Zangryus - News

An evening to remember indeed - the first "evening with Ash" with both Sacred Divide and Zangryus playing a prog/shredfest double header to make your ears bleed. Oh, by the way, for the fans who think we are on the loud side, ear plugs are usually available from our merchandise stall, so don't be shy..

Anyway, Zangryus were up first, with the melodic brutality that is rapidly becoming notorious on the circuit, followed by Sacred Divide, playing five of the tracks from the upcoming debut release. An intimate and relaxing evening of earth-shattering drumming virtuosity, finger-blistering fretwork and precision vocal melodies provided an enthusiastic start to March 2008.

Back at 'The Sun' for another energetic performance of the best of Zangryus. The evening started well, with DJ Nick Rock warming up the crowd with a mixture of Dream Theater and Slayer, and after everyone was suitably pumped with Overture 1928, Zangryus blasted onto the stage with Intro.

We played a combination set, trying to combine our two usual sets into one longer set, much to the delight of the moshers in the crowd.

On a cold thursday night, Valentine's Day for most people, the hardcore metal militia of Oxford were humbly gathered in the most hallowed of progressive ground for the celebration of the 21st Birthday of Marc from Sacred Divide. The gift he had requested from Ash was that Zangryus play a few songs.

Since Zangryus love to shred so much, a few songs just didn't feel like it would be enough, so we ploughed through an hour and a half of material to the delight of everyone there.

Our 4th gig was at Hampshire’s premier bastion of live metal – quarantine at the tumbledown in Farborough, where we were playing with the burgeoning talent of Tainted Grace and the seasoned grooves of instill.

As the room slowly filled with the metal militia of Hampshire, the stage was soon taken by Tainted Grace, who started off the evening with a mellow vibe with cover versions ranging from Megadeth to Natalie Imbruglia.

We started with the thunderous explosion that is Intro, hurtling straight into Weakness like an express train. With only a moment for the audience to catch their breath, we hurled the crushing virtuosity of Freedom into the masses, tore through Rapture and blasted into another emerging fan favourite, Give in to Me. We then allowed a brief respite, by playing the rhythmic, lilting, hypnotic eastern favourite, Fall from Grace. Insomnia’s insane time changes came next, and were followed by one of my favourites, Ages and we ended with a cymbal crashing, bass pounding, guitar shredding thrash of Twilight.

When we went back into the crowd to wait for the last band to come on we were met by very encouraging comments, “Ash’s guitar playing is awesome” “Wow you guys were really good”, and “I’d expect to see a band like you at Wembley”

Instill had a funky, crunchy metal feel to their music which I quite enjoyed and their front man was very crowd pleasing. They played a good set including original material and covers from bands such as Limp Bizkit.

I personally really enjoyed the night, the atmosphere was really friendly and we felt welcome. A really, big thank you to everyone who turned up to see us. We really appreciate the support you give us.

Thank you to Dave for organising the night. We are looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

The third gig in Zangryus’ new incarnation saw us playing alongside three other bands at Reading’s Face Bar, at the first of the two Bukandskit Xmas events there. The crowd slowly grew during the first band’s performance (an punky/indie three-piece of school kids – Kill The Killers - who did a decent job, with a good cover of that We Are Scientists track), and soon there was a reasonable sized crowd, as Zangryus took the stage.

After a quick line check, the familiar stereo crunching of ‘Intro’ began, and gathered momentum as we tore through Weakness, Freedom and my set favourite, Rapture. Our ‘bursting at the seams of our timeslot’ setlist permitted no time for such frivolities as audience interaction, and instead continued the assault with Give In To Me, finally slowing it down to unleash the haunting strains of what is quickly becoming a fan favourite, Fall From Grace – I’ve had many people say to me that “the one with the twangy eastern bit at the start is brilliant” (or some variation thereof) – and then on next to one of my favourites to play, the convention defying Insomnia, before finally unleashing the head-banging big guns of Ages to cap off the set.

From the perspective of the audience we were ‘very tight’, ‘amazing’, Ash’s guitar work in particular wowing two guitarists whom I have played in bands with, along with I’m sure everybody else in the room.

After the technical discipline of our set, the next band, On Trial, were again a strong contrast, with a masked, face painted, crazed front man running about in the audience while the band ground out some dirty-sounding punk. There were some rather bemused faces in the audience, but the punkers clearly loved it, so there you go…their set ended with some legally questionable nudity, and it was time for the final band, who pounded out some good ol’ rock with a passion, and possibly the lowest hung bass I have ever seen (keeping his knees warm maybe…?)

Thank you to those who came out for us, we are extremely grateful for your support, and thanks to the rest of the audience, the other bands, and of course Bukandskit Promotions. Next up for us is The Tumbledown in Hampshire for their ‘Quarantine’ rock night, on the 24th January, and back to the Rising Sun for ‘our’ night on 16th Feb.

The return to The Rising Sun in Reading, with a faster, longer, harder set. So much longer that we had intermission and a dinner break.

As before, the set began at 100mph with Weakness with full power intro and Freedom. Working through a selection of tracks including reaching back into the archives for Betrayal and Broken Dreams with its lightning guitar intro to piss off anyone playing Guitar Hero. Followed by Never Ending Tears off the forthcoming album The Ninth Circle with the sort of schizophrenic time changes and three-second attention span that has become such an integral part of the Zangryus Experience to the delight of our legions of fans. The first half was rounded off as it began, at 100mph with Stay.

Turning the cooker temporarily down to simmer, the second half began with Savage Mountain's Awakening, before being turned right back up with Rapture, Give In To Me, Again, and Fall From Grace, all of which sounded great from where I was sitting (at the back of the stage!), even when a stick went flying off into the abyss during a drum solo. As normal the set rounded off with an ode to technical metal in the forms of Insomnia and Twilight.

Reaction was overwhelmingly good. A combination of better sound levels, and fewer nerves contributed to a set that was primarily fun despite the technical difficulties. Most notably my hi-hat being broken and stuck on splash for the entire first set. I want to play again, immediately, which must be a good sign. Next stop, Wembley!

Set 1

Intro
Weakness
Freedom
Betrayal
End of days part 1
End of days part 2
Broken dreams
Never Ending Tears
Secrets
Stay

Set 2

Awakening
Rapture
Give in to me
Again
Fall from grace
Unreal
Ages
Insomnia
Twilight

We had our debut gig with Nick and Damien within our hallowed ranks on Saturday the 22nd, and both of the guys got off to an excellent start. The room started to fill with an expectant audience from an hour before Zangryus were due to start. Damien's energetic pounding and eloquent drum solo had several drummers in the crowd standing in awe, and Nick's monstrously visceral bass shook the foundations of Reading's premier biker venue. Smana returned to true form by amazing the crowd with the power, subtlety, range and versatility of her voice, and Ash retaliated by hurling out blistering solos and bone crunching riffs from his massive rig and nimble fingers.

The set opened with Intro - pleasing many of the crowd who had come to witness the strange off-beat riffs, meter changes and scale runs that have become part of the Zangryus experience. After battering the crowd with "Weakness", "Freedom", "Rapture" and "Give in to Me", the set returned to the days of "Blood of Angels", for the harmonized riffs and solos of "Betrayal". During the mellow middle section of the set, the crowd were moved by the eastern melodies of "Fall from Grace" and the atmospheric and beautiful "End of Days Part 1" before being thrown right into the deepest pit of skull-crushing riffology of "End of Days Part 2". Following another foray into the shredfest of "Broken Dreams", the set moved to a more headbanging pace with "Ages" and "Secrets" before returning to the odd times and crunching riffs of "Insomnia". After over an hour of melodic brutality, "Twilight" closed the day.

Comments from members of the audience later told us that we were "amazing", "really loud", "like a heavy version of Dream Theater" and that we "sounded exactly like our CDs".

Thanks to the Rising Sun for putting the show on, and thanks to everyone who showed up to see us. We will return soon..

April 2007 - Ash has begun work on the next album from Zangryus, called The Ninth Circle. The inspiration for the album comes from Dante's divine comedy, where the sinner's souls that are relegated to spend eternity in hell are categorised by their sins into circles of depravation. The Ninth Circle is the centre-most segregation of damnation, and inspires the progressive epic which is also the title track to the album.

After months of auditions for the new bassist for Zangryus, we can announce Nick as the latest addition to Zangryus. Check him out here..

After a long hunt for the new drummer for Zangryus, we are pleased to announce Damien as the latest addition to the hallowed ranks of Zangryus. Check him out here..

Check out the "new-look" page on Myspace. Thanks to a lot of work from Smana the page is now alive and kicking. Don't forget to "add" us, and join the mailing list at the top of this page.

Zangryus have chosen isound for their portable player and mp3 hosting. There is now a player on the right of this page (and all pages on the site) through which you can listen to and download tunes.