Azure Emote
United States · formed 2003 · last active 2025
Azure Emote is an avant-garde death metal project founded in New York in 2003 by illustrator/vocalist Mike Hrubovcak (Monstrosity, Vile) as an outlet 'to express personal negativity without the genre limitations often present within Extreme Metal.' Built around a core band with guitarist Ryan Moll, bassist Kelly Conlon, drummer Mike Heller and violinist Pete Johansen, the project layers in shifting rosters of guest musicians — female vocalists, saxophone, harmonica, keyboards — to give nearly every song its own distinct color. Releases including The Gravity of Impermanence (2013) and The Third Perspective (2020) have come out on Selfmadegod Records.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Jazzy 4 — Yakuza saxophonist Bruce Lamont guests with 'undeadly skronky sax playing' woven through the death metal on The Gravity of Impermanence (nocleansinging.com)
- Death 7 — Reviewed as an 'avant-garde death metal' band built on pummeling blast beats and a death-metal rhythm section (metalsucks.net Band of the Day feature)
- Technical 6 — Core death-metal band arrangements are layered with violin, saxophone, harmonica, dual female vocalists and keyboard/electronic programming for each track (selfmadegod.bandcamp.com credits)
- Theatrical 3 — Conceived as 'an experimental musical outlet' where each song gets its own unique cast of guest musicians and styles, 'a barrage of eclectic surprises' (selfmadegod.bandcamp.com / metalsucks.net)
- Folk 3 — Recurring violin (Pete Johansen) and harmonica textures run alongside the metal core across releases (metalsucks.net; selfmadegod.bandcamp.com)
MEMBERS
- Mike Hrubovcakvocals, lyrics, keyboards, electronic programming, harmonica
- Ryan Mollguitar
- Kelly Conlonbass
- Mike Hellerdrums
- Pete Johansenviolin
CONNECTIONS
- Fear Factorypath →
Azure Emote drummer Mike Heller served as Fear Factory's drummer from 2012 to 2022 source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
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Cyrax are a Milan progressive metal band formed in 2012 around Marco Cantoni, whose sound has grown steadily more eclectic across three albums (Reflections 2013, Pictures 2015, Experiences 2020, plus 2021 EP Metamorphosis and 2023's Novo Deus). Bandcamp tags the catalog Electronic/Jazz/Metal/Progressive Metal/Progressive Rock/Folk, and RateYourMusic double-tags 2020's Experiences as Progressive Metal and Avant-Garde Metal; reviewers describe it mixing 'celtic, death metal, thrash, jazz fusion, rock prog, bluegrass and Stravinski influences,' with choir passages, ukulele, ambient electronics/soundscape (courtesy of drummer Lorenzo Beltrami), and carnival-style interludes with flutes sitting alongside death-metal growls.