***Finally, the long-awaited debut album from Philadelphia’s Zorn. While Zorn’s theatrical, (literally) scorching live shows are the stuff of legend, it would be a grave mistake to think the chaos they summon is all about the flaming swords, makeup, and leather corsets. Like Alice Cooper and David Bowie before them, Zorn knows you gotta have the songs to back up the image. Zorn’s metal-punk draws on death rock melody, intricate thrash riffing, and the bulldozing power of Discharge-inspired hardcore bands, but the songs are as infectious as they are intense. As with early Metallica, tracks like “Already Dead” and “Delco Devil Mosh” are built on memorable melodies that, in another time and place, might have formed the backbone of a killer glam rock single. I’m happy with my current reality, though, where Zorn is the kind of band who puts a devil standing atop a pile of flaming skulls on the cover of their album. Each copy comes with a full-size poster, sticker, lyric insert, and download.
LP $21.95
04/14/2023
***"A few years ago I happened to catch a live set from a new band ZORN and was immediately interested in this new force in the Philly scene. The very first thing that grabbed me was the front man and his demanding stage presence paired with a yell that cut to the bone. Within about a minute the band finished the first song and moved on to the next. Before I knew it they were 3 songs in and less then 5 minutes had passed. The guitars, drums, and bass kept pushing along with fantastic metal punk that was perfectly executed to cut the filler that my short attention span tends to steer me away from Metal. A few months later the bands first demo was released by our imprint tape label Suicide Bong Tapes and sold out the night of release. We immediately knew it was time to get this band on vinyl. This 7-song EP captures the energy and hybrid sound as a perfect entry into the vinyl world for Zorn. Seven songs of spooky metal punk in less then 10 minutes."
7" $7.25
07/20/2018
***Philadelphia metal-punks Zorn return with the new 5-track EP Endless Funeral, their first new material since 2023’s head-turning debut LP on Sorry State. Endless Funeral ups the ante on Zorn’s previous releases in nearly every way, with more brutality, more musicality, and more theatricality. Zorn’s unique blend of metal and punk continues to pull from a wide swath of influences, whether it’s the brutal death metal riff on the opening track, “Warpath,” the epic mosh part in “G.O.R.N.,” the charging d-beat of “Drunken Demon” and “Dance of Madness,” and even the neoclassical shred guitar of the title track, a standout moment from recent live sets finally immortalized on vinyl. Atop the instrumental melee, vocals howl like an army of banshees let loose from hellish containment, their idiosyncratic rhythms skittering wildly across the instruments’ lock-step pummeling. Summoning both the chaos and the power of Zorn’s legendary live sets, Endless Funeral will leave you bruised, bloody, spent, and loving every second of it.
12" $21.95
TBD