Swiss Post-Progressive Brilliance: What Aleph Said
Artwork: Eva Marzi
Post-progressive What Aleph Said has crafted a really great new album. From Lausanne, Switzerland, the 8 track Aulasy was released just this week. It’s an impressive atmospheric piece of work, taking the best parts of post-progressive and melodic, stoner metal inspiration and creating a quite absorbing instrumental LP.
Aulasy was mixed by Chris Noth and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), so you’re going to get to enjoy that nice and thick, cerebral finish.
Courtesy of TheMetallistPR
Your influences are coming from a lot of different directions with the new album, Aulasy. Were there any particular inspirations you found yourself more fascinated by when writing this album?
One of the tracks, 'Oreida', finds its inspiration from an underrated Portuguese band named Juseph. Listening to this band somehow contributed to opening a new musical direction for us, using slower tempos and heavier riffs. Otherwise we are much influenced by bands such as If These Trees Could Talk, Opeth and Pelican.
The rhythms are very progressive, yet fitting and blend perfectly into every song; how hard is it to come up with the way those rhythms flow in your music?
Post rock sometimes sounds very stereotypical and too predictable. There is something very instinctive in the way we compose our music. We try to let things come out as they want, and this is very much linked to our diverse music influences. We then work to make rough ideas become playable, listenable tracks.
Your last album was made during the end of the pandemic; how has Aulasy been a different experience- in regards to production?
Well, it’s been a completely different process, except we again worked with Chris Noth (mixing) and Magnus Lindberg (mastering)! For the previous album, Aeonia, we recorded everything live in a studio in 3 days. We had to be very well prepared in order to make it possible. This time, we recorded the drums and other instruments separately and had more time. Paco (bass) recorded (himself) all the guitar and bass recordings.
Aulasy really is a great listen. It's got a lot more twists and turns than the last album. I hope you guys will be planning some live shows soon.. Can we expect anything like that to come to the US?
Thanks! Playing in the US would be fantastic, of course. Our next goal is to promote our new album around Europe. If any opportunity comes up for playing in the US, we would definitely think about it!
What Aleph Said released their first LP, AEONIA (via Fluttery Records) in 2021. Their first eponymous EP was born in 2017 when playing as a trio. A second EP came along in 2019, this time with the current line-up which includes a second guitarist.
Lineup: Simon Mastrangelo - Guitar, Javier Valderrama - Guitar, Francisco López - Bass, and Gregory Dessart - Drums.
Listen to Aulasy now:
Socials: Facebook and Instagram
Released through Sixteentimes Music
