The Canyon Observer

About

" The sound of chaos crashing "

The Canyon Observer have always spoken in power, a language everyone understands and appreciates, even if they might not want to admit it at first. Notable for their intense live shows, where a suffocating amount of fog, a frenzied blitz of strobe lighting, or the main vocalist suspended on tenterhooks above the stage are all par for the course, they could’ve continued carving out their own piece of the Isis-like post-metal pie. It was a proven quantity, though, that helped them claw their way to stages all over Europe, and even as far as Cuba.

Instead, an about-face. The six-piece, still rooted in their heavy, murky extreme, called in reinforcements, adding saxophones and cellos to their sonic melange, and dived headfirst into the chaos. Their latest release ‘Figura’ (2023) finds aesthetic touchpoints in classical music, 20^th century avant garde, free jazz, harsh noise and a multitude of other niche corners of the music universe. Through its sheer mass, the album and the band reflect on man, on the various organic components that make up our physical bodies, drawing parallels with both the links among the band members themselves, and with the broader societal need for cooperation and connection.

It’s a weighty musical offering, no doubt about that, but there’s beauty and love to be found among the loudness, too. Born out of a need and a desire to stimulate long-term collaboration between musicians from various backgrounds, ‘Figura’ presents The Canyon Observer at perhaps their loosest in terms of convention, setting them down a path of bold musical exploration and experimentation.