Carboniferous symphony

'You [Zu] have created a powerful and expressive music that totally blows away what most bands do these day'
- John Zorn, musician

Zu are an Italian instrumental band, composed by Luca Mai on saxophone, Massimo Pupillo on bass and Jacopo Battaglia on drums. This atypical trio mixes elements from classic rock, metal, punk and jazz, but their music would be better characterized as eclectic. Powerful riffs, intricate soundscapes, virtuosistic drumming, pummeling bass, distorted saxophone: Zu are a warm wild marriage of the traditional to the modern.

Zu choosed a geologic setting for their new album, Carboniferous. It features many important collaborations, from Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr.Bungle) to King Buzzo (The Melvins).

Their last release tickle the geologist's imagination as its name comes directly from the Palaeozoic era: Carboniferous. The tracklist includes geologic titles (Obsidian, Carbon) and invokes chtonian atmospheres (Chthonian, Beata Viscera; Erynis, one of the titles of Demeter). Moreover, the official video displays manifest geologic elements, as well as the cover art of "Carboniferous".

Consequently, a question might arise: is "Carboniferous" a geologic concept album?

The official video of Carbon.

To be honest, I have not a straightforward answer. Geologic mythologies are persistent social symbols and therefore it is difficult to distinguish “pure” geologic music from geologic interferences in music. For this reason, further research is needed to solve th Zu-Geology relationship.

Danny De Vito introduces Zu in Rome.