ALBUM REVIEW: Freaks – Avralize

AVRALIZE’s new album Freaks is a debut where the excitement and energy are contagious. The eager urge to create runs so deep that it’s audible in every song, making it impossible not to get excited right alongside them. In just eight tracks, the band grabs you by the eardrums and shows you exactly what they’re capable of.

Lotus sets the album off with a bang. Reminiscent of 2010-era metalcore, the screamed vocals, slight electronic influences, and massively catchy chorus are sure to scratch genre fans’ itch for something new to listen to. One run-through of this opening track is enough to have you singing along to “Dodging bullets to stay alive” like you’re a lifelong fan. Two plays and the breakdown will have you hooked.

Second track Higher is a four-minute adrenaline kick, starting with pounding drums and a guttural scream followed by half-chanted-half-shouted lyrics that get you ready for the pit. Then just as you’re about to lose it, you’re led into an angelic bridge which showcases vocalist Severin Sailer’s ability to do it all. The track continues switching it up on you for its entirety, with smooth, melodic guitar sections, and energetic sing-along moments that are sure to feel electric when played live. If there’s one thing we can learn from Higher, it’s that AVRALIZE keep their listeners on their toes.

While breakdowns and bridges are a crucial component of Freaks and something AVRALIZE do incredibly well, this isn’t all they have to offer. Something that makes the record so refreshing is the band’s ability to interweave completely different vibes into it, without jarring the listener. A prime example of this is the bite-sized bop Stab By Stab. Though it’s the shortest track on the album, at just under three minutes, it packs a lot in. Thick with electronic influence, high-tempo drum beats, and layer-upon-layer of vocal effects, the pure depth of style on this song can leave you disorientated on the first listen. You’d be forgiven if you mistook it for a boss fight theme from a video game. But that’s what makes it such a fun track.

The experimentation doesn’t end here. Directly after Stab By Stab we’re treated to more genre-switches with Canvas and if five tracks deep you thought you finally knew what was going on, then this one is here to prove you wrong. Where Stab By Stab is a wall of noise that leaves you wanting to move, Canvas is more laid back. There are sections of the song that are so catchy they could capture the hearts of pure-pop fans, and near the end of the track a mini-breakdown is jazzed up with a saxophone solo. It’s a bold move not every band could pull off, but for AVRALIZE it works like a charm.

The title track ends the album with just as much of a bang as it begins with. Freaks is an eerie track to start, with horror-movie-esque keyboard sections putting you on edge, and a mid-track stripped-back vocal section delivering lyrics like “When my bones turn to stone / I’ll remember the life I owned.” It’s this initial discomfort that makes the second half of the track feel even more climactic, as after the bridge every instrument is brought back with seemingly double the power. A screamed “We’re all just freaks” brings the track home, which is sure to instantly solidify itself as a classic AVRALIZE line.

When the album is over, it’s hard not to want more. Freaks is a record that’s sure to make people sit up and listen, and if this is just the beginning then there’s no guessing what AVRALIZE have in store for the future. More saxophone? We can only hope so.

Rating: 7/10

Freaks is set for release on March 22nd via Arising Empire.

Like AVRALIZE on Facebook.