Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, solo drone guitarist Fuzznaut — né Emilo Rizzo — released his new album, Apophenia (review here), on Nov. 4. And you have to believe me when I say I know it seems like the world is full of drone projects. You’re not wrong. Between the fact that just about any phone on the market can double as a recording studio and that about a year and a half out of the last two years were spent in lockdown, yes, it is not uncommon to find the rigors and anxieties of our age translated into varying sorts of soundscapes, manipulated effects, and so on. But you saw the three words ‘solo drone guitarist’ in the first sentence above and your eyes immediately glazed over, you’re missing out.

Here’s why: the thing about Fuzznaut isn’t the novelty of the makeup of the ‘band.’. Because it’s not a novelty; drone projects abound, as noted. It’s the expression in the sounds themselves. Across Apophenia, and emphasized in the closing track “5184,” for which there’s a suitably atmospheric video premiering below, Rizzo ties his guitar not only to immersive and hypnotic progressions, but to a genuine and purposeful sounding setting of mood. He uses it to convey emotion — in this case, it’s homage born of admiration and tribute, and that certainly counts — and the song rings out with a construction that’s both easy to follow and deep-running enough to lose oneself within, if only for a couple minutes.

I’m reasonably sure the footage in the early part of the clip is of Pittsburgh, and if you take the visual subtlety that brings the viewer from floating around in the ether above the city into a venue before and during a show as a clue to the song itself also following something of a plotline, I think that’s probably the idea too.

The full stream of Apophenia, whether for meditative or deep-dive purposes, is at the bottom of this post. You’ll find the video for “5184” below, followed by some comment from Rizzo on its intent.

Please enjoy:

Fuzznaut, “5184” video premiere

5184 off the album Apophenia by Fuzznaut.

5184 the closing track of Apophenia. The main riff was written the day Eddie Van Halen died. It was a somber day in the guitar community and just felt the need to play and that just came out. During a part of the song, I tried to get some vibes as a nod to his tone. His influence is so profound that anyone who picks up a guitar, it would resonate. Overall, this album is about sitting with adversity, but not letting inside/outside negative forces devalue your struggle.

Apophenia written and recorded by Fuzznaut at Strega Sana Sounds March-July 2022
Mixed and Mastered by Erik Peabody at Viking Guitar Productions
Artwork by Fuzznaut

Fuzznaut, Apophenia (2022)

Fuzznaut on Instagram

Fuzznaut on Facebook

Fuzznaut on Twitter

Fuzznaut on Bandcamp

Pittsburgh-based drone outfit Fuzznaut will release the 28-minute debut full-length, Apophenia, this Friday, Nov. 4. Following up 2019’s Form is Emptiness (review here) and the 2020 single “Haunting Mantra” (premiered here), the six-tracker is more definitively a first album in flow as well as runtime, which is still on the don’t-overstay-welcome end of short but for guitarist Emilio Rizzo, owner-operator and sole-proprietor of the project, it’s still plenty of time to lay out a course of expressive standalone riffing, marked throughout by changes in effects and maybe some layering, but almost exclusively centered around the chords and repetitions of the instrument itself.

With tracks on either side of five minutes — longest is “What You Seek, Seeks You” (5:45), shortest is closer “Seconds Between a Swing and a Hit” (4:13) — Apophenia evokes a meditative atmosphere quickly as the initial feedback of the leadoff title-track gives way to the first declining, established riff, not as slow or empty-space Americana as mid-period Earth, and obviously more sparse in arrangement since it’s just guitar, but definitely taking inspiration from the Dylan Carson oeuvre in tone and style, hinting in that regard even unto the David V. D’Andrea-style fonts and color scheme of the cover art, also by Rizzo. Clearly he knows what he’s going for.

Despite the fact that there’s just one instrument repeating parts, gradually building one progression on top of the one before it, a kind of natural movement through each piece, I don’t think it would be fair to call Apophenia — the title referring to the fine art of making connections where there aren’t any, which I think applies both to reading too much inflection into a text message and to modern obsession with conspiracy theories — minimalist, since wherever Rizzo goes, whether it’s the stark spiremaking of “Parasitic Oscillation” or the Black Mare/Ides of Gemini-style tension of “What You Seek, Seeks You,” which follows, the feeling of movement is always palpable. If we’re meditating, that doesn’t seem to mean the world has stopped.

That sense of motion isn’t quite a sweep until “Hawks Over Fifth” marries a backing synth-style drone to a guitar line that’s reminiscent of the Westminster chimes or whatever grandfather clock happens to be in your memory association, and settles into that up and down pattern smoothly, offsetting with a lead in the midsection that feels duly bright before working into more open strum declarations to finish on the way to “5184.” Whatever the reference — is it Van Halen? Black Sabbath? Dune? — the penultimate inclusion answers the landscape-making tendency of “Hawks Over Fifth” with a broader, chugging echo and a howling slow-lo in its second half, fading at the end having returned whence it came as though to reassure structure still exists.

“Seconds Between a Swing and a Hit” — a title that I immediately associate with baseball but could really be about any number of things, among them violence — is perhaps not as tense as the title might make one believe, but the rhythm of its component parts feels designed to drive toward the final interplay of solo and riff, which cuts off cold after swelling in volume but never going so far as to be a ‘grand finale,’ which would inevitably upset the careful balance Rizzo has worked hard to strike in this material. The meditative aspects of Fuzznaut‘s drone are prevalent in Apophenia, but the songs seem to reach out as well as within, and if the connection being imagined is between the listener and the songs themselves, I somehow doubt Rizzo would mind.

Never gonna be for everybody, but some will fall hard into it. Only one way to find out where you land, and that’s listening.

Full stream follows, with more from the PR wire after. Enjoy:

From the artist on Apophenia:
I heard the word Apophenia from a true-crime podcast intro in 2020. It is defined as the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. The pandemic was at its peak there was isolation, and a dark uncertainty about everything. Apophenia to me resonated as the state of things at the time.

There are a lot of things in the world have a darkness and intensity to them that can be harnessed to create something that is grounding and affirming. This record is a vehicle of going through turbulent times, mourning, and using that pain into fuel to persevere. There are two specific songs that are tributes. The singer of Planes Mistaken for Stars died In 2021. They were a huge influence on me creatively, and there was always a riff inspired by them. I had wrote it way before Fuzznaut had been created, when I was learning guitar. Seconds Between a Swing and a Hit is a tribute and tonally trying to capture and honor some of that influence. 5184 the closing track of Apophenia. The main riff was written the day Eddie Van Halen died. It was a somber day in the guitar community and just felt the need to play and that just came out. During a part of the song I tried to get some vibes as a nod to his tone. His influence is so profound that anyone who picks up a guitar, it would resonate. Overall, this album is about sitting with adversity, but not letting inside/outside negative forces devalue your struggle.

Credits:
Apophenia written and recorded by Fuzznaut at Strega Sana Sounds March-July 2022
Mixed and Mastered by Erik Peabody at Viking Guitar Productions
Artwork by Fuzznaut

Fuzznaut on Instagram

Fuzznaut on Facebook

Fuzznaut on Twitter

Fuzznaut on Bandcamp

Pittsburgh’s Emilio Rizzo, the lone figure operating under the banner of Fuzznaut and perhaps underserved by the decided-unartsiness of the name, will release the project’s full-length debut, Apophenia, on Nov. 4. Shades of Earth’s drone-minded ways crop up almost immediately in the opening title-track, and the spaces Rizzo creates operating with just a guitar at his disposal are vast in the spirit of that band’s Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method without necessarily adopting the Americana bent. At six songs and 28 minutes, the album — the title of which refers to someone’s tendency to draw connections between things that aren’t necessarily related — is manageable despite the dug-in nature of the tracks and the owning-its-own-ambience taking place on “Parasitic Oscillation” or the later volume swell of “5184,” which is Rizzo‘s stated tribute to Eddie Van Halen.

You can hear Fuzznaut setting a course on these tracks, and they are duly encompassing. “Hawks Over Fifth” blends post-rock stretch with harder strummed fuzz, and “Seconds Between a Swing and a Hit” howls at the conclusion in a way that is both pointed and anti-ceremonial. There’s a fair amount to dive into, as Rizzo dives pretty deep himself.

No audio yet, but the PR wire shows some love and you can hear Rizzo‘s “Haunting Mantra” single (premiered here) from 2020 at the bottom of the post. Not entirely representative, but not nothing:

Pittsburgh experimental and psychedelic doomgaze band Fuzznaut have announced “Apophenia”: a 26-minute expedition into sonic annihilation. With “Apophenia” Fuzznaut takes the listener on a journey of somber ambience, shimmering textures, and foreboding riffs.

Fuzznaut “Apophenia” will be available digitally on November 4th, 2022.

From the artist on Apophenia:
I heard the word Apophenia from a true-crime podcast intro in 2020. It is defined as the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. The pandemic was at its peak there was isolation, and a dark uncertainty about everything. Apophenia to me resonated as the state of things at the time.

There are a lot of things in the world have a darkness and intensity to them that can be harnessed to create something that is grounding and affirming. This record is a vehicle of going through turbulent times, mourning, and using that pain into fuel to persevere. There are two specific songs that are tributes. The singer of Planes Mistaken for Stars died In 2021. They were a huge influence on me creatively, and there was always a riff inspired by them. I had wrote it way before Fuzznaut had been created, when I was learning guitar. Seconds Between a Swing and a Hit is a tribute and tonally trying to capture and honor some of that influence. 5184 the closing track of Apophenia. The main riff was written the day Eddie Van Halen died. It was a somber day in the guitar community and just felt the need to play and that just came out. During a part of the song I tried to get some vibes as a nod to his tone. His influence is so profound that anyone who picks up a guitar, it would resonate. Overall, this album is about sitting with adversity, but not letting inside/outside negative forces devalue your struggle.

Credits:
Apophenia written and recorded by Fuzznaut at Strega Sana Sounds March-July 2022
Mixed and Mastered by Erik Peabody at Viking Guitar Productions
Artwork by Fuzznaut

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Fuzznaut, “Haunting Mantra”