Souls At Zero

A Taste For The Perverse (Energy)
by Scott Hefflon

From the opening chugs of Souls at Zero‘s A Taste For the Perverse (Energy), it’s apparent that the band lost no steam when they lost long-time drummer, Shannon Larkin, to Ugly Kid Joe. The slamming beats of new Zero, Jamie Miller, are tight and complex. The production is so crisp you can hear exactly how hard he’s hitting each drum. When’s the last time you could say that about a heavy album? Souls at Zero is notorious for well-crafted groove blasted heavy and crunchy. Brad Divens’ howl is a trademark that’s carried through from the early Wrathchild days to the Wrathchild America releases on Atlantic, and through to the current line up of Souls. While parts of their Energy debut dragged and got caught up in its own complexity, A Taste For the Perverse keeps the movement pretty straightforward. Dramatically choppy and plodding, the album is broken up by bursts of flailing riffs and frantic drumming before returning to the Soul’s groove.