reviews

Magazines & E-zines

Aversionline.com (E-zine): "Undeniable Desperation" (v/a "Rituals of Termination" compilation CD) (click title)

Metrophage (Bulletin Board): "The Music Box Sonata for Transmigrating Souls" (click title)

GIAG (Gaze into a Gloom - Latvia): "ad infinitum" & "Xantelasma Tuberoso"

& "The Music Box Sonata for Transmigrating Souls" (click title)

Sekuencias de Culto (Spain / E-zine): "The Music Box Sonata for Transmigrating Souls" & "Xantelasma Tuberoso" (click title)

Mental Funeral #4 (2002):

ze'rØ-sum "ad infinitum" CDR 2002 Cyber-Blast Records

"Boy, this sounds like a soundtrack, but to what film? The tone is rather somber, maybe even depressing depending on your mood. Damn!, it just hit me, the second track sounds like a piece from American Beauty. I don't know why, but that opening scene of the movie with the voice over? Then with the case with rack 5, the music could have been used in a late 80's horror flick like Demons but more so Nekromantic. 11 tracks of orchestrated cinematic ambience. The last couple of tracks kinda have that Gothic sound, you know the creepy organ thing. Really enjoyable and professional sounding no matter what."

Black Leather Jesus/ze'rØ-sum "Kitchen Modes" CDR 2001 Cyber-Blast Records

"ze'rØ-sum brings the dark cinematic ambience and Black Leather Jesus adds his noise to it. I think it works and I like it. Some tracks are rather mellow and experimental and yet others are more in the harsh noise vein. This sounds like it was recorded live? Limited to 100, I'm afraid."

T.E.F./Prurient/Richard Ramirez "Magnified Healing" CD 2001 Hospital Productions

"4 tracks from T.E.F., 11 from Prurient and 3 from Richard Ramirez. T.E.F. tears it up with hard pounding noise attacks. Prurient brings the violence with cut up feedback, high pitched noise power electronics with low end bass. Finally R.R. harsh electronic soundscapes (the first being a collab. with ze'rØ-sum) sound as though it had came from Alejandro Jodorwsky's film Holy Mountain."

Staalplaat's E-zine: Vital Weekly # 317 (Week 12):

ze'rØ-sum "Xantelasma Tuberoso" 3inchCDR 2001 Tabula Rasa

STIMBOX - LUPUS TUBERCULOSO (3" CDR by Tabula Rasa - Centro De Ruido) ROTTEN PIECE - ESPOROTRICOSIS GOMOSA (3" CDR by Tabula Rasa - Centro De Ruido) ZE'RØ-SUM - XANTELASMA TUBEROSO (3" CDR by Tabula Rasa - Centro De Ruido)

"Three 3" releases in what probably will be a whole series of 3"s, each limited to 100 copies and they all seem to be called diseases ]. Tabula Rasa is known to release noise and these are no different. Stimbox and Rotten Piece are slightly more known then ze'rØ-sum. Stimbox offer us 21 tracks in just over 21 minutes, although they very much sound as one thing altogether. Crude noise riding the waves of various guitar effect boxes. It's sort of sounds explored extensively by Merzbow a few years back, even when Stimbox still sounds sort of ok (save the bad ending!). Rotten Piece are less noisy (as in less brutal noise that is of course). They too use distorted sounds, but feed them through less effects (mainly echo) and have probably thought about their pieces (13 in total, again in one flow) better. Distorted guitars is my best guess for the sound input, but it's all less scratchy and feedback like. Descending down in harshness with ze'rØ-sum, who work mainly with recognizable synth patterns and can even be described as ambient, albeit of a more darker and experimental nature of course. Recorded with a fresh sense of naivety and in turn the best of the three, I think. "

To: vital@v2.nl Subject: Vital Weekly 317 From: Vital <vital@radiantslab.com> Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 15:53:40 -0500 Reply-To: vital@staalplaat.com

Updated: 07/18/2008