This is the debut album from Sol Kia, a Belgian experimental black metal band.
Zos Ethos features a member of Neptunian Maximalism, and contains 45 minutes of experimental psychedelic black metal.
Sol Kia mix blackened aggression with elements of the industrial, psychedelic, noise, avant-garde, drone, and dissonant styles. Theirs is a distinctly non-standard form of black metal, entwined as it is with experimental sounds and psychedelic influences throughout the music in almost every way and moment. If you think of a mix of bands such as Mayhem, Waste of Space Orchestra, Oranssi Pazuzu, Atomsmasher, Boris, and, of course, Neptunian Maximalism, then you’ll have a rough idea of what you will find on Zos Ethos.
The tracks seethe with dark energy as they unfold in strange and warped directions. Unexpected melodies occasionally bubble up through the miasma of textures that the band create, or sometimes they lurk behind the layers of experience that are painted like streaks of malevolent colours. Middle Eastern sounds and industrial noises pepper the release, adding to the vibrant richness of delivery.
Sol Kia offer up an engaging, atypical vision of what black metal can be, one which takes influence from a range of different styles and incorporates then into music that pulses with its own dark life.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 