Trying to categorise Bjelovar, Croatia’s Zayn into a neat and tidy genre for the purposes of giving the band a home would do the of Fields of God, the band’s third album, a total disservice. It would also prove to be nigh on the impossible, as this quartet incorporates a plethora of musical influences which touch upon various sonic signifiers, including doom, sludge, black metal, psychedelia, space rock, progressive metal, post-rock, to create, what is ultimately an expansive metal record.
Fully instrumental, Fields of God isn’t welcoming by any stretch of the imagination, as its cross-colonisation of genres would suggest. It doesn’t speak upon first listen, and in order to admire the scope of Fields of God, attentiveness is crucial to the listener’s understanding. Beginning with an over one minute intro “14,1,” Zayn separate those who enjoy metal for its immediacy from those who are willing to sacrifice their time for a slow-burning, but no less satisfying, reward.
Sonically, “Ungodless” hauls slabs of sludge across the razor-sharp progressive metal, and does so without jarring the two dominating genres together. “Vicarivs Filli Dei (Animal Rituals)” is a slow building piece that really pounds you into sumbission. There is also an interesting contrast at play here between the austere atmosphere created by these suffocating songs when compared to the more straightforward “They Will Not Have The Stars” and “Ode to Bourgeoisie – Philistine Mentality.” The inclusion of these two songs in the overall dynamic sequencing of “Fields of God” increases the cinematic value of the album.
The title track “Fields of God,” which finishes the album, happens to be just as engaging as its preceding pieces: an encapsulation of each of the ideas explored during the songs that preceded it, with the inclusion of progressive metal flashes. Each song on Fields of God moves into the next to establish a sense of completeness.
“Voice means nothing. Happiness is unknown. Happiness is destination.”
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