Review: Die Laughing. by ZOMBIESHARK! released via Theoria

Being in the social media space of DIY is interesting as a lot of the relationships I have with certain bands is strictly tangential. From tours to in-scene influence I have heard the name ZOMBIESHARK! quite a bit but haven’t actually listened to any of their music until taking a chance on this album. 

Something I respect immediately is a fair balance between several different genres of heavy music, all of which make up the greater sphere of the genre right now. You have the pitch shifted and all over the place synth sounds of cybergrind. There’s wild and hysterical screams and riffs from chaotic metalcore. All of this is in good balance, nothing is oversaturated.


Where I start to lose interest in ZOMBIESHARK! is it all moves so fast I don’t feel like I have much time to enjoy or appreciate an idea as it all sort of blends together. They try so many things and cram so many sounds into such short parts and it all ends up feeling like iterations of the same sound. This isn’t to say there are zero dips or risks. “Loxosceles on the Isosceles” has an alarm leading into a cyber spiral, which is an effective songwriting technique but leaves very little time to even recognize what’s happening. There is a jazz transition on “Procedurally Generated Bear Traps” I’m not sure plays out as it’s so short you could sneeze and miss it. “Put Your Glasses On, Nothing Can be Wrong” is an interesting shift in sound but only lasts about a verse. As a result of all of this I lose momentum on an engagement level. Passively I think all of this sounds good, sitting here picking the details apart? It all sort of loses meaning.


I don’t think Die Laughing. is a bad record and I think there’s some good stuff going on here. I think ZOMBIESHARK! as an artist is sort of afraid to take risks and I’d like to see a version of them presented on a future project where they dive deep into the ideas they’re presenting every so often on this record.

Our score of Die Laughing. is 7/10

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best of Month: The top 25 songs of the year

Hi, it’s me, it’s Claudia, and today I’m going to do something I haven’t done yet. So every year I do the top ten singles of the year, but I don’t actually even listen to singles anymore. Unless I know they’re going to be singles, like on their own, otherwise I feel like they’re spoiling the record for me. This year I thought it’d be fun to broadcast my top twenty-five songs of the year because I do this every year for friends, mainly myself, but now it can be content. So, this won’t be a highly produced blog post and instead be very casual but hopefully you’ll get something out of it. If you’re coming from Reddit read the link below before leaving any comments for me on here or Reddit itself and let’s get started. Also, quick note. Some of these did not come out this year but are on records released this year. In those cases, assume I haven't heard the track till this year. Coming from Reddit? Start here! #25 “Glow in the Dark” by Mothica is from Rocksmith+ but it's also just
Read more

Best of Month; the Top 10 Albums of 2023

Image
2023 has come to a close and it was a lot to unpack. After relocating last year I had to figure out what to do next, admittedly a scarier process than moving itself. I’ve settled in now, changes have gone on, there were a lot of hard times and a lot of great memories made throughout the year. You may have noticed, if you’re a long-time reader, I was far less open about my own personal life in my reviews. If you’re new and this is your first year here, then hey you never knew this part of the blog. In these blurbs there are personal anecdotes, but they are far less revealing. Regardless, thank you for even clicking here. This year for my own writing was possibly the best yet. I reviewed more albums in one year than ever before and worked with ten artists to promote their stuff before the release date. If all the stars align there’s one more thing coming out this year. I hope you had a great year yourself, are having a relaxing holiday season and enjoy this recap of albums. Please suppor
Read more

Best of Month: The final reviews of the year

Image
Best of Month! We wrote so many reviews this year there were a ton leftover. So, to open the year end stuff this year, we're emptying the vault. There are a few pre-requisites for reading this year (but only if you came from Reddit) So look for that below. From Reddit? Start here! Rat Jesu - Prepared to Die (Drixxo Lords) I have been a pretty public cybergrind defender on the timeline, but in all honesty I haven’t dug into the genre on my own time. I’m not sure if you would consider Rat Jesu cybergrind but they’re definitely part of the movement, in fact I came to this record by following this artist from a feature on the newest Blind Equation. As I said above, Prepared to Die isn’t so much cybergrind but it is a neat, quick nu metal record with hyperpop influence. James from Blind Equation does show up as a feature and the song he’s on is a hit regardless of genre. My favorite track on the record, however, has got to be “Priestess of the Godless Valley,” There are two other featur
Read more