Focus Reviews

Zero In On - The Oblivion Fair
Style: Rock
Running Time: 57 Minutes and 36 Seconds
Label: http://www.locomotiverecords.com


As much as rock music turns most people off these days there are select few bands that spark an interest, and thankfully Zero In On happens to be one of those bands after hearing 'The Oblivion Fair' they've made a clear and concise statement to their being. It's sometimes refreshing to hear a band just power through their songs with a little more feeling despite how rehashed their music might be. Maybe the 'feeling' that I'm referring to is more so with the way the vocals are done, but maybe, despite its mediocrity, the music itself is just simplistic and catchy enough to make you want to listen.

Nearly an hour of music is present on 'The Oblivion Fair'. Half the album seems to be more drawn out songs lasting anywhere between four and five minutes with an almost atmospheric effect being thrown in with passages of guitars randomly drawing out with repeated chords. The other half of the album are shorter, faster songs that showcase a band that feels comfortable in both elements of atmospheric beauty and fast bass work heavy songs. Thats right you read it, the bass on 'The Oblivion Fair' can actually be heard in the mix, and quite well in fact, you hear the twanging away at the strings on nearly every song. It seems that Zero In On really wanted that bass presence to overlap a lot of the other instrumentation going on at points. With good reason it seems though that the bass is present over top of others, always hypnotic and driving the tones that emanate from the instrument are clear and bring a great new layer to 'The Oblivion Fair''s 14 songs.

As stated earlier the vocal work is done with emotion, and feeling... in an odd way they remind me of 30 Seconds To Mars but not quite as distinguishable. Zero In On is a Swedish band, so obviously the language barrier here would probably be the cause for the almost slurry vocal passages found on 'The Oblivion Fair'. At times it's very hard to understand what vocalist Elias Bertini is saying at all, for instance in the song "Queen" I really didn't know that he was shouting the words "Queen" it honestly sounds like "Queer" and that made me laugh a little. Immaturity aside, Zero In On show a lot of potential to be a great band, and with a release like this under their belt already its weird to think that not a lot of people honestly know of these guys outside of the European countries. As I write this review though for 'The Oblivion Fair' it must be noted that this is Zero In On's 04' record, their newest CD is titled 'Pillow Talk'.

'The Oblivion Fair' is catchy as all get out, songs will get stuck in your head whether or not you want them to, the song writing is fantastic and all around 'The Oblivion Fair' exudes a beautiful sound of mediocrity that can only slake the thirst of true rock fans. I've enjoyed 'The Oblivion Fair' thoroughly but I am by no means a true rock fan, merely an occasional listener. Zero In On has impressed me though and I look forward to hearing more from these guys in the future as the quality can only go up from here.

Score: 7/10