The sound we now define as experimental, especially when it comes to heavy music genres, was surely much different in the 80s and the 90s, and we are constantly seeking artists that are pushing the boundaries of well-explored music styles and set out to develop their own contexts. While their 2016 EP Interiors is a strong piece of innovative approach to noisy post hardcore and metal, the majority of SUZAKU AVENUE‘s crafty nature gets well displayed by the representative opening track “Diegesis”, which which we’re premiering the video for above! Section breaks, unexpected transitions, instrumental variety, smart hooks, and unsettling atmosphere – all qualities of an engaging track are there. Check it out, leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and share!
Here’s what they had to say about the track:
“Diegesis” was the first song we wrote for our most recent EP Interiors. Before we started writing those songs, the material we were writing was quite melodic, but for this EP we made a conscious decision to place less emphasis on melody and write songs that were more abrasive and disjointed, with greater use of screaming over clean vocals. We were heavily inspired by Until Your Heart Stops by Cave In during the writing process, they’re probably the biggest influence on our sound. With “Diegesis”, we set out to write a song which was very aggressive and demented, but also had a very creepy, unsettling atmosphere.
Lyrically, a lot of our songs are about religion and theology, and at the time, I was studying cinema and how cinema and voyeurism have so much in common, so we essentially combined those two concepts together when writing the lyrics. We tried a technique where I wrote down loads of individual sentences then cut them out, and Stephen reassembled them in the order they’re sung in the song.
Asked about the video, director and SUZAKU AVENUE’s own Fionn Murray added:
We directed the music video ourselves. I’ve always loved animation and think it’s such an untapped medium to use in music videos, especially for this style of music. I was particularly inspired by Lotte Reiniger’s film The Adventures of Prince Achmed and Jan Švankmajer’s short films, because I really like the slightly jerky, off-kilter look of stop-motion. When planning the video, I aimed to direct it in such a way that it was just as disorienting and crazy as the original song. To achieve the look of the video, I photographed poseable cardboard figures with a digital camera, animated them, then projected the animations onto digital backgrounds. To match the themes of the lyrics, I then applied extensive effects to imitate the appearance of filming on a 35mm camera.
SUZAKU AVENUE ‘s ‘Interiors’ EP is available on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Spotify and most other streaming sites. The band is aiming to release a second EP in the next few months.
Photo by Clare Foley.
“Dublin based experimental post hardcore / metal band Suzaku Avenue have recently released a new surprising, very refreshing EP called “Interiors”. Spiced up with thought provoking, significant commentary on modern social struggles and some personal struggles, this curious work of art sounds very individual, heartfelt and adventurous. Sonically, it is about mixing various influences and seeing how they blend together. Happily for both the band and us, listeners, this approach works brilliantly. They couldn’t have asked for a better debut.” / IDIOTEQ.com
“Sometimes Irish bands come out of the blue to just floor you like this, and it’s incredibly refreshing when they do. Suzaku Avenue have daring musical style that at times sounds like a completely free form, train of troubled consciousness confessional; except you know they’ve worked very hard at crafting it all. Nothing here is straightforward, safe or comfortable. It’s challenging and provocative, all over the place and yet unified by that unnerving theme that runs through it all…It’s not noisecore: it’s noir-core.” – Metal Ireland
“It’s 25 minutes of music that will leave you feeling breathless, disoriented, and perhaps a little bit violated. Interior’s take on composition is the equivalent of being a 2 year old violently smashing Duplo blocks against each other until they finally snap into place…in a good way.” – Metal Trenches
“The underlying current of social urban decay, social & relationship issues running throughout the EP only further feed the urge to want to hear what the band has to offer in the future, in ending the band show plenty of honesty, emotion & feeling on this release, traits that make you want to see the band achieve a high level of success in the future.” – Metal and Carnage blog
