Heavy Song of the Week: Oranssi Pazuzu’s “Valotus”

Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal, punk, and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, the honor goes to Oranssi Pazuzu for their new single “Valotus.”

The music of Finnish avant-metal group Oranssi Pazuzu is anomalous. While it may be constructed from the building blocks of black metal — harsh indecipherable vocals, blasting rhythms, washes of guitar, etc. — the effect it has on the listener is of a more cerebral, meditative nature, ala ambient drone or harsh noise.

The group’s latest single “Valotus” crushes all the aforementioned signifiers of black metal into a stew of swirling psychedelia that purposefully gives us little foothold as far as discernible instrumentation, vocals, or beats. You can tell it’s all in there, but what the ear catches is ever-shifting, a functional element of Oranssi Pazuzu’s music that is as beguiling as it is intoxicating — the sonic equivalent of being left in the pitch dark to feel about, your eyes adjusting as you begin to make out figures that may or may not be there, the mind filling in the blanks.

Honorable Mentions:

Better Lovers – “A White Horse Covered in Blood”

Boy, that title sure is visceral — befitting of a downright angry song. Greg Puciato unleashes his lyrics — penned in the second person — as if he’s screaming directly at who they’re meant to address. It’s accusatory and pulls no punches, with Better Lovers’ supergroup lineup laying down a smothering package of riffs and a potent, deliberate breakdown. By contrast, the song’s remarkable music video sees the band running, falling, and diving through colorful paper-thin walls, balancing out the track’s inherent negativity with one of the most entertaining performance clips we’ve seen all year.

Jinjer – “Someone’s Daughter”

Jinjer waste no time on their latest single and first new song in three years, coming straight out of the gate with the verse, sans instrumental intro. It’s rather unconventional and immediately ensnares the listener as Tatiana Shmayluk’s vocals float melodically around a prog drum workout that begets an even prog-ier chorus. The djent is in full effect here, and fans of the group will be happy to hear that the passing years have only made the Ukrainian band even sharper on their instruments.

King Dunn (King Buzzo and Trevor Dunn) – “Sidewalk Begging”

It’s great to see Buzz Osborne and Trevor Dunn going all-in on their excellent collaborative acoustic project King Dunn. The duo just kicked off an extensive tour, which sees Buzzo on vocals/acoustic guitar and Dunn on a stand-up concert bass. Their latest track, a cover of The Dicks’ “Sidewalk Begging,” is available as an exclusive 7″ flexi disc at the merch table, and it exemplifies precisely why the Buzzo/Dunn pairing works so well. Buzzo’s bellowed vocals are even more haunting against acoustic strums and Dunn’s effortlessly virtuosic bass work, conjuring a stark mood that is rare in the more boisterous music of the Melvins. We’ve yet to hear something we don’t like from King Dunn, and their 2020 album Gift of Sacrifice comes highly recommended if you dig this cover — a tribute to The Dicks’ late frontman Gary Floyd, who passed away in May.

“The Dicks were one of the best bands ever and it was sad hearing of Gary Floyd’s passing,” King Buzzo said in a press release for the song.