It was about time to review something outside the ordinary kind of music I usually have to write for. ZOMBI's music is not for the die-hard metallers that close their ears to anything different than blast beats, shredding guitar heroes and growl vocals.

Not much is known about the band so, you lucky lads, I won't make any historical lessons in this review. The only thing I managed to collect in the Net is that the two members of the band, Steve and Anthony Paterra, are from Pittsburg U.S.A. Spirit Animal is their third album, well fourth if you consider the untitled one that was released last year.

First of all let me point something that made a huge impression to me. When I saw the promo, there were only six track titles. But just after I put it in my CD player and before I pushed play, I saw 99 tracks! As I saw later, the average duration of each track was around 20 seconds. There are only seven of them that their duration is between one and two minutes and only the last one is over seven minutes. That means that if you want to listen to the album you have to listen to it from the start to the end. As for the music itself, well ZOMBI are creating a dark and esoteric yet ecstatic atmosphere. Being influenced by bands like TANGERINE DREAM, ISIS and GOBLIN, mixed with their love for horror movies of Dario Argento and the soundtracks of John Carpenter this album gives instrumental music… the punch in the guts it needed by blending a genuine sense of warmth and emotion with the darkness the band is heralded for. And I couldn't agree more. If you want something more than the previously mentioned bands in order to have a better opinion about them, you may see parallels between Spirit Animal and 2112 from RUSH and the early GENESIS era.

This is an album that you won't like from the start. You have to give it some time to grow inside you. At first I didn't like it, but after many listening sessions I think that this is a wonderful album. And don't wait for a rate. This is not a Metal album and I don't think it is fair to rate it. The fans of music as a whole and not one only genre, will appreciate this album, as I did.