And now something else than the regular. Zero+onE released their second cd in april 2012: Der Krieg. A German title for a Finnish musician. Sounds intriguing.

Zero+onE is a solo project from Armath Sargon who also did some other projects. Zero+onE is unblack industrial metal with a war theme, as the title suggest.  It describes the World War 2 from a Christian perspective. It tells the horrors of the war in German language. And that’s unusual.

The album contains 10 songs adding up to 64 minutes of metal noise. It sounds like unblack metal with an industrial sound to it.

The first song “Intro Der Krieg” starts with some serious sounds of war which flows over in “Krieg und Blut” where all the brutal metal is released. A black sound with some distant screaming vocals.  Fast drums and keys are dominating the song between the sounds of war. “Achtung” starts with some kind of heartbeat and key and then guitars, drums and bass kicks in. This song describes the march of the soldier and the cry to God in despair. And here the song changes to a more bombastic sound with sirens on the back. It sure give the listener an feeling to be part of something. “Stracheldraht und Schmerz”  starts with sinister keys soon to be followed by the familiar unblack sound. This song lingers, because it has some faster parts which are altered by some slower parts in which the guitar takes a prominent place. This song tells the horrors which took place during the war. “Tote Reich” is the faster song of the album with some nice guitar sound and a fast snare. The vocals remain sinister, almost unhuman, but somehow it fits the theme of the album. The end part of the song is a bit… strange. “Dachau” takes up more than 14 minutes of your time and tells the horror of the most cruel place in WWII: Dachau. The song is slow, filled with horror. It truly tells a story. “Normandie” flies off with fast guitars and some nice keys. It tells the story about the invasion at Normandy. The vocals are sung slowly and sinister. “Alptraum” starts with some clear keys after which your ears are bombarded with sounds of war, soon to be followed by the clear keys and this continues throughout the song. “Mein Gott”  is probably the most accessible song of the album. Last song of the album is “Himmel”, a keyboard playing the outro of the album.

To conclude the second album of Zero+onE: This is a rarity. The combination of the sound and the story it tells, doesn’t make this album easy to listen to. This album is an experience done very well.

Rating: 8/10

Line up:
Armath Sargon – all instruments, vocals.

Track list:
01. Intro – Der Krieg
02. Krieg Und Blut
03. Achtung
04. Stacheldraht Und Schmerz (Gedenken An Die Opfer Des Burgerkriegs)
05. Tote Reich
06. Dachau
07. Normandie
08. Alptraum
09. Mein Gott
10. Himmel

Record Label: Sanctus Gladius Records, May 2012

Discography:
Xenomorph [2010]
Der Krieg [2012]

Weblinks: Facebook / Myspace

Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox 
Norway: Nordic Mission