Definitely a band to monitor.

German four-piece Zodiac caused a bit of a stir when they released their debut EP last year, gathering several good reviews and selling it out in three weeks. Their brand of retro bluesy rock proved popular enough for the band to embark on their first full length album, which they have put out under the title ‘A Bit Of A Devil’.

The powerhouse title track opens the record with a thundering bass leading up to the guitar ferocity in the chorus. Guitarist/vocalist Nick Van Delft has a gravelly voice suited to the material and it’s a very strong start to proceedings. ‘Carnival’, driven along by the great drum sound, is a fast paced foot tapper which is very good, before the band cover ZZ Top’s classic ‘Blue Jean Blues’. They give it a menace that wasn’t prevalent in the original but keep the blues vibe very much alive. It’s a strong cover and shows the band clearly have talent in abundance. ‘Horrorvision’ is a cracker of a rocker with a great old school riff, while ‘Assembly Line’ has a Zeppelin-esque intro with spacey guitars before the song morphs into a driving number. ‘Thunder’ starts acoustically before building into a cool track that wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack to a modern Western. ‘Diamond Shoes’ is my favourite, a slide guitar driven head banger, before the epic ten minute closer ‘Coming Home’ rounds things off.

The album is a very strong offering, my only criticism being the eight songs clock in at 48 minutes – I’d have preferred a couple of them to have been trimmed down into leaner songs with the addition of another couple of tracks. That’s a minor gripe though because I’m sure just as many people will get off on listening to the band stretch out. Whatever you preference, there’s no denying this is a superbly produced debut album packed with some great playing and strong material.
Definitely a band to monitor.

James Gaden