ZOMBI - Spirit Animal CD (Relapse)
Well, at the very least, this album wins cover of the year. There's just something about that rampaging elephant on grainy stock w/ the artist/title font which works, ya know? Sure. It'll also wind up being one of my fave albums of the year, too. Zombi, an American duo, have rather quickly entered the league of being one of my fave currently existing outfits, a fact which has some of my pals scratching their heads wondering what the hell I find so appealing about such a synth-heavy prog-ish outfit as them, but a fact it remains. Hailing from zombie central (in the classic Romero-esque sense of the word), Pittsburgh, Zombi have quite obviously got a heavy Goblin obsession happening, as well as a great love for director/composer John Carpenter's awe-inspiring scores of the '70s/'80s, especially Halloween/Escape From New York/The Thing (three flicks I love), but that doesn't simply make them a tribute act. Now encompassing, for the very first time, some guitar in their sounds, their musical palette has been broadened slightly. Actually, the opening title track kinda sounds like mid '70s Pink Floyd scoring a B-grade sci-fi flick, its levels of prog bombast almost too much, but in the context of things, it works. Later tracks on the disc get more hyper, sounding like the Zombi of yore; a bit like an action sequence from an early '80s Kurt Russell exploitation flick, or Vangelis composing for a horror movie. Now, all that talk probably doesn't sound that appealing, hmmm? You'd be wrong. Zombi have a real sense of dynamics and cinematic scope to their music. It's a note-perfect combination of electronics and rock, and it's not so much about the songs as it is the overall feel they develop throughout an album. Whatever it is they're doing, I like it a lot.