If you’ve ever wondered what it might sound like if a melodic sludge band like Torche suddenly decided to go black metal, have I got a band for you. That actually might be something of an oversimplification, but on their first full-length Konvergenz, German trio Zeit play a brand of blackened sludge that peppers second-wave Scandinavian aggression with huge, catchy riffs, making for a record that’s both highly enjoyable and addictive enough that it probably should have come with a warning label.
What really makes this record successful is the delicate balancing act that Zeit manages to pull off in terms of melding furious black metal with what seems to be their innate sense of melodicism, all without ever really venturing into ‘blackgaze’ territory. On tracks like “Rand,” atmospheric sludge collides with icy black metal, whereas “Nichts” almost has a Tool feel to it, particularly in terms of its slinky bass line. There’s also what seems to be a pronounced indie rock influence on the record as well, as evidence by the slower sections in “Weiter” and the almost Smashing Pumpkins-esque riffs in excellent closer “Latenz.”
On the whole, this album is kind of like the musical equivalent of General Tso’s sauce – it definitely has a kick to it, but there’s also a very pleasant underlying sweetness that mitigates the spice. At the very least, it isn’t your run-of-the-mill black metal record, but it should appeal to open-minded fans of the genre just the same.
Konvergenz is now available via Zeit’s Bandcamp page.