Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Dubzilla
Label: ZARŠ Records
Release: 2018
Runtime: 54:07
Rating: 4.5/5
Dubzilla are an all-instrumental band and definitely one of a kind in the wide underground of Slovenian alternative rock. The band, which clocked up its twelfth year of existence this year, returns to the scene after four years, since the release of »Dub Naturalis« (2014), with its third full-length achievement, »impressively« titled »Post Dub Impressions«. Dubzilla are in no rush. They create when they feel they can. So the new record is once again an excellent album with a homegrown art ID that belongs to the band alone. Post-dub impressions, then. It can’t get more telling than that. Dub remains the clear starting point on which Dubzilla build each individual composition, while post rock has always been there alongside it. So for now I haven’t said anything new, but of all three, the new album comes across as the most »trippy«, »stoned«, »disconnected« and whatever else, which means that the listener, if they let themselves, is very quickly and very effectively led toward new experiences of receiving musical magic through a cerebral disconnect. Being objective about this claim is impossible, since it depends on how much and how an individual opens up their head, but like I said. A blast beyond reason is highly desirable with the sounds of Dubzilla. It always has been, it evidently always will be, and this kind of music grabs you best when you switch off your consciousness, especially when you catch the band live.
The new album gives the impression that the band is writing ever longer and longer pieces. The transitional »looping« between individual motifs happens in the compositions with ever greater time lags, which means the »post« moment is further intensified this time. The band builds and perfects its sensuous ambience, which, despite the use of samples and loops, keeps sustaining, holding and nurturing the deeply likable organic sonic nature of the whole soundscape. Natural, warm-sounding pastels in the sound production itself are emphasized especially in the rhythmic foundations of the compositions, which are walled in with a sturdy formwork of thick-toned bass lines. The band doesn’t shy away from an »old-school« garrison of sounds and instruments, which the integration of a Wurlitzer again likably underlines, as well as that famous Fender cross between an electric guitar and a bass guitar, called the Bass VI, with which The Beatles once, way back when, recorded Helter Skelter and Back In the USSR, among others.
If on the previous album the band invited a violin, a harmonica and Klemen Klemen as guests, this time Dubzilla invited wind players, which is a novelty in dressing up the band’s original expressiveness. That is already signaled by the opener S.O.K.I., where the baritone sax stabs pleasantly tickle the motivic core of the song, as well as the other saxophone spices within Aerosol and the closing Pank Decarboxylation. The band uses the winds to lift the ambience, twist the mood, dynamically deflect the given atmosphere, but in no way exploits them for excursions into the waters of jazz and improvisation. With the saxophone sounds it merely diligently colors and contrasts the given motivic moods, strengthening and intensifying (deepening) them. The band maintains extraordinary musicality throughout. It builds the layers of the soundscape slowly and stacks them gradually into a rich puzzle of coexistence, with great mutual reconciliation (among the building blocks of the sonic picture). Dubzilla enjoy themselves, and they don’t hide this evident heartfelt devotion to their work on the new album either. They approach their deeds totally relaxed, with an incredible feel, without hurry, without haste. As a result the album addresses the listener with a hugely enthralling character, completely unpretentious, and thanks to the harmonious, solid beat and musical accessibility, it’s infectious under the skin.
The album resounds as if it were a live show. Recorded in one piece, live. Although the compositions are structured quite concisely, their development gives off a welcome sense of spontaneity and unpredictability throughout. The album thus speaks to you through a completely unexpected course of events. Rhythm and a grabby motif. Exceptional chemical interactions created between the band members. In this respect Dubzilla are a band that is totally polished in its authorial expressive insight. The excellent debut hinted at this, and their third studio album keeps and nurtures it, which is also an expression of the quintet’s extraordinary inner harmony.
Dubzilla are becoming great masters of their art craft, of perfect instrumental dub naturism. Their third album »Post Dub Impressions« deepens, nurtures and builds on this chiseled musical dossier you can recognize from a mile away. An excellent achievement that confirms that, with their clearly defined musical vision, Dubzilla are one of the most appealing, carefully guarded musical secrets in Slovenia right now.
Lineup
Tomaž Rifelj “Buc” – drums
Dejan Slak “Sleyk” – Bass VI, keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, loops
Črt Zorko – bass guitar, bass synthesizer
Luka Švajger – guitar
Saša Serban Selyak – sampling
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Simon Rezelj – baritone saxophone on track no. 1
Borut Turk – bass clarinet on track no. 6
Denis Androić – flugelhorn on track no. 6
Borut Perše “Hefe” – lead guitar on track no. 6
Gregor Turk – trombone on track no. 7
Production
Miha Arnuš
Tracklist
1. S.O.K.I. (10:10)
2. Gajbe (06:15)
3. Pull My Trigger (09:18)
4. Dub Of War (07:23)
5. Aerosol (12:24)
6. Pank Decarboxylation (07:50)
