Review of Friend's EP

Hi. I originally wrote this on AOTY, but I wanted to give more light to my friend's career and maybe their upcoming album too. Titled Lobotomy. So I copy-pasted it here. :)

so i was recommended this off cord, and since it looked interesting enough for me to get out of my writer block, ill write a simple short review for it. this wont contain any criticism as i currently cant and unable, as i dont know the environment well, simply put i am not a listener of the genre zelroc0 is trying to make in this ep.

since im in a server that the creator is in (goated person btw) ill add a few short history that i managed to get out of zelroc0, and some added from my knowledge.

the ep, "∇w∇", was actually supposed to be slushwave, which truthfully is another genre that i am unfamiliar with.

(ok, im supposed to release this review a few weeks ago... but it is 5th July now and i was hit by another block, and the cherry on the top is that im not enjoying music as much as i enjoyed it back then... ill try to review this as honestly as i could.)

(its now the 25th of July, sorry zelroc0)

okay, i am really, really back now. as im writing this, i am playing through this 4 tracks ep to get the feel of what i was meant to write from like... back in June.

the first of this ep, which is the title track sounds very haunting to me, a really good ambience that i can't lie leans more into scary stuff, i honestly cant see the slushwave influence from this track — but zelroc themselves said that only the 2nd and 3rd track is actually close to slushwave. where first and fourth is more or so drone and ambient.

i cant lie i havent listened to much ambience, willingly that is, as all the ambient music ive heard is either from games like minecraft and other stuff like that.

the first track really has that feeling of... i dont fucking know. late night minecraft i guess? it's just really haunting, and i feel like ill shit my pants while also being comforted at the same time when this played on a cave. im not really good at describing things, so bare with me. "∇w∇" for a title track is very, very good — an ambient track that i can see myself listening to while absent-minded.

and, here comes the 2nd track "° w °", it already feels more grimy and rough? is it the slushwave influence, idk, as my past me said i am unfamiliar with slushwave. but it sounds less enviromental than the first one, which might sound bad, but i dont really mind it — maybe just a little more forgettable than the first track? which so far is my favorite. probably just because im not used to slushwave, and is more used to ambient, so take it with a grain of salt.

one thing also that i want to add, maybe just my ears or what, but this track... uh idk feels too long for no reason — it's almost 6 minutes worth of music, but i dont see anything special for it to be that long (?) as things just feel the same after like 3 minutes of it. may be the influence of slushwave, or not, or idfk... the long tracktime makes it very forgettable for me, and im not one of those people who like, is very strict with music tracktime... when i have the free time i could listen to songs longer than this one.

sadly, the 3rd track stems from the same issue — which is just okay, but better than the 2nd one atleast, i like this a little better as i think (cmiiw) the end is a little different than how it is on the start, and the shorter run-time makes up for it too.

and well, last that is "- w -" , the other more ambient and drone focused track. this is a very good one, not great as the first, but good... i dont feel much of an enviromental sound from this one than i do on the first — but i still can like, imagine some things out of this. instead of a minecraft cave late night, this songs feels more like... an empty mall (?) big one at that, and you're just alone wandering without any goal or reason to do so... it feels eerie. eerie as in you're alone, by yourself, in a big space that's supposed to be filled with people. all you can do is just explore, and explore... and explore without any end. with this song playing on the background, like the typical mall stuff.

actually, it reminds me of another situation. 9/11 actually, as i remember being so obsessed with it (for a good reason) and wanting to learn the history, medias of it. i came across music that was played on the WTC Plaza the day it happened. "She's Always a Woman" was one of it, a tune that's supposed to be calm and relaxing... suddenly feels really eerie and just, filled with dread, as it was played in the middle of a tragedy that changed USA forever.

(good reason as in i didn't mock the victims or make fun of it, but is actually interested in the history and all around it, dont cancel me pls)

the song feels like it. just dread and the feeling of loneliness. its eerie and creepy for me. the run-time of 3.29 is perfect, doesnt overstay it's welcome.

well, that's all i could say from this little project of zelroc0. i can say it's good, definitely a big step-up from their previous project... which i would be honest im not fond of — they're just noises to my ear, loud ones.

now, i dont know if this is the full quality that zelroc0 could put out, since of this date (25th July) i think they have released more projects, which i havent heard none of them. but i really like this project.

this whole rating is written directly as im listening to them, so u can say it's a live reaction, or writing... or whatever really. so if anything pop ups in my head ill include them in.

Check Zelroc0 out :D

The album I'm talking about.