HOLOCENO

You know, I am honestly surprised there are not a lot of Prog Metal bands out there that merge a heavy and brutal sound with Zeuhl music. I mean, it isn't uncommon to see or hear bands feeling some love for Zeuhl bands like Magma; Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree has expressed his love for the genre and Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth also really adores Zeuhl a lot. I never, though, heard any mix of Prog Metal and Zeuhl together, besides Magma's ?laǧ Tanƶ. No, I want real, true, Zeuhl Metal. Heavier sounds mixed with jazzy and modern classicism that is so strange in its approach. Luckily, released last year, Holoceno by Papangu, answers my deepest desires.

I said "answers", but what I meant was "absolutely blowing my mind and body". Dear lord, this album is so good. Every track here feels like my body is getting pounded by extreme and heavy metal while a jazzist serenades my corpse, and I absolutely love it. The first track of Ave-Bala just gets me ready for this giant roller coaster of an album. Winding and strange passages of music mixed with a large focus on instrumentation and surrealism; not backing off on what Zeuhl is, but what Zeuhl can be in a Metal context.

The huge jazz sound on here just really adds to the flavors for me. I absolutely love how, while it is a Metal album, they put huge focus on the brass movements, creating this giant, big band feel on the whole record. They play so well with the intense guitars that it takes a unique approach to Metal music that I haven't heard before, and I am all for it.

That is not the only good thing here, nah-ah. The drums, man I love those drums. Just the extreme, mathematical, and slamming drums applied here just makes me salivate. They remind me a lot of Zach Hill's drumming styles, but a lot less snare focused and more bass drum focused. They know how to pound away into your ears, but they still know how to step back a bit and let the other instruments shine. They really do take and hone in on Christian Vander's drumming styles and not only run with them, but make it their own.

If I had only one critique for this album, it's more of a nitpick, but it's so good that I feel as though it might be TOO good, that a possible next release the band might do, might not reach the same highs as this record. We'll never know until the future arrives, but this album is so well made and so polished that I fear they won't ever achieve this high level of greatness again. That is just my own two cents though.

Talk about an amazing and highly underrated release. This first album from Papangu has become one of my favorites of the 2020s so far, and I think it might be quickly becoming my favorite of the previous year. Seriously, if you haven't heard this album yet, do yourself a huge favor and listen to it. You'll get some great music out of it.