Review by Vinny for Zoroaster - Matador (2010)

Named after the ancient Iranian prophet and philosopher, Zarathustra Spitama who was more commonly known as Zoroaster, this trio from Atlanta recall the sounds of Sleep, the progressive sludge of Kylessa and the doom/sludge combination of Unearthly Trance. All are great reference points of course; however, it is a stoner influence that sits strongest for me; even above that trademark sludge sound that Georgia was near-patented when Matador was released. My point is, there is a lot going on here. Yet this is not at the expense of order or structure, as Matador never does sound chaotic. Even during the frenzied mid-section solo of ‘Odyssey’ or the psychedelic sludge of ‘Firewater’, the levels of intensity may well reach critical mass, but they are always measured by a good mix of straight up stoner.

Just listen to the jangling leads of ‘Trident’ to understand why Matador is to all intents and purposes a very cool and incredibly pleasing record. There is a freedom to how the trio express themselves here, yet there is still a respecting of boundaries, a sense that we are not under any circumstances going to go left-field, but we are going to have a fucking good time still anyways. At the same time the calming sense of structure that embodies the album never feels like anyone is being safe or pensive about what they are playing either.

Whilst perhaps not as tantric as Al Cisneros of Sleep and Om fame, the cleaner vocals on Matador could easily be delivered by him. Listening to Matador soon got me in the mood for Om’s Pilgrimage record and that got a couple of spins this week as a result. I feel Matador engages me on the same level of connection that Pilgrimage manages to as both records can easily coast my soul into a peaceful bliss that it yearns for. Tracks such as ‘Old World’ develop a quick sense of familiarity and soothing repetition, whilst the scathing sludge of ‘Black Hole’ still carries that welcoming warmth also. There are not many albums that have grown on me as quickly as this one has. With its array variety of pace and tempos there is still an immense amount of genre stability about Matador, resulting in an experience that suffers from no jarring or obtuse moments. Equally though, this is a record that never becomes boring either.