AYD (AYD)

10 hours ago
4 min read

Released: 2026

Genre: Sludge, Post-doom

Sounds Like: YOB, ISIS, Neurosis

Homeland: Slovenia

What makes AYD elite and sit atop OHMs Peak?

AYD is a monumental album filled with Post-metal, sludge, and doom. It might be one of the most diverse sludge albums to enrich our rotation in quite a while.
The four songs are deeply engaging and draw you into their spiraling sludge world.
For a debut album, AYD shows impressive patience, skillfully balancing the contrast between the most intense moments and the quietest sections.

Track Listing:

The Giant 11:56
God Flesh 9:11
Somniferum 15:56
Al' Araf 22:07

Dive deeper into AYD with our Q&A with the band.

OHMs Peak: AYD is a relatively new name, but the three of you sound like a band with years of shared instincts. How did this trio come together, and what shaped the early identity of AYD?

AYD: Yes, with AYD we only recently released our first full length, but we've been making music together since 2020. When we first started out, our intention was to make nasty, slow and heavy music, which we're all huge fans of. Jan and Tarik talked about making this kind of band since they were in college, because they both played in different bands before, with different musical backgrounds (Tarik played in a few punk bands and Jan is still playing in a dm/deathcore band) and saw doom metal as a golden middle ground. We met Gabrijel in 2020 and we quickly came to a conclusion that we all want to make this kind of music. Soon after we started jamming at Gabrijel's home and the rest just came together naturally. The shared instinct was there from the beginning, which really surprised and motivated us.

OHMs Peak: “Somniferum” is the album’s towering centerpiece — a slow‑burning, suffocating, almost ritualistic track. What were the inner workings behind how this song came about?

AYD: As a doom metal band, we felt it was appropriate to pay homage to the godfathers, Black Sabbath, with one of our songs. The first idea of a song started with the main riff of the song, and then slowly started taking shape into what is the final version. In making of this song we also applied the philosophy of Matt Pyke, which goes something in the lines of: ' If the riff is good, you can play it as long as you want'...or something like that.

OHMs Peak: The album art for AYD is stark and ominous — a monochrome, high‑contrast image that feels like a relic pulled from a forgotten industrial archive. Who created the image and what atmosphere were you aiming for with this visual identity?

AYD: So the image is actually a real natural shape that resembles a face in a mountain slope of Prisojnik near the Vrsic pass in the Triglav national park. The face is called Ajdovska deklica (roughly translated Pagan/Giant Maiden), who is part of Slovenian mythology/folklore. The image was taken by Nusa (Tarik's girlfriend) while they were on a holiday trip. We then slightly altered the image to our liking.

OHMs Peak: Outside your genre, what band do you feel would most complement your sound in a live setting?

AYD: Hmm, this is a bit tough. If we go outside our genre, it would be bands like Pink Floyd, Korn and Bohren & der Club of Gore. The picks are from each member, respectively.

OHMs Peak: Each of you has a history in other bands and projects before AYD. Can you tell us more about your prior projects and how did those past experiences shape what you’re doing now?

AYD: Tarik started playing in a punk band with his brothers at age 13. In 12 years the band split into two bands, and in the end just one stayed together. In the end he felt that the band was not creative enough for his needs, also the fast paced, linear music and lifestyle didn't suit him anymore. He felt that he can express his creativity much more with AYD.

Gabrijel also has a history of playing in different bands, different genres, different instruments and was also a DJ for a while. In the end, he simply found out that this kind of music suits him the most.

Jan first started playing in a dm/deathcore band Dethrone the Corrupted but eventually wanted to have a project that is slower and less technically demanding. So you could say that we each had our share of experience of playing in a band and how a band functions in general and so on, AYD is simply a common point of our musical interests, an awesome stress reliever and fun creative outlet.

OHMs Peak: AYD is stranded on an island with only a solar‑powered record player. As a band, collectively, what single album are you bringing with you?

AYD: Hali Gali Halid – Hajde Da Se Drogiramo!

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