Zavod – Industrial City

I went through an industrial phase back in the mid to late 90s. It probably started with Ministry and Nine Inch Nails but eventually I was listening to bands like Circle of Dust, KMFDM, Die Krupps, Bile and The Young Gods. Part of my interest in the style came from a desire for something different than the grunge that was prevalent at the time, and part from seeing how artists like Trent Reznor could create an album on their own without a band. I was frustrated with trying to put together a band of my own and was inspired by knowing I could do it all myself (however badly that ended up turning out.) Somewhere around the turning of the millennium I stopped listening to industrial and I haven’t really been back to revisit it since. I now believe that a good part of why I don’t listen to industrial anymore is that all the memories I have associated with it are ones I don’t care to remember. I know Rammstein has since become popular in the style, but I’ve never really been a fan.

Fast forward about a dozen years and I receive a copy of “Industrial City” from Sweden’s Zavod. Their bio lists them as industrial metal which grabbed my attention and made me wonder if I could get into them. Due to the volume of submissions I’ve been receiving I’m starting to get pickier about what I will review. I listened to a few tracks and decided I’d give it a shot.

Zavod certainly does have an industrial influence, but there is definitely a metal side as well. The Industrial element comes in the form of electronic instrumentation, ethereal backgrounds and driving almost danceable beats while the metal side exerts itself through chunky guitar chords and gruff rough vocals that remind me of early Tiamat. Obviously industrial music tends to give you the feeling like you are deep in the bowels of a grimy steel factory, but Zavod also install a spacious epic feeling as well. Like maybe the steel factory is actually the massive forge of Hephaestus. I really dig the harsh vocals with the style of music; it makes me think I could get back into industrial if it sounded like these guys.

Zavod are currently unsigned and doing it all themselves, which makes “Industrial City” a pretty damn impressive debut. The production sounds great and the songs are too. I like this a lot and very much hope to hear of bigger and better things for this band in the future. You should go check them out on MySpace or their ReverbNation page.