Ozul
Provenance
Digital Album .Prog, Post, Synth, Metal, Rock. 2023.

Ozul is the project of Paulo Chavarría, a Norwegian-Costa Rican filmmaker. His debut album, Provenance, was well received.

Paulo Chavarría plays all the instruments, writes all the lyrics, sings and does the mixing and mastering. The music is multifaceted and ranges from prog, ambient, electronic to psychedelic rock. I see influences from Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Riverside and Ayreon.

Without wanting to go into every song, Provenance convinces me. The influences from Riverside, Porcupine Tree, Ayreon and classic prog are certainly unmistakable, both musically and lyrically. Nevertheless, Provenance has enough originality to not seem copied and boring. The very first song, "Lönahorgi," reveals the essence of Ozul. Quiet passages alternate with epic, rocky, prog-like sound collages. "Will You," on the other hand, has pop elements but still retains its prog. "Winds of Ruins" cannot hide its influences from The Pineapple Thief. The closer, "Father's Day," is varied and ends this digitally available prog album.

Technically, it is cleanly produced. The voice could be more solid. The music and lyrics work together. When I consider that Paulo managed the entire production on his own, I have to take my hat off to this debut, which I enjoy listening to again and again.

Ozul at Bandcamp: Provenance

The photos are all from Ozul and are promotional images. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the rights holder.