Zonaria - Rendered in Vain
Self Financed
Melodic Death Metal
3 songs (11:45)
Release year: 2006
Zonaria
Reviewed by Al

I don’t usually review EP’s or singles as I much prefer sinking my teeth into an album’s worth of material than trying to assess a band on the basis of three or four songs. However when the single Rendered in Vain from up an coming Swedish four piece Zonaria landed in my lap, I thought I’d give them a quick a review as at present this recording is all the band has to offer. As there are only three songs on offer here I’ll keep this short and sweet.

The band's sound is for the most part in the heavier spectrum of the genre, brutal fast paced drumming and low end staccato riffs are the order of the day. The band pull off this aspect of their sound reasonably well but unfortunately fail to provide anything remarkable. While it all sounds professional and well mixed and the songs are put together in a decent way, there is little to separate the music from the hundreds of other pretenders out there. There is a distinct lack of any awe inspiring solos or amazing riffs which unfortunately results in the whole CD being distinctly average.

The vocals however are more of a mixed bag. The death metal vocals are pulled off rather well and it is these that dominate most of the proceedings. However on the second track the vocalist utilises some clean vocals. These are actually well sung, but due to the brutality of the proceeding music they simply don’t seem to gel and sound a bit too melodic in context with the rest of the song. Rather than providing a sweeping chorus which I’m sure was the intention, it comes off sounding more like a ploy to make the whole package more accessible.

There is potential here, but Zonaria have to take some more innovative or advanced leaps when it comes to composition and cutting out the clean vocals or placing them in a more suitable aural environment would also help matters. If they can provide something that separates them from the mire of mediocrity then the metal community could have a more interesting proposition on their hands. I would like to see them get a record deal and have the space and time that a full length offers to really show the world what they can do. Until such a time however, I’ll have to file this one under ‘average’.

Killing Songs :
Al quoted no quote
Other albums by Zonaria that we have reviewed:
Zonaria - Arrival Of The Red Sun reviewed by Khelek and quoted 68 / 100
Zonaria - The Cancer Empire reviewed by Khelek and quoted 65 / 100
Zonaria - Infamy and the Breed reviewed by Alex and quoted 80 / 100
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There are 3 replies to this review. Last one on Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:39 pm
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