Album Review: Azusa – Loop Of Yesterdays

There are 12 tracks on Loop Of Yesterdays, but it feels like there are at least five times as many. That’s because this prog-metal supergroup – made up of Extol’s Christer Espevoll and David Husvik, former Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson, and phenomenal vocalist Eleni Zafirdou – are driven by a complex, restless creativity.

As such, these songs refuse to sit still for even a second. To wit, opener Memories Of An Old Emotion veers between pummelling, coruscating metal and calmer trippy melodies. It’s a pattern that repeats frequently, notably on One Too Many Times, Seven Demons Mary and Rapture Boy, although the almost folky lilt of the title-track and the 32-second grace of Support Becomes Resistance, which feeds into the chug of Monument, both offer a slight reprieve.

It’s enthralling, if exhausting stuff, but when Azusa hit the sweet spot – as on final track Aching Ritual – the results are magnificent.

Verdict: 4/5