Zebulon Pike
Demo
6
Described by our message board king Wharwulf as "the heaviest band in the Twin Cities area", Zebulon Pike are a totally instrumental act playing old-school sludge and doom. Think Black Sabbath. Think Down minus a drunken Phil. This particular demo is five mostly-lengthy songs of heavy groove. As you might expect, the production is fuzzy, with thick and punchy guitars and bass. According to their site, it was recorded with an old 4-track cassette recorder in one live rehearsal, which results in the organic end-product. Guitarists Erik Fratzke and Morgan Berkus churn out some solid riffs and rhythm, backed up competently by the low-end team of Steve Post (bass) and Erik Bolan (drums). It's a difficult job trying to describe particular songs because they're all basically extended jams with the same feeling, and played at about the same speed - slow, but not bludgeonly slow. One particular little segment that sticks out in my mind is when the intensity picks up at bit at about 5:00 in Umlaut Overdose, ultimately resulting in a great heavy riff at 5:32. On the whole, there aren't many parts of songs that are fantastic, but on the other hand, there really isn't anything shitty here. It's just good jamming. This demo feels more like background music to me more than anything else, but it's well done instrumental doom. You can actually listen to or download the demo in its entirety at their official website (www.zebulonpike.com), so if you like the sound put out by the bands listed earlier, then check it out.
Related
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Zebulon PikeZebulon Pike II: The Deafening Twilight
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