Oranssi Pazuzu were formed in 2007 by Juho ‘Jun-His’ Vanhanen, who wanted to do something in the vein of his band Kuolleet Intiaanit, but much heavier, bleaker, more extreme. The band recorded two full lengths (Muukalainen Puhuu and Kosmonument) and a split (with another weird Finnish band, Candy Cane) before, and this new material goes on in the very same weird vein. So if you’re trusted with any former stuff, you might expect the usual, i.e. the unusual!
Valonielu was recorded at the famous London-based Orgone Studio with Jaime Gomez Arellano, known for more eccentric material done by the likes of Ulver, Code, Aura Noir, Blutvial, Hexvessel or Spearhead, a.o. The stuff (i.e. six compositions) lasts for forty six minutes and comes with rather psychedelic, trippy artwork, which, of course, fits perfectly to the black-edged mind-transcending Aural Art of Oranssi Pazuzu.
The album opens with Vino Verso, which I would define as a symbiosis of Nachtmystium and Scorn, injected by elements of Grime, Oskryf, Blut Aus Nord and Dukatalon. It’s rather repetitive, but this does not mean dull at all! On the contrary, this droning experience is a majestic brain-trip with nothing but superlatives to add. Next song, Tyhjä Temppeli, is comparable, yet with an approach that gets way closer to Ozric Tentacles in its spacy transcendence. Indeed, a cosmic trip through spheres of Black, Sludge, Drone and Post Me(n)tal. Uraanisula goes even further, with a repetitive Doom-vibe (especially towards the end, with that powerful grand finale) and a spacy-ambient undertone. And with each individual title I can add some comparable bands / projects, but the core stays the same: psychedelic Doom, droning Black, atmospherics, trippy Sludge-Ambient and bleak Dark Funeral Wave in a mostly suffocative way…
For fans of: Nachtmystium, Oskryf, Esoteric, Echoes Of Yul, Lord Mantis, Blut Aus Nord and Chaos Echoes. Even Deathspell Omega, Mayhem and Horseback might have been of importance within the creation-process…