SONNTAGS IM FOYER: Aralez (Dresden) + Syntension (Jena)

Sundays in the foyer:

ARALEZ

In 2012, 4 musicians from different parts of Germany and Armenia came together. Their mission was to put the songs of the Armenian-born singer Margarita, written for acoustic guitar and vocals, into a harder, darker guise.

The name Aralez comes from Armenian pagan mythology. Aralezes were flying dogs of the gods. According to legend, the Armenian king was chained to a rock and tortured by crows every day. In the evening, the Aralezes appeared and healed him by licking his wounds. Many of these mythological images and episodes from Armenian history can be found in the band's songs.

Over the years, some of the members have changed until the current four-piece line-up, consisting of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and Margarita's voice.

The style of Aralez can be described as doom metal, but occasionally breaks out into short, heavy, progressive and fast sections. Bass, keyboards and drums form a dark wall on which the guitar and vocals walk.

Aralez at Bandcamp: https://aralez.bandcamp.com

SYNTENSION

Syntension means metal: but with a certain something more - twisted, shifted and twisted. If a story is extraordinary, the song has to be too. Pain is dissonant, discomfort is reflected in crooked rhythms, repetition justifies, but development means change. Syntension's aim is to throw rock clichés overboard, to lure listeners out of their comfort zone and make them think - only to dig up the clichés again and hold them up as a completely distorted mirror.

There has to be room for easy listening, but also for "what the hell was that?" passages. The heavy metal influences of prog metal bands like Periphery and Tesseract live side by side with the classic sound of bands like Dream Theater and Pain of Salvation, and there is also plenty of raw metal à la Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack and Metallica to be found.

Syntension at Bandcamp: www.syntension.bandcamp.com