ALBUM REVIEW: Adria – Zahn

Let German noise rockers ZAHN transport you to a place underneath the stars that stare back at you, that’s what the trio plan on doing in their second album Adria. The title is an important and grounding word that brings the record full circle right when needed; conceptualised around summer holidays of the 80s, Adria looks to encapsulate those surreal memories in a post-modern noise rock bundle to make you feel an uncomfortable nostalgia for humidity in a campervan. 

Opening track Zebra is a little something to ease you in compared to what’s to come, acquainting you with a taste of the fantastic soundscapes of this record. Zehn showcases the scenes that ZAHN create without holding back, a dissonance between droning synthesisers and cacophonous bass and drums working in tandem to overwhelm any listening. They set a precedent with that, but it’s not the blistering noise that they excel in the most. Schmuck and Apricot, however different, both have the surreal ambience that set them apart from the harsh nature of ZAHN’s noise tendencies. Both tracks, but especially Schmuck, could be interrupted by the cliché snapping of a twig beneath your feet, only to be followed by a bout of horror-crazed noise. 

Waking up to the humidity of the forest as sweat coats you, when you climb out of a sleeping bag to find a place in the dark to take a wizz, Faser takes that to lure you in through your sleepy haze. ZAHN’s genius surrealist synths quickly shift away from naïve security to a battering ram of sonics, it’s a full blown assault of seeing something in the woods that you’ll never forget. That’s amazing and remarkable but the structure begins to get stale; low and sneaky synths to be gentle and mimic the atmosphere of stark images, only to be engulfed by rockier aesthetics. Eventually, it’s predictable.

Still, the trio manage to keep their lyricless narrative sailing straight amongst the muddiness of the two sounds; it summons up these childhood memories that in retrospect weren’t always that great, but the grittiness of them is somehow comforting. Mosquitos on your skin, pitching a tent after travelling all day and cooking up dinner in nature. The memories are wrapped up by romantic feelings, because it’s something easy. ZAHN’s memories might be a bit more rickety though, something like zooming down the autobahn at breakneck speed in a 30-year-old campervan. 

Storytelling with sound alone is impressive, it being this gripping is a different conversation. Adria swallows you, the signs are like something out of a Wes Anderson flick, definitely recognisable for the rest of time, except you’re watching the same scene from the same film on each song.

Rating: 7/10

Adria is set for release on November 24th via Crazysane Records.

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