5 Reasons You Should Listen to 'Arbor' by Wazzara
After five years away, Swiss atmospheric black metal, doom and blackgaze project Wazzara return with Arbor, their fourth release and first full-length since 2021. Across seven tracks, the band explore the meeting point between crushing heaviness and ethereal beauty, creating a record that feels both deeply rooted in their decade-long evolution and open to new possibilities. From its expansive production to its themes of transformation, buried voices and untamed growth, Arbor is an album that rewards listeners willing to sink beneath the surface. Here are five reasons to give it a listen.
It brings three powerful worlds together
Wazzara's sound sits at the crossroads of atmospheric black metal, doom and blackgaze, but Arbor never feels like a simple genre exercise. The band balance abrasive guitars and punishing weight with shimmering textures, melancholy and spacious arrangements, creating music that can feel both brutal and beautiful within the same passage.
The album has a genuinely immersive atmosphere
Arbor is built for deep listening. Its songs unfold patiently, allowing guitars, bass, drums and vocals to accumulate into something almost cinematic. Tracks such as “Hollow,” “Indigo Sleep” and “Oceans” demonstrate Wazzara's ability to create an expansive sonic environment rather than simply stacking distortion on top of distortion.
“zessa (reborn)” connects the past with the present
One of the album's most intriguing moments is its reimagining of “zessa,” originally released on Wazzara's 2019 debut EP. After years of live performances, the song developed into something different, and zessa (reborn) captures that evolution. It gives the album a fascinating sense of history while showing how music can continue changing long after its first release.
The musicianship is matched by ambitious production
Andrei Jumuga returns as session drummer after contributing to 2021's CYCLES, while also taking on production duties. His playing gives the record considerable physical force, while Andy Roscyk's expansive mixes allow the layers of guitar, bass and vocals to breathe. Martin Korth's mastering adds the final sense of scale, giving Arbor the weight its compositions demand.
It is an album about transformation
Perhaps the strongest reason to listen is the sense of meaning running underneath the music. Arbor is dedicated to those willing to “taste the untamed fruit,” exploring ideas of buried forces, suppressed voices and renewal. The record's darkness is therefore never entirely hopeless. Like something growing through the cracks, Wazzara's music continually finds beauty inside resistance, making Arbor as emotionally resonant as it is sonically imposing.
