Wazzara return with new album ‘Arbor’

Formed in Switzerland back in 2015, Wazzara began as a themed solo project created by singer and composer Barbara Brawand before developing into a full band with a unique take on atmospheric black metal, doom and blackgaze. The individual creative endeavour has since bloomed into a collaborative musical force, with George Necola joining in 2020 as co-composer and producer, alongside guitarist Mäsi Stettler and guitarist Tom Kuzmic. As the project progressed, a full live line up took shape, allowing Wazzara to bring their immersive compositions beyond the studio and onto stages near and far.

Across more than a decade of existence, the band have built a sound that’s heavy yet ethereal and sombre yet dreamlike, bringing together elements of doom, post metal and blackgaze to create expansive soundscapes where darkness and beauty coalesce. Their output is instilled with an untamed quality, an atmosphere that can feel at once hypnotic and fierce, like an unstoppable current moving between moments of reflection and overwhelming intensity. Alongside her work with the band, Barbara has also continued to perform ethereal acoustic songs as a solo artist, a creative strand that has remained part of Wazzara’s history since its beginning.

Now, over ten years after the project’s arrival, Wazzara return with Arbor, their fourth release and first full-length album in five years. Forged from an alliance of darkness, weight and ethereal beauty, the record opens a new chapter while remaining connected to the hypnotic character that’s defined the band’s journey so far. Its eight songs explore an atmosphere built around the relationship between buried forces and the voices that eventually find the strength to rise again.

Dedicated to those who do not fear tasting the untamed fruit, Arbor carries a sense of something ancient and enduring, with its songs whispering of an energy that may have been suppressed but never truly broken. The material was composed between 2023 and 2025, with one notable exception; the closing track “zessa (reborn)” revisits the original version of the song that appeared on Wazzara’s 2019 debut EP, zessa.

Not just reproducing the earlier recording, the band have reinterpreted a composition that’s gradually changed through years of live performances. As the song developed on stage, it acquired an additional persona, informed by the experience of repeatedly bringing it to audiences. The new version captures that voyage, documenting the form it has taken through years of performance and giving an earlier piece of Wazzara’s history a new place within the present.

The album’s production also brings together collaborators who have played important roles in shaping the band’s recorded sound. Romanian musician and producer Andrei Jumuga returned as session drummer, having previously performed on 2021’s album Cycles, while also taking responsibility for production on Arbor. Known for his work with Dordeduh, Ordinul Negru and Blutrina, Andrei brings his own musical perspective to the record, contributing to the development of its overall sound.

Wazzara once again turned to Andy Roscyk for the mixes, drawing on his talents to create an expansive and powerful sonic landscape. Mastering was handled by Martin Korth, whose previous recording credits include work with Björk, Vashti Bunyan and UNKLE. The recording process took place across two locations during last summer, with vocals, bass and guitars captured at the band’s home studios in Switzerland, while the drums were recorded at Consonance Studio in Timișoara, Romania.

With Arbor, Wazzara bring together the different elements that have influenced their identity over the last decade, balancing immense musical impact with a more delicate, atmospheric aesthetic. It’s a record based in transformation, drawing on the band’s history while allowing its compositions to continue taking new shapes and as they move into this next chapter, their ability to create music that’s equally fierce and dreamlike remains at the heart of everything they do.

Listen to Arbor below