REZN: “The way we approach art, and recording, has changed dramatically over time.”

Few bands occupy the same space as REZN. Across the course of their career, the Chicago quartet have gradually expanded beyond the confines of doom, blending heavy psychedelia, post-metal, shoegaze and progressive rock into something increasingly difficult to categorise. Rather than standing still, each release has marked another step in the band’s evolution, with every record pushing further beyond the last.

Their latest album, Cycles in the Infinite Dream, continues that progression. Written over a longer period than any previous REZN record and recorded at Chicago’s legendary Electrical Audio, it finds the band refining their songwriting, embracing melody and stripping arrangements back without sacrificing the weight and atmosphere that have defined their sound.

Speaking with V13 for our latest Cover Story, guitarist Phil Cangelosi and keyboardist Spencer Ouellette discuss the freedom of making their least rushed record, the collaborative writing process behind the album, why less often became more, how touring alongside bands like Russian Circles and Pallbearer has shaped their approach, and why Cycles in the Infinite Dream represents the clearest picture yet of who Rezn are today.

Can you talk me through the recording process of the new album, Cycles in the Infinite Dream, the ideas you took into the studio and whether the finished album matched your initial vision?

Phil Cangelosi: “This was probably the first record we’ve made where we weren’t completely rushed or dealing with some larger complication. Sometimes that pressure can help, so that isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, but this time we gave ourselves much more space. The bones of the opening track were written in 2023, and we had time to filter through a lot of ideas. Many didn’t even make it beyond a rough recording in the practice space because we knew they weren’t right. With every record, we say we don’t want to write the same album twice, so the question became, “What are we going to do differently?”

We wanted to move things along a little more while still sounding like Rezn. We didn’t necessarily need every song to be nine minutes long. We tried to boil the ideas down, make everything feel good and be more concise so the record could fit on a single LP. We were still able to create that expansive, conceptual feeling without making it quite as brooding as before, and I think we’re all happy with how that turned out.”

Phil: “Recording at Electrical Audio was also a major part of it. I think we’ve all wanted to work there since we started the band. In Chicago, it’s definitely a destination studio. We were able to spend a week there recording with Greg, which was an incredible experience. It helped us formulate the album in the way we wanted, to the best of our ability.

We also tried new things, including Spencer bringing in lap steel. This was the first time I felt we genuinely had enough time to make the record properly. Of course, you always wish you had one more week in the studio, but if you added another week, you’d probably want another after that. Overall, it felt good. It felt like we were actually able to make the album we wanted.”

“With every record, we say we don’t want to write the same album twice, so the question became, “What are we going to do differently?”

Spencer Ouellette: “We did have to add an extra day.”

What was the extra day for?

Spencer: “We underestimated how much time all the essential first steps would take — tracking drums, guitars, overdubs and reamping the bass. I think we may have overdubbed some guitars later at our own space because we ran out of time. The synth work all happened afterwards, so that didn’t take up studio time. We used the extra day for lap steel and strings because there are string arrangements on a couple of songs.”

Phil: “We also got to use the second studio, so we made full use of the Electrical Audio facility. We were in Studio A for most of the sessions, then used Studio B for the strings and lap steel.”

Would it be fair to say the doom element has been pulled back on this record? I love that because you already have complete bodies of work where listeners can get that heavier doom sound. You don’t have to make the same record every time. To me, there’s a lot of discipline here. There are moments where you could have gone heavier, but instead you pulled back and took the songs somewhere unexpected. Were the directions these songs took surprising to you as well?

Spencer: “Yes, although most of those surprises happened before we reached the studio. Once we enter the studio, we want everything as fleshed out as possible because time is money. We want to know how the songs are going to work before we begin recording. During the writing process, though, certain songs start as little nuggets of an idea, and everyone imagines where they could go.

Eventually we hone everything together and sometimes realise, “I didn’t expect this to become a slow, crushing section,” or, “I didn’t expect us to increase this by ten beats per minute.” There were moments of surprise, but they mostly came before we entered the studio.”

V13 Cover Story 129 – July 20th – Rezn

Phil: “There were some funny situations too. The second track on the record was one I was vehemently against. It was at the bottom of my list of songs I wanted to keep. At that stage, it sounded nothing like it does now. We probably spent twice as much time on that song during the writing process as any other because something always felt wrong.

Rob was on a long drive listening to Sumac and suggested trying something in seven. The main chugging part emerged from that, and for some reason that one section glued the entire song together. That surprised me because now I love the song. I didn’t realise it only needed that one thing. Initially, I was absolutely not on team ‘keep this song‘.”

That surprises me because I have that marked as one of my favourite songs on the album. There’s no negative space in it. If you imagined the song as a box, every inch is filled with something. The layers are unbelievable. Does there come a point where you realise you’ve added too much and need to strip things back?

Spencer: “Absolutely.”

Phil: “Most of the time, that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re saying that was too much to pull it back.”

Spencer: “Every time we make a record, we try to level up our musical ability. With Solace and Burden, one of our mission was to add as many layers as we wanted, follow our instincts and then begin stripping things away. That became a skill we acquired during that chapter of our evolution, and we’ve carried it into this record.”

Once we enter the studio, we want everything as fleshed out as possible because time is money. We want to know how the songs are going to work before we begin recording.”

Phil: “Even in the recording process, we’ve learned that more doesn’t always mean bigger. Before Chaotic Divine, some tracks had a baseline of at least four guitars supporting everything, and sometimes there were ten or fifteen layers. We wanted everything to sound huge, but it was too much and stopped the music hitting as hard. This time, we kept chopping things back. There are sections where Rob is playing one guitar and it isn’t even doubled, but when you listen back it still sounds enormous. We didn’t need fourteen guitars there. It actually sounds better with one.”

Does the ability to recreate the material live influence those decisions, or do you make whatever record you want and work out the live version later?

Spencer: “It’s a little of both. We write the songs together in person, so they naturally become something we can recreate live. The synth parts can be different because I often add those after everything else has been recorded. Sometimes I’ll write synth parts once the record is otherwise finished, which can lead to us thinking, ‘We’d better work out how to do this live.’ Usually it’s fine. We make it work, and it becomes a fun challenge.”

Phil: “Rob probably has the hardest time because he records the vocals after the music, and sometimes the relationship between the vocal and guitar parts makes it difficult to sing and play simultaneously. He’s had to work out how to perform certain sections while singing.”

What’s incredible is that the vocals almost become another instrument on the album, particularly on this record. They feel like they’re on another level. Was Rob pushed more this time?

Phil: “I’m glad you said that because it was a major part of the process. We’d never really written with lyrics in mind before. It was always music first, then we’d find a way to fit lyrics over it. This time we talked about melody during rehearsals and tried to leave room for it. Some of the vocal lines came from Spencer’s lap steel parts. Because lap steel is naturally a lead instrument, we sometimes realised during the vocal-writing process that a lap steel melody should actually become the vocal line. Spencer would then change his part around it.”

Spencer: “Rob has also improved from record to record. He has always had strong melodic intuition, but he keeps getting better. As Phil said, we deliberately kept the potential for melody in mind when writing the music. We tried to create sonic canyons that could later be filled with a melodic river. For the most part, I think it worked.”

Phil: “On earlier records, we sometimes didn’t leave enough room. That happened on Burden with at least one song. We finished writing and recording the track, then realised we had nowhere to put the vocals. We eventually figured it out, but that particular kind of stress is unique.”

Do you ever call on anyone outside the band for a second opinion, or do you keep everything between yourselves?

Spencer: “Occasionally, if we’re excited about something, we might show a friend. For the most part, though, we keep it within the band. We’re not overly concerned with whether something sounds like this band or that band to somebody else. We’re primarily trying to push ourselves and make the thing we want to make. Whatever that ends up sounding like is what it is. We might workshop forty ideas before they become eight or nine songs, but between the four of us, we can usually decide that thirty-one of them are rubbish and move in the right direction.”

Rezn ‘Cycles in the Infinite Dream’ Album Artwork

Beyond the music you were listening to, were there books, films or other art forms that inspired the record?

Spencer: “We all love different forms of art and media. I love film, and soundtracking and storytelling are especially interesting to me. It feels natural to bring those influences into the music. People connect to stories. They want to hear a journey from point A to point B. For me, film definitely influences the way I approach music.”

Phil: “I read fantasy books constantly, so that’s one of my personal influences. Our writing process is also very collective. Rob might arrive at rehearsal with one riff, and the four of us will ask, “What do we want to do with this?” Everything comes from a kind of group consciousness. It isn’t one person carrying a song all the way to the finish line. The inspiration often comes from how the four of us are interacting and feeling at that moment. That adds quite a bit of chaos too.”

So it becomes a collective inspiration between you, which is incredible. Trying to identify the individual influences on this record is almost impossible because it feels like such a unique piece of art. I’d put it among the best two or three records of the year so far. In terms of ambition, where do you see the next year going for the band once the album is released?

Spencer: “We’re really looking forward to playing these songs live because they’re higher energy than much of our previous work and include new instrumentation. One of the most enjoyable parts of making a record is presenting it to people in person and saying, “We didn’t just record this — we can actually play it.” We leave for Europe later today and will be taking some of the new songs with us. Because the songs are shorter, we can present more ideas in less time. We have so many ideas, and it’s fun to package them into a set and show people more of who we are. That’s the next step for this record.”

“We all love different forms of art and media. I love film, and soundtracking and storytelling are especially interesting to me.”

Phil: “Fundamentally, we’re a live band. That’s our bread and butter. The more we do it, the better it gets, so we’re always trying to level up the live show within the limits of what we can physically do as a band. We have a lot of shows coming up, so we’re constantly thinking about how to make the performance feel more exciting and more like Rezn. These are already the most enjoyable songs we have to play live.

We also continue refining songs after they’re released. Six months from now, we might perform a part differently because we’ve found a more interesting way to play it. It will still sound like the song, but we might decide to do something stranger live. A guitar solo might become a saxophone or lap steel section instead.”

Do those changes come from a conversation, or might somebody try something spontaneously onstage?

Spencer: “There’s definitely a conversation. Because the music is already such a collaborative effort, it wouldn’t feel right for one person to make an executive decision like that without discussing it.”

The first time I saw you was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, when you played with Pallbearer. I’d flown in for The Dillinger Escape Plan reunion the following day. The Keening opened, and they were incredible too. I later saw you at Damnation Festival. What inspiration have you taken from playing with bands like Pallbearer and the other artists you’ve toured with?

Phil: “A huge amount. Many of those bands have been doing this longer than us and have systems in place. Russian Circles helped us enormously by showing us how to do things more sustainably and efficiently. They’d tell us not to do something a certain way because another approach was easier. Even with this record, Dave came in and helped Pat tune the drum kit, which saved us time, and let him use his bell-brass snare. Bands like that help in very practical ways.”

Phil: “Pallbearer talked to us about how they recorded their most recent record. If I remember correctly, they had returned to an older way of working because it felt easier and more organic for them. Hearing how other bands make their lives easier is valuable.

Every band’s dynamic is different, especially creatively, but even getting advice on everyday practical things can save you from making the same mistakes and learning the lesson two years later. Every band we’ve toured with has been incredibly generous with that knowledge. I think we developed much faster because people were willing to share information and help us.”

That creates a really positive sense of community, and it’s something you’ll be able to pass on to other bands in the future. I’ve been avoiding describing the individual songs because I don’t want to spoil that first listening experience. One of the most beautiful things about this record is encountering it for the first time and then returning to it. It’s an album that demands your full attention. One song I particularly love is ‘Aerial Birth’. As the album progresses, it seems to begin with a heavier stomp and gradually become more transient and ethereal. Are songs like that going straight into the live set, or does the variety make building the set more complicated?

Spencer: “We won’t let that stop us from playing anything. The more variety, the better. If there’s something for everyone within the set, that’s better for everybody. We’re less interested in achieving one uniform sound for one type of listener than we are in exploring different ideas. Hopefully, even if every song doesn’t connect with someone, something will.”

Phil: “We’re not interested in representing only one type of album either.”

“One of the most beautiful things about this record is encountering it for the first time and then returning to it. It’s an album that demands your full attention.”

That scope means you can appeal to listeners who may prefer the psychedelic, rock, metal or stoner elements over the doomier side. For a festival, that range must be a dream.

Spencer: “I also think people are more likely to connect with where we’re coming from when there’s a diverse palette of tones, sounds and themes. Everybody is complicated. Nobody is one-dimensional. A character in a film becomes boring if they don’t have a wide range of characteristics. We’re people too, and we’re trying to squeeze as many of our musical influences and life experiences as possible into what we make. If everything fitted neatly into one tried-and-tested genre and ticked all the expected boxes, I don’t think the average listener would be as interested because it wouldn’t feel as genuine.”

It takes courage to change your sound. This record is unmistakably Rezn from beginning to end, but there’s a definite shift. The band’s evolution has been incredible in such a short period. I also wanted to discuss the artwork. The artwork for Solace and Burden tied closely together because the songs were part of the same larger body of work, almost like the yin and yang of those two records. How did the artwork for the new album come about?

Phil: “It took us forever to work out.”

Spencer: “It was a difficult process.”

Phil: “We knew the general atmosphere we wanted, but finding the right image and artist was difficult. We went down several rabbit holes. We’d think something worked, then a problem would arise or somebody wouldn’t be interested. Rob eventually found Jock, who I believe is based in Florida. His work felt congruent with what we were trying to achieve.

The colour was particularly important to me. Most of our previous artwork has used earth tones, and I’m usually the earth-tone person, but this album has more energy. I wanted something brighter and more alive. When we saw this particular piece, it was a unanimous response. It felt right for the record.”

Spencer: “As you mentioned, there are many different things happening sonically and tonally on the album. The artwork felt congruent because it contains many potentially disconnected elements sharing the same space. There’s a narrative you can sculpt for yourself by looking at it long enough, and I think you can do the same with the music.”

Does the artwork help separate this record from the previous chapter of Rezn? It immediately tells people this is something new.

Spencer: “Absolutely. That was essentially the mission. It was also why the process was so difficult. In the past, we usually had a general framework and a defined target for the artwork. We’ve even written records with artwork already in mind. This time was different. We knew it would mark a new chapter, so the process was much more open-ended. The more options you have, the harder it becomes to decide.”

“There are many different things happening sonically and tonally on the album. The artwork felt congruent because it contains many potentially disconnected elements sharing the same space.”

Did you finish the album and then send it to the artist, or did you give them your ideas and ask them to create something?

Spencer: “Neither. The artwork already existed and we adopted it. We considered hiring artists we’d worked with before to create something specifically for the album, which would have involved sending them the music and collaborating. This time, because we didn’t know exactly how we wanted to represent the record visually, searching through existing work gave us more opportunity to discover what we believed the album looked like. It felt less like crossing our fingers and hoping somebody else’s interpretation aligned with ours. It was still a scary first step because we hadn’t worked that way before.”

Phil: “The timeline is also strange to think about. Solace and Burden were written during the pandemic and largely formulated around 2021 or 2022. We haven’t actually gone through the complete process of making a new album from beginning to end since then. Burden came out in 2024, so it doesn’t feel that long ago, but the concept, artwork and overall plan had existed for years. The way we approach art, recording and everything else has changed dramatically over that time. Choosing existing artwork was part of that natural evolution. We didn’t want to keep doing things the same way. We wanted this to feel like its own living, breathing thing. It was a long and painstaking process, but we got there.”

It’s incredible that the artwork existed before the record because the two fit together perfectly. There’s a spiritual and cosmic crossover in the image that encompasses the album. It almost feels heaven-sent that you found it. To finish with a more straightforward question, if somebody had never listened to Rezn before, why should this be the first record they hear? Or should they begin somewhere else?

Spencer: “If it were up to me, I’d say they should start with this one. It contains more ideas in a shorter amount of time and covers more territory. It has slightly more pop sensibility than our previous records, and it’s simply fun to listen to. There’s more chance that different listeners will have different favourite songs. When an album only has four songs and somebody says their favourite is the twelve-minute track, there was already a twenty-five per cent chance of that happening.”

Phil: “I’m personally biased because I genuinely think this is my favourite record we’ve written. If I had to offer two routes, though, I’d say listeners wanting something more heady should start with Chaotic Divine. That record was very stream-of-consciousness and captures a particularly DIY period of the band. Some of the vocal parts were recorded in my bedroom. It represents the transition between us being completely DIY and moving towards more selective studio work and formal writing.

If somebody wants a snapshot of who we are now, and the record that I think all four of us would agree best represents us today, then they should start with the new one. If you want something more heady, choose Chaotic Divine. Chaotic Divine has an eight-minute drone in the middle, so you have to be ready for that particular experience. If you want something current, fun and consistently engaging from beginning to end, choose Cycles in the Infinite Dream.”