Kalemegdan Disk - ROCK FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Rockstation Release Information

Even though it’s a spring release, six months later it’s still appropriate, even worthwhile, to mention AWS’ latest album. In the image of “Innen szép nyerni” (From here It’s Nice to Win), we are talking about one of the most important albums of the domestic modern rock/metal line. And in this case, the importance is not only for outsiders, i.e. the audience, but also for the musicians, on a personal level.

The band, which has come of age this year, has passed the most difficult test that can happen in the life of a community that started as a group of friends. The unexpected death of Örs Siklósi in 2021, the founding four-piece’s lead singer in 2006, has overturned all previous plans. After the memorial concert in Budapest Park and the tour in honour of Örs, there was reason to hope for a continuation.

Looking at it from the outside, the choice of a new frontman was made effortlessly at the end of a long process. Tamás Stefán gradually worked his way into the group. In every way, “Innen szép nyerni” is a new beginning – the fifth album, which feels, in many ways, as the first. Anyone who has followed the band before will be aware that everyone here has played his part in building what comes to mind when you hear the name AWS these days. The songwriting was again a team effort; this time there is no safety game, and the Y Sound Sound Studiohas produced the most musically diverse album ever under the hands of guitarist Bence Brucker.

Some of the lyrics deal directly or indirectly with the events of the last few years (e.g. the title track and “Csend / Élet” (Silence / Life), but there are also relationship themes (“Legyen könnyebb” (Let’s Make It Easier), “Otthon” (Home) or “Kilépő” (Exit), as well as thoughts on self-awareness (“Fények nélkül” (Without Lights), “Ketten képzeletben” (In the Imagination of the Chains)) and, of course, a contemporary theme (“Senki sincs már ébren” (No One Is Awake), “2359”). The guys are still up to date, keeping their fingers on the pulse of the overseas mainstream rock/metal scene.

Of course, if I really wanted to, I could look for parallels with the big, or at least bigger names out there, but I will leave that out for now, as AWS have had their own sound for quite some time. Even the opening “Fények nélkül” (Without Lights) is a more straightforward, hit-oriented composition, while “Nincs árnyék” (No Shadow) is a more structurally adventurous, more diverse piece – this diversity also stands in terms of vocal themes. “Senki nincs már ébren” (Nobody Is Awake any More) has a similarly bold theme, with a juxtaposition of electric throb and slowed-down middle section, and even a signalling bowling (grind?!) insert. And on the vocal front, Tamás himself proves eloquently in this song what he has already proven in previous concerts – he is in the right place. The electronica of the title track is more distant from me, but together with the scream vocals, it’s fine for me. The scales are tipped in the right direction, towards the hit modern metal in the song “Legyen könnyebb” (Let’s Make It Easier), but the main thing is the brass insert performed by Máté Bartók. The lyrical, female vocal of “Otthon” (Home), the brooding “Csend / Élet” (Silence / Life), the perhaps most varied “Amíg ott lehet veled” (As Long as He Can Be there with You), the complexly structured “Kilépő” (Exit), the banging “Odaát” (Over there), the schizophrenic “Ketten képzeletben” (The two of you in imagination) with its dynamic shifts, all show a different face of the band. And “2359” is Tamás’ reward game.

These dozen compositions prove that the old & new AWS really still has imagination, whether on the musical side or on the message. AWS continues to be itself.

The theme of the songbook, which could even be called a concept album, is the process of coming to terms with the traumas and disappointments that often occur in life and the thoughts that follow.

The message of Innen szép nyerni (From here It’s Nice to Win) is that although life throws many obstacles in our way, which often cause us to have to take a few steps back in life’s board game, learning from them we must always start again, keep going...

Line-up:

Tamás Stefán: vocals
Bence Brucker: guitar
Soma Schiszler: bass
Áron Veress: drums
Máté Bartók: saxophone

Choir:
Brigitta Gencean
Gábor Herczeg
Izabella Loboda
Francis Keve Nemeslaki
Orsolya Pogány-Farkas
Radó Eden

Recording by Bence Brucker, Dániel Kökényes, Soma Schiszler Mixing and mastering by Bence Brucker (www.ysound.hu)

Tracklist

1. Fények nélkül
2. Nincs árnyék
3. Senki nincs már ébren
4. Innen szép nyerni
5. Legyen könnyebb
6. Otthon
7. Csend / Élet
8. Amíg ott lehet veled
9. Kilépő
10. Odaát
11. Ketten képzeletben
12. 2359