Post rock music has an overwhelming potential to calm, to restore a little more sanity in all of us. I suppose that’s the intention of most music inevitably. Enter Zaius– a band that weaves the intricacies of post rock potential into something comforting and warm. As a genre, post rock comes with its own set of difficult challenges when it comes to composition, mood and texture. Zaius with their newest record ‘Of Adoration’ makes surpassing these hurdles look like a walk in the park.
The album opens up with a groovy track called “Phaneron”. There’s a deep heaviness about this song that builds a lot of tension in the music while been locked in a tight groove. So as far as the modus operandi of the album’s music goes, this pretty much seems to be it. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a wonderful thing in a post rock context. “Echelon” is a sonic presentation of heavy and ambient textures that finds its strength in the thumping bass lines and rhythmic drums. The leads on this song add great deal of variety on this song, and gives the idea of creating space in the music.
“Sheepdog” is my personal favourite off this album. This song really does have a wonderful voice of its own. The opening rhythm sections have a mood that supplements the mood created by the lead. The bass on this song is a voice by itself. All the instruments come together in a very delicate fashion to create a very strong climax and opens up to a very powerful section that simply spectacular. There is a strong sense of tranquility in this song. This song isn’t as heavy as the others, but personally, I thought the emotional content of this song is by far the most colorful on the album.
“Anicca” is a song where one could listen to all the instruments come together as one, and yet find the smallest nuances in the individuality of each instrument and each effect. The drums are really the pulse on this one. This song is brimming with love and tenderness, and yet there’s this feeling of a certain kind of harsh tension, one that seems to put us in perspective. “Colin” marks the end of the album with a heavier vibe. The song starts out with a strong tension in the music, before breaking into smaller bits. This creates space and seems to gives an essence of giving time to the listener to ready themselves for a change in mood of the song. This song has multiple moods in it which together create a lager mood for the song. The nuances of the song are paradoxical for they are very outstanding, yet in their own roles are nuances by their own right. Space in this song is all about potential for a build-up of finer textures, although this might also be a recurring intention throughout the album.
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‘Of Adoration’ is deserving of all kinds of adoration. Zaius wonderfully seamlessly sews a myriad of sonic textures with these wonderful performances. The brilliant production does justice to the music in every aspect. The quality of production breathes life into the music. The details are incredibly articulate. The production does truly capture the prowess of the band mates. The individuality of each instrument, both in terms of their musical context and their own sonic potential are captured. This lets us better appreciate the finest detail, sound, effect and mood of the song beautifully. This is post rock music at one of its finest moments.