Shadow Genesis is the new EP from Washington DC based goths Zabus, that features one song from the bands forthcoming Whores Of Holyrood album along with four song from there two most recent albums Automatic Writhing and Floodplain Canticles. Zabus are Jeremy Moore, BB Kille, Johnny Wielding, Alex Zorn and Akane Shimizu who recorded at SV Studios in DC.
The EP opens with Grafhysi Fyrir Alla a dark slow goth song with swirling strings, minimalist beats and deep resonant vocals taking us deep into the maelstrom, will you hear the message within this tune that slowly emerges from within its curlicued edges.
Orphalese takes a dive into the Orphic underworld, the vocals are slowly enunciated like they are being sung by someone whose been chained up in a dungeon, the echoing music bouncing off the walls surrounding him, he hopes to escape before being totally consumed within the twisted majesty of the setting, while mining similar territory to Italian band Nero Kane.
Tearful Symmetries has a slow bassline with foghorn noises, leading you into the sadness eating away at them, all your fears being revealed, when he intones This Is The End it echoes Nico far more than Jim Morrison, as does the approach to percussion and industrial textures.
Golden Rot could easily be about the renovations at the Whitehouse, if it hadn't been written before the current occupant moved back in, the guitars go all post punk atavistic, full of pain and distress at the disease they feel is all encompassing.
The Ep closes with Shadow Genesis the first song from the bands forthcoming Whores Of Holyrood album, while not sounding particularly Scottish, this slow rumination very much in a Nero Kane meets the slowest Tindersticks songs, feels like it could soundtrack the darkest of dystopian films, the guitars feel like they are almost improvised with reverb and echo adding to the tension and despair they feel, no amount of tape hiss can give them relief.
Find out more at https://zabus.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-genesis-ep https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/zabus/shadow-genesis
