ZENI GEVA & STEVE ALBINI - 'Maximum Implosion'



CSR260CD (5 October 2018)
2 x CD in 6-panel double digipak
Barcode: 0641871745203



MAXIMUM IMPLOSION collects all collaborative (and most sought after) pieces between Zeni Geva (KK NULL) and Steve Albini (BIG BLACK / SHELLAC): "Nai-Ha" and "All Right, You Little Bastards!". Also included are bonus tracks from the ultra-limited 12"-only "Superunit", presented with meticulous Cedar mastering by legendary mastering engineer Denis Blackham.

On the first CD, Zeni Geva present ultra-heavy Japanese noise rock, with sludgy riffs, thundering feedback, lumbering drums, subhuman bass crawl, and complex noise textures, with KK Null's trademark vocals / unique guitar accompanied by Albini's heavy guitar. "Nai-Ha" loosely translates to "broken inside", with the title track relaying the gruesome aftermath of a car accident.

The second CD captures Zeni Geva and Steve Albini's live-to-desk tracks from Tokyo & Osaka in 1992. Albini also makes vocal appearances, as well as guitar throughout.

All production and mixing by Steve Albini. Final mastering by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios in England, and presented here in its complete form for the first time on Cold Spring.

Presented in a 6-panel double digipak with original artwork/photo by Mitsushiro Hiruma and design/layout by Alonso Urbanos.

Steve Albini continued to produce / engineer several albums for Zeni Geva, including 'Desire For Agony' (Alternative Tentacles) and '10,000 Light Years' (Neurot Recordings).

Track listing:

Disc 1

1. Autobody (6:09)
2. Shirushi (5:19)
3. Intercourse (2:31)
4. Angel (4:02)
5. Nai-Ha (7:26)
6. Terminal Hz (6:36)
7. Kettle Lake (4:56)
8. Painwise (5:15)

Disc 2

1. I Want You (4:18)
2. New Flesh (2:33)
3. Autobody (3:39)
4. Godflesh (4:42)
5. Guystick Bodie (3:05)
6. Angel (1:55)
7. Kettle Lake (4:26)
8. Painwise (4:35)
9 Total Castration (3:13)
10. Bigman Death (3:42)
11. The Model (2:26)
12. I Hate You (7:57)

Reviews:

"It's fair to say it's an essential release for those already wise to the early work of Zeni Geva who missed any of those releases first time around... despite its heaviness there's no bassist here for the majority of the tracks. Instead tracks lurch and deviate into atmospheric guitar mannerisms and mangled guitar abuse before returning to the ultra-heavy onslaught... Steve Albini continued to work with Zeni Geva but I don't think the results were ever as powerful or as ground breaking as their earlier albums... Maximum Implosion indeed." (8.5/10 Compulsion Online)

"What can you expect when a master of noise (KK Null) joins hands with one of the post-punk/industrial pioneers (Big Black)? You get a merciless and tormenting sonic assault on, which you perfectly recognize, the input of each artist. The typical harsh and very unique guitar play by Steve Albini creates a perfect cacophonous harmony with the noises and screams of Zeni Geva...  a real opportunity to (re)discover this common project between opposite artists hailing from very different cultures. The sound and experiment is extreme, but definitely something apart from established projects. Both artists clearly had some fun creating one of the most unexpected sonic fusions, which I guess sounds more Japanese-like than American and/or European" (Side-Line)

"These releases are essential listening for 90’s noise rock fans. I have an obsession with Zeni Geva‘s ‘Total Castration’ perhaps only because I imported it years ago for a fairly high price and tend to covet stuff like that… Uh, but the important thing here is how well guitarist/vocalist KK Null and Albini work together... Albini tends to go full blast with big grooves and Null always searches for the most difficult route to an uncomfortable place. This dynamic is most interesting on ‘All Right, You Little Bastards!’ which is a live album, largely because it doesn’t feel -too- separate from the studio recordings" (4/5 Grizzly Butts)

"With a huge sound reminiscent of Godflesh in its heavy bottom and impossibly high-end guitar tones, resulting in almost no mid-range, it's hard to believe that there are only three people in the band... What saves the record from sounding like an impenetrable wall of sludge are a combination of Albini's sure-handed engineering and production, along with the band's precise grasp of noise, dynamics, and song construction... Anybody into sheer, painful heaviness should check this one out!" (Korperschwache).

"The contribution of Steve Albini, to the heavy form of rock which is the mark of KK Null, is the clean and dry sound which is typical of his recordings and the insertion of more meditative moments in the assault of the Japanese band... The second CD is a live with Albini as a member of Zeni Geva featuring also track from the first CD and where there's a more energy and less sound details with the result that is enthralling... Absolute respect." (Chain D.L.K.)

"Repetitive, hulking riffs and percussion, noisy excursions... The quality of the recordings is astounding and the album definitely seems to capture the monolithic energy of the performances at the time;  perhaps think of a noisy brother of Skin Chamber, Gnaw or somewhat less related (from a technical perspective), early Swans. Favourites are the quite unexpected Kraftwerk cover and closer upper "I Hate You" that spirals out of control and ventures into territory that Kishino had already charted 10 years earlier, together with fellow Japanoiser Merzbow... this is a must-have for both fans of Albini and Zeni Geva, but probably also interesting for those who are into (the history of) sludge or noise rock in general" (Vital Weekly)

"Maximum Implosion es uno de esos álbumes destinados a ser escuchados y disfrutados a lo largo de los años con asiduidad debido a su calidad artística... Como analista musical underground, de un CD tan excelso como "All Right, You Little Bastards!" uno no puede decir más que dónde se celebra un concierto tan apasionante, intenso y brutal, que me apunto ya mismo. "Maximum Implosion, magna re-edición discográfica de la esencia sonora más innovadora y obscura dentro de la escena musical underground de la década de los noventa." (Lux Atenea)

"Eine Kompilation, die Krachfreunden viel Freude bereitet. Wichtige Chroniken des professionellen Gitarren-Lärms. Dabei überzeugt `Maximum Implosion´ in zwei Teilen... ´Maximum Implosion´, bestehend aus bereits veröffentlichtem, aber schwer zugänglichem Material, ist uneingeschränkt hörenswert, wenn man sludgy Noise Rock mag – und zugleich Blues-basiertes Songwriting schätzt... Donnernd, zerstörend, gnadenlos... Produktion und Mix aller 20 Songs waren Chefsache (= Albini). Entsprechend trocken und authentisch klingen nicht nur die Live-Tracks" (8.5/10 Streetclip)