... les Frères Sludge sont morts, vive "Son Of Zardoz" - Sick Songs- EP !!!

Finally they've done it ! After many months of humming and howing, written under the name of Frères Sludge, recorded as Zardoz and finally released as Son Of Zardoz, "Sick Songs" the debut EP of this young parisian band just came out with 6 songs of an untipycal and unsettling Stoner/Sludge, which is, let's say it without any roundabout, pretty much influenced by The Melvins.

From the first seconds of the intro, it's clear that we've got here a very rehearsal-like sound, limited in terms of thickness, the guitar especially lacks of power and heaviness which is a pity because basically the structures of most songs are pretty straight and catchy.

This problem is not too disturbing on their old anthemic song "I Love Snuff" or the amazingly burning "Western Spaghetti", those both being righteously fuzzy and more depth... Slow and crunchy, they include the best vocal moments with a warmer, more heartfelt lyrical expression.

Despite the titles mentioned, you've got to know that S.o.Z. are singing in french which in my opinion should be a distinctive force and it's partly the case here in fact but, as the overall (at various degrees)  they sometimes lack of  massiveness, like some kind of more aggressive pulse would be needed.

A song like "Bûcheron Rock" puts the band more into a more traditional guitar-based rock and then the problem of sound is more serious, plus like on "Gengis Kahn pt2" the vocals are a bit hard to get into but that's maybe due to the combination of  strange lyrics with a harsh tone that to my ears doesn't sound always right.

The introductive "Gengis Kahn pt1" is a nice crawl in spooky darkness and the closer "A Deux Doigts du Boom" ends with the doomier and heavier moments of the EP after the highlight "I Love Snuff".

I think the band has something to offer in another gloomy niche of the Stoner genre with some cool hints of spooky sludge but Son Of Zardoz tone should be louder, even if of course playing loud is not an end in itself, the moods are conducive for this.

This is a 1st recording with some good promises but also what I hope to be (simply) youth mistakes (some people could include the choice of the cover of "Sick Songs" in them ! and I can not help but think that the guys should have invest a few bux in the production work) but they certainly have already learnt much of it and will gain in maturity and consistency in the near future. 

Meanwhile, enjoy this fresh EP and give a like to their fb page like Dave Sherman and Lord Chritus already did !!!

https://www.facebook.com/sonofzardoz

French Doomed interviews-serie pt4 : VALVE + ZARDOZ

This is the 4th chapter of this little interviews-serie, I've been waiting for a long time the 3rd band planed (and am still despite their agreement!) but  it's been yet a good while since both parisian bands VALVE  (Sludge) and ZARDOZ  (Stoner/Sludge) sent me their answers, so enough time lost, here we go :

1) How's the french doom/stoner/sludge scene like to your opinion in 2012 ?

2) What have been the most significant events that happened to the band since the beginning of the year ?

3) Any concrete news or serious plans (gigs, recording, album release...) for the 2nd part of 2012 ?

a little reminder about previous chapters :

part 1 :  The Bottle Doom Lazy Band, Zombie King, Oyabun, Barabbas, Surtr -

part 2 : Eibon, Wheelfall,A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm, Bear Brawler -

part 3 : Children Of Doom, Goat River and Father Merrin -

SUPPORT the FRENCH SCENE !!!

 1) We are not aware of everything going on, but we have had a few opportunities to see that it's alive, and well! 

2) Well, we had our demo released of course, for which we received very good feedback overall. It's great to feel that people listen to music coming from theses scenes with such care. Reviewers made very relevant comments and interesting analysis, which is very encouraging for us and should obviously help us on our composition path. Aside from that, we had the opportunity to share the stage with awesome bands, play outside our hometown and in nice venues. And now, we have that insatiable thirst for shows!

3) This summer we are going to focus on writing our second effort, which we have good hopes to release in late 2012/early 2013. We already have a few songs composed, and some others on their way. We are also working on a western european tour for this fall, with a kickass band from London called Dead Existence. We are really looking forward to this as it will be our first real tour experience (meaning, for more than two days!), and meeting new people and bands in foreign countries sounds really exciting. If everything goes as planned, 2nd part of 2012 should be great!

https://www.facebook.com/VALVE.PARIS

(since then, a great parisian gig has been confirmed for VALVE, with RAMESSES and WHEELFALL  at Les Combustibles, 16th Sept, plus check out their FB page there's more fresh details about their tour with DEAD EXISTENCE...)

ZARDOZ

1) This scene became bigger for few years, and it’s a pleasure to see bands like Huata or Year of no light play at Roadburn and Hellfest, and many others coming soon, like Tombstone. So it’s going into the right way.

There is also few specialized blog like Pelecanus, Kongfuzi and of couse Temple of perdition, which allows to small bands to be inteviewed among other famous american and english bands, but it’s still a huge work.

2) There has been 3 important events this year for us :  firstly we played with Barabbas in Paris, it was cool to meet these guys, unsane just like us and with a powerful sound. Also we changed this month our band name, from Freres Sludge to Zardoz and even if it’s the same spirit, it’s a new start. And finally, we have for one year our own place to rehearse, so we play a lot and there is new shit coming out.

3) For a couple of months, we're working on our first EP named « Sick Songs » we hope it’s gonna be ready for september, so right now we stay focused on this work, but after, our ambition is to find a label and play as much as possible.

Peace, Zardoz.

https://www.facebook.com/freres.sludge 

 Finally I take here the opportunity to post the poster for the upcoming tour of HUATA in Spain and Portugal, check out their FB page for more infos.