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Azazello: Black Day (CD, 48:19); Moonchild Records, 34926, 2000 
E-mail: N/A 
Cyberhome: http://www.progressor.net/azazello 

10 words or less: Quirky, Creative, Russian ProgMetal band. 
Elaboration: Although admittedly it's not my favorite progressive music 
sub-genre, I do like good ProgMetal. Azazello works in the typical 4-piece 
prog ensemble configuration with the guitarist handling vocals; also, the 
guitarist either writes or co-writes all tunes. Track one threw me off as it 
strangely reminded me of something I heard by Missing Persons, hence the 
"quirky" adjective. Track 2 is instrumental and goes through many tight 
changes; I like this. As a matter of fact, all of the tunes on this album are 
chock full of creative stops and changes but unlike much of the other 
ProgMetal bands I've heard, there is a certain Pop or New Wave element here 
as I listen to track 3. This element becomes more apparent whenever the 
vocals come in. Fortunately, this album isn't overrun with vocals, which BTW 
are in Russian. There is a nice variety of keyboard sounds which save the 
album during the instrumental passages. Many of the changes seem to come from 
left field, keeping the listener off balance but definitely keeping your 
attention. Track 7 is the longest; clocking in at 10:44 it is by far the 
strongest. Starting with electric piano then increasing intensity at once as 
the rest of the band comes in for the intro. The stops and changes abound 
with a quiet piano accompanying the first verse of vocals. Hyper-speed Metal 
passages contrast with vocal verses and more tuneful instrumental sections 
but wait, a Baroque interlude now... very entertaining... there is a very 
long instrumental section here with many wonderful changes. I'm quite 
enjoying this. If the whole album were as strong as this tune I would be a 
big fan of this band. Acoustic guitar and synthesized flute provide the mello 
concluding track on the album. ~L. Perez


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