Just two hours from Vienna, we enter the city of Graz – a small community with about 300,000 residents. It is here our
paths cross with Austrian heavyweights Savanah, who made their first big splash in 2015 with the release of Deep
Shades. The album was celebrated as a genuine rocker and a galloping adventure, ushering listeners through a dreamy
sonic intermingled with delirious solos.
Savanah are known to be brilliant improvisers, something that is especially evident in their 2017 album The Healer.
These master instrumentalists paint serene landscapes replete with imagination, color, and panache. Savanah don’t
rush their songs, but let them breathe and sweat, relishing in the possibility of discovering some strange new realm.
Brooding and morose, you’ll sometimes pick up on the subtlest undercurrent of the Melvins when listening.
Within this doomy world of the solitary wanderer, you’re sure to find something essential for the journey – a hook, a riff,
a melody or chorus – and you will surely return again for more.
“In the end, we just play rock music.”
Savanah have been described as a tight group with superb musicianship, fantastic vocals, and a proggy psychedelic
vibe. “I think this describes it pretty well,” Savanah state, “but we never think in genres. We are just writing our songs
like how we love to play them.”
The band’s inner dynamic is essential to crafting their sound. “Nothing will be done if one of us doesn’t like it,” explains
the band. “So maybe our style just changes on how our minds are changing.”
Savanah’s brand of psychedelic doom rumbles and roars, grounding us in the earth and transporting us to enraptured
heights. That their music has power is beyond question. What’s impressive is the many Savanah fans have related how
the music has been of great strength and comfort to them through hard times.
Beginnings
Though the band formed just several years ago, Benjamin Schwarz (bass guitar, vocals) and Jakob Gauster (guitar) have
known each other since childhood, where they bonded over a mutual love of skateboarding and Fu Manchu. Decades
later, when the friends discussed forming a new band, they met recent German transplant Felix Thalhammer (drums)
and Savanah was born. “We are just like three best friends now,” notes Jakob.
Savanah counts among their proudest achievements supporting Fu Manchu, John Garcia, Colour Haze, and
Pentagram, among others. They have toured the whole of Europe, too, signing with the StoneFree Records. “Every
positive response and every really lovely fan we have,” adds the band, “is a proud achievement.”
Olympus Mons
Now the band has released their third album, ‘Olympus Mons’ (2021), named after the largest mountain in the known
universe – located on Mars. “Since we played so many shows the last few years,” Savanah remarks, “it took us four
years to write these songs.” And well worth the wait at that! The LP features a total of five songs on it, showcasing a
boundary-pushing progressive approach, with the longest track clocking in at 13 minutes in length. ‘Olympus Mons’
has been consistently flooded with positive reviews and represents the band’s biggest milestone to date. Better listen
to it fast!