ALBUM REVIEW: Divination – Zaum

Close your eyes and inhale for five seconds, exhale for seven, stretch… one could be forgiven for thinking the intro to Divination is an exercise in meditation or yoga and it has that wonderful relaxing spiritual feel but delves into a formidable murky darkness. Hailing from New Brunswick, Canada, ZAUM are a humble psychedelic doom duo of bass/vocals from Kyle Alexander McDonald and drums/percussion from Christopher Lewis that offer up a meditative, almost spiritual experience that is entrancing and disturbing in equal measure. Their use of a plethora of instruments including jaw harp, didgeridoo, singing saw, dilruba, saz, brass bells, brass bowl, and finger cymbals conjures a wonderful feel of delicate, almost other-worldly nuances throughout and weave into the dark celestial soundscape tapestry. 

Divination nears 40 minutes but is broken down into just three tracks. At just shy of an epic 20 minute run time, Relic opens with a slow ascension from meditative wailing vocals, synth noise and recorded instrumentation from the various instruments they make use of to add that distinctive ceremonial feel. This entrancing experience continues for a good few minutes before McDonald’s creepy hi-tone bass line, with that twangy, Eastern feel ZAUM have continued to forge, emerges from the darkness to be accompanied by Lewis’s snail’s pace cymbal crashes and slow but heavily pounded toms and kick. Incantation like throaty vocals which sound as if they have been slowed to half the speed commence and the track continues along the same creeping crawl, trudging through a swampy mire before the pace picks up, the drums heavier, the bass riffs more frantic and the chants become more twisted and gnarled, conjuring the feel of a monstrous beast rising from it’s slumber after being awoken from an age-old ritual.

Relic closes with a moment of tranquillity, and general white noise before Procession the shortest song at a meagre eight minutes kicks in with another subtle build up to a gentle, cacophonous myriad of noise before breaking down into more gentle chants and the unrelenting piercing off bass tone layered over echoing synth with the mix of experimental instruments in the background. When it feels a little too repetitive the SLEEP style vocals take effect which contrast well against the poignant bass and white noise in the background.

Continuing in the same vein is final track Pantheon. McDonald‘s vocals here are delicate and beautiful before morphing back into the evil sound which gives ZAUM that wonderfully darkened overtone. There is a general feel of incredible precision and control as if the music could spiral out of control at any second but is strictly kept to a certain level to maintain that ritualistic resonance. Following the same ebb and flow of fast and slow, delicate and heavy, unholy and divine Pantheon brings the album to a climactic psychedelic close  

Reflecting back at 2016’s Eidolon, it’s clear to see progression has been made with the addition of delicate nuances scattered throughout and an overall darker evil overtones. Divination is certainly not a party anthem and definitely will not appeal to everyone, but if you allow yourself to slip back into a trance-like state and let it’s evil dulcet tones wash over you it may prove to be a worthwhile experience. 

Rating: 7/10

Divination is out now via Listenable Records. 

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