Today I Listened To: No Zodiac- Population Control (1/10/13)

I'm gonna start doing something new to get content up on this bad boy. Since I already spend at least 45 minutes a day listening to music, I figured I might as well take an extra 15 to write about what I've heard. Today I'm going to write about an album called Population Control by Chicago beatdown band No Zodiac.

Artist: No Zodiac

Album: Population Control (2013)

Label: ???

Key Jam: "Nonexistent"

Sounds Like: If I'd never heard of deathcore before, this is what I'd imagine it sounding like. Picture Despised Icon with less shredding and more focus on dat heavy shit. No Zodiac is a hardcore band through and through, but you can tell by the drumming/vocals that these dudes spent a lot of time listening to shit like Morbid Angel as well. If I had to sum the record up in one word it would be "unrelenting."

Pros: Heavy as fuck, mixes hardcore and death metal tastefully.

Cons: Songs tend to devolve into "riff soup", not a lot of variance in terms of structure or dynamics.

The Verdict: Meh.

I can see what these guys are trying to do, and I commend them for doing it, but this isn't really my thing. If you wear mesh shorts and flat-brim hats, or if you're a deathcore kid who's getting tired of open note chugging and all your fave bands jumping ship to the land of radio rock, I'd suggest checking this out as you'll likely vibe to it. For me, however, the songs are a bit lacking in dynamic/structural variance to really get behind. I can only listen to that slow-moving beatdown riff so many times before I lose interest. Also the production is a bit sketchy, which doesn't really hurt the record, but it doesn't help either. If you're not huge on this kind of music but still feel like punching holes in your bedroom wall, I'd suggest listening to Xibalba instead; it's a bit more palatable for squares like us.