Review: Civilian Zen – Interface EP (Released April 29, 2017)

Hot on the heels of their full-length album Horizones, Civilian Zen return with an EP 4 new tracks of dark dystopian, space rock. The title track is short, just two minutes, but it sets the mood with deep bass ambience and distant machine-like drones. Sir Veillance picks up on that vibe, slowly building over almost two more minutes of shadowy atmospheres before the heavy guitars kick in for a throbbing, swirling, swooshing mid-tempo rocker than drifts between deliriously chilling moments to almost dreamy passages. It’s quite effective. Altitude fuses more deep spacey moods this time with dance beats, shimmering electronics, and hypnotic guitar lines, again, finding that strange balance between dark and dreamy. And finally, on Arcadia, the EP closes with some of the great, pummeling space rock the band is known for. The heavy riffing and tripped out vocals end things on a perfect note. It may be short and sweet, but Interface proves once again Civilian Zen’s skill at creating beauty out of darkness, and light out of that which is heavy. Cool stuff!