particularly after the thrust of “Phantasma,” from its beginning keyboard flourish to its capping wash of noise, it seems to be the drums providing that center around which the rest of the track swirls — though in this case, that center is anything but calm.

Each of the three songs that follow, “The Cosmic Dome,” “Swarms” and “Dominion,” lead the listener further along a path of consuming bleakness. One finds tortured shouts echoing behind furious riffing on “The Cosmic Dome,” and with the somewhat extended droning intro to that song, it all the more gives the feeling of having shifted from one side to another, side A to B, even in a linear (digital/CD) format. Reinforcement arrives as “Swarms” launches with its slow-Slayer nodding lead line and ping ride and continues to unfurl more downer vibes in the ensuing post-metallic build, increasing in tempo before receding again to a calm and somewhat morose contemplation across a long fade where even the snare drum is coated in reverb.

Like much of the album before it, this is a moment of grayed-out psychedelia, and that vibe carries into the finale “Dominion.” If this is the place to which Epoch has been leading, it’s an alternate dimension of far-ranging sludge and space-metallic thrust, marked out by its build and the rousing finish to which it progresses, the vocals holding all the while to the aforementioned sense of control that has underscored Varego‘s work across this massive but still efficiently-executed span.

At the end of “Dominion,” that seems to be exactly what Varego have established over this strange, sometimes confusing sonic territory. They are fully at home in it. They make it their own. They twist it to suit their purposes on a given track, in a given expression. That they’d develop further into their own sound on a second album four years after their debut isn’t necessarily surprising, but the progressive vision of sludge they present on Epoch that’s neither lacking atmosphere nor purely derivative of post-metal only becomes more satisfyingly individualized on repeat listens, which speaks even more of the band having fully realized the impressive scope of their intentions.

Varego on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

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