Recent Reviews

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

[ More Music Reviews ]


Album: Zephaniah (EP)
Album Zephaniah EP Review

Album: Zephaniah (EP)

Heavy Metal
4.0/5.0

The first album to be reviewed in the new year of 2013 is Zephaniah from a band called Album. Sound strange? Not so much as this work being pitched as a mini-LP by their label High Roller Records. Zephaniah has only four songs, at 19 minutes total, and it's being released, at this point, only on vinyl in limited numbers.

Album offers some traditional heavy metal with roots deep into Seventies proto-metal to early Eighties NWOBHM and early thrash. After a listen or two they might remind of a hybrid of Manilla Road with some Black Sabbath and Grand Funk peppered with very early Metallica. Zephaniah is a concept album loosely based on the book of the same name from the Bible. It begins with Prologue, and that's what you get; it's heavy on synths and drums with nearly spoken voice over. The meat of their heavy metal comes with Shout of the Warrior and Ballad of Zephaniah. The former is heavier, even thrashier, the latter reaching towards the progressive rock side. You might hear a 'country-like' segue within. Generally, it's all quite interesting and entertaining, but obviously too little of a good thing. Zephaniah might be more for those diehard heavy metal vinyl collectors. But that doesn't fare well for those of us in the States when considering Euro conversion rates and shipping costs. Contact the band via Facebook, perhaps it can be purchased in North America straight from them. Otherwise: recommended.


CraigHartranft.net - New fiction, crime fiction by Craig Hartranft





In Short

Album's Zephaniah offers a glimpse of early American heavy metal, with bits of thrash, stoner, and prog thrown in for good measure.

Find A Review

Alphabetical Index

a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s t
u v w x y z #
Album of the Week
Read the Eclipse: Megalomanium Album Review

Formed in 1999 by singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Erik Martensson, Sweden's Eclipse is well into their third decade of making music. In the recent past, their recordings and reputation have ... [ Read More ]