Zombi – 2020

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It’s been five years since Zombi’s last album (Shape Shift) and sixteen years since their debut album Cosmos, so any new release by the band is always an exciting thing. The two members have hardly been idle in the last five years; Steve Moore has released several soundtrack albums and a smattering of 12” EPs, while AE Paterra has had a smattering of releases using his Majeure moniker as well as two collaborative releases under the name Contact.

For me, Zombi pretty much invented the synthwave genre that has grown exponentially in the last five years and has created a surge in vinyl collectors. With the title of this album referencing this fairly catastrophic year for world events, it was always going to be interesting to hear how Zombi would sum this up musically.

“Breakthrough And Conquer” starts with a big pounding drum sound, some arpeggiated synth and a big heavy guitar. This is classic Zombi, with some nods towards progressive rock (it reminded me of Yes’s Drama album, forty years old this year) and classic horror soundtracks. One thing I noticed was that the guitar was more to fore than on previous releases, and this is no bad thing; but as a fan of Moore’s keyboard sound, it’s always good to hear more of it. Paterra’s drumming is marvellous as always, reminding me a bit of Rush’s Neil Peart in style. “Earthscraper” is a slow and heavy drudge of a track,borrowing more from doom than synthwave, and again the guitar is to the fore here. It makes you imagine giant outer space battleships in combat, and would make a great soundtrack for an anime.

“No Damage” is yet another big heavy guitar riff, which leans more towards the metal angle than towards synthwave. Its repeating guitar pattern becomes more hypnotising as it goes along, creating tension that builds and builds like some slasher movie soundtrack. “XYZT” (is this a reference to Rush’s “YYZ”?) starts in more traditional Zombi fashion with a scattering of sequencer work under some warm synth pads, while Paterra’s percussion jitters about over the top, holding the piece together. Its here we get a futuristic Zombi, one of dark neon-lit cities caressed by the rain while small craft hover overhead. “Fifth Point Of The Pentangle” has a slow fade-in, like you are already half way through a jammed track. Synth chords are played over a distorted bass line and some excellent busy drum work that lifts the track and gives it some forward momentum as it slowly fades into oblivion again.

“Family Man” has big power synth chords that remind you of entering a haunted house. The bass has a touch of the Chris Squire’s about it as it plays a big Brontosaurian mega riff over some solid drumming. Its an odd track, once again building on the tensions between the instruments and certainly giving a darker edge to the band’s sound. Next up is “Mountain Ranges”, where the bass plays a kind of HP Lovecraft downward spiralling chord sequence that conjures up images from the eldritch dark. Again, we hear the band slipping more into doom or dark progressive territory as the synths hover murkily beneath a barrage of riffage led by the bass.

“First Flower” begins with a clattering drum pattern; then the dark synth sound leads in as we are taken through the doorway into a place where secret rites are held. Here again the bass and keyboard interplay slides more towards the heavier side of things as we are taken on a ride to the night side of darkwave, giving an air of melancholy to proceedings. The final track on the album is “Thoughtforms”, which starts with some booming deep sequencer notes before the drums begin to hit in. A hauntingly beautiful lead line transforms the piece into a spacious desert sound of a song that builds in emotion as the track progresses. It’s a fine ending to the album and transforms it, leaving you with more of a sense of peace than some of the more disquieting tracks that went before.

Every time Zombi release an album, they try to push their sound and boundaries in different directions. At times, like on “Spirit Animal”, this was into a more progressive rock angle. On others they were more in the area of Krautrock, or even Berlin School sounds. So here we have a heavier, slightly more guitar-based version of the band. If you are expecting the same band as on Surface To Air, you might need time to acclimatise to the sound of this album. For me, any new music by the band is always welcome, and sometimes I wish we never had to wait so long between each new output from them. But the group deliver the goods yet again, and if you are a fan this is already a must-have release. Let’s hope we get more Zombi before 2025 comes around.

-Gary Parsons-