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Kerrang! Review of Crowded Rooms - Zzzonked Over the past few months Zzzonked have gone from the small side project of a “emo icon” to an act which are sure to gain a large fan base both in the UK, in which they are based and the rest of the world. The unique blend of screaming vocals, a synth beat and double bass has slowly been taking over the minds of teenagers around the country and has finally began to gain popularity. The debut album from Zzzonked, ‘Crowded Minds’ shows that lead vocalist Kieran Marks was not a one hit wonder with his old band The Verdict Is Vengeance.
The opening track The Fallen Will Rise contains rainfall with the voice of a girl in panic in the background, the girl is heard to say “everything has gone, everyone is gone”, as the rainfall gets quieter a fast keyboard loop is heard over the cries of the woman and screaming vocals of “You’ll get what you deserve, death is waiting for us, let us come with it now” before the song fades out into the rain again.
Double bass pedals mixed with a heavy guitar riff is used to start Visions Of A Blind Man a song about how people are beginning to ignore the basic needs to friends and family, it is one of the more experimental songs on the album and contains a dubstep drop before the breakdown in the song, Marks shares vocals in the song with bassist Isaac Steen, who provides the clean vocals for the majority of the album.
For The Eyes Of The Weak is the heaviest song on the album with no synth or piano being used, it shows the anger that Marks has towards his former band mates, and how he will end up better off than them in the future. The guitars play the heaviest riffs that the band have written and the drumming is at a incredible speed to get people who are listening to feel the anger.
You Should Be Screaming is the song which shows the bands ability to change musical styling’s, it is based around simple guitar and drums with a keyboard loop which would easily fit into any pop song, as the song progresses the guitars, drums and vocals begin to get heavier before going into a breakdown featuring a powerful keyboard beat along side the heavy guitars and drums.
The interlude song Burning Your Heart continues from where The Fallen Will Rise finishes, the cries of the girl have gotten louder but now the rain has stopped and footsteps are heard, then the loading of a gun is also heard before the cries get ended and a gunshot is heard and fades away.
The second heaviest song on the album Skylines Crashing Around Us starts with screamed vocals of “Waiting for the change of light, surrounded in a room of knives” before the rest of the instruments are heard. It is the heaviest song by the band which contains a keyboard, and is about the world ending in a war of the worlds style.
A slow and saddening piano is the only instrument used in We Cried For The Saints In The Sky other than the clean powerful vocals from Marks and guest vocalist Gemma Skinner, the song is about heartbreak and how losing a loved one changes everything about a person.
Half Empty, Half Round Your Fucking Face is almost the exact same as Glass Half Empty, Glass Half Round Your Fucking Face by Marks’ old band The Verdict Is Vengeance, the reason in which it is on the album is because Marks’ owns the rights to the song and wanted to improve on the original version. The song contains a fast keyboard loop mixed with fast drums and guitars to give it the edge over the original.
She’s The Laughter In Slaughter is the bands most famous song, because it contains a dubstep keyboard loop and two breakdowns. It seems to be the best song written by the band and a fan favourite due to the use of other genres in the song. Lyrically the song is about a friend of the band who has become a prostitute and is now regretting the choices she made in life.
The outro of the album Dead Riot finishes the story which is show in the songs The Fallen Will Rise and Burning Your Heart. The sounds of a car door opening then shutting, then something being dragged through some sort of rough terrain. A man is heard saying “Shame you couldn’t stay still longer” before a shovel is heard digging into the ground, a thud is heard before a car engine starts again and then fades out.
Crowded Rooms shows that keyboard loops can be mixed with heavy instruments and screamed vocals and still sound amazing. Songs such as We Cried For The Saints In The Sky really show that the band can use a mix of genres and make it work, we are personally looking forward to any future releases from the band who have stated that they will be attempting to release a EP by the end of the year, could they be over working? Maybe, but if it contains half as much as Crowded Rooms then it's sure to be amazing.
8.5 out of 10Crowded Rooms is due to be released 21st July from Ready, Set, Go! Records
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