Sixty Minute Zoom [VINYL]

• Sixty
• Zoltan
• Minute

Zoltan rise as cream of the neo-synth revival cropThe UK progressive synth group known as Zoltan have been turning heads since arising in 2010 as one of the most interesting projects signed to a then-fledgling Austrian label by the name of Cineploit Records.Fast forwarding four years later, both Zoltan and Cineploit are hitting a creative stride in their partnership, as the Sixty Minute Zoom LP will strongly attest. This sophomore effort from Zoltan follows up an EP for famed British doom label Rise Above-an audio take on director Amando de Ossorio's classic Blind Dead series of horror films-as well as a Cineploit-released tribute to John Cameron's score to the equally iconic Seventies film Psychomania, while at the same time leaving nearly every prior release from the band in the proverbial dust, so epically addictive and immensely blissful is this sound.Sixty Minute Zoom takes the building blocks of influence carved from the likes of film composer Fabio Frizzi, Italian prog giants Goblin and Pittsburgh duo Zombi and erects here a monument to their own creativity and unique compositional eye. Indeed, every aspect of Sixty Minute Zoom sounds more focused, confident and actualized as keyboardist Andy Thompson, bassist/keyboardist/guitarist Matt Thompson and drummer Andrew Prestidge lock into each others' musical strengths and unleash what is most certainly the defining Zoltan release up until this point in the band's career.Highlight tracks such as "The Ossuary" pulse with a malevolent bass drone and swirling, atmospheric synth, while the album's epic, twenty minute closer "The Integral" moves effortlessly between horrifically mood-setting soundscapes and low key electronic experimentation, anchored by an absolutely amazing drum performance from Prestidge. The drummer's lock-tight groove at the thirteen minute mark through the track's sizzling finish is bested perhaps only by the subtly powerful groove Prestidge hits upon as the Thompson's growling synth stabs lift the opening movements of "The Integral" as the best soundtrack theme never featured for an Italian horror or giallo film.No hyperbole or exaggeration here: Sixty Minute Zoom demands immediate attention from electronic music fiends and Eurocult soundtrack buffs the world over, as it bucks the late year trend as one of the finest albums of 2014. - George Pacheco / Boston Examiner.