Zombie Picnic - Rise of a New Ideology (2018)
Debuting back in 2016 with their album
A Suburb of Earth, Zombie
Picnic made quite an impression on us with their free-wheeling strain
of prog rock. They're back with their sophomore album now, due for
release in March, and with it, the Irish quartet has assembled ~40
minutes of new material, perfectly portioned for the vinyl release
it'll receive through Burning Shed.
Things
start off in a low-key approach on “Democracy Cannot Survive”,
with a gentle melody line cycling about as it finds footing, rising
energy and expanding drum flourishes steadily infusing the measures,
and the sharp, clear guitar tones wrapping firmly around the whole.
The intensity continues escalating from there, with follow-up “They
See Science as Dangerous” highlighting the group's ability to
tighten up on a riff-ride while bringing all the members into vibrant
action, with the bass-lines in particular grabbing listeners by the
ear-balls.
Almost
half of the album's duration is covered between those first two
tracks, and for the rest of it, the songs are served up in more
easily digestible form, from the focused drive of “DEFCON” on
through to “Anger in Storage (Denial Will Follow)” and its
relatively brief outro crash. Concise samples discussing the merits
and impact of science fiction, among other societal concerns, are
sprinkled throughout the music, and it's from these (and the titling)
that the otherwise vocals-eschewing grooves get their thematic
flavor. Whether they're really needed is up to the listener to
decide, but they do add a nice splash of character (and personally,
I'm always in favor of a well-used sample or ten).
Looking
at the album as the group's sophomore outing, ZP have certainly
managed to grow while holding on to the weird facets that helped make
their first so distinctive. Fans of prog rock should go ahead and
earmark some money for a copy, and fill the time before release by
checking out the group's first album if it managed to slip past them.
~
Gabriel
For
Fans Of; Crown Larks, Indukti, Mondo Drag, Planes of Satori, early
Porcupine Tree
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