Zonal is a heavyweight bone crunching collaboration between Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh/Jesu/JK Flesh) and Kevin Martin (The Bug/King Midas Sound). They last worked together in a band format as Techno Animal in 2001, crafting some of the heaviest tectonic grooves under the likes of avant hip hop MC’s like Dalek, El-P, Rob Sonic, and Beans. At the time they sounded like nothing else around, and whilst they’ve both gone on their own separate journeys since that time, Zonal feels very much like a continuation for the duo.
They’ve enlisted US activist musician Moor Mother for vocals, whose proclamations, poetry, spoken word and raps are twisted, looped and delayed along with the music on six of the twelve tracks. Her unique style is suitably chaotic, suitably hysterical, suitably dexterous. She brings the doom, and it’s amazing and ridiculous. “Mamma fucked my daddy on a unicorn and jumped over a supernova,” she offers at one point, “Despite all my rage we’re still in a daze.”
Zonal is loping lumbering electronics with heavy doses of searing noise. This is post industrial post apocalyptic dub. It’s deep dark and grim, where everything feels like it is slowly disintegrating into rough blunted noise. It’s music of decay, an aged tearing stylus that is actually doing damage to every record it plays. The curious thing, and what makes this music so incredible is that its highly textural timbre and immense power taps directly into the listener’s adrenalin. It’s dangerous and it will cause damage.
