You Guitarprayer - I Am The Light / The Light I Am
Worst Bassist Records – 2025
Rock, Noise, Psych, Stoner, Garage, Punk
Rated: *****
Do you have a weird kind of rock itch that Triggerfinger used to scratch? Are you in need for some raw power? Some energy that feels tangible yet has this enormous mysterious quality? Look no further, for there’s a trio out of Cologne that plays noise rock, stoner touched and with a punk attitude, that scratches everything out. For this is alive! With currents biting through skin and concrete, twisting, thrashing, spitting fire into your veins. It’s chaos, it’s holy, it’s everything and it’s coming straight at you!
They’re called You Guitarprayer, and I’m sure they’ve been getting flak for their chosen name ever since they started back in 2016. But Soheyl Nassary (vocals, guitar), Scharco, (bass) and Spiro Kotsomitopoulos (drums) are old dogs and have been earning their spurs in all sorts of bands for ages. And if you listen closely, you might just be able to hear every scar and spark from those days in the way they attack their instruments. Their sound… Never polite and it sure as hell isn’t tidy, manages to combine so many different genres and goes on strange tangents that not many bands can truly pull off. The balancing of those scales, is an art! It’s noise, psych, stoner, garage, shoegaze, and cinematic fever dreams that seem to be wrestling around in the same freaking notes…
Now, You Guitarprayer where a complete and happy surprise for me, and I had not heard their Art Won’t Tear Us Apart Again, (love that title and the obvious nod) debut album. But hearing it now, it shows they knew from a start that they would never be aiming to fit into anybody’s scene. Sharp, heavy and wild, but also very open, spacious and windy, as if they’d left the windows cracked during a storm. Walls were shaking and there are definite moments where you could hear the air move. That’s a rare balance and they nailed it! There it is again… Balance…
And on I Am The Light / The Light I Am they nailed it even harder! They obviously kept pushing, playing hard, staying loose, letting instinct steer the wheel. The singles they dropped showed a band stretching out, growing teeth in all the right places and shedding skin to grow scales. There are no apologies and You Guitarprayer knows, they’re never needed anyway. They’re committed and way too invested, and everything worth doing, is worth doing right…
And all of that has led to I Am The Light / The Light I Am becoming bigger, deeper, vibrant and absolutely alive. It’s still very raw, and there are moments when there is this weird wistful energy and then you imagine someone like Iggy Pop definitely giving the nod to these guys on stage. After which the beautiful chaos they’ve owned since they started, becomes something radiant and glowing, and with so much soul deep inside their noise. Thrilling! Goosebumps all over…
Forgive them their name, for You Guitarprayer is a band of three, three brethren that are following the pull of something real. This is music that hits you in the chest. You feel it in your stomach. It sends shivers down your spine. You Guitarprayer aren’t just playing these notes, they’ve captured a lifetime within an they’ve got voltage running through them!
(Written by JK)
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