AZOOMA – A Hymn to Vicious Music (Album Review)

In early 2009, we were largely interested in promoting a cosmopolitan world view of metal. We offered our audience a taste of international metal from all corners of the globe. In fact, Evolution Rock has been characterized and has become a true International Metal Show for all metal loving peoples around the world. It was during this time, we received a unique music submission entitled “AZOOMA, “A Hymn on the Creation of Man”; signed as, “Shahin, Keep on going, Keep Metal alive, Rock on!”. It seemed like another tasty morsel of metal arriving at our door steps waiting to be discovered, but to our surprise it turned out to be a music submission of a metal band from Iran. Wow! Iran, how exquisitely rare and fantastic the idea of airing for the first time an Iranian metal band on the show; I’ll say it again: for the first time! I personally welcomed the opportunity, and grew interested and curious to know who these musicians where? To me in those days, anything sent by real musicians (from anywhere in the world) was always a good listen and a first for the show. Additionally, I would have a huge ace up my sleeve when it came time to hang out with friends and listen and discuss about bands. No matter what new album was the debate about, once I played the song by AZOOMA or any other band I aired on the show, they would all just stop talking and shut up-and I was the man! Makes me feel like I’m a kid again! You know, when you come up with an awesome record or new band, and all your buds are like all stoked about it. Well, I’m not a kid anymore (physically, but every girl I have dated still remarks me as being one or treated me like one or that I have an inner child; I don’t know with chicks, man. It’s different!). I’m 4 sizes bigger (waist that is), but every time something cool-musically that is- comes my way, I get that ‘I’m the man’ feeling’. And it was pretty much the same feeling when I got to know AZOOMA’s music.

So, before we get any deeper into that ‘child thing’ or that ‘I’m the man’ business, I’ll move on to say that I immediately started my email interrogation with this guy called ‘Shahin’. Not sure what to expect, or how this would work out for the band. Having past experience of making a series of shows on Cuban metal, I was cautious to approach the matter with respect and to make sure not to involve any politics in the matter. I cautiously aired the song submitted in one of the Assorted shows. I could deeply relate with the struggle these musicians must have gone through to create this music, and personally sought out to do all in my power to help spread the word of the band as much as I could on the show. This later led to interviewing the band, and later on another Iranian band called VASPOOHER. These interviews opened my eyes to the idea that rock and especially metal as a musical style was alive and thriving in Iran. This finally led to making AZOOMA one of our top 10 artists of 2010 by the listeners and supporters of the band. Now we jump a couple of years into the future *June 15 2014, and we find the band releasing one monstrously heavy EP entitled a HYMN OF THE VICIOUS MONSTER and singed to the international Spanish label, XTREEM MUSIC.

How things change! From a small creepy caterpillar to a beautiful (gay) butterfly; from a one night stand to a ‘I’m tired. I don’t wanna do it tonight.”; from a dorky snot nose high school reject to a mega rock star (no thanks Marilyn Manson); from a raw let’s lay the foundations of our music demo to an awe inspiring monster of an album! This is pretty much how things have changed -musically- in the AZOOMA camp. We can assure the reader that this album is one small step for AZOOMA, a giant leap for Iranian progressive death metal! Quoting the first rock star on the moon, of course. I’ll also continue by saying that this album is huge! Monstrous in sound just as described in the title, and vicious in death metal progressiveness. It’s without a doubt a gargantuan achievement by the quartet of Persian metal geniuses. Always a tight group, musically coordinated, and devout alumni of the rehearsal room. The four core members remain, and this is probably why the music has gotten better and tighter. To put it bluntly; all the musicians got better! Better at playing their instruments, better at making arrangements, and that also includes the lead vocalist, Shahin because vocal chords are instruments. In the case of death metal, guttural vocals mostly used to splatter words of death and destruction-yea! But as I will explain, and you will hear there is also ‘singing’! Yup, there is real singing and spoken parts. The core rhythm section composed of the Shariat brothers, Farid on the stand alone bass guitar and the technical drumming of Saeed provide that tight base line for the guitar mayhem of Ahmad Tokallo. Like I said, all four musicians have improved the mastering of their instruments; however, in my personal opinion, it is Ahmad Tokallo’s guitar playing that has improved immensely and drives the album with his riffs. Ahmad practically has ingeniously concocted some very technical and sticky riffs. I would add memorable, as well. But there is much more to Ahmad’s guitar playing than just bashing out monster riff after monster riff. There is progression. There is tons of melody. There are acoustic guitars, but most unique to his style, there is Sumerian/Persian guitar influences that are undeniable. And this is what makes the whole of the music genuine. Genuine to their roots, genuine to themselves and to their fans. To top it all off, the album is a concept album; loosely based as a medieval horror story written in chapters.

In regards to production and sound quality, the album was professionally mixed and mastered by the band’s personal friend Ehsan Imani who captured the AZOOMA sound at the band’s personal rehearsal room.

The cover artwork of the album features a fierce piranha-like embryo creature designed by artist and friend of the band, Shahryar Shervin.

Track list
1. Preface (intro) 1:13
2. Chapter 1- Self Inflected, 5:46
3. Chapter 2 – Eridanus Supervoid, 8:31
4. Chapter 3 – Encapsulated Delusion, 6:58
5. Chapter 4 – Gyrocompass, 10:36
6. Appendix (outro) 1:03

Personnel
Shahin Vaqifpour – Vocals
Ahmad Tokallou – Guitars
Farid Shariat – Bass
Saeed Shariat – Drums

Label
Xtreem Music, June 15 2014

…And all this time I thought it was going to be called A HYMN ON THE CREATION OF MAN! As so many times I asked lead vocalist Shahin what the name AZOOMA meant? He gladly explained the definition and name in our first interview, “…a hymn on the creation of man, where Heaven and Earth do meet on Azooma, craftsman-gods together ye shall slay, and of their blood mankind ye create.” (The name was taken from a book by F. Galpin, The Music of the Sumerians, 1937). After listening to the album, I completely understand why it is suitably called A HYMN OF THE VICIOUS MONSTER.

So we continue with the breakdown of the EP song by song for you. We’ll try to entice you as much as we can, but you are going to have to listen to the songs yourself. We’ll just say that if it starts brutal don’t expect it’ll be like that all through the duration of the song; the AZOOMA boys like to switch it up and progress in and out of the heavy stuff.

TRACK 1, PREFACE (INTRO): The calm before the storm. As you drift to a gentle acoustic guitar strumming its blissful chords you find a nice secure place where you drift across the Persian deserts at night. You are drawn in and lured to be safe for only a brief 1:13 minutes before your whole existence gets sucked into a frenzy of guitar riffs that marks the end of your blissful trip; and alas, the monster’s hymn begins…

TRACK 2, SELF INFLECTED (5:45): This track stands out for its chaotic riff intro and descending riff progressions that carries the whole song. Most memorable is the prechorus and chorus attacking riffs and master solo. A benchmark heard through out the whole album, courtesy of master guitarist Ahmad Tokallou.

TRACK 3, ERIDANUS SUPERVOID (8:31): This track is completely what AZOOMA is now and gathers all the elements of the band’s new sound. The musicianship for the track is genius. Every band member has their personal take on the track. At the beginning, it is a sonic attack of lashing death metal in the style of Death and Carcass. Up to around minute 3:10 when Ahmad’s guitar separates itself into a huge lead section and then coming down with a delicate non distortion riff. Farid’s bass lines creep into the mysterious atmosphere with Saeed’s drumming building up momentum for the repeating distorted heavy section; then comes a clean vocal melody out of nowhere but fits in perfectly with the rhythm. Again, Ahmad complements with another heavy lead section leading to the pronounced rhythm section again and to the brutal death metal ending in the style of Morbid Angel. This is where the progressive Opeth influences of the band are shown. It is basically the AZOOMA sound for 2014.

TRACK 4, ENCAPSULATED DELUSION (6:58): Definitely one of the most heavy tracks from the album. Beginning with slow heavy distorted open chords to the back beat of Saeed’s double kick drum assault, the song kicks into a sick chaotic death metal groove that dominates the entire song. What I enjoyed the most is the chorus’ heavy riffing and memorable mid section. Again, Mr. Ahmad’s guitar work is brilliant. As the song approaches its climax the overall heaviness is ingeniously broken down into a Persian melody and sustained single note rhythm that gives way to the most intense part of the song then concludes back again to the sick chorus heavy riffing section; more pronounced to make the ending more dramatic.

TRACK 5, GYROCOMPASS (10:36): One of my personal favorites from the album. Just like track 3, this track is a showcase again for all the members of the band. I liked how everyone got their mark in the song. It is a great piece of music to listen to. Right from the start the song thunders in and quickly goes into a clean vocal melodic break that is followed by a classic death metal bashing. Then the songs spins into a lead section with the rhythm section playing precise odd time frames. This gives way to another blistering solo by master guitarist Ahmad. The song continues to lash out more heaviness until about minute 6:05 when Saeed’s percussion and Farid bass lines take control to a traditional style of Persian music. This progresses to Ahmad’s sick hammer on tapping to a brutal death metal section. More sick hammer on tapping spiraling down to my favorite part of the whole album around minute 8:49 where Ahmad bursts into another ill lead section (his best solo of the whole album). What really hooked me in was the guitar solo accompanied by a brutally heavy machine gun rhythm guitar with double kick drum action! Just this piece of music that roughly lasts 43 seconds made me an AZOOMA fan for life! The song then concludes with a pronounced brutal death section to the single note squeal of Ahmad’s guitar.

TRACK 6, APPENDIX (OUTRO): The Conclusion. Traditional Persian music echoes the end of the final chapter with Shahin’s final spoken words and the last turns of the pages of the book entitled A HYMN OF THE VICIOUS MONSTER.

Back then, as today, we were on a mission to prove to the masses that metal is an international feeling with no borders, shared by millions (nowadays, in 2014, it is quite obvious that the idea is not new). AZOOMA arrived in a time when we needed something fresh and from the far regions of the middle east. From the first demo song we aired ‘Dreams of Broken Mind’ to this elaborate piece of art called A HYMN OF THE VICIOUS MONSTER, we can conclude by saying that the band has found a sound. We cannot say if it will be definite, but most likely it will keep on evolving and improve. We will have to wait and see what a whole 9 to 10 song full album will sound like, but we are left with a feeling that it will be something equally as good or even better. So, instead of rating the EP like most reviewers would do, we would like to simply recommend the album to you the reader and listener. It is a first debut of genuine musicianship with a taste of originality.

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Purchase the album at the Xtreem Music Shop
–get digital version Mp3
–get physical version CD

AZOOMA made their music debut on the show in one of our Assorted Shows in 2009 with the song, “Dreams of Broken Mind” which was mostly a well-recorded demo featuring mostly an assortment of thrash hooks with melodic overtone. The vocals seemed to come from an animal’s scrapped throat rather than a human being, but put together with the melodic thrash made for a very visceral raw sound. Months later, the band was featured with a small interview in which the members took the opportunity to present another of their contemporaries, VASPOOHER. By the end of the year, the band participated in our TOP 50 Band Countdown Best of 2010 show in which supporters of the bands and listeners of the show voted for their favorite artists. AZOOMA came in position #9 from 50 bands included. Positioning themselves in the top 10 independent artists for that year. Listen to our first interview with AZOOMA and the demo song Dreams of Broken Mind… | = click here =