Oranssi Pazuzu conjures sounds from the dark corners of space and mind.
Since birth, Oranssi Pazuzu has never been satisfied to stick with a formula. Each album has seen the band expand upon its previous incarnation and then, like a supernova, blow it up and transform again into something recognizable but completely new.
The band was formed in 2007 by Jun-His, Ontto, Korjak, Evill and Moit. During its initial months, the band focused on writing songs and fusing together various influences from space rock to black metal, to capture different states of mental cosmos. These early songs were recorded by Sami Jormanainen in Korjak’s family cabin in the late summer of 2008 and released as the group’s debut album Muukalainen puhuu by Violent Journey Records in April 2009.
In 2009-2010 Oranssi Pazuzu played shows in Finland and continued to write music that twisted towards more metallic and aggressive moods. In September 2010 they played first concerts outside Finland in Germany and the Netherlands. In November a split album with Candy Cane was released as a co-operation of two labels Firebox and Verdura Records. Kosmonument, their second full length album was recorded again with Jormanainen, with the help of co-producer Marko Neuman. A concept album about a drifter lost in the void, Kosmonument was released in October 2011 by Spinefarm Records and Blackspin Music. After the release of Kosmonument, Oranssi Pazuzu played various European festivals in 2012, including Roadburn Festival and Hellfest.
Bands third album was done with Jaime Gomez Arellano, a London-based producer and engineer, Oranssi Pazuzu travelled to his Orgone Studios to record in February 2013. The album, called Valonielu, saw the band expanding it’s sonic palette while the songwriting developed towards more progressive dimensions. It was released in October 2013, with the band inking a new record deal with their old vinyl label Svart Records and with 20 Buck Spin for the album’s North American release. Band’s first European tour was also done after the release in the Spring of 2014.
Oranssi Pazuzu returned with their fourth album, Värähtelijä; a double album giving the music more room to diverge and explore the vast regions of hypnotic progressive psychedelia. The album was released in February of 2016 and received good reviews from music outlets such as Allmusic, Pitchfork and Spin. Värähtelijä was also the first time the band was working with their since then regular collaborator Julius Mauranen behind the rec/mix console. The band also issued a special two-song EP titled Kevät/Värimyrsky, and reissued their first three albums through Svart Records & 20 Buck Spin in 2017, coinciding with a month long headline tour in Europe with Cobalt and Aluk Todolo. Following the album’s release, founding member Moit stepped aside from space guitar duties, and was replaced by Ikon, who already had been a live member on the previous tours.
In 2018 Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising, known for their grandiose slug-paced ritualist doom metal, were invited to perform a commissioned piece at Roadburn Festival. Working under the moniker Waste of Space Orchestra, including all ten members of both bands, a piece called Syntheosis, was prepared and performed at the festival in April 2018 in front of over 3000 people. Both bands decided that the experience was too special to be left as a one-time only performance, so they recorded a carefully prepared studio interpretation, on which the ten musicians worked over the spring and summer of 2018. Syntheosis the album was released on Svart Records on April 5th, 2019.
Through the rabbit hole and out the other side to 2020 with the release of their fifth album Mestarin kynsi. Inking a deal with German-based industry giants Nuclear Blast, Oranssi Pazuzu subvert the idea of world domination to open a conceptual discourse on indoctrination and propaganda itself. The album’s psychological nightmare evolves a philosophical and paranoid tone, where occult future meets troubled reality. The album is released on the 17th of April 2020.
MEMBERS
Korjak – Drums
Evill – Keyboard, Effects, Vocals
Ikon – Guitar, Sampler, Synthesizer
Ontto – Bass, Synthesizer
Jun-His – Voice, Guitar
Astral level member: Moit - Guitar, synthesizer