Alunah/Samavayo |Embers Of Belief |Heavy Psych Sounds Records

Published on 18 June 2026 at 18:42

Release Date June 5^th, 2026
Format LP/CD/Digital
Genre Hard Rock, Stoner Rock
Origin United Kingdom, Germany

Alunah is a doom and hard rock band from Birmingham, active for twenty years. Their path includes tours with Paradise Lost, The Obsessed and Nick Oliveri's Mondo Generator, festival appearances across Europe and a long run with Heavy Psych Sounds Records since 2019. The arrival of Daisy Savage on vocals marks a new period for the band, heard here in their first studio material with her.

Samavayo comes from Berlin and mix stoner rock, fuzz, hard rock and oriental melodic touches. Singer Behrang Alavi came from Tehran to Germany as a child, while Andreas Voland and Stephan Voland grew up in East Berlin. Their story is tied to Berlin’s post Wall cultural mix, and the band has played hundreds of shows across Europe and overseas.

"Embers Of Belief" puts two related names on one split album, with Alunah taking the doomier and more old school hard rock side, and Samavayo bringing the fuzzier, more hook based part. The pairing makes sense on paper and mostly pays off in practice. It is not an essential release from either band, although it has enough riff work, melody and character to justify its place in their catalogues.

Alunah sounds heavier in spirit, with a darker guitar tone and a voice that brings a different color to their current phase. Their new songs have a good riff base and a decent amount of British hard rock flavor, helped by that NWOBHM shade in the guitar lines. The live cuts are fine for anniversary context, although they take space that could have been better used for fresher studio material.

Samavayo gives the album a quicker spark. Their half has fuzz, rhythm and vocals that catch the ear faster, with their oriental touch adding personality without turning the songs into decoration. They come across more compact and more immediate than Alunah here, which helps the second part of the split gain energy after the heavier first half.

Alunah shows a new lineup phase with some promise, Samavayo sounds more ready and more effective, and Heavy Psych Sounds Records gets a release that works because the two bands differ enough to avoid a flat listen. Some parts are better than others, and the live material lowers the overall impact a bit. The riffs are there, the songs are decent, and the result is respectable, with limits.

|7.0