AWS (pronounced ah-vi-esh) is a Hungarian post-hardcore band formed in 2006 by Bence Brucker, Dániel Kökényes, Örs Siklósi and Áron Veress. Their music is characterized by diversity, powerful performances, and sudden changes, which utilizes metal, psychedelic rock, alternative and post-rock styles. Up to now, they have released four studio albums, two live albums and fourteen video clips. Their music videos often have juxtapositions of images of violence and celebrities in order to bring light to problems that the world faces, exhibiting what they call being "anti-celebrity".[1] They represented Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Portugal with the song Viszlát nyár.[2]

Career

AWS in 2018. Left to right: Veress, Schiszler, Siklósi, Kökényes and Brucker.

Since the formation of their band, they have played in festivals such as Sziget Festival in 2010[3] and have even toured beyond Hungary in places such as Austria, England, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain. They won the MTV Brand award for New Winning Band.[4] They have toured with Blind Myself.

On 6 December 2017, it was announced that AWS would compete in A Dal 2018, the Hungarian national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.[5] Their song Viszlát Nyár (Goodbye Summer) won the competition and as a result, represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.[6] They qualified from the 2nd semifinal, and ended in 21st place in the final with 93 points.

During their stint at Eurovision Song Contest it was announced that AWS were invited to play at Wacken Open Air in August 2018.[7][8] In October the same year AWS released their fourth full-length studio record called Fekete Részem which charted at no. 2 at Hungarian Albums Charts a week later.

On 6 February 2021, the band announced on Instagram that lead singer Örs Siklósi had died on 5 February from leukaemia at the age of 29.[9]

On 16 January 2023, the band introduced the new vocalist of the band, Stefán Tamás.[10]

Musical style

According to an interview with the German-language Hungarian newspaper Budapester Zeitung the musicians came in contact with rock and metal music during their childhoods. Bands like Nirvana, Metallica and several Hungarian metal bands were the first ones they listened to. The musicians name groups like Linkin Park, Pantera, System of a Down, and Korn as well as Hungarian acts like Superbutt, Subscribe and Isten Háta Mögött as their personal musical influences.[11]

The band's lyrics on their debut record Fata Morgana were mostly written in English but they decided to write song lyrics in Hungarian for future songs. For Fata Morgana, the band wrote the lyrics in Hungarian first and later translated them into English. The lyrical themes deal with personal experiences as well as societal and economic themes.[11]

Their sound was attested to have catchy melodies, a clear Hungarian character, vocal harmonies and a decent groove which takes away the emo influences the band uses. Some songs were described to be mass appealing, modern metal.[12]

Discography

AWS's logo

Studio albums

Year Title
(Details)
Peak positions[13]
HUN[a]
2011 Fata Morgana
* Label: EDGE Records
* Released: 25 April 2011
* Format: CD, DL
27[b]
(1 w)
2014 Égésföld
* Label: EDGE Records
* Released: 7 April 2014
* Format: CD, DL
6[c]
(2 w)
2016 Kint a vizből
* Label: EDGE Records
* Released: 5 September 2016
* Format: CD, DL
7[d]
(2 w)
2018 Fekete részem
* Label: EDGE Records
* Released: 1 October 2018
* Format: CD, DL
2
(3 w)

Live albums

Year Title
(Details)
Peak positions[14]
HUN[e]
2018 Madách
* Label: EDGE Records
* Released: 24 December 2018
* Format: CD, DVD, DL
9

Extended plays

Title Details
Világposztolás

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
HUN
Takard el 2011 Fata Morgana
Válaszút 2012 Égésföld
Világposztolás
Ha nem tűnsz el 2013
Nem fáj 2014
Te is félsz 2015 Kint a vízből
Hajnali járat 2016
Viszlát nyár 2017 1[15] Fekete Részem
Hol voltál? 2018 30[16]
X/0
Fekete Részem
Még Lélegzem 2019
Engedd el
(feat. Cloud 9+)
Emlékszem
(Hivatalos videó)
2021
Útvesztő 2022
Odaát 2023
2359 2023
Ketten képzeletben 2023
Fények nélkül 2024
Nincs Árnyék 2024

Notes

  1. ^ The Hungarian Albums Chart doesn't have a personal artist archive, only overall chart rankings archive instead. If you want look up on how long a song or an album lasted in the Charts you have to check it manually.
  2. ^ The album charted in the week of 18 October 2018.
  3. ^ The album reached its peak position on 13 April 2014 and re-entered the charts at no 21 on 18 October 2018.
  4. ^ The album reached its peak position on 9 September 2016 and re-entered the charts at no 20 on 18 October 2018.
  5. ^ The Hungarian Albums Chart doesn't have a personal artist archive, only a overall chart rankings archive instead. If you want look up on how long a song or an album lasted in the Charts you have to check it manually.

References

  1. ^ "AWS: Talán segítünk gondolatot ébreszteni! [interjú]" (in Hungarian). Antropos.hu. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  2. ^ AWS – Viszlát Nyár – Hungary – Official Music Video – Eurovision 2018. Official Eurovision Song Contest on YouTube. Published 9 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Sziget 2010 line-up". Sziget News. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Új formációk, új lehetőségek a Dal 2018-ban" (in Hungarian). Mediaklikk.hu. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Új zsűritagokkal és műsorvezetőkkel jön a Dal 2018" (in Hungarian). Híradó. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  6. ^ Mercereau, Damien (9 March 2018). "Eurovision 2018 : le rock musclé du groupe AWS pour la Hongrie" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  7. ^ Frank Jaeger: Powermetal.de: AWS wird in Wacken spielen und heute Abend im TV – mitwählen! (German)
  8. ^ Jan Feddersen: Taz.de: 63. Eurovision Song Contest in Lissabon – Engtanz und Extensions (German)
  9. ^ "AWS lead singer Örs Siklósi has died". eurovision.tv. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. ^ "AWS Official en Instagram: '🐜🖤 #odaát'". eurovision.tv. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  11. ^ a b Härtzsch, Bianca (19 April 2018). "Interview mit den Mitgliedern des ESC-Kandidaten AWS: Ein großer Moment für Ungarns Metal-Szene" (in German). Budapester Zeitung. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  12. ^ Backes, Björn (15 October 2018). "Nett und brav: Der ESC-Vertreter Ungarns" (in German). Powermetal.de. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  13. ^ Charts: HUN
  14. ^ Charts: HUN
  15. ^ "Single Top 40 slágerlista – Hivatalos magyar slágerlisták". Slagerlistak.hu. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Single (track) Top 40 lista – Hivatalos magyar slágerlisták". Zene.slagerlistak.hu.

External links

Preceded by Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest
2018
Succeeded by