Back in January 2014 I got sent the ‘XIII’ the debut album from Zoax to review and from start to finish I was hooked on the short yet hectic 5 track EP and the just over a year later I witnessed the band for the first time on the live circuit where they played the Fleece in Bristol as part of the Bristol leg of the 2015 Hit The Deck Festival and their set was one of the highlights of the festival for me with frontman Adam Carroll spending the majority of the set in with the crowd causing as much mayhem as possible whilst the rest of the band seriously rocked out on stage with the band as a whole putting on an almighty unforgettable performance.
It has now been just over two years since the release of their debut EP and now ‘Zoax’ are gearing up to release their self-titled debut album on Friday through Century Media Records and after being hooked on the record for the past couple of weeks it is fair to say that the album has been well worth the wait and anyone new to the world of Zoax who take's the time out to listen to the album our see them on one of their many upcoming live shows including Download Festival this summer may well walk away with a new favourite band as Zoax’s are the excitement that the music industry has been crying out for, for a long time.
The album kicks off with the bonkers ‘Bad Blood’ a song which perfectly sets the pace of the album and also a song which I can imagine becoming the Zoax anthem, the song which they have to play on the live circuit every show without fail as it has so much going for it from banging drum beats, insane riffs and some of the best gruff vocals I have heard in a long time as Adam Carroll screams his balls off.
‘Dancing With The Devil’ is a bit of psychotic track as one minute things are quite chilled out instrumentally and vocally and then suddenly the riffs picks up machine gun style and Adam Carroll shouts out “Why so serious, why so serious, you’re dancing with the devil” over and over again before the song reverts back to more mellow sounds, songs like this really do show off how creative Zoax are as the song is brilliant giving you just enough time to queue at the bar for a beer during the mellow moments before spilling your whole pint when the riffs kick in as it will make you want to bounce off the walls on the live circuit.
‘Roses All The Way’ oozes in beautiful melody and grove and is written and performed in a way where each and every band members shines and shows there importance of being in Zoax, towards the later part of the song it becomes very haunting as Johnathan Rogers gets a top notch drum solo in with Adam Carroll’s husky vocals shining over the beats. Tthe song is easily one of the most radio friendly tracks on the album thanks to the awesome groove running through but saying that it’s still too heavy and good for the likes of Radio one.
The likes of ‘Fly High’, ‘Zuperheroz’, ‘Mirrors’ keep things moving nicely whilst ‘The Wave’ see’s Zoax go down a more chilled out yet mature rock n roll route, whilst ‘Good Times’ does exactly what the name suggests and will ensure you have a good time for the songs 3minute duration as it is Zoax at their best and ‘Alive In Sound’ see’s the band go down a Red Hot Chilli Peppers style experimental route, whilst ‘Sián’ closes the album in quite a relaxed way.
I can see this debut album from Zoax featuring on many best of lists at the end of the year as it is one of the most exciting debut albums from a British band in a long time and I personally can’t wait to get down the front at a future Zoax gig and watch mayhem happen around me as Zoax unleash many of these new tracks on their eager audience.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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