Zu

Carboniferous

[4/5]

Zu have been bringing noise and tension for close to a decade with collaborators ranging from avant-jazz types to underground electronica artists to punk-rock royalty. Carboniferous, their debut for Mike Patton’s Ipecac label, echoes everything from doctrines issued by the Helmet/Melvins school of reductionist riffing (“Chthonian”); prog-metal complexities a la King Crimson (“Obsidian”); and sometimes both idioms at once (“Carbon”). The band are a rare mix of three MVPs: Drummer Jacopo Battaglia knows how to use space and dynamics to propel the proceedings; Massimo Pupillo’s menacing bass anchors everything while supplying maximum girth; and sax man Luca T. Mai is a loose cannon capable of Sharpie-marker screech or matching Pupillo’s low end with bass sax. Whether your tastes veer toward the Dillinger Escape Plan or John Zorn, Carboniferous is what your soul’s been craving. (IPECAC; ipecac.com) Jason Pettigrew