MATERIALISMUS

Area reincarnated? Not quite, but fantastic!

Zaum is without question one of the wildest and most exciting bands I've heard in a while and fit wonderfully into my weird taste profile. As we were doing the difficult evaluation of this band, which crosses several sound styles, two of the team members piped up simultaneously that the band was a bit like an "Area" in a different era. At times this is how they rubbed me, all the banshee abandon spirit of Area, with their own respectable chops but with slightly different influences. Whereas Area were from the heart of the classic RPI time period and pursued jazz and avant avenues (amongst others), Zaum seemingly adds inspiration from 1990s alternative rock to the party. You can almost hear the eclectic guitar/vocal edge of System Of A Down and the nasty grit-funk of Red Hot Chili Peppers thrown in for good measure. Invigorating as hell, energetic, eclectic, and exciting. This is an album for fans of the wilder RPI....for fans of groups like Osanna, Balletto di Bronzo, and yes, even Area.

Zaum's origins date to the 1970s but they did not record "Materialismus" until 1998. The recording remained unreleased until the wonderful PsychUp Melodies (a newer label run by Fabrizio Di Vicino and specializing in unique, challenging music) made it available to the world. "Ma Pure" begins immediately running 110 mph with a thick groove and a saucy call/response vocal--sounds like it could have been on RHCP's "One Hot Minute." Bongo drums and a manic flute cover the heavy guitar and bass. "Ombra Roce" just floored me the first time I heard it! I swear the opening wails are an homage to Balletto di Bronzo, the vocal sounding just like Gianni Leone doing some "YS" outtake. A darkness pervades the track, with tablas and a lone bass guitar dancing behind these eerie vocals. The title track is so damn heavy with the guitar running counter of these keyboard scales, then backing off into a soft jazzy groove with lilting vocals and sound effects. There are soft moments to contrast the heaviness but it's hard to capture the prevailing mood other than pointing out the obvious aggression and love of chaos. "Mo L'omme" gives us a folksy acoustic guitar to contrast pure heavy sludge. The live closer "Viecchie" is a Napoli Centrale cover, a glimpse of pure freak-out with blaring saxophone, dissonant keys, punkish vocals, and driving rhythm. The entire experience leaves one pretty breathless, this is a band who wants to steamroll you. They sure as hell pushed me down the stairs.

Highly recommended to fans of the sauciest RPI, along with those who love eclectic, rowdy, grungy-funky jamming. For now the album is only available via download from Psych-Up Melodies website, but a CD release is planned.

If I understand matters correctly, Italian band ZAUM started out in the 1970's, disbanded without ever releasing any material and then reformed with a new line-up in the 1990's. Prior to disbanding again in 2000 they recorded an album's worth of material that had been awaiting release for a good few years. But thanks to Italian label Psych Up Melodies "Materialismus" was finally made available to the public at large in 2012.

And it is a fairly innovative production we're dealing with in this case. An album of the kind that is just as hard to describe as to place within a specific context, and those keen on organizing their music into a fixed predescribed category will get a serious migraine from this one. Eclectic is something of a key word I guess.

The core of the band appears to be 70's jazzrock however, and liberally flavoured with funk at that. Intricate, energetic drum patterns and Latin-flavourd percussion are mainstay elements, supplemented by driving funky bass motifs that occasionally strays close to P-funk territories if I my impressions and music history is more or less correct, with sometimes gentle, sometimes lazy and occasionally psych-flavoured jazz rock guitar licks added to the proceedings. And on top, a lead vocalist that can shout like a brother from Harlem just as easy as smoothly and harmonic can produce lead vocals that would fit in gentle, emotional folk music. Add in occasional tribal inspired rhythm sections and backing vocal effects as well as subtle, eerie sound effects and you cover this bands repertoire quite nicely. Almost.

An additional factor brought into play here are dramatic inserts. Just about when you're used to the amalgam described above, then Zaum decides to shift gears, adding dark-toned, haunting and most often massive guitar riffs to the proceedings. Sometimes briefly for dramatic effect, sometimes as an elongated feature, other times they develop back to the opening theme(s) again from this brutal intermission and they also utilize as an effect switching between the gentle and harder part of their sonic palette. Unpredictable is a word that does indeed come to mind.

The interesting bit is that it works pretty well too. Best of all on Mò l'omme in my personal opinion, and the slightly subtler use of dramatic effects for the live take of Ombra Roce that ends this disc is another piece I'd pull forth as an example of this band at their very, very best.

The subtly psych and world music tinged jazzrock of Zaum, complete with dramatic metal-oriented inserts, isn't a package that will interest anyone, the sheer eclectic nature of this production will most likely limit their core audience quite a lot. But those who generally find themselves intrigued by innovative, creative exploits that look at genre convictions as boundaries to be broken down and uniform stylistic expressions as an enemy that needs to be eradicated should try out this production for size. It should suit those who identify themselves with such a description quite nicely.

The majority of late-70's Art Rock bands in Italy hadn't the chance to record a regular disc and Zaum were no exception.Led by guitarist/singer Claudio D'Errico, Zaum were unlucky to release anything even in the 90's with a fresh and younger line-up and the band split up for good around 2000.Fabricio Di Vicino of Psych Up Melodies has become an expert of surfacing obscure efforts from recent and far past and in 2012 he offered some recordings by Zaum, captured either live or in studio between 1997 and 1999.

Claudio D'Errico remained the leading figure of the band, featuring also Marco Santana on drums, Mauro Romano on bass and Pasqule Setola on vocals with the help of Peppe Sannino on percussion.The style of this group is simply very weird, like if AREA were born in the 90's and had left their Fusion side for more funky and heavier adventures.Of course Claudio D'Errico is no Demetrio Stratos, his voice though is all over the place and has a very theatrical twist.The music of Zaum is atonal and groovy, being the main characteristics of the album.A combination of heavy riffs, funky bass lines, dynamic drumming and poetic lyricism, which draws influences from Jazz, Funk and Alternative/Heavy Rock.There are also some good breaks within the short tracks, taking each song from a joyful mood to an aggressive atmosphere.The problems of this release though are several.Firstly there is total abscence of any kind of melodies, making the whole material quite forgettable.Additionally ''Materialismus'' is heavily vocal-oriented and you get constantly a feeling that the listening needs a breeze of instrumental air.The similarity between the tracks is also a negative factor.Heavy grooves, funky rhythms, quasi improvised sections are the basic characteristics in every track.Undoubtfully the talent is there, it just seems the group is stuck in a specific sound all the way.

Zaum's previously unreleased material was a good reason for D'Errico to reform the group, which hopefully comes up with a more creative style in the near future.''Materialismus'' is a decent listening for fans of more Experimental Rock forms, but the lack of proggy elements will hardly make it an essential addition for a prog fan...2.5 stars.