BAND OF THE WEEK: ANZV

It's pronounced "Anzû" and it's a Sumerian mythological demon, alright?

Yeah, the fact that these people chose this thing to be their band’s moniker already tells you bunches about what their music will do to you. Also, look at that creepy band photo up there. And that’s pretty much the only one of the session where you can actually vaguely see someone’s face. No, they’re not yet another tiresome masked band, but clearly individuality is set to the background, as the potency and majesty of ANZV’s brand of Middle Eastern-tinged black metal are all thhat matters.

Today’s a good day to talk about them, as it has just been announced they will be a part of the Alone Records roster, and the first step of that collaboration will be to make their debut album ‘Gallas’, released a few months ago on a small local label in their native Portugal, available worldwide. This CD version (only format available for now) will come out on March 10th, features one extra track in comparison with the original edition, and you can pre-order it right now.

This is just a short note so you guys start paying attention to this band. There’s no need for any big explanation, because you will be certainly hearing a lot more about them in the coming months. So make sure you get in on the ground floor and you’ll look really cool later, okay?

Just spin that whole thing and you’ll realise what I’m talking about. It’s black metal, sure, but there’s the aural scope of death metal (is “deathened black metal” a thing? If it wasn’t, it is now), the atmosphere and the intrincacies of everything people throw the word “post” in front of, and to top it all off, that Sumerian mythology twist both in the concept and in some arrangements and instrumentation that everyone will go crazy for. It’s like an invocation of Imperial Triumphant, prime Behemoth and ‘Theogonia’-era Rotting Christ all at once. For an unassuming debut album to sound as undeniable as that sounds, effortlessly rivaling anything any of the bigger bands of this style are doing now with a lot more means at their disposal, is a feat beyond the talents of any lesser band. The enormity of these songs has “big band” written all over it, and ANZV will most likely achieve that status very naturally. Watch this space.

You can find ANZV on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
Pre-order ‘Gallas’ at Alone Records.