REVIEW ON 'SLUDGELORD' (UK)

ZIPPO - Maktub

ZIPPO's bio should tell you all you need to know about this superb and brilliant band.

"Italia based ZIPPO have been able to forge within few years a unique musical creature. Active since 2004, three albums under their belt, several European tours and concerts all over Italy; this hiperactivity makes ZIPPO one of the leading bands in the Italian heavy psychedelic scene. Their live shows are bursting and mesmeric, a massive electric ritual that will petrify you. 

After the surprising self-produced debut "Ode To Maximum" (2006), the following "The Road To Knowledge" (2009) shows a band in its phase of natural development, combining progressive approaches and post metal landscapes with the classic stoner rock and doom backgrounds.

ZIPPO's third son comes out in April 2011 once again through Subsound Records and its title is "Maktub". The 7 Tracks have been shaped by Victor Love at Subsound Studio while mastering duties have been handled by James Plotkin (Khanate, Sunn O))), Isis). Intense, daring, and twisting; with very special guests such as Ben Ward (Orange Goblin) and Luca T. Mai (Zu)."

Well I am here to review their superb 3rd album - "Maktub" - A 7 song 37 minute blast of pure sonic brilliance. Taking infleunce from ISIS, TOOL, Mastodon, Baroness and many other top notch Sludge/Post-Metal Bands.

ZIPPO bring a truly fresh spin on the genre adding some cool psych metal vibes. I haven't heard of ZIPPO before Dave contacted me. But I am glad he did.

As this album is something truly special. How the fuck these guys aren't more well known is beyond me.

Parts Stoner, Sludge, Post-Metal and Prog Metal all blended superbly to make the unique sound that only ZIPPO can deliver. This album is just flat out rocks from start to finish.

Full of brutal riffs after brutal riffs. Heavy pulsating pounding drumming and top notch vocals from Dave. Which are full of passion and belief from the word go.

This album has been causing quite a stir in the underground scene and it's not hard to see why. Tracks like "Caravan To Your Destiny", "The Omens" and my fave track "The Treasure" show what this band does so superbly well.

Blending hard-hitting riffs with top-notch emotional lyrics driven along by Dave's amazing vocals. Each song has the right blend of Sludge/Stoner/Post-Metal aggression that will have you begging for more.

The whole album has been put together superbly. Not surprising considering the talent behind. Victor Love and James Plotkin are masters at this sort of thing. But the real stars are ZIPPO themselves.

This album is a fucking masterpiece. No doubt about it. This album has made me a confirmed fan of these top-notch Sludge Rockers. Their previous 2 albums are worth checking out as well. Both superb releases in their own right. But MAKTUB is the true standout in the bands work.

MAKTUB will now be considered their landmark release and what their future works will be judged by.

The Sludgelord

thesludgelord.blogspot.com

REVIEW ON 'ROCK-A-ROLLA' (UK)

ZIPPO - Maktub

ROCK-A-ROLLA

Issue 32 - June/July 2011

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www.rock-a-rolla.com

REVIEW ON 'METALTEAMUK' (UK)

ZIPPO - Maktub

No, I'm also confused as to why a band would name themselves after a pocket lighter manufacturer. I'm guessing here but, considering how deeply embedded in psych/stoner metal Zippo are, then the chances are they probably smoke more than their fare share of green. It figures then that they've probably got little coloured disposable versions laying about everywhere so it makes some sort of backward sense that they should find inspiration from them.

Having not come across the band before, it's something of a surprise to learn that Maktub, an Arabic word meaning "destiny", is the Italian quintet's third album. From the off, it's clear they love to pound you like No Made Sense and Isis are want to do. They scream of the scattergun lunacy of Killing Joke, with a touch of Baroness alchemy thrown in, but also revel in tightening the screws to attack like their heroes, Mastodon. Maktub is determinedly experimental, thunderously riotous, and also burns with an in-built passion for all things cosmic. Take 'Caravan To Your Destiny', which tiptoes into your consciousness from gentle beginnings before proceeding to contort its backline until the strings begin to pinball around your skull. Quite a force when combined with Davide Straccione's vocal battery; an intriguing combination of Troy Sanders (Mastodon), Mike Patton (Faith No More) and Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age). He seems to revel in the whole innate lunacy of the track, throwing out an echoing power that lists maniacally.

They've dragged in some special guests for this one too. You'll find the baritone sax of Zu's Luca T. Mai, curiously popping up to add shredded drone and splintering feedback to the warbling star that is 'Simum', a good dose of The Orange Man Theory's Gabbo and Cinghio, who deliver the harmonised "roaring screams" for 'The Personal Legend' and, most notably, Orange Goblin's Ben Ward part-screaming part-narrating the most ludicrously obscure lyrics - "You can't turn lead into gold / Mercury means nothing to me" for the pistoning bruiser 'Man Of Theory'.

The first half of the album is seemingly all brawn and no brains - short tracks that hit you hard and run for cover before they really have time to make any meaningful impact. It's the equivalent of being the helplessly small boat caught in an almighty storm. The unpredictable ferocity with which you are blasted through from one side to the other is disorienting. Thankfully, as the track length increases and the squall abates the music comes back to you, finds a pattern and digs its heels in. By the time you spin the closer, 'The Treasure', you'll have discovered a band that have hit their stride and prove perfect companions to guide you through their chosen subject matter - the emotional journey home. Surely, listening to music shouldn't make you feel this exhausted though. By all means check this out, but do approach with caution.

John Skibeat

www.metalteamuk.net

REVIEW ON 'METALLIVILLE' (UK)

ZIPPO - Maktub

4.5/10

Not a relative of the puppet from Rainbow, Italy’s Zippo, greet me with an interestingly artistic cover design. Anticipating interestingly artistic music inside, is justified but comes somewhat out the wrong way, very horrendously at first. Slinging together alternative, punk, metal, garage, industrial and a sprinkle of eastern flavour as the album front probably indicates, the seven tunes mostly disappear under it in to indecipherable heaps of noise and no significant hooks or lines.

Later numbers are a vague improvement but most of the time continue to come in too fast and carelessly with it all, wrecking what could have been a great record just as the front man’s pleasantly Pepper Keenan-like roar begins to come through.

Sadly Zippo may remain zipped up for a while longer.

Dave Attrill

www.metalliville.co.uk

REVIEW ON 'ADEQUACY.NET' (UK)

ZIPPO - The Road To Knowledge

The quality of an album depends just as much on the production as it does on the writing and performance. I have often encountered records with some interesting ideas that are ultimately ruined by poor sound, and I wish that the creators could go back and remix it, making it more polished and involving.The Road to Knowledge, the sophomore album by Zippo, is such a case. Also, it simply becomes redundant after a few tracks.

Zippo formed in Italy in 2004 with an aim to play “…a thousand-faces-stoner-rock, from massive and pachyderm sounds to moments of quietness and peace.” After Ode to Maximum was released in 2006, the band’s sound started turning darker, heavier, more psychedelic and deeper in complexity. They discovered Carlos Castaneda’s famous book The Teachings of Don Juan, and it inspired them to craft this conceptual album about addiction and self-will. There is certainly a mood of meditative self-reflection and growth, but there is also a lot of muddled sound, lacking any spark.

Appropriately, The Road to Knowledge opens with “Don Juan’s Words”. It features a spoken passage (in Italian, of course) over backward sound loops. It’s mysterious and intriguing. Soon festive drums and dancing bass introduce “El Sitio”, which also presents tight guitar work and interesting rhythmical shifts. The intensity and timbre of the vocals reminds one (if only slightly) of System of a Down. The singer also screams a decent amount, which makes him sound like he’s vomiting. Intangibly, it sounds like we’re hearing the music under water, as it’s clumped together and not at all vibrant. This remains true for the entire album.

The title track is more dynamic and acoustic, and it uses a wider array of instruments, making it a bit more engaging. At the same time, it has the aesthetic of a garage band (albeit a really good and rehearsed one). I know I sound like I’m probably contradicting myself, but again, this is what happens when the production doesn’t do justice to the promising material. “He is Outside Us” is a pretty acoustic piece that’s not too evolved but pleasant enough. A bit later, “Lizards Can’t Be Wrong” provides a tranquil intermission in the form of humming with lightly decorated accompaniment. It’s as if we’re sitting around a fire on holy land.

A lot of The Road to Knowledge sounds the same; it’s a big crash of drums, guitar and aggressive vocals. I know that that set up is the basis of rock music, but it doesn’t have to all sound this interchangeable (enough so that I feel an insufficient ability and need to discuss each track separately because they aren’t unique enough). The biggest “miss” is how they venture into poorly executed metal with the latter part of the album, starting with “El Enyerbado”. The singer can try his best to growl like James Hetfield and borrow the low register of the late Peter Steele, but it just sounds bad here.

“Reality Is What I Feel” has a very involving and impressive guitar passage; sounds eerily similar to In Flames’ beautiful “Acoustic Medley”. Still, it’s a nice change of pace, and definitely a highlight of the album. Similarly, Zippo seem to pay homage to brilliance of Sweden’s Opeth with the closing track, “Diablera”. It features the moving chord progressions, countermelody bass lines, and chanting of the [supposed] inspiration. I cite these comparisons not to accuse Zippo of plagiarism but to reference two standout tracks that fans of the complementing bands would appreciate.

The Road to Knowledge is a tragic album in a way. On one hand, it has some great ideas and interesting choices, as well as some great guitar pieces. But, it also lacks any real diversity outside of those moments, and the entire album could do with better production to make it sound more exhilarating and colorful (instead of dull and condensed, like it is now). Zippo certainly have something to offer listeners, but they haven’t quite figured out how to record their specialties well enough yet.

Jordan Blum
www.adequacy.net

LIVE REPORT ON 'METAL HAMMER' (UK)

METAL HAMMER UK

Issue July 2010

REVIEW ON 'THE OBELISK.NET' (Uk)

ZIPPO - The Road To Knowledge

I’ve found the Italian psychedelic scene a curiosity for a while now, as it seems the lineage from early prog/acid acts like Paul Chain has bred out in multiple directions to a vast array of styles, from the straightforward fuzz rock of Black Rainbows to the megadoom of Ufomammut. Brought to my attention by Obeliskattendee and Misfits überfanKieps, the band Zippo seem to incorporate all the elements their countrymen have each based a band on within a single sound.

The miracle in that is they come out of it with something cohesive. Zippo formed in 2004 (practically forever ago by now), and have played with the lines of Brant Bjork, Stonebride and Witchcraft, as well as having a slot at the 2009 Stoned Hand of Doom fest in Roma alongside such luminaries as The Heads, Obiat and Serpentcult. Not too shabby by any measure.

But more important is the sound. While they began under the guise of stoner rock, the material on their Subsound Records debut, The Road to Knowledge proves much more diverse, at least going by the tracks on their MySpace. They claim to have taken inspiration from Carlos Castaneda‘s The Teachings of Don Juan, and whatever birthed it, their heady, conscious rock is bound to pique the interest of any open-minded listener. And who knows, maybe a few of the other kind too.

H.P. Taskmaster

http://theobelisk.net

REVIEW + INTERVIEW ON 'ROCK-A-ROLLA' (UK)

ROCK-A-ROLLA

issue nr. 19 - mar/apri 2009

REVIEW ON 'METALTEAMUK.NET' (UK)

ZIPPO - The Road To Knowledge

How can you name a band "Zippo"? That sounds kitsch. If you judge these Italian dudes by the name of their band, you would say they won't have much to offer. Smoking isn't trendy any more. Luckily, "The road to knowledge" is actually very interesting. Based upon the thoughts of Carlos Castaneda and his "Teachings Of Don Juan", this psychedelic, twisted and slightly insane music passage comes across as really refreshing and complex.
It's like a mix of stoner rock with heavier bits here and there, avant-garde, drugged music from the 70's and something else; something hard to define. To me, it sounds like early Maudlin of the Well sometimes. Jazz, Latin music and metal influences all around. It’s really, hard to classify when you come down to it. There are times, when - while listening to something - you think, that there is more to it than meets the eye. That the vision was really clear from the beginning and that this particular bit of music wasn't created accidentally, even if it flows like a constant stream of consciousness. I have to say that I felt this while listening to Zippo. This CD definitely needs a lot of listening; it's not something which will grab you by the balls from the first airing. After spending another evening with "The road to knowledge" you will probably find out, that theme matches the music and vice versa. It is all bit hectic, uncontrolled and chaotic but it makes a lot of sense, and if only Carlos Castaneda would be around today - he would appreciate it. I am sure.
Not as controversial as the books of the influential Peruvian shaman, but still pumped with mescaline and layered in thin smoke, Italian Zippo can light the pipe of any open-minded listener in just few moments.

Wojtek Kutyla

www.metalteamuk.net

REVIEW ON 'METAL-MAYHEM.CO.UK' (UK)

ZIPPO - The Road To Knowledge

4,5/10

Zippo’s “The Road To Knowledge” may not be that omniscient in terms of completing something unique. However, it certainly possesses the ability to teach fellow students and elders on the progressive hovercraft, that an alt rock approach, (and I use alt rock in the loosest way possible) can be pulled off; even if some of the tracks are songs for the deaf. "The Road To Knowledge” is best described as a record set out to accomplish so much, that it fails to hit any milestones. However, with exploring such vast territory (minor psychedelic rock, grunge, stoner metal, heavy metal, alt rock), this is as niche a release as any. Even when plagued with the usual suspects of obvious song writing, and a shade duller than dull riff progressions, the album is able to combine enough elements into the brew to make a package that is full of depth. Furthermore, there are superlative ideas that have been thrown into these entries, but when combined are hopelessly confused. Zippo’s “The Road To Knowledge” is an overly sour mixed bag, that’s not quite worthy of your shelve space.

Andrew Danso

www.metal-mayhem.com.uk

REVIEW ON 'PURE METAL' (UK)

ZIPPO - The Road To Knowledge

4/5

I cannot say that I remember what my exact thoughts were, when I was first informed that the name of the next band whose album I would have to write a review for was Zippo, but I was relatively confident about two things: a) that there would be little relevance between this album and the refillable metal lighter that was first produced back in 1933 and made popular by the US army during WWII, and b) that this would be anything but a normal band. Both my suspicions were confirmed the moment I got my hands on a copy of the band's second full length effort entitled "The Road To Knowledge" - a thirteen track album which combines, in equal quantities, elements of Stoner and Prog Rock in such a smart and inspiring way that will be impossible for fans of good quality music not to appreciate. 

Formed in Pescara/Italy back in 2004, this impressive quintet seems to have evolved quite significantly over these past four years, with the bio mentioning them being a band that "play a thousand-faces-stoner rock, from massive and pachydermic sounds to moments of quietness and peace". And this is only partly descriptive of what Zippo have to offer in the year 2009. Yes, you should indeed expect to hear simply crafted and heavily distorted guitar riffs capable of bringing the roof down, however, what you should also be prepared for are long interludes based on simple/mesmerising melodies that provide the foundations from which compositions of experimental nature will be brought to life. 

Though quite interesting, the one minute intro "Don Juan's Words" is not at all indicative of what this album is all about, so the honours were instead handed over to "El Sitio" - a five minute percussion-driven composition which brings to light the impressive combination of Prog and Stoner Rock that I mentioned in the opening paragraph of my review. I was then introduced to the wonderfully crafted same-titled composition "The Road To Knowledge" - a five minute piece based on a dangerously infectious tribal drum/percussion theme which is supported by beautifully performed guitar and Moog melodies that are clearly inspired by the music of bands such as Tool and Fates Warning. Sounds interesting, right? Wait, 'cause there's more! 

"He is Outside Us" is a one minute acoustic guitar composition whose purpose is not only to help you recover from the previous musical 'onslaught', but also to prepare you for "Chihuahua Valley" - a song whose funky Tool sounding groovy breaks and constant rhythmical manipulation of rhythm makes it one of the most experimental and technically demanding of the album. Other compositions of a similar nature are "El Enyerbrado" and "The Smoke Of Diviners", both indulging in short jazzy themes and supporting unusual rhythmical structures. Heaviness and aggression, though, are not the only two emotions that this album wishes to impose on its audience; compositions such as "Ask Yourself a Question" and "Three Silver Crows" are testimonies to the band's ability to create long passages that are heavily fused with atmospheric Moog melodies and tribal-orientated percussion themes, creating a nice counterweight to the previously-mentioned technical ‘beasts’. 

This impressive Prog/Stoner Rock album came into my hands at the right time, as I was in desperate need of a break from the Death/Black Metal albums that I have been recently reviewing. Though not quite what you would describe as a groundbreaking effort, "The Road To Knowledge" is the result of a well co-ordinated effort by a very talented band which is not afraid to indulge in their influences while, at the same time, being quite close to establishing their own personal style and sound. I truly hope that this is the beginning of better things to come and I am really looking forward to hearing more from them in the hopefully near future. Ben fatto, ragazzi! 

John Stefanis 

www.hotdigits.co.uk/cgi-bin/diary/journal?user=amanda

REVIEW ON 'THE SUN' (UK)

ZIPPO has recently appeared on the British tabloid THE SUN.
Read the review below: