Source: Album Artwork
Since forming in 2013, ZOAX have been gaining momentum and a reputation for creating music that puts them a cut above the rest. And now, in 2016, they are finally here with their debut self-titled album. They have toured with the likes of Cancer Bats and Feed The Rhino as well as many others since the release of their EP in 2014 and now they are ready to really take things up a notch with this killer collection of 12 tracks.
Frontman Adam Carroll stated “Our mission was always to create organic and exciting sound” and we’re very glad they have that outlook as they’ve genuinely managed to pull that off. They claim that they have many rock influences but their favourite music genres are soul and jazz from listening to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Sam Cooke from a young age. These influences really shine through in the weird influx of sound that ZOAX manage to output. It all comes together into a passionate and weirdly uplifting mix of all sorts of styles; sorry, it’s a bit difficult to put a finger on it!
The sound is heavy yet also kind of groovy. When listening to it, as well as wanting to headbang our way around the room, we also want to whip our dancing shoes on and throw out some ‘hot’ moves. It’s a weird sensation but it works and it gives the band a true individual identity. ‘ZuperHeroez’, for example, is musically a kind of cute indie style but it’s layered with heavy screaming, resulting in a stuff we just can’t quite explain.
The tracks range from ambient and melodic to the outright heavy and vicious with everything in between. It’s quite clear that each member of this London-based five-piece have fantastic musical minds as it takes more than just a ‘normal’ musician to be able to pull together such an eclectic mix of styles into one using just the instruments in their hands. And even though the band are not tied to any particular genre, there is some sort of undertone, possibly a bit punky, that helps bring everything together.
We would definitely understand why ZOAX and their self-titled debut album might not be to everyone’s taste but this band are capable of pushing all sorts of boundaries. That deserves respect. And this band have really fired themselves onto our radar. ‘Excited’ doesn’t even cut it.
