Suds on Bleeker

Zoroaster is one of a seeming endless number of young bands to be coming out of the South’s heavy metal scene.  And while they can safely be grouped in with such regional peers as Mastodon, Kylesa, and Black Tusk, these Atlanta, GA-based metallers bring their own specific flavor to the established sludge/stoner formula.

Specifically, they specialize in the psychedelic and drone doom genres of metal.

Matador is the band’s fourth release, and by far it represents their best, most complete effort to date.

Zoroaster always flashed major potential on their first three albums.  The one major flaw, however, was that there would usually be a couple tracks that really stood out and grabbed your attention, but the rest of the album would devolve into endlessly meandering and dull experimentation (I mean these guys had a 14-minute outro track on their last album!).  This is a common pitfall of the drone genre since by definition it relies on loooong sustained chords to create an atmosphere, oftentimes in the absence of a readily identifiable rhythm.

On Matador, the guys ease ever so slightly off the droning and focus more on the psychedelic.  But even more important than that, they’ve upped the songwriting to a whole new level.  Let’s just say that Zoroaster wasn’t previously known for their songs so much as for the moods and ambiance that their songs create.  But Matador starts off with four legitimate songs that kick all kinds of ass.  In particular, tracks like the opener “D.N.R.” and “Odyssey” (which you can listen to below) heavily feature the reverb-soaked vocals of guitarist Will Fiore.  His ethereal, shamanistic vocals add a new dimension to the band’s music (he sang on previous albums, but never as well as he does here) and they serve as a great counterpart to bassist Brent Anderson’s blackened howl.  One gripe I do have, however, is that for the most part the lyrics are indecipherable and for the life of me I cannot find them anywhere.  I know a lot of people don’t care about the lyrics, and I’m sure they are probably just singing about ancient mythology and fantastical realms, but I’d still like to know.

Of course, after the opening four tracks, the pull of the band’s older sound gets the best of them and the tracks “Firewater” and “Old World” lapse into unbridled noise and/or tedium.  But the quality of the rest of the album makes it much easier to forgive a soft middle.  For the first time, Zoroaster has managed to put it all together.  Fiore busts out some scorching licks, Anderson’s bass rumbles along in lockstep, and Dan Scanlan shows why he may be one of the better drummers this side of Brann Dailor.  Easily their best record to date, Matador is the kind of album you put on and enjoy as its ominous soundscapes wash over you.

Rating:

-Sam