Content: Hailing from Roma this trio gained some recognition with the album “Bugged Karma” released by A Different Drum as a very limited release of 300 copies for the label’s VIP-series. I honestly never heard of the band before, and so I was really wondering –because of the very positive feedback I’ve heard, what they would sound like.
Both first tracks left me rather breathless because of the great and overwhelming sound blasts emerging from the bass lines. The sound treatments are absolutely amazing while the global production reflects maturity. The body-pop vibes running through these tracks are very efficient while I also like the global production of the vocals –which are half spoken – half sung on “Erase” and a bit robotic on “Never Let You In”.
The next 2 tracks featuring the title song are enjoyable although not revealing a similar production in sound. The songs reflect certain maturity, which is one of the main strengths behind this work. “Inside My Head” confirms the talent of Zero-EQ for transposing a kind of Marilyn Manson influence into a hard electro-pop style. Electronics and guitar have been meticulously assimilated to reach a powerful result.
The next chapter features 4 remixes by Retrogramme, Public Domain Resource, Lost Reality and Klonavenus. All of the remixes are quite diversified, but unfortunately don’t bring any bonus to the EP. The space-like and experimental approach of Retrogramme remixing the title song is interesting, but that’s all I can say. Lost Reality tries a kind of pop-rock experiment on their remix of “Halloween Inside”, but here again I expected a bit more consistency.
Conclusion: The original songs by Zero-EQ are noticeable and worthy of examination while the remixes are a bit ruining the work of the band.