In terms of post rock/post metal, Nothing3000 pull no punches. On the project’s current single, ‘3’, the musicians take the expected post metal traits into some seriously heavy places. They understand that the heavier moments will only have the desired impact, of course, if offset with a strong sense of melody, and this track brings plenty on that score too.
The current single from The Zenith Passage, ‘Fleshbound Reliquary’, isn’t big on accessible melodies, but approached from a purely technical perspective, it’s hard to beat. From the outset, the track comes with absolutely brutal rhythmic work, both from a pneumatic drum part and from some insanely heavy muted guitar chords which come together in such a way, they make the sharp prog metal of peak Symphony X seem half-arsed. Add a little hard edged slap bass and a deeper chug and you already have something that’s absolutely brutal before the death metal influenced vocal arrives.
Shannon Smith’s breakthrough single, 2023’s ‘Dance The Night Away’ introduced the Australian singer songwriter in fantastic style. The track’s upbeat nature, driven by stabbing keys, bright horns and a shamelessly infectious, wordless chorus presented a near perfect homage to the AM radio sounds of the past. It would have been easy for him to follow that with something equally uplifting, but instead, he chose to explore moody balladry and country influences on the tracks that followed.
By opening with an absolutely thunderous drum part, ‘The Grave Vacation’ by Mourning Wood instantly grabs the attention. Then, with the addition of a jagged rhythm guitar, the band powers forth with a huge sound that places the best aspects of 80s metal into a slightly more contemporary arrangement that shows off their sense of force with some instantly classic riffs.
Things have taken a surprisingly heavy turn in the Quality of Mercury camp. ‘The Voyager’ – the first single and title track from the band’s second album opens with a riff that, unexpectedly, blends the density of classic shoegaze with the dark edge of doom metal. This, as you would expect, sets about crushing the audience in a very direct manner.