Style: Jazz Fusion, IDM (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Cynic, Aphex Twin, Animals as Leaders
Review by: Dave
Country: Hungary
Release date: 26 February 2023
One of the defining facets of the modern age is the 24-hour news cycle and the cultural inclination to always be “tuned in” to current events. Reading any news source is a quick way to learn about current suffering, both nearby and internationally. For some of us, losing two hours doom-scrolling through garbage news that serves no purpose but to make you feel bad is easy. For studio and session drummer Oliver Zisko, however, it’s a motivator to write music with the ultimate goal of bringing us all together to solve the issues we see at home and abroad.
And that’s what Zisko’s most recent album, Global Warning, is all about: it’s a space he has created to get his thoughts about current events out of his head and to help him make sense of the world. Global Warning is an ambitious fusion album about a laundry list of international issues including pollution, hyper-commercialism, and the consequences of these phenomena on culture and the individual. A bevy of guest musicians join Zisko as he explores a new-to-him IDM influence that augments well with his fusion base, as if the guys in Exivious gave their best shot at making an Aphex Twin album.
Where previous work by Zisko can come across as scattered, Global Warning proves to be Zisko’s most consistent album yet: each song feels like it sits comfortably within the central ideas of the album, retaining a futuristic atmosphere across its runtime. Songs really shine when Zisko is able to show off his drumming skills: he comes up with some truly excellent drum grooves, notable examples being the manic intensity found on “Carnival of Abundance,” the irreverent and quirky grooves on “Plastic,” and the impersonal yet enticing “Rise Up to the Mid-Alpha Level.” Zisko is careful to pace the album appropriately, gently introducing the listener to this new sound on “Renewal” before absolutely losing his mind on the following two tracks. Calmer tracks are intermixed between more energetic songs, making for a great album flow.
The real star of this album is “Plastic,” a track where Zisko leans fully into IDM influences, reveling in its playfulness and irreverence with a strange, wobbly, acidy synth sound that oscillates around an aggressively funky drum line. Even though the drumming isn’t as intense or technically showcasing as on other tracks, “Plastic” exemplifies Zisko’s ability to stay in the pocket with even the strangest of musical backdrops.
However, the playfulness and quirky irreverence on songs like “Plastic” and “Ghost Notes” betray one of the biggest issues with Global Warning: there is a disconnect between the issues presented by Zisko and their manifestation as songs. Included with the album is a booklet that describes Zisko’s thoughts regarding the ideas he wants to explore on each track, and while the songs themselves are usually fun and enjoyable, without the booklet it is very difficult to figure out what exactly Zisko is trying to say on each song. This is disappointing because there was lots of potential for a thematically interesting and ambitious album, but these ambitions unfortunately fall a bit flat. While I agree with Zisko on virtually all of his takes and appreciate their presence, I have a hard time relating them to the music and their presence begins to feel more like an afterthought. Moreover, the way these messages are conveyed is a bit impersonal, and this makes them unlikely to change the hearts of people who don’t already agree with him. I would have loved to have felt the urgency and unease in the topics manifested in the music, along with perhaps some personal relationship that Zisko has with these issues. Without these personal connections, I just feel like I’m doom-scrolling again.
Finally, I think the album could have benefited from a bit of editing. The album goes a bit long, and tracks like “21st Century Shock”, “Hoax”, and “Rise and Fall” lack the interesting drum grooves that make Zisko fun to listen to. The electronic experimentation is fun on its own but it’s really brought together when Zisko can incorporate the electronic backdrops with his unique vision as a drummer.
Global Warning is a competent and fun album with excellent drum work that ultimately could have been edited for a more lean runtime. While I appreciate Zisko’s ambition in trying to raise awareness of important international issues, the messages fall a bit flat in the end due to the disconnect from the music and, by extension, the artist. Even though the overall message did not come across well for me, I found Zisko’s exploration of IDM in a jazz fusion context to be interesting and enjoyable.
Recommended tracks: Renewal, Carnival of Abundance, Plastic
You may also like: Venetian Snares, Vospi (the “Video Out” series in particular), Exivious, any number of 80’s Japanese fusion albums
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Independent
Oliver Zisko is:
- Oliver Zisko (drums)
- Derek Sherinian (keyboards)
- Anthony Crawford (bass)
- Marius Pop (guitar)
- Mike Gotthard (guitar)
- Zsolt Kaltenecker (keyboards)
- Szabolcs Prieger (keyboards)
- Tibba Kovats (keyboards)
- Peter Erdei (bass)
- Peter Papesch (bass)
- Martin Gudics (bass)
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