Ceremony - ZOO

ZOO is the fourth full-length from modern hardcore punk legends Ceremony, and their first release on Matador records. They've certainly evolved a lot over the years (both image and sound wise), and ZOO continues this trend by blending elements of 78' punk and modern rock. Ceremony once cited their influences as being Pink Floyd, Tom Waits, Joy Division, Suicidal Tendencies: this album showcases the former's influences.

This album is probably the most different sounding Ceremony release to date, a lot of it being because of the production. I honestly thought it was someone other than Ross Farrar on vocals when I first heard 'Citizen,' because the production makes his vocals sound THAT different. However, if you YouTube live performances of songs on this album, it sounds more like their older material. Songwriting-wise, it's similar to Rohnert Park, in that you have some fast stuff, but a lot more slower material on here. I haven't listened to the album too many times through yet, but so far, I'm actually not a big fan of the slower songs on the album. The faster tunes (like the aforementioned Citizen) are fantastic, and worth getting the album (or downloading it) for them alone.

While Rohnert Park perhaps hinted at the band one day returning to the hardcore punk sound they first created on Ruined EP, ZOO cements that they're definitely headed in a new direction. The slower material is a bit of a disappointment to me, but if they continue with the classic punk sounding stuff, their fifth album should be amazing!

ARTIST: CEREMONY

ALBUM: ZOO

GENRE: HARDCORE PUNK

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