ZEUS! aims at using the minimum in order to get the maximum and is: not metal, not punk, not math, not noise, not prog, absolutely not jazz-core, neither post-whatever. For petardo lovers.ย ZEUS! are back for clouding over and throwing thunderbolts upon the earth, two years after ยOperaย. This is ยMOTOMONOTONOย time, third LP by Luca Cavina, on bass and vocals (Calibro 35, Craxi, Incident On South Street), and Paolo Mongardi, on drums (Fuzz Orchestra, Le Luci Della Centrale Elettrica, FulKanelli, ex-Jennifer Gentle, Ronin), the second in a row to be released by US label ThreeOneG, sprout from Justin Pearson, along with Italian labels Tannen Records and Sangue Dischi for the vinyl version of the album.
Third LP, but still no hint of a compromise: a constant, accurate hunting for the formula to maximize the minimum, exponentially increasing the musical tension of two instruments alone, turning them into a never-jamming gun, into a runaway rollercoaster. Continuous reiterations, micro-alterations of a monolithic mantra, riffs and rhythmical patterns dissected and liberated with accuracy through every possible kind of dynamics, phantasmagorical titles: these are the ingredients that shape ยMOTOMONOTONOย, a machine ready to explode, made by ten musical devices which are dominated by an obsessive, autistic, highly inflammable flow.
First track is the electric beginning ยEnemy E Coreย, then a crescendo with ยColon Hellย, then the erupting power of ยForza Bruta Ram Attackย. But there is something more, something that shows itself only if ZEUS! have already hit you hard: ยMOTOMONOTONOย keeps brushing with derailment. And you go with it, of course. You will avoid that only if you let yourself float with contrasts, and theyยve never been so extreme: unexpected stillness after movement, a filled-up vacuum, what is full that turns to empty, violence becoming ambient. This is the only way to escape from headache when you face ยSan Leatherย and ยKrakatoaย, so you can flow into ยPanta Reichย, a tribute to Steve Reich, who partially inspired ยMOTOMONOTONOย composition, even if he is so far away from the heavy panorama that ZEUS! come from. This is the only way to keep you upright when ยAll You Grind Is Loveย, ยRococock Fightย and ยShiftingย clank, which make you feel like youยre knocked into a wall, but with no impact ย and then they take you back and make you start again at a higher speed.
Last track is ยPhase Terminaleย, 7 minutes and 34 seconds in which you can find what ZEUS! are about: thunders, obsessive progressions, expansions and compressions, like a shock that leaves you there, dull because of adrenaline. Eventually, there is Carlo Zolloยs production, who knows the band so well he could catch its sound, keeping it raw, without useless decorations, and nothing changed Cavina and Mongardiยs violence; the album has been mastered by Carl Saff in Chicago, IL. Get ready, ZEUS! are back. With the peace of all of the minor Gods.
