Arbor!!

The Review!

By Darkzen

22/02/2026

After a decade of existence, wazzara unveil their fourth release - a full-length album forged from an alloy of darkness, weight and ethereal beauty, interweaving elements of Atmospheric Black Metal, Doom and Blackgaze.

Arbor is dedicated to those who do not fear tasting the untamed fruit. Its songs whisper of an ancient force buried but never broken, of voices once quieted that now rise again. We were never cut away from the tree of wisdom - we are its root, its trunk, its crown. Sapere aude. zessa (reborn) is a re-interpretation of the 2019 version (released on same-named EP). As the band has played the song live over the years, it has developped an additional persona which wanted to be documented through recording. All of the other songs were written between 2023 and 2025.

wazzara was created in 2015 as a solo project of Swiss singer and composer Barbara Brawand. Her first EP „zessa“, which was released in 2019, paved the way for all waters to flow further: George Necola joined the project in 2020 to add his magic as a co-composer and producer. Also, with the tides of time, a full live line-up gathered, and wazzara has been hexing the audience with untamed, hypnotizing and captivating sound experiences ever since.

Country: Switzerland

Style: Atmospheric post-Black Metal/ Doom

STUDIO LINE-UP on "Arbor"

Barbara Brawand - Vocals

Marcel 'Mäsi' Stettler - Guitar

Tom Kuzmic - Guitar

George Necola - Bass

Andrei Jumugä - Drums

Tracklist

9 Confines

Hollow

Her Ashes Down The River

Indigo Sleep

Dandelion

Nova

Oceans

zessa (reborn)

My Recommendation

On February 13, 2026, the new album Arbor, the fourth album from the Swiss band Wazzara, was released. Combining doom, blackgaze, and a dark, melancholic, and ethereal beauty, the album can be described as cohesive and focused on the work of shadows, transformation, and the connection with nature itself.

The album is a wall of sound, combining elements of intense doom with bright and highly atmospheric blackgaze. It features passages that are sometimes slow, mid-tempo, deep, and explosive.

The beautiful vocals, led by Barbara Brawand, range from roars and harrowing growls to dark, clean, and resonant passages, creating a powerful and complex experience.

The opening track, 9 Confines, serves as an introduction to the intense narrative nature of the entire album, with Hollow song we have a great style, with all this power of post pagan black doom metal very intense, we keep with the next song Her Ashes Down The River a great combinations of voices very sutil and dense, great sound of black metal style, The album has an excellent combination of heavy, atmospheric, and classic black/doom metal sound, very good balance intense and oppressive darkness with beauty.

Score

90/100

Info

http://www.wazzara.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/wazzaraofficial  

http://www.instagram.com/wazzara_official  

youtube.com/@wazzara