I remember finding this CD in the clearance bin of the Metropolis record store in Athens. It was almost 30 years ago, and I was with a friend who advised me to buy it. He was into epic/power metal, but this was, according to him, a "folk" CD, which he was sure I would like. Now how could he possibly have known about folk albums, especially ones that I had never heard of? I had my doubts, but it was cheap enough for me to take the risk. At the time there weren't any streaming platforms, youtube and whatnot - if one wanted to know whether a record was good enough to buy, they'd have to wait until they heard it on the radio, or ask a record store clerk to play it for them (not too likely), or rely on the opinion of others, either friends or music critics.
My friend must have heard it on some kind of metal radio show, seeing as Pazuzu (not to be confused with the newer band Oranssi Pazuzu from Finland) were a side project of Austrian Black Metal band Summoning. Summoning's lyrics was heavily Tolkien-inspired (sample titles from their discography: Minas Morgul, Dol Guldur) and Pazuzu (named after an ancient Messopotamian demon) deal in similar themes, while their music is of an appropriately medieval nature: one can imagine a song like the upbeat "Bal Of Thieves" playing at the Prancing Pony, while revelers dance merrily and, at one corner, Thorin the dwarf enlists the help of the grey wizard for his daring scheme to reclaim the stolen dwarven gold from a certain winged serpent. Now this isn't the story behind this CD, but it might as well be; after all there is a dragon here, too, and he is awakened. The music belongs to a genre I'm not really familiar with: people call it dark ambient or dungeon synth. Very much inspired by medieval folk, but darker and more atmospheric, making heavy use of synths often emulating the sound of traditional instruments like the harpsichord, as in "The Five Emperors". The song "Pazuzu" has a Dead Can Dance-like oriental melody, while "King Of Vermin" is the only track that reminds me of Black Metal because of the guttural "demonic" vocal. There are, of course, also lighter songs like the sea-shanty-like "In A Tavern" and the elegant "Royaume Des Rèves (Baronnesse Chap. II)" which features a female narrator speaking in French. "Outro" is a strangely ill-fitting new wave instrumental, while "Verfal" has a German (male) narrator using a theatrical but rather normal voice. Mostly, though, the narration employs a more sinister tone. The main narrator reminds me of Laibach's Milan Fras - especially when he talks in German, as in the appropriately funereal-paced "Im Mondschein (Die Tragik Des Todes)". Another similarity to the Slovenian band lies in the military-style drumming and heavy Wagnerian synths; but while Laibach have achieved cult recognition, Pazuzu are laughed at outside a very small circle of "dungeon synth" fans. I guess the main reason is that their subject matter and medieval fantasy obsessions are perceived as "silly". On the other hand, if you're a Dungeons & Dragons fan, you may have just found the perfect soundtrack for your role-playing games. Not that I am; after all, Dungeons and Dragons players are notoriously nerdy. Unlike, for example, Heroes Of Might And Magic. If I'm not mistaken, Part II of that video game came out around the same time that I bought Awaken The Dragon; I spent many hours playing it, with this CD on repeat. Listening to it again after all these years, I can't help but feel nostalgic for the days that I could afford to waste countless hours on silly stuff without remorse.
*** for Awaken The Dragon - Millennium Two, The Five Emperors, Bal Of Thieves, Royaume Des Rèves (Baronnesse Chap. II), Until The Sun Returns, In A Tavern, Pazuzu, Outro
** for The Messenger And The Spiritwind, The King Of Vermin, Verfall, Im Mondschein (Die Tragik Des Todes)
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