Zebulon Kosted - Never Return Again

Left Humanity on Earth, went straight to Space without a rush

80%



Zebulon Kosted, the black metal act where his mastermind, Rashid, is pretty vocal about social issues, blend with a somewhat metaphysical flavor. The man himself contacted me, requesting that I lend my ears to his new release, and give my thoughts on it. And those thoughts are bellow.

This album, like any of ZK's previous albums, it has it's own biome, and at first it threw me away a bit. I just adored one of his previous releases, that I also reviewed, "You Have No Race You Have No Culture", for it's more industrial/tribal vibe with heavy urban undertones, relentless song structure, and a strong lyrical sense directed to numerous social aspects of modern day Man. This is a complete 180ยบ. This has more of a "meditation" vibe, like you're on some sort of space cruiser, contemplating the Earth as it destroys itself. The album as a whole as a very "sad" melodic structure, very reminiscent of some of Blut aus Nord and Leviathan works.

You start the album with a slow start. A melancholic guitar, and some sorrowful vocals. It only picks up speed in the middle of the song, and although it is relentless, the song maintains that sorrowful feel. And I love the guitar work at the end of the song. If you enjoy Mare Cognitum, and it's melodic oriented space ambient black metal (a mouthful I know), then you will enjoy this. The second track is also a very emotional, mid tempo song, that keeps the sorrowful, thinking man approach.

The album keeps it's mid tempo song structures, but the overall atmosphere ads so much to the songs that it doesn't need to be fast and relentless, when it has a thick atmosphere. Has some blast beats here and there, and mostly mid-tempo double bass, but this isn't a fast album. This is an album to be digested for it's atmosphere, the keyboard arrangements, the guitar work, the solid bass frequencies that follow each song, Zebulon Kosted in this release has approached a more progressive sound to them. But then again, this is a great follow up to both "You Have No Race You Have No Culture" and "To Leave and Never Return", where the latter is more of an unplugged album.

The production of the album is really good, it ins't overproduced to the point of ridicule, but it is crisp, you can pretty much listen to every instrument, and keeping their organic side, a more human touch. I love the mixing of the drums, specially, because they are present without taking the spotlight, and they feel really natural, complementing pretty well the ever present bass line. The guitars are not buried in the mix, and the vocals, specially the chants, are just brilliant.

I would suggest you give this album a spin, a great gem that completely caught me off guard. Of course, this needs a very special mood to be in in order to experience it the fullest, but if you are into a more raw atmospheric, experimental, inter-dimensional, ultra-terrestrial, cosmic black metal, then this is the album for you!

Related Links:
http://interdimensionalism.com/
https://zebulonkosted.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zebulon-Kosted/58054780684
https://myspace.com/zebulonkosted
https://soundcloud.com/zebulon-kosted

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P.S. 

Sorry once more for the hiatus. Been quite ocupied lately. As I mentioned on a previous post, I was in Erasmus on Prague, at the Rock Opera Praha. I returned to Portugal, and now I am setting up a metal label, and a recording studio! I have some other great and juicy news for you, that I will post in the next couple of weeks. Will also write an article about my experience in Prague, and how is the metal scene there. 

Hope you guys been well since the last couple of months. And thank you for the few that support me and my work!!! 

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