New year, new band… well, to me anyway! Hailing from Germany, which isn’t short of metal bands, comes some unsigned death/thrash from Dark Zodiak. Ophiuchus is their third album, so let’s see if I’ve been missing anything by not hearing the first two…
The first thing I noticed during the intro to opening song “Do More Say Less” is that the sound is great. The bass drum thump is wonderful, clean guitar notes are sharp and even the snares and cymbals crash without any distortion. After thirty seconds or so, the more thrash/death elements kick and and I’m glad to say that the sound holds up. The distorted guitars are nice and crunchy, and Simone Schwarz’s vocals (along with the backing voices from her bandmates) are nice and clear. Well, as clear as throaty death metal vocals get anyway!
The song follows the familiar pattern of verses, choruses and solos but it’s the perfect opener and introduction to the band. The mini-barrage of solos about 2/3 of the way through allows both Charly Gak and Benni Poeck to have a quick flurry and they manage to hold back from just shredding the hell out of their six-strings, instead slowing the pace and playing some decent music while Dieter Schwarz continues to maintain pace on his drums. What I really liked was that once they’re both done, there’s a short bass solo from Steffi Bergmann instead – and it’s not often a bass solo is thrown in at this kind of place alongside the guitarists. Nice touch.
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Dark Zodiak stray into the heavier end of the death/thrash genre, with Simone’s voice often descending into grindcore-style squeals. However, they’re happy to bounce around these sounds without getting bogged down in one, even within a single song. Overall it’s the sound and tone of the album that I like. It’s dark, heavy, sludgy and yet crisp and clear. Even in the more downtuned numbers you can hear each twang of Steffi’s bass clearly, not just as a background rumble. Also, despite being all black and moody, you get the feeling that the band had fun making it. This is helped with the likes of “From Thrash Till Death” which is as fun as it sounds, and the bizarre goings-on towards the end of “Humor”. Oh, and watch the video for “2020 A.D.” below and try to convince me they’re not having a giggle.
Ophiuchus isn’t really breaking any boundaries, but it’s beautifully recorded and it draws you right in. The guitar solos are great and there are some tremendous heavy riffs (“Total Freedom” – wow). It’s a nice blend of old-school with some more modern influences.
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Ophiuchus is out on January 30th and can be pre-ordered on the band’s website.
Dark Zodiak: official | facebook | bandcamp | spotify | youtube
