Luca Cavina and Paolo Mongardi’s distorted bass, meticulous drumming, and volcanic screams have again erupted, this time in the form of MOTOMONOTONO, the duo’s third release. If you are familiar with the band, you know that the quality of ZEUS! is that it is largely unlike anything else out there; this record is no exception. These guys make music that is both staccato within itself and yet fluid on a grander scale, morphing and melding genres countless times within the ten track, 45 minute LP.

The genius of it is that Luca and Paolo seem to be aware of just how much a listener can take before suffering an aural overdose, cleverly making distinct shifts between music that is brutal and unwavering in its intensity (for example, “Forza Bruta Ram Attack”) and following up with a sudden lull in sound and mood (See the beginning of “San Leather” or the aptly titled “Shifting”). Here, they provide brief moments that are more electronic, ambient, and yet still undoubtedly ominous, as if to let us know that we shouldn’t be getting too comfortable. After these comparatively mellow interludes, the petardo-loving pair launch back into anything from almost tribal drumming to desperate, guttural screams without missing a beat (just listen to “Rococock Fight”). All of this leads up to “Phase Terminale”, an almost 8 minute composition that mimics the album as a whole with its well-timed slides from explosive to calmly spectral, eventually fusing both ambient undertones with their trademark ferocity.

As heavy as this band is, there always remains an air of playfulness and wit about them, which is what makes their music a refreshing, if not slightly terrifying, tidal wave in a sea of the musically monotonous.

-Becky DiGiglio