ZUUL FX – Live Free Or Die

Many may wonder what the name Zuul FX stands for and how it became the name for this band. It all began with vocalist Steeve (Zuul). He decided to put Zuul FX together in 2003 after leaving his last band, No Return. After assembling other members, a demo was put together rather quickly and was called ASSMUSIC. No comment! Their debut album By The Cross was released in March 2005. Guitarist Karim joined in March 2006, and a few months later in June the band recorded their latest full length album, entitled Live Free or Die.

The current line-up for this French band today is: Zuul (vocals), Aurel (drums), Karim (guitars/backing vocals), and Shag (bass/backing vocals). It is the contention of many that the band has finally grown and has started to produce a sound of their own. The boys have outdone themselves on this one is the rumor going around. Why shouldn’t the band get better? Karim and Aurel are both Music Academy International (MAI) graduates, located in Nancy, France. It is a subsidiary of Berklee Music, which is world renowned and has an excellent reputation for graduating some of the finest musicians today.

The difficulty in being part of the Heavy Metal genre is that there are so many bands out there that try to copy one another and sound the same as someone else. In some instances, that’s enough to get them going. Zuul FX have remained true to themselves. Now they can concentrate on making the music they are known for and what their fans like.

Live Free or Die contains 11 songs. Many of the songs have the same angry, loud, dominating attitude, full-force assault on the auditory system. The differences are so subtle to the average listener that it doesn’t make sense to analyze each song as a separate entity. Instead, something about each musician in the band will be mentioned. First, take the drummer, Aurel. Is it possible for a human being to play double bass drums as fast as he does? He is a freak of nature, almost a machine. Hats off to him as he is phenomenal.

Zuul’s voice is quite unique in itself. He can sing, scream, yell, or use that deep, angry, growl for long periods of time without it affecting his singing voice one bit. He must have some set of vocal cords. It’s sad that he doesn’t sing more often than yell with that growl most Metal vocalists are all using today.

Shag, the bassist, is a pretty much solid player all around. His bass generates a nice deep tone that goes well with the type of music Zuul FX plays. He is definitely heard when needed and somehow manages to sneak some mind-blowing bass runs in there without missing a beat.

Lastly we have Karim, the guitarist. The sounds that come out of his guitar can only be attributed to how fine a school MAI/Berklee is. His attacks and lead-ins are definitely noticeable, to say the least.

It is definite that these four dudes are tight and play well together. They are good at what they do as long as they remain in their chosen genre. It appears that they also have found a new sound for themselves and are here to stay for as long as they are willing to keep their fans happy with the same style of Metal that has got them here. The new release, while not mind-blowing by any means, is strong enough to contend with most of the music that is out there today. Most true Metalheads will like the new album, while their true original fans will love it.