Customer Reviews

Carboniferous (Dig)

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("Carboniferous" by Zu)

Zu are a Roman (as in from Rome, Italy) instrumental trio consisting of drummer Jacopo Battaglia, bassist Massimo Pupillo and saxophonist Luca T. Mai. They specialize in the sort of wild, loud experimentalism that is constantly compared to the more aggressive recordings of John Zorn (i.e., Electric Masada). Those expecting Jazz or other fusionoid tendencies should be warned, though. Zu are definitely more of a rock band--a brawny, rabid noise rock band to be more precise. While their past efforts had a "jazz" element (courtesy of those saxophones), on "Carboniferous," they attempt to crush your skull and grind it into so much dirt to prove their R-O-C-K credentials. Sure, there's no guitars to be found, but Pupillo distorts his bass to produce low-end riffs n' roars. Likewise, Mai's saxophone never noodles; it squeals, honks and gernerally skronks things up. Battaglia cements the deal; those are no brushes in his hands for sure--his relentlesness is closer to the industrial of early Swans or the math-metal of Helmet. As a matter of fact, with their whiplash time changes and tempo shifts, they eliminate all kinds of clutter normally associated with jazz, such as soloing or even melody. Ipecac recordings head lunatic Mike Patton was so impressed with their chops that he not only signed them, but also contributes the only vocals on the album for the track "Soulympics" in his patented gibberish grunting. As if to also prove they don't don't need no stinkin' vocals, this is the weakest track on the album. In fact, the only moment of relative restraint here is album closer "orc," but even that seems designed to kill. What's all the more impressive, though, is that it never grows tiring. These monsters are good for both moshing and listening. In fact, this is one of the best of '09 so far.

Recommended for fans of: Lightning Bolt, The Flying Luttenbachers, Helmet, Blind Idiot God. Not to mention repeatedly slamming your head in a car door.

Just wanted to add my praise to this album, one of the top albums from 2009 for me. Difficult to compare with anything else but there's a touch of the crazy intersection of metal, avent-garde jazz and dance music it shares with Shining's Blackjazz. Yes I really said dance music, but this comes from a guy who likes to dance to Ascension. For me, rhythm is at the heart of these different forms of music, and this is a rhythm album. The guitar input from King Buzzo and, in particular, vocal input from Mike Patton really helps to make this. The sound quality is extremely impressive. This album flows beautifully from the immediacy of floorpounding Ostia to ethereal Orc.

Congratulations Zu for this, which for me was a complete revelation. Thank you.

There are no words to describe how much ass these guys kick with three instruments. Except for one track where Mike Patton guest-screams, (which,as much as I love Patton, on this album is the weakest track); the rest of it is just kicking the living lights out of their instruments, in process creating beautiful, complex, deep, hard, glorious noise. They were random played on my last fm radio page, and I was instantly hooked. If you like your music on a level that gives your inner organs deep tissue massage, than it doesn't get better than Zu. Great, great work. I can only imagine how it must be to see them live. Here's hoping!

What can I say... I love this album. I ran into ZU in a youtube mix with some of the Zorn stuff that I love and was stunned. Loud, excellent, hard experimental rock. If you like Naked City, you'll like this as well. As one of the other reviewers mentioned, listen to some samples first and then buy yourself a copy of this album!

This album won't be for everyone, but if you have an ear for this type of music, the energy in it will leave you stunned. Listen to a sample on this site before buying. After repeated listenings, it just gets better & better. I cannot describe the style, or sound. It's just powerful. Great Album.

A real workout for both brain and hi-fi. Gotta listen to it form CD to get the full hit (not a crappy MP3 download).