I honestly didn't have high expectations for this Swiss trio, I'm not sure why, but this is actually pretty god damn good. Five tracks of punishing midpaced material with lots of crushing chord progressions, thundering percussion, occasional layers of experimental noise, and vocals that shift from ominously droning singing to bitter midrange screams. There's some melody in there as well, amidst all of the rhythmic pounding and repetition, so I'm pretty into this. They don't sound alike, but I would definitely put this in a similar category to old favorites like Neurosis and Godflesh as well as younger acts like Cult of Luna - just as a reference point. This is definitely going in a more all out heavy direction, and it can get a little groovy at times, but don't place too much emphasis on that, because the songwriting and overall atmosphere are very dark and often very powerful. The noise textures only add a minimal industrial influence as well, namely in "Alive" as they become a bit more rhythmic and intentional, but I think they're a strong addition as a whole. Opener "Reveal" has some of the more involved layering and guitar riffing; "C Through" uses a bit more groove and also has some of the more dissonant or melodic textures hovering about; while the 15-minute "Fourem" closes the EP by opening with a slow dirge over a distant sample, significantly longer than the other four tracks (only "...Zato Krev" comes close at 10 minutes), and its sludgy yet eerily melodic core riff is definitely something that stands out as one of the finer moments herein. Fucking excellent, in fact. The recording sounds pretty slick as well. It's definitely heavy as hell. The drums could use a little more low-end resonance, but the guitars and bass lock into a thick, seamless unit, and I think the bitterness of the vocals meets that well. A deeper vocal style might be nice as contrast at times, but I really like the monotone singing passages, so there's enough to hold my interest as is. The guitar tone could maybe stand a little polishing up to give the bass more individual identity, but this definitely sounds effective. The layout is minimal and keeps things consistent with abstract images that look like they might be collaged from manipulated medical scans of some sort. The lyrics and such appear inside in a crisp typeface and keep things bleak and abstract: "To understand my war inside made me create a new faith..." There's also a CD-Rom video for the track "...Zato Krev", which is made up of abstract footage of the band in black and white as well as some desaturated color, often layered together for effect. Definitely visually in line with something I'd expect to see from a Neurosis/Godflesh-esque act. Not a bad addition. I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band. This is their first proper release, and I bet they've got stronger material in 'em. With a bit more exploration of their melodic side and perhaps tweaking some of the less traditional influences they could unload some massive, massive material. Definitely watch out for these guys. It's really nice to be pleasantly surprised by an unknown band like this.
[Code:Breaker]
Running time - 39:58, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Reveal, C Through, Fourem]
Zatokrev - http://www.zatokrev.com
