In this offering, we are very pleased to get up close and personal with Nick Khalabuzar, vocalist in the Almaty, Kazakhstan based band Zarraza.
The first record I ever bought with my own money was…
Russian rock band ALISA and their “The Sixth Forester” album. Unfortunately I lost it long time ago but I still like the album!
The record that made me want to make music was…
MEGADETH “Rust In Peace”. Still inspiring me to this day. Amazing songwriting and brilliant solos. The intensity of the riffage is just out of this planet – in the title song especially. Actually sometimes I compare my riffs to it, like – let’s look if I go the same way to intensity…
The record I’ve played more than any other is…
MEGADETH “Rust In Peace”. It still drives me crazy! I’ve got 4 copies of it (CDs, LP), different mixes and… I was happy when I found “The guitars only” version on Youtube – no drums, no vocals, just guitars! Great way to listen to the masterpiece again!
The record that always make me feel good is…
ALESTORM “The Golden Age” – you just can be bored with hymns like “Drink” or “Hangover”! I love to sing along to it and it always make me feel like I’m on the way to the party! The band not only wrote some fun lyrics but fun arrangements too which is rare and just great!
The record I turn to when I’m feeling down is…
Now it’s GOJIRA “L’Enfant Sauvage” – especially the song named “Gift Of Guilt”. The harmony is simple and perfect and I love the way the song evolves. Actually I prefer live version from the Brixton Academy because of Joe vocals – it much more emotional! But before GOJIRA I use ALICE IN CHAINS “Facelift” for this purpose. Especially “Love Hate Love” song – soooo slow and heavy!!! It’s sounds like the time stops because of heaviness!
The record with my favorite cover art is…
SEPULTURA “Beneath The Remains”. The artwork has it’s own dark story. There is so many layers in the artwork – I love it! It’s catchy and looks simple and mesmerizing. I love how Michael Whelan use some elements from this cover on other SEPULTURA artworks.
The strangest LP I own is…
METALLICA “Black Album” Russian pirate edition. 12 songs divided into 2 LPs but forth side (or side D) is empty and looks like black mirror. Another funny thing about the edition – when I used to play it loud my neighbor’s dog always started to howl during violine-like solo part over bass in the middle of “My Friend Of Misery”. No jokes! The dog starts to howl every time only in this in this part of the song! I think it’s because this part of the song sounds like howling dog itself…
The rarest LP I own is…
SLAYER “South Of Heaven” with no SLAYER logo and album title on it! And I love it – the picture looks even bigger and cooler cool to me. You can see small SLAYER logos in the church windows – and it’s enough for me. It perfectly fits the atmosphere of this dark album.
The last LP I bought was…
QUEENSRYCHE “Empire”. Strange artwork but the album itself is a brilliant! One day I will add “Operation: Mindcrime” (obvious choice) and “Promised Land” to my collection!
Zarraza will be releasing a three song EP on July 8, 2022, titled Kreated In Blood. It contains blistering covers of Slayer’s “Raining Blood,” Kreator’s “People Of The Lie” and Gojira’s “L’Enfant Sauvage.” Digital download and t-shirt available here. Zarraza’s latest full-length, Rotten Remains, was released on November 29, 2019. It is available from Bandcamp as a digipak CD or digital download.
Links
http://zarraza.com/
https://www.instagram.com/Zarraza_Official/
https://www.facebook.com/ZaRRaZaOfficial/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ZARRAZAOfficial
https://zarraza.bandcamp.com/
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