Zu – Ferrum Sidereum (House of Mythology) – Well it has to be said right away, Zu are sounding rather good here. Saying that is no real surprise, of course they sound good, Zu always sound good, is there something just a little bit more here this time though? Something that a finger can’t easily be put on? There’s something about the Italian trio’s squonky bite that’s hitting the spot even more than usual.  It is rightly said that their music has always combined the complexity of progressive rock, the grit of industrial, the precision of metal, the energy of punk and the intelligence of jazz, but this time there just feels to be something a touch more hefty in there, something a little extra, something (slightly) different 

– “Hefty” means large, heavy, strong, or substantial, often implying significant weight, size, or amount, and can also describe something done with great force, like a hefty kick or a hefty fine. It’s used for big people (a hefty man), large objects (a hefty book), big sums (a hefty price), or powerful actions (a hefty shove)     

And not built on an industrial heaviness as much as they might have been in the past? Not so brutal? Something that, this time around, after twenty-five or so years of doing this, something that is sounding more naturally intense that ever? More colourful than ever? More adventurous than ever. 

The Italian avant garde trio of Luca T. Mai (baritone sax), Massimo Pupillo (bass guitar) and Tomas Järmyr (drums) have returned with a giant slab of a double album called Ferrum Sidereum, a massive instrumental album that blends so many things in what feels like a more natural way than they have done before. They feel comfortable now after all this time, that blend is working more than it ever has, something more refined, as epic as ever. It sounds tightly composed and at the same time spontaneous, at times those layers of prog underneath it all really does make their sometimes raw thing sound deliciously epic.

Apparently the three of them spent “over a year refining this proliferating 80-minute epic through relentless rehearsals and live studio recordings”, thing is it doesn’t sound over-worked, they haven’t gone for that “perfect” sound, they could so easily have squeezed the life out of it all, they haven’t. This really is a balanced intensity, a raw yet refined production, a dangerous sound. That gang-of-geese infested metal onslaught of La Donna Vestita Di Sole is immense, the forward movement of it, the intense propulsion just immensely satisfying. Really don’t want to pick out one piece, the whole album is one immense piece of very (very) satisfying work, one great big firework display that just keeps on delivering with everY explosion of those drums and attack of that baritone sax and all those details unerneath the surface of it al, and all of it anchored so powerfully by that bass guitar. 

The refinement of Pleroma, a piece something like half way through the proceedings, is an almost delicate delight, not that we needed a break, that bit of light and shade, the less is more moment does add so much though.

Ferrum Sidereum is like going to a city you’ve never been to before, the streets all kind of look and feel the same as you turn into them, look closer and each one has a delight not yet discovered in the previous one though, a whole load of delights there waiting in each one, each street, each piece of music. Each of those peices has the same identity yet each one holding something different and all waiting to be discovered and then explored again and again. 

Zu are sounding rather good here, Zu are sounding excellent,  Ferrum Sidereum is a significant album, an import album. Oh, that’s a good bit, just over there on the other side of that street we almost missed last time, that bit sounds a little Francis Monkman soundtrack to the Long Good Friday (that’s meant as high compliment). So much to unwrap and explore here, so so much, is this Zu’s best album yet, I rather think it just might be…  And then there’s Hymn of the Pearl, I could go on (and on). Highly recommended.  

Bandcamp / www.zuism.net / www.houseofmythology.com