ZU : CARBONIFEROUS
Ipecac
Hands up – who has any previous albums by Zu? Okay then, hands up who has heard of this Italian collective? So very few of you? Well now you can begin to make amends! This amazing trio hailing from Rome have something like a dozen full releases to their credit, and so many gigs they have lost count, but have still to the wider public seemingly remained a darkly cloaked enigma.
If I tell you that these guys are big favourites of Faith No More/Fantomas/Mr Bungle/ Tomahawk/Peeping Tom et al frontman, and Ipecac label head honcho Mike Patton, you’ll immediately realise that Zu are most assuredly NOT going to be easy listening pop music. If I then tell you that founder-member and saxophonist Luca Mai is a colossal fan of both John Zorn, and the New Yorker’s infamous Naked City outfit – you’ll undoubtedly start to get a loose idea of where Zu are ‘coming from’ (musically speaking that is!).
The band is completed by drummer Jacopo Battaglia and bass guitarist Massimo Pupillo – yes there are NO guitars or keyboards in sight! If you think that a sax-fronted power trio can’t be extreme – then you are totally deluded and need a huge dose of “Carboniferous” immediately – to put you to rights! This is totally an extreme release… savage, belligerent, brutal, as hard as nails, and unrelentingly “in your face”.
Think Melvins, think Naked City, think Voivod, think Nomeansno, think Dillinger Escape Plan, think Punk, think Hardcore, think Metal…EXTREME METAL!… then you’re getting there! 10 songs of blisteringly intense musical mayhem that leaves you punch drunk and reeling from repeated body blows… it is a body blocker of an album, and a genuinely venomous release. I love this to death… so should you!
95/100
SATANIC MUTTLEY
