AZAZELLO

Azazello's latest album 'Преображение' (or 'Transformation' in English) is the sixth album by the Russian group, which consists of Alexander Kulak, Vladimir Kulak, Vladimir Demakov and Vladislav Chala. The album is naturally sung in Russian, making understanding of the album impossible to English listeners (like myself). For this reason, I can only remark on the experience of listening to this album.

The music on this album is your standard mix of metal combined with some prog influences. I hear strong Uriah Heep influences on Enchantress, and Phoenix seems to play out rather like Dream Theater's Hollow Years. Sadly, besides the Russian lyrics, there's nothing very unique about this album. Everything you hear here on this disc can be heard somewhere else, and would probably sound better. Nevertheless, Azazello have definitely released something with artistic merit.

Perhaps the main fault with this album lies in the mixing. When I think of prog rock, I think of very fine music, like Firth of Fifth and Heart Of The Sunrise. In my opinion, none of the tracks on this album are 'fine'. The mixing, though not awful, just doesn't seem quite right. Often the instruments will sound like they aren't being played together, or one instrument will sound much louder than another. This doesn't ruin the album, but seriously hinders my enjoyment.

When listening to Italian progressive music, I've found that I don't need to understand the lyrics in order to enjoy the music. After listening to this album, I can say that the same does not hold for Russian music. I can't even tell if this is a concept album or not! Whilst being technically competent, the band do not impress me with their musical style. In summary, this is an album that's not very pleasant on the ears, and is really for fans only.

Russian band AZAZELLO was formed in early 1995 as a side project for the members of thrash metal act Morg. They have four full-fledged official releases to date, the most recent of these being "Seventh Heaven" from 2004. "Transformation" marks the fifth chapter in their history as recording artists, and was released by the Russian label MALS Records in the fall of 2011. Existing fans might also note that this is the first production featuring what appears to be a brand new line-up.

While Azazello as a band might not be purebred innovators of their chosen genre, their skill in utilizing gritty intensity on one hand and subtle stylistic details on the other make this album well worth experiencing. Fans of Dream Theater and Symphony X will most likely be the key audience for this production, and I presume many of those will find this CD to be a nice addition to their music collection.

Here is my second review on an Azazello album. The first was almost 2 years ago on their second release Upstairs from 2001. This time I will talk about their fifth studio album, not including their very early works, more like a demo or EP. So here is Azazello - Seventh heaven album release in 2004 at Starless records. I was very pleasent surprised when I listening from the very first to this band and I m very impressed now , again. Everything here is top notch, from the musicianship, who is BTW the strongest you can imagine on a prog metal band, really solid interplay between musicians, quite remarcable skills on each musicians, and above all very good and inovative ideas, not an every day album in prog metal zone, at least for me. I don't really know why they are so unknown in prog circles, they are simply amazing, keeping in mind that theu are coming from Russia, a place where to tell the truth is not a prog metal paradise. Anyway Azazello, did it again with this album, long instrumental passages, very well played, intristing and solid arrangements, that shows everything but DT clones. Very good band, quite unnoticed by the large public and is a shame because they really mean bussines in this domeiin. Great compositions, very lenghty, from the 7 pieces, only the first and last are shorter, the rest are all above eight min long. As I sais, very good instrumental passages, the keyboards have an important role with very clear and beautiful executions, Vitos Afanasiev is a really good musicin, not to mention the guitarist another example of profesionalism and good attitude. Every single piece is a winner in my ears, great album, maybe at same leverl with Upstairs, the best they done so far, this Seventh heaven is near. I will give 4 stars easy, one of the most enjoyble bands from prog metal, at least for me, who tries and most of the time succeded to come with something unusual in this field, not just followers like many bands. Recommended for sure, great and fresh band in my opinion who deasearve a wider recognition. Excellent this russians.

This band called Azazello is from Russia. This is their second album named Upstairs from 2001. I have to tell this was a big surprise for me, in agood way. They play a really great prog metal with stunning harmonies, complex compositions and lots of changes in rhythm, mood and tempo, im one word awesome. The album sounds very strong because they incorporeted folk, even some jazz elements here and there, and work with a folk band called Divo. All these elements combined is Azazello. To underrated because i think they desearve a better view by prog metal conoseurs. Guitarist Alexandr Kulak is the main man of the band and he has written all the songs of Upstairs. The lyrics are in russian language but in the booklet of the CD are translate in english, because the listners need to have a propper view about the songs. So, the best pieces are all, they have everything to became much more than what are they today, and i mean among the best prog metal bands. I will give to Upstairs without hesitation 4 stars. Not a masterpiece but close enough. The Upstairs album was released by Musea Records in 2001, so that everybody can enjoy this almost forgotten prog metal gem.

If I had listened to this, but had not been told the country of origin I may just have guessed it, but by no means would it have been a certainty. Opener "Beginning Of The End" has a very brisk melody, and some good guitar work but there are also places where it is almost like a Gregorian chant. Yes, Azazello is a prog band from Russia!

I don't know how Brian managed to hear about them in California, but this intriguing release is out on the Moonchild label. And a bloody interesting release it is as well. It is very rocky in places with the guitar being very much the lead instrument, while at others it is the keyboards, but what is so interesting about the whole album is the way that the guys keep switching styles many times, even within the same song. They have also brought to bear some Russian touches as well as the more obvious influences such as Dream Theater and Qüeensryche. It is an album that has a definite sound all of its' own and is one that many progheads are going to seek out just because it has a novelty which is all too rare in these days of progressive soundalikes.

I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to this most progressive of releases

Feedback #58, May 2000

Ex-death-metal band, AZAZELLO was one of the first from the Russian Prog bands I chanced to hear. "The Wings" odyssey split into dozen tracks reminding me of early FATES WARNING - a bit too complex sometimes , ruining the whole atmosphere..."The Sun" is pretty melodic radio-friendly ballad, closer to DREAM THEATER's ones. Recommended mostly to Prog Metal collectors - AZAZELLO definetely has sound of its own, but this is not their best album.Sadly it's the only one I happen to find - I hope to find the recent one soon.

This album is Azazello's best, that's for sure! The music is more mature than on their previous albums, and the guys show they are really good musicians! Their style combines heavy riffs in the vein of Dream Theater or Symphony X with classic music and Zappa music experiments with some Russian folk. All of these ingridients are perfecrly mixed in the style that is really unique. If you like prog music (not only prog metal!), grab this album! They are truly original!

I have followed this album from the first private cassette release to finished CD. I received a private cassette release called "Cherniy Den" in 1998 by the Russian band AZAZELLO. It was the first time I heard a Russian Prog Metal band, and I still haven't heard any other Russian bands since then either.

In 1999 I received a promotional preview CD of this album. The American label Moonchild Records had signed them, and Brian Hirsch had done some digitally re-mastering before the CD-release. The original recordings were made in a cheap studio, so the sound quality wasn't the best. However the band wasn't satisfied with the new mixing so Moonchild had to do a new re-mix before the final release. Now I finally have the finished CD in my hands. This is basically the same album but with a much better sound than on the original cassette release on Volos Rec.

AZAZELLO are quite good musicians and their compositions are very good with complex rhythm changes and instrumental passages. The song titles are presented in English on the cover, but AZAZELLO's album has been recorded with Russian lyrics. This is because Russia is a very big country, and it's probably there they have their biggest market. The band is lead by Alexander Kulak who besides playing guitar also handles the vocals. He's also responsible for the main part of the compositions. Their biggest influence seems to be DREAM THEATER, but also bands such as SYMPHONY X, KANSAS, MARILLION, QUEENSRYCHE and GORKY PARK to name a few. The highlight is the +10 minutes "Night Before The Christmas".

I thing that AZAZELLO has a good chance to be recognised even outside their native country. If you're into Prog Metal bands such as DREAM THGEATER, and are brave enough to try out the Russian alternative, I recommend you to give this album a try.

The Russian Progressive Metal Band from Tynda is back with a release that's actually even better than their strong debut CD "Black Day" (Russian: "Cherniy Den"), released earlier this year on Moonchild Records Label.

AZAZELLO is playing Prog Metal with great harmonies, complex compositions and lots of changes in rhythm, mood and tempo. The DREAM THEATER influence, which was very present on their debut, is now less obvious. They have come closer to their own originality on this release with the addition of female back-up vocals, flute and a guest appearance of the folk band "DIVO". Due to all of these things, they have come closer to their roots. When I'm hearing the Russian female choir and the flute I instantly start thinking of Russia. The interplay between guitar and keyboards has become even better on this album too, and it's now one of the most exciting things in AZAZELLO's music.

Once again, the guitarist Alexandr Kulak has written all the songs. He's also responsible for all the arrangements. Alexandr have been very kind and he has sent me his and AZAZELLO's work continuously the latter years. The song "Wake Me Up" is one of those. I received a demo cassette of this track in 1999, and it's one of the highlights on this album and perhaps also the most complex thing they've ever recorded. "Pulse?" is another really interesting track, which shows the drummer in full performance. On this track it becomes obvious that the drummer is a highly technical master on his instrument.

"Upstairs" is showing a band that has matured and become a lot more experimental since the debut. Keep in mind that this is only a cassette copy. And although there's some dropouts on my cassette and the fact that the sound quality isn't all-professional, this is an astounding example of high-quality Prog Metal from a land we don't often hear any music at all from. I hope I will get the chance to get this album as a proper CD- release some day. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

(The song titles is written in English in this review to make it understandable for the reader, but the vocals and the original song titles are all in the Russian language.)