Press - Reviews
29th June 2008
Zoom Code review, Imhotep
ThanatoSchizO
Zoom Code
CD, My Kingdom Music, 2008
Grammatically challenged bio sheets don’t usually set me down the right path when giving a band I’ve yet to hear my first spin in the computer. Portuguese act Thanatoschizo put out their fourth album "Zoom Code" with their new label My Kingdom Music, and in the overview section we read about "ethnical melodies" as well as "ends up two years of composition and recordings". Clarity helps the journalists when describing your bands - so don’t be afraid to hire strong native English majors to polish up your promotional materials. Luckily for this sextet, their brand of progressive death metal shines above and beyond, avant-garde in its approach and unique much like Amorphis and Orphaned Land. Employing male and female vocals, sampling and a versatile arrangement landscape, "Zoom Code" is adventurous in how the instrumentation can be furious one moment and then wide open, tranquil and free the next.
"Pleasure Pursuit" can be one example where the guitars and drums build up to a crescendo - then the action stops while Patricia Rodrigues and Eduardo Paulo exchange plaintive melodies over a sampling of an off the hook phone call. "The Shift" follows up with programmed drums to start before the main verses and chorus burst out like the best amalgamation of "Draconian Times" era Paradise Lost and the middle period of their country brethren Moonspell. There isn’t a track out of the eleven that left me scrambling for the eject button, but I will warn you that "Zoom Code" is not an instantaneous quick fix record - this is one of those slow growers that seeps in like caffeine through the bloodstream. I also found the Moog synthesizer work in "Pale Blue Perishes" from Filipe Miguel a nice nod to Emerson, Lake and Palmer - once again painting another broad stroke against the heavier guitar canvas.
I do think what may stop "Zoom Code" from ascending to the top of the metal charts would be the sub-standard production values, as it’s very minimalist in the rhythm department compared to other alternative death and gothic metal bands they would be categorized around. Regardless, Thanatoschizo deserve your attention as they aren’t afraid to challenge boundaries and as a result make fresh music for all to enjoy. [4/6]
ThanatoSchizO
Zoom Code
CD, My Kingdom Music, 2008
Grammatically challenged bio sheets don’t usually set me down the right path when giving a band I’ve yet to hear my first spin in the computer. Portuguese act Thanatoschizo put out their fourth album "Zoom Code" with their new label My Kingdom Music, and in the overview section we read about "ethnical melodies" as well as "ends up two years of composition and recordings". Clarity helps the journalists when describing your bands - so don’t be afraid to hire strong native English majors to polish up your promotional materials. Luckily for this sextet, their brand of progressive death metal shines above and beyond, avant-garde in its approach and unique much like Amorphis and Orphaned Land. Employing male and female vocals, sampling and a versatile arrangement landscape, "Zoom Code" is adventurous in how the instrumentation can be furious one moment and then wide open, tranquil and free the next.
"Pleasure Pursuit" can be one example where the guitars and drums build up to a crescendo - then the action stops while Patricia Rodrigues and Eduardo Paulo exchange plaintive melodies over a sampling of an off the hook phone call. "The Shift" follows up with programmed drums to start before the main verses and chorus burst out like the best amalgamation of "Draconian Times" era Paradise Lost and the middle period of their country brethren Moonspell. There isn’t a track out of the eleven that left me scrambling for the eject button, but I will warn you that "Zoom Code" is not an instantaneous quick fix record - this is one of those slow growers that seeps in like caffeine through the bloodstream. I also found the Moog synthesizer work in "Pale Blue Perishes" from Filipe Miguel a nice nod to Emerson, Lake and Palmer - once again painting another broad stroke against the heavier guitar canvas.
I do think what may stop "Zoom Code" from ascending to the top of the metal charts would be the sub-standard production values, as it’s very minimalist in the rhythm department compared to other alternative death and gothic metal bands they would be categorized around. Regardless, Thanatoschizo deserve your attention as they aren’t afraid to challenge boundaries and as a result make fresh music for all to enjoy. [4/6]
