Zonaria: The Cancer Empire

Zonaria play a classic sounding melodic death metal, merging catchy melodies and harsh vocals as many others have done before them. On "The Cancer Empire" the band displays their ability to do so in a very nice offering, albeit one that we've seen time and time again. Much like any genre, bands that compile music of a particular sound, but fail to leave their own distinction sound on the listeners, tend to get slapped with a clone or poor man’s version of a particular band. Unfortunately, this is the case with this "The Cancer Empire". First and foremost, the music here is played very well. There are plenty of excellent riffs, pounding drums and decent vocals, so their ability is not the issue. The issue here is that this sounds like Hypocrisy, which normally would be a good thing, if this was a Hypocrisy album. But, this is a Zonaria album and as such, fails to leave the listener with that notion. Comparisons aside, I may have been disappointed that the band failed to leave their own brand on my brain, but overall, I was not disappointed with the music. There were a number of playlist worthy songs on "The Cancer Empire", songs that sound similar to other bands, but are still enjoyable nonetheless. The majority of points taken off of this album come in the form of originality, not skill or the final product of sound. Fans of melodic death should give this a listen and once they get past the obvious connections to prior swedes, I think you'll enjoy a number of songs.

Also for NES nerds, am I not wrong for thinking the opening of the song “Crowning King Cancer” could have been part of the Heavy Barrel soundtrack. Something about it got me thinking about that game.

Highlights: “Slaughter is my Passion” “Crowning King Cancer” “Contra Mundum”

Rating: 3