ZOLTAN return with their second full-length album, following hot on the heels of the "Tombs Of The Blind Dead" soundtrack EP on Rise Above Records. Sounding more focused and confident than ever, the 5 tracks that make up "Sixty Minute Zoom" are a continuation and improvement on previous Zoltan releases. Identifying as "cyborg prog" and comparable to forebears Goblin, Heldon and Zombi, Zoltan have succeeded in making a fictional soundtrack for an uncertain age. Inspired by the dystopian sci-fi writers Yevgeny Zamyatin and J.G. Ballard, the album creates a foreboding atmosphere, intimating a near-future urban hell where paranoia and violence are never far away. Pulsating sequencers, eerie analog synths and a pounding rhythm section drive the music into realms of retro-futurist dread, interspersed with brooding interludes that take a pause for reflection without letting up on the intensity for a minute.
D**N
Maintaining the Giallo bloodline!
ZOLTAN Sixty Minute ZoomBy Darren Allison - Cinema Retro MagazineZoltan are back with their new album / CD ‘Sixty Minute Zoom’ (Cine 11). The London based trio have again drawn upon their influences of film composer Fabio Frizzi and the legendary Italian soundtrack giants Goblin in order to produce this creative and unique homage to the much loved Giallo film genre. To date, Zoltan’s journey has been an incredibly interesting ride and Sixty Minute Zoom really does emerge as arguably their most polished piece of work. The album reveals a perfect coherence between keyboardist Andy Thompson, bassist/keyboardist/guitarist Matt Thompson and drummer Andrew Prestidge.‘Antonius Block’ opens the album with a brooding, atmospheric pace, there’s also plenty of haunting synths that flutter amongst the punchy sharpness of Prestidge’s percussion. Zoltan provide a relevantly spooky and unsettling vibe through Side One, especially with tracks such as ‘Table of Hours’. Whilst ‘The Ossuary’ is a piece which begins with a sense of soothing electronic energy, but don’t be fooled – as it switches direction around the half way mark and instead pulls us into the realms of suspense and an almost pulsating stalker theme. Zoltan cleverly keep you on your toes and guessing throughout – it’s an almost stylised mystery tour which never allows the listener to settle for a minute.Side Two is devoted entirely to the epic ‘The Integral’ – a twenty-one minute synth symphony which captures Zoltan’s slick sense of unity. The piece arguably emerges as an Italian Giallo suite, a rich mixture of electro experimentation and rhythmic beats - a powerful, threatening groove which could have effortlessly graced any classic euro horror of the day.I have to admire Zoltan’s continued commitment to the Italian horror genre, an area to which some may consider (rather unwisely) as a defunct soundtrack category of the past. There is a genuine passion behind Zoltan’s work, an almost unflinching desire to assure that the Giallo soundtrack keeps its head firmly above the water – and who can blame them? It’s a release which will certainly appeal to fans of Cult Euro Horror and Exploitation fiends.Cineploit have released Sixty minute zoom in a number of formats including Vinyl LP, CD and several mixed options – check it out!
C**N
Five Stars
Tres bon.
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