ZORN – Return to Castle Death LP

Philadelphia’s Zorn returns with a new album for Sorry State, Return to Castle Death. While the two years since Endless Funeral have seen Zorn’s stage show grow increasingly surreal and elaborate (giant Kaiju-style monsters and oversized medieval weaponry are now regular features of their gigs), Return to Castle Death finds the band whittling things down musically, giving us a meaner, leaner, and more riff-focused Zorn than we’ve heard previously. But while these seven tracks feel more straightforward, the hallmarks of Zorn’s sound are still here in force: the blackened punk riffs, virtuosic drumming, touches of neoclassical melody, and vocals that can can move from a Sakevi-influenced gurgle to a banshee death howl in the space of a line. There are also a few new twists, like the warped organ solo at the climax of album-closer “Guest of the Mad Prince.” And make sure to pick up the physical version, because the vinyl features an exclusive bonus track: a cover of Annihilation Time’s modern classic “Bald Headed Woman” put through Zorn’s metal-punk meat grinder.