For me, the year 2025 so far has been pretty much all about musical discoveries and expanding my own perimeters as far as what kind of things I enjoy are considered. I’ve never refrained from looking into new things – in fact I believe I’ve always strived to find something fresh and novel to listen to, and I’ve seen myself go down the weirdest rabbit holes every now and again, granted that for the last while, I’ve been gravitating away from band-oriented music altogether. That’s something that has recently changed for one reason or the other, but instead of guessing why it is, I’ll just enjoy the ride. One good method to find new trains to hop on to is to sign up for our premieres without looking into things too much. All of us here know we only dabble in the good shit, so there’s rarely room for error in that sense. Today is no exception to that.
KAZEA are a Swedish trio forging their path through dark and visceral, sludgy post-rock with hints of this and that thrown in the mix. The act is gearing up to release their debut full-length I. Ancestral via Suicide Records on March 21, and today we’re glad to accompany you through the depths of the sonic whirlwind going by the name of “Whispering Hand”, taken from said record. Turn up the volume to eleven, prepare yourselves, and hit play from below;
“Whispering Hand” is a driving onslaught that barely rests on its laurels for even a second, as the straightforward drums carry the track onwards with melancholic yet forceful guitars and prominent bass on top of it, capped off with clean vocals that probably aren’t what you’d expect, but which work to an excellent degree due to their delivery and hypnotizing nature. The neofolk influence is prominent, as is the post-rock-esqueness on the melodic department, but all of these elements blend together rather seamlessly, as KAZEA bends the genre boundaries to the extent where you can’t exactly categorize the result anymore, not easily at least.
The band themselves had the following to say about the song;
‘We think “Whispering Hand” in a way encapsulates the overall theme of the album where heritage, pain and human flaws are central. It is by far the fastest song we have in the repertoire so far and it is a really fun track to play live.‘
Comparing “Whispering Hand” to the other, previously released singles, does show that the scope of the upcoming album is indeed of hefty magnitude, with the aural concoctions being so captivating and thought provoking that I’m sure they’re destined to enthrall anyone daring to lend them an ear. The Scandinavian musical identity does shine through at times, but only to a positive outcome, and I particularly enjoy how KAZEA combines the mentioned drive, fieriness and friskiness with slower paced, towering sludgy momentum. I can guarantee that I. Ancestral will be a sight to behold for many of you, so why don’t you get a pre-order in as well as follow the band on Facebook and Instagram to ensure you won’t miss it when it drops.
Oh yeah, also, look at that unbelievably tasty fucking artwork;
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