Zone Six have made occasional live appearances over the years and some have been available on special releases, but Love Monster is the first new full album in 11 years. The lineup has changed dramatically since the band was founded 18 years ago but the spirit is intact. We’ve got founder Dave (Sula Bassana) Schmidt on drums, Martin Schorn (Modulfix) on synths, Komet Lulu on bass and Rainer Neef on guitar. These people are responsible for all kinds of great music – Sula and Lulu are in Electric Moon, Sula records as Sula, Rainer is in The Pancakes, and all four are in Krautzone. I knew this album would be worth the long wait even before I heard it and I wasn’t disappointed. We’ve got four tasty jams across 45+ minutes.
The 15 minute title track opens the set and is a slowly stoned and demonic Space Rock dirge carried along by threatening acid-fuzz guitar leads and a simmering stew of cosmic synths. It’s caustically intense, like some march of an impending alien apocalypse. The mood is more optimistic on The Insight, though no less intense. Zone Six create a trance-inducing rhythmic pulse that lays the foundation for soaring synth lines, spaced out electronic melodies, bubbling effects and more monster fuzz guitar leads. There’s a hypnotically droning sensation throughout, building up to an explosively volcanic finale. The appropriately titled Acidic continues down a similar path and includes some of the most screaming guitar leads of the set, which sound great amidst the space electronics and pounding drum and bass groove. And the 15 minute Cosmogyral wraps up the set, being another rocking combination of guitar and space-electronic fun. I like how the guitar leads alternate between densely molten lava acidic and Funky-Bluesy as eerily cosmic synth lines hover, sail and weave. The guitar is pure poison and it tastes GOOD.
In summary, Love Monster is a killer combination of stoned Space Rock and sinister Psychedelic jams. The freak flag is flying and displaying the skull and crossbones. Let’s not wait another 11 years for the next one.
For more information visit the Sulatron Records web site at: http://www.sulatron.com
Visit the Zone Six web site at: http://zonesix.de
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz