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Artist: ZUUL FX
Album: By The Cross
Year: 2005
Zuul FX from France is a rather new band, that after
only one demo immidiately got signed with Equilibre
Music (Crack Ov Dawn and more). The industrial they make
is very powerful and described many times as a mix
between death metal, trash metal and industrial. Their
debut album called By The Cross record came out in 2005.
The first song of the record is called “Behind The
Light”. This is already a very powerful song, that blows
your head off. The drums are really smashing, while the
guitar riffs are very powerful. Good song to go crazy on.
The vocalist already shows that he is able to sing in
some very different ways, which is an awesome thing.
After three and a half minutes, “Punisher” follows. This
song sounds more modern than the preverious one. There
are clearly some nu-metal influences hidden in this song,
but the seconds after the first chorus could fit in any
death metal song. In the end, this song turned out to be
pretty easy listening and even a little catchy. “Nothing
is Real” is the next track, which brings you back to the
‘Obsolete’ area of Fear Factory. The chorus has a ‘deep’
sounding, while rest of the song sounds like a well
oiled machine. There is even a small piece (after like
two minutes) that shows that this band even goes to
grindcore when it comes to experiment, which surprised
me in a very positive way. “God Bless Them” could be a
song about themselves, but I have my doubts about that
hehe. The song is very easy to describe: take a little
of Malmonde and mix it with Hatebreed. Good song? Yes,
good song. Again. When “Cabal” started I had expect
something more brutal, looking to the title. But the
opposite is true: this song is more in vein of a band
like DyNAbyte. Easy listening, some blasting drums here
and there and a catchy melody. “I 8 U” (parody on I hate
you? I think so, and when I listen to the chorus I cant
be wrong hehe) starts with some blasting drums, and some
heavy guitars. The rest of the song sounds pretty brutal
as well, and the catchy chorus make this song to an
excellent last song on live gigs. Wonder if they really
do play it as final song... anyway, “Devil Star” already
started. This song could be excellent fitting on the
‘Digimortal’ record of Fear Factory. People who know me
know that I dont really like that particular record, and
so this song turnes out to not be one of my favourites
of this record. “Blessed” continues with walking on that
same path, although the trashy influences make this song
way better. There is some excellent sampling in this
song as well! “Live Your Life (Shawn06)” is maybe the
most powerful song. Pure modern death metal (like
Scarve) are mixed with some industrial elements. Result:
one my favourite track of the record! “Get Away” sounds
a little less powerful, and has some little Slipknot
influences here and there if you ask me. The intermezzo
is outstanding, and the beat even makes you want to move
on your own chair! “Dependance” brings you back to the
death metal again. This song sounds more experimental
than the others on the record, and the experiment turned
out to be good if you ask me. “Hypocrist (The Dogs Of
God)” starts with a long intro, but in the end it
explodes into some excellent drum and guitar work. Maybe
the best final track of a record of the year! So.. what
more can I say about this? If you dont fear trying
something new, fresh and brutal, this is your band. For
fans of Fear Factory, Re:Aktor, Dagoba Interlock and why
not... Scorngrain! But when you leave Scorngrain out of
the line, Zuul FX is even a little bit better than the
bands I mentioned.
Vote: 90 / 100
Review by: Gerardo |
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01. Behind The Light
02. Punisher
03. Nothing Is Real
04. God Bless Them
05. Cabal
06. I 8 U
07. Devil Star
08. Blessed
09. Live Your Life
(Shawn08)
10. Get Away
11. Dependance
12. Hypochrist (The Dogs
Of God) |
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