SPIRIT ANIMAL

Zombi are a instrumental duo from Pittsburgh who make music that is influenced by Tangerine Dream, Rush and Italian band Goblin (from whom they took their name, after the soundtrack to the film Dawn Of The Dead). This was the first full album I had heard by them. I was interested in them for their mix of bass/drums and mostly analog synthesizers. Unfortunately, their 2011 album only features synths and drums, apparently. It was nice to hear some electric guitar on here as well. Basically, their sound is a mix of TD's keyboards and the Lee/Peart rhythm section combined with both rhythmic and melodic elements from Goblin. Zombi can be much more intense and powerful than any of those three, however.

The title track opens with ethereal synthetic choirs in a majestic fashion. Once the drums kick in the track goes into really good symphonic prog territory with electric guitar. Later on it gets quiet with some nice piano, Mellotron and acoustic guitar (this really surprised me as I thought they were strictly synths/bass/drums!). The song builds up to more symphonic prog. In contrast, the rest of the album is more energenic, aggressive and rockin' in general. "Spirit Warrior" starts out as a symphonic groove. There is some great drumming here in places. Gets darker and more aggressive sounding before eventually becoming ambient and atmospheric. Returns to a groove which is now more subdued than at the beginning.

"Earthly Powers" starts out rockin' and groovin' with cool synth melodies that later on are played on guitar. Goes into a slow-paced groove with synth and guitar arpeggios. That section builds up until everything gets more spacey and ambient. Towards the end drums and bass come back as the synths play earlier parts, but now the whole tempo is much faster. "Cosmic Powers" opens very techno sounding. Once the drums kick in it goes into a hard-edged groove with chord changes. Pretty much stays there until you hear some flanging effect towards the end along with overdubbed percussion.

The 17 1/2 minute "Through Time" opens with a menacing riff, first on distorted synth then bass. Later the music gets very intense and dramatic. Great drumming during this section. Some horror movie style synths start to play overtop. Gets almost drone-like as interesting sequencer parts appear. Everything but those sequencers start to slowly fade out and lower in volume. Some sci-fi synth effects at the end as the sequencers continue to do their thing before fading out themselves. This is not perfect but it is some great recent music. Fans of Heldon and other electronic groups who make use of guitars and drums will most likely enjoy this. 4 stars.