Samavayo Post Video for New Single “Afghan Sky” Feat. Nick DiSalvo
Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 28th, 2022 by JJ KoczanBerlin three-piece Samavayo have unveiled the first single from the forthcoming Pāyān LP in a new video. “Afghan Sky” is the first audio I’ve heard from Pāyān — which is out March 25 through Noisolution — and, uh, it’s pretty sick. This is going to sound weird to say, but I always kind of forget how much I actually like Samavayo. I post a fair amount about them, updates and whatnot, and I talk to frontman Behrang Alavi on the regular, usually when I’m bugging him about something site-related since a few years back when he generously offered to host The Obelisk — efforts on his part that are continually appreciated — but, well, I dug Samavayo a lot before then, as the review archive shows — 2018’s Vatan (review here) was preceded by 2016’s Dakota (review here), 2012’s Soul Invictus, etc. back to their 2005 Nasoni-delivered debut, Deathmarchmelodies! — and I continue to dig them a lot now.
Among the more admirable threads they’ve woven through their career is a willingness to be brazenly political in a relatively conservative underground. Guess what “Afghan Sky” is about. It’s about the fucking sky in Afghanistan, under which my home country, the US, waged 20 years of needless war in order to… ?… before abandoning the population to their fate under a quickly-established Taliban rule the oppression of which was one of the several things we claimed to be fighting against. My generation fought that war. It was pointless, a war of aggression in response to a single attack the effects of which will continue to ripple out through the decades that will comprise the rest of my life and probably beyond that, like Vietnam for the generation before mine. Like whatever the next war will be 10 years from now. Russia? China? Some proxy invasion? That second civil war that keeps getting teased in the newspapers?
Look. Before I go way off any further on social issues — there are so many, so shitty, for so many — the point I was making was that Samavayo measure the stakes of playing it safe vs. saying what they want to say and choose the latter. That is deeply worthy of respect in itself, but the song’s also killer. Alavi‘s vocals have grown more confident in melody over the last half-decade, and he nails the hook in “Afghan Sky” with apparent ease while still pushing himself in a way that underscores the passion with which the lyrics are written. Meanwhile, it’s a suitably brotherly chemistry between drummer Stephen Voland and bassist Andreas Voland (both also contribute vocals) that set the urgent groove in motion, and there’s a guest spot from Elder‘s Nick DiSalvo that adds a classic-style guitar solo for emphasis.
Solid, front to back. The clip can be found below, having been premiered the other day. The lyrics have subtitles as well, so you can follow along.
Dig it:
Samavayo, “Afghan Sky” official video
We are proudly presenting our 1st single Afghan Sky of the upcoming new album “PĀYĀN” released in March 25th 2022 on Noisolution records. Featuring Nick DiSalvo (Elder, Delving), who played a guitar solo in Afghan Sky.
“The song Afghan Sky is about the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2021”, Behrang Alavi, singer and guitarist of Samavayo says. “It is about the failure of the rest of the world to save the Afghan people and about their fears and horror, so much that people would hold onto a plane to escape and fall down from the sky of Afghanistan. I chose the topic because it makes me sick – I lived in Kabul before the 1990s, before the Taliban conquered the city. Afghanistan is a country that has suffered for decades and is left so alone by the rest of the world at such a crucial moment.”
“The solo in the song Afghan Sky is kind of special for a Samavayo song, as we usually don’t have specific solo-parts in our song. We invited Nick DiSalvio, a friend of ours, known from bands such as Elder or Delving to play it.”
It is the first time we have worked together with palantirvisuals (https://www.palantirvisuals.com, well known for great videos for Elder, Delving and Eldovar) and it has been an amazing experience! We are very happy with the result and looking forward to future collaborations.
It’s also the first time that we have put subtitles on a video. It was important for us, because of the message of the song. Also it has been exciting to find many different languages among our friends and network. In the end we managed to add 18 languages including Persian, Hindi, Pashtu, Arab, Vietnamese and many more.
Song taken from album “Pāyān” (2022) / Noisolution
Music, Production and Lyrics by Samavayo.
Guitar solo by Nick DiSalvo (Elder, Delving).
Recorded and Mixed by Richard Behrens / Big Snuff Studio Berlin
Mastered by Pascal Stoffels
Afghan Sky Credits:
Created by Malachi Cull
https://www.palantirvisuals.com/
Camera (Band) by Danny Kötter
https://www.instagram.com/thezitterman/
Tour dates with Stoned Jesus in April:
08.04.22 – Hannover | CAFE GLOCKSEE
09.04.22 – Siegen | Vortex Surfer Musikclub
10.04.22 – Wiesbaden | Schlachthof Wiesbaden
11.04.22 – Hamburg | Knust Hamburg
12.04.22 – Nijmegen | Doornroosje
13.04.22 – Aachen | Musikbunker Aachen
14.04.22 – Dortmund | JunkYard
15.04.22 – Amsterdam | Melkweg Amsterdam
16.04.22 – Gent | Kunstencentrum Vooruit
17.04.22 – Paris | Petit Bain
18.04.22 – Nantes | Le Ferrailleur – Club Concert
19.04.22 – Toulouse | Connexion Live
20.04.22 – Bilbao | Kafe Antzokia
21.04.22 – Porto | Hard Club
22.04.22 – Madrid | SALA CARACOL MADRID
23.04.22 – Barcelona | Razzmatazz
25.04.22 – Martigny | Caves du Manoir
26.04.22 – München | Feierwerk
27.04.22 – Vienna | Chelsea
28.04.22 – Zürich | Dynamo Zürich (offiziell)
29.04.22 – Nürnberg | MUZclub
30.04.22 – Dresden | Beatpol
Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)