Null‘O’Zero
The Enemy Within
Rock Of Angels Records
2015
Null’O’Zero is a Greek quintet from Athens that came to life back in 2012, winning a battle of the bands type of competition and with that some free recording sessions that culminated into the recordings of their debut EP “Under Blood Red Sky”. The band suffered a severe lineup shuffle, losing both guitarists and their vocalist, but they did get replacements and some three years later they return with a debut full length.
Their style can be described as groovy contemporary metal that’s a little too aggressive to be categorized as typical “heavy metal” but not groovy enough either to be considered as absolutely “new” breed stuff… most of the aggression stems from the vocal performance that combines mostly a half convincing lower voice that is quite often doubled by some really incredibly high harmonies that are however so low in the mix that they are barely audible, above the hubbub. While interesting, the entire style falls victim to the fact that the vocal style is not exactly too flexible and despite the band’s best efforts on an instrumental level, the whole result sounds increasingly same because of them… it’s not that they don’t try to experiment with the vocals or they don’t attempt a variety of ideas, it’s just that they seem a little confined by their current choices. I suppose an attempt to drop the screaming backing vocals in favor of a more natural sounding thrashy mid-tone, might work better, or not… It’s like listening to a band that would like to be a bit like Annihilator stuck in a mid-tempo Pantera wannabe hell… with only the occasional excursion beyond the confines of their own self-made musical perimeter.
While there’s nothing principally wrong with the band, there’s nothing that’s sets them apart from a lot of other bands that while not bad, would fail to grip your attention sufficiently…
Their style can be described as groovy contemporary metal that’s a little too aggressive to be categorized as typical “heavy metal” but not groovy enough either to be considered as absolutely “new” breed stuff… most of the aggression stems from the vocal performance that combines mostly a half convincing lower voice that is quite often doubled by some really incredibly high harmonies that are however so low in the mix that they are barely audible, above the hubbub. While interesting, the entire style falls victim to the fact that the vocal style is not exactly too flexible and despite the band’s best efforts on an instrumental level, the whole result sounds increasingly same because of them… it’s not that they don’t try to experiment with the vocals or they don’t attempt a variety of ideas, it’s just that they seem a little confined by their current choices. I suppose an attempt to drop the screaming backing vocals in favor of a more natural sounding thrashy mid-tone, might work better, or not… It’s like listening to a band that would like to be a bit like Annihilator stuck in a mid-tempo Pantera wannabe hell… with only the occasional excursion beyond the confines of their own self-made musical perimeter.
While there’s nothing principally wrong with the band, there’s nothing that’s sets them apart from a lot of other bands that while not bad, would fail to grip your attention sufficiently…