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We are emailing you with information about your Caleb Scofield Benefit, Zozobra “Harmonic Tremors/Bird of Prey” 2xLP purchase. Upon recieveing these vinyl from the manufacturer and openeing a few for Quality Control purposes, it has come to our attention that all of these are printed on 'Random Colored' Vinyl. ZOZOBRA released their second album 'Birds of Prey' on Turner's Hydra Head lable late in 2008.For this album ISIS' Aaron Harris replaces Montano on drums. ZOZBRA'S music is a of mix post metal,hardcore and experimental music and they are highly recommended to all fans of this genre.
Let’s talk metal seasons here for a second. You’ve got your classic Scandinavian black-metal bands speeding through endless winter permafrost; the autumnal sorrow of doom acts waiting for their time to die; and the lusty pagan metal that celebrates rebirth and beer and brotherhood in equal measure. Summer metal jams are harder to come by, which is why Zozobra’s second album, Bird of Prey, couldn’t have landed at a better time than early August. Cradled by sky-valley grooves and streaked in shimmering mirages of guitars, Bird of Prey feels like it’s meant for cruising through the sun-baked deserts of New Mexico, the breeding ground for the Zozobra iconography.
(The band name comes from an effigy burned annually in Santa Fe to represent the destruction of all worries.) A permanent fuzzy bottom end runs through the album like some stoned 800-pound bumblebee — clearly this is the work of a dude used to dwelling in the lower registers, namely ex-Cave In and Old Man Gloom bass man Caleb Scofield. “Heavy With Shadows” and “Laser Eyes” are caked with shiny delay and flange effects for atmosphere, but Scofield and drummer Aaron Harris (Isis) know what we’re here for: It’s the riffs, and Zozobra pull off that peyote desert-rumble as good as anyone since Kyuss.
There’s no chugging or palm-muting to be found on “Treacherous” and “Sharks That Circle,” just propulsive, fuzzed-out strums that slice ‘n dice, repeat a few times and hit the road. We get an appearance by Scofield’s excellent clean vocals on the Tool-like single, “In Jetstreams”; otherwise it’s all roar, all the time. It’s a treat to hear Harris break free of the mid-paced tempos preferred by Isis. Tauter and simpler than Zozobra’s debut Harmonic Tremors (2007), Bird of Prey slides in comfortably between Torche’s last album and more trad stoner metal. It’s consistently engaging for its half-hour run time, and if it doesn’t resonate far beyond that, there’s always next summer. Band: Label.
Bird of Prey Label: Hydra Head US Release Date: 2008-08-05 UK Release Date: 2008-08-11 Caleb Schofield seems like an industrious man. He has lent his quaking bass-lines and gnarled bellow to a variety of luminous metal acts, such as Cave-In and Old Man Gloom. Those of us that were peeved about Schofield’s main venture Cave-In going into hibernation in 2006 would definitely have perked up when Schofield began borrowing a few things from the oft-slumbering Old Man Gloom: a drummer, Santos Montano, and a name, Zozobra. (Zozobra is the name of the effigy known also as Old Man Gloom that is burned every autumn during Fiestas de Santa Fe in New Mexico). The first release under the Zozobra moniker, Harmonic Tremors, although largely ignored by the average Metal maven, would have temporarily sated us Cave-In fans desperate for some new materiel. Bird of Prey, much like Harmonic Tremors, sees Zozobra invoke the Old Man Gloom spirit quite prominently.
Apart from the doomy Gloom aesthetic and the melodic leanings of Cave-In, what is most striking on Bird of Prey is Schofield’s assiduity. From the basslines that clatter like freight trains to the guitar riffs that thud and crunch like concrete blocks dropped from skyscrapers, it is Schofield that builds much of this record. Aaron Harris, of Isis fame, assists, lending his workmanlike drumming and taking only a couple of breathers in this intense 30-minute album. The opener “Emanate” immediately unleashes the heavy machinery, promptly settling into a precise groove which Schofield rides to elicit his guttural directives. The mechanical pounding continues with assembly-line consistency and Schofield’s vocals sound like the pissed-off foreman throughout the bulk of this album. The Tool-esque “In Jet Streams”, the subterranean tremor-and-eruption of “Heavy with Shadows” (sounding like Oceanic-era Isis), and the furious rip-tide “Treacherous” exemplify Zozobra’s allegiance to the eloquent oppression of its progenitors.
There are a couple of forays into less forceful territory. “Heartless Enemy”'s funereal pace, mournful guitar motif and echoing percussion pave the way for coarse admonitions that are counterbalanced by distant melodic singing.
This formula is repeated without adding much nuance or flavour, eventually rendering the promising premise somewhat impotent. “Big Needles” is another quieter sequence that is simply a dull tapestry of noir-ish ambiance and repetitive electronics that is ultimately soporific and disposable. As we reach the ebb of this lull, the next track “Sharks That Circle” brings some much needed malice to the proceedings. Built on a muscular and totally headbangable riff, it hammers through three minutes of catharsis without sounding monotonous, especially due to the excellent transition and Eastern-influenced solo at the end. While Bird of Prey is a professional and entirely serviceable metal record, it is ultimately the sense of well-rehearsed diligence that proves to be its downfall. Schofield and Harris are both undoubtedly proficient musicians. However, they often sound deliberate and predictable, with the precision of the riffs and the stoutness of the drums coming across somewhat processed and emotionless.
There is much to be appreciated in hard work. After all, the most magnificent of creations are built on foundations of perseverance and persistence.
What separates the triumphant citadel from the mundane severity of the flawlessly designed edifice is the joy that reveals itself in the minutiae of its craftsmanship. If Zozobra revelled a little more in its apparent dexterity, Bird of Prey may have relaxed and spread its wings a lot wider.