Throughout the many years I’ve associated with the metal scene, I often notice what side-genres become most popular among both artists and revellers alike. For a long time last decade it was synthwave that dominated the upper echelons of genres that are not metal but hold a keen association due to similar characteristics.
That being said, all alternative music genres have a connection or association with metal in one way or another, but as time progresses, certain genres come in and out of fashion and are played constantly in playlists of people you normally find head banging. And most recently a band who have taken some of the darker and electronic based genres loved by lots of metal heads and have delivered a new type of metalized composition is Zetra.
This duo from London are somewhat enigmatic to say the least. When I first saw them in concert supporting gothic metal group Unto Others, I remember describing them as a “metalized Boy Harsher”. So imagine a band who took the sorrowful gloom of early 90s goth rock and fused in some heftiness that wouldn’t look out of place on a Mayhem or Immortal record.
Now the duo have returned with their self titled debut album, which, despite having some metal elements, falls more into the deep and versatile realms of synth-driven rock with elements of shoegaze and post-hardcore thrown in here and there.
I think it best to call Zetra a band of wide taste who have taken pieces of all the different alternative worlds they have studied and mixed it into a malaise that is catchy and memorable, as well as being heftier than expected.
I also recall feeling an element of performance art in their live shows, so this album ought to be characterised by the band’s delivery too. I can’t say that all the tracks felt the same in terms of similarity as each tends to experiment with one genre or another whilst retaining a synth-rock overview.
Zetra is an album I think you should listen to in order to fully embrace all that this talented duo have concocted. But what I can safely state, is that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. The length clocks in at a time decent for a studio debut, so you won’t feel overwhelmed by the huge amount of talent the guys have packed into it.
Not the most amazing alternative or metal-adjacent album I’ve heard this year but one definitely worth adding to your collection if you want to know how talented the alternative scene remains today.
(7/10 Demitri Levantis)
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