Emperor Zero
Manchester-based for a string of smart singles that drew comparison with Gang of Four and Mark E. Smith (whose literary work the post-punk/noise band clearly regard as unfinished), Emperor Zero lead singer Matthew Boswell now calls Cardiff home, and during the pandemic lockdowns, he revisited the unreleased parts of their back catalogue.
Originally recorded in the Bunker / White Hotel nightclub – the Nights Of The Hunter EP captures the atmosphere of long Bunker nights, coruscating reverb, crunching guitars and industrial rhythms stripping the rust from the shutters.
The patina remains however, lo-fi anti-production a weapon, Boswell a pained shaman striving for utopia against a backdrop of scorched-earth static. Angry-wasp distortion and sprechgesang stalk the land invoking the horrors of the Pol Pot regime, blown-out guitars going full basement jam-band alongside perverse lifts from Hitler’s speeches. Blossoming in adversity, beautiful melodies square off against the solemnity of the Old Testament, guitars soaring poetically from the squalor. With dawn still a long way off, it’s time to give yourself to the night.
“NIGHTS OF THE HUNTER” EP - PURCHASE HERE