Greetings fleshy void inhabitants of planet Earth. This week Ryan and I crawl from the concrete wreckage of ZILF’s The Album. This absolutely zany “pop sludge” album had us trapped in a neon green-hued stasis of engorged fun. Lately, I’ve been on a spastic vocal delivery bender and this band scratches that infected wound. It’s even funnier since my own word delivery in this podcast episode is comparable to a four-year-old (no offense to four-year-olds) trying to talk while eating Go-Gurt.

The two-piece, comprised of Joe and Bret (now a three-piece post The Album‘s release), creates a vast and awesome world rife with scalpel-sharp guitar work. You got mathy, skronk-laden riffs that compel you to sumo slam off a flying saucer and splat upon the gravel below, and progressive djent melodies that emerge and enhance the outlandish adventures the music grooves through. You’ll want to ride a tarantula hawk into battle as it lays its eggs in a poor and hairy eight-legged victim.

Their lyrical content ranges from politics to Half-Life to who the hell else knows what (I just recommend checking it out). Both members deliver multiple styles of vocal attacks and they fuse so damn well with each other. To list but a few, we got growls, screams, whacked-out and zany crackhead Elmo, and some singing that reminded us of Greg Puciato. At one point I even note that a track reminded me of some fucked up Nightmare Before Christmas jingle. This album is a wonderful breezing by of time and I think you should all check it out. Trust me, I’m a doctor!

Shortly after this album’s release, ZILF added a new bassist Pete Petit and they are hoping to eventually add two more members to become a full-fledged quintet. These England-based bloody Kool-Aid Jammers have been busting out catchy metal since around 2015. The Christmas Present singles are also quite the curdled milk and cookies treat, worthy enough to give Santa splatters. The Album was self-released on June 5th, 2020.