Reviews:

From Heathen Harvest: (by Oren Ben Yosef)

  You can hear this empty declaration on many arguements, when someone ends any possible route for the debate, clearly stating that "I only believe what I see!" . Sure enough, nothing could be further said in an attempt to make this person believe in something that cannot be seen. The words were spoken. The deceision has been made. It is important to clear that no one believes only what he sees. We see the Sun settings at the heart of the sea, but we know better than to assume that our raising sea levels are extuinguishing this tremendous ball of fire every evening. We see paralel lines meeting each other on the far horizon, yet we know that this does'nt really happen, the list is endless, really. But all of these optical illusions that interefere with our grasp of reality are nothing compared to the fact that everything that we can percieve in any kind of form in the universe is but a small fragment of the entire content of it. Immense amounts of dark matter are out there, yet we have no way to even detect them by any means we have in our disposal. Up until very very recently.

  Mere few days before I was handed the album "Sum Things/ A possible form for cold dark matter" by Z'ev, the master who can send forth sounds from any inanimate object and turn it into a live music event, an article was published about the possible finding of dark matter, and from all of the universe, it lies deep underground here on earth.  The wonderful picture on the album art of this album – which is Z'ev's own discovery of dark matter, hints as well that the direction from where to look out for this invisible treasure is down, not up. Coincidence? I think not.

  The Six tracks of this album, all bearing names that make me thank god that someone have already posted this album on Discogs.com so I can copy-paste their names instead of writing them by myself, are actually six seemingly mathematical equations that bear Z'ev's name twice. Each one of these tracks is based on just one single sound source, without any effect added to it. This is an important thing to remember in an age when it is easy to attach any effect to the microphone, and it is even easier to do it later on on the computer, as "Sum Things/ A possible form for cold dark matter" sounds heavily manipulated by effects that make everything both obscure and vibrant with intense energies.  With each track focusing on one undisclosed sound source, Z'ev sets out a very diverse album with rich textures, distinctly different from each other.  On track number two you can hear a heavy, distant metallic rings that give so much depth and feelings, enpowering the term "Dark Ambient" to a much higher level. It seems to grow even more intense as track number three begins in a place that is much closer to us than the earlier track, it is haunting and very effective as it is constantly falling back into silence, only to reoccure once again afterwards. You can almost see the way Z'ev is working and producing the music, as sounds build up on every track and gain a powerful momentum. Z'ev gives away an impression of dark storm clouds hovering over him, as the sound seems to dissipate in a manner that reflects this notion. But under the gathering storm is where the real thing is happening, and the metallic rings are storming downwards and hitting one another, letting the echoes rise upwards as they dive inward into the cold, in search of dark matter. 

  On track number six it is clearer. The powerful atmosphere is being built from the echoes of the sound source, and it seems like Z'ev is trying (and succeeding!) to play faster and faster in order to escape those echoes. The apparent visual of the two bodies of sound, the prime and the echoed, as participating in an endless chase which grows more and more intense is occuring because of the unbelievable dynamics of the album, and especially on track number six. When it ends, slowly dying out, after evidently Z'ev has been summing things up in a list of sound elements and letting it all spread out, we are left alone in silence and in darkness. Maybe at this point he found the dark finally. Maybe.

  A great release from Cold Spring and from Z'ev of course. A delicacy for anyone who want to look into sound exploration, deep percussion and intimate meditations.

From Side-Line: (by DP)

  Stefan Joel Weisser (born in 1951) aka Z’Ev is for sure one of the absolute pioneers from the industrial music. This conceptual artists got involved in multiple domains and was already active creating a very particular sound mainly based on rhythmic when industrial music was still unknown. Z’Ev did the most unexpected things for a musician and even at 57-58 years old he remains motivated and inspired like never before. This new album (which I guess must be his first one on Cold Spring) is a new illustration from the man’s sonic universe. This world remains a very particular experience where on “Sum Things” he made a new exploration of the most hidden ambient ideas. The 6 tracks from this album sound like opening a door to a cold cellar complex. Sharp sounds, scratches and other sonic puzzles are emerging to the surface. It appears that each track is based on a single sound source. Z’Ev used these sounds in a rather brutal way avoiding any kind of studio tricks and other production. The result of it all is a minimal and experimental experience in cold ambient music. When listening to this dinosaur of industrial music I can only, but express my deep recognition for this artist who after all these years of commitment and releases is still able to create something unique there were young artists are too often sounding the same!

From Judas Kiss: (by Simon Collins)

  Metal percussionist and sound artist Z’EV is one of the founding fathers of what has come to be known as industrial music, having produced numerous solo works in addition to his collaborations with artists including Psychic TV, HATI, Boyd Rice and Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))). Sum Things, his latest solo offering, is being released by Cold Spring Records, who also produced the Boyd Rice / Z’EV split 12” last year. Sum Things is subtitled A Possible Form For Cold Dark Matter, and is evidently Z’EV’s ‘take on the “dark ambience” genre’. The six tracks which make up Sum Things all have titles which are mathematical equations, like ‘z = -(Es+E3 )’ and ‘e = v~z!uEv~z’ – these may be concealing profound truths, but the preponderance of Zs, Es and Vs in these expressions leads me to suspect that they are all variations on the theme of Z’EV’s moniker. (Z’EV is no stranger to abstruse track titles, incidentally – on his 2007 Magistral album with Stephen O’Malley, all the tracks were called things like ‘6m 59s From Last 42s Left Channel Only - 26 Track Submix’).

  In a sense, Sum Things is a natural successor to Z’EV’s Metaphonics album, released on the Polish label Eter in 2007, since its sound is primarily drone-based rather than filled with complex rhythms and beats. The six tracks of the album, created from 2005 to 2006 in Z’EV’s home studio in Peckham, South London, were each derived from a single sound source, which was then subjected to radical manipulations of duration and pitch only, with no extraneous effects or equalisation applied. I've been privileged enough to witness Z’EV’s working methods, and given the radical distortions that he likes to employ, the original sound sources he’s used here could be almost anything, from gong beats to a volcanic eruption to a cat coughing.

  Although Z’EV describes this music as dark ambient, Sum Things avoids the usual clichés of the genre, offering instead a very idiosyncratic, introverted journey through a hermetic soundscape. Listening to this is like being inside the beat, with time and space suspended - your own sense of linear time is stretched and distorted along with the attack and decay of the beats. Bright metallic tones coil and cycle endlessly, gently rolling and washing across the stereo channels. The sound demands total immersion in the moment, awash with resonance and reverberation. Although the sound of the first couple of tracks is strange and otherworldly, it’s not overtly threatening. In fact, it feels very relaxing and restful, quite conducive to meditative or transcendental states. And yet, there’s a dark, unsettling undertone, a feeling of immense power that currently lies dormant, like a dragon dreaming in darkness, yet could burst free at any moment.

  The third track does include some sounds which are recognisable as metal percussion amidst the restless cycles of drift and drone, and this track has a darker, more foreboding tone. The shadows lengthen on the fourth track, ‘Z = √ x2/1 + x2/2 + x2/3’, with a baleful tolling and clanking, and the fifth track is darker still, with deep rumbles overlaid by discordant clangs, setting the teeth on edge and creating powerful feelings of suspense and dread. The beast is finally fully unleashed, though, on the final track, ‘V2 = u2- 2’, as a clamorous torrent of roaring metallic noise pours forth, obliterating everything before it.

  The eeriness and austerity of Z’EV’s music finds an apt visual counterpart in the album packaging, designed by Cold Spring stalwart Abby Helasdottir, which features photos of craggy, imposing gorges and rock formations in – where? Cappadocia?

From Orkus: (by Martin Kreischer)

  Stefan Weisser lässt sich nicht gerne in die Karten schauen. Als Z'EV ist er inzwischen mehr als 30 Jahre aktiv und hält als waschechter Performancekünstler und Experimentalpercussionist nicht viel von erklärenden Worten, geschweige denn bezeichnenden Titeln. Sum Things weist dann auch solch komplexe Titelnamen wie Z = √ x2/1 + x2/2 + x2/3 oder e = v~z!uEv~z auf. Wer Lust hat, kann also ruhig einmal sein Formelbuch und den Taschenrechner hervorkramen – vielleicht versteckt sich hinter den Titeln die Weltformel. Zumindest ist Z'EV die große Konstante in den Gleichungen. Auf dem Album selbst werden dann allerlei metallische Geräusche erzeugt, die einen sehr urigen, eigentümlichen Klang und etwas von einer spirituellen Sitzung haben – aber leider ungreifbar und distanziert bleiben. Man hat das Gefühl, einer avantgardistischen Session beizuwohnen, dem Künstler beim Rumrühren auf den metallischen Artefakten zuzuschauen, sich dabei immer wieder einredend, wie tief das Ganze doch sei. Irgendwie ist Sum Things aber zu verschlossen, um wirklich einnehmend zu sein. Aber das ist ohnehin das Problem vieler Klangforscher – Z'EV bleibt davon nicht verschont.

From Darkroom: (by Roberto Filippozzi)

  Nuovo album del totemico Z'EV ancora sotto l'ala protettrice della Cold Spring, dopo il notevole vinile realizzato con Boyd Rice lo scorso anno. Stavolta l'osannato compositore statuninese abbandona le sperimentazioni ritmiche, cui ha abituato il pubblico, per addentrarsi in territori più ambientali, sviluppati come sempre con geniale versatilità. I sei brani del lavoro nascono ognuno da una singola fonte sonora, che viene di volta in volta lavorata senza l'uso di effetti aggiuntivi: ne scaturisce un'ambient oscura molto naturale, caratterizzata da suoni prolungati, dilatati e lineari, di norma liberi da rumori aggiuntivi. L'album risulta in ultima istanza compatto, basato su toni molto metallici che tendono a volte a creare un'atmosfera di sottofondo, mentre in altre si va più verso una sperimentazione rumoristico-ambientale che necessita di un ascolto attento. Tutte le tracce hanno per titoli equazioni matematiche il cui risultato è una delle lettere del nome dell'autore. Lavoro complesso d'impatto non immediato ma dai risvolti interessanti: Z'EV agisce infatti come una sorta di scultore del suono, in grado di plasmare la materia audio fino a dargli la forma voluta, senza ricorrere ai sotterfugi tecnici dei software. Indicato a chi ha orecchie e cervello allenati per seguire le sperimentazioni più raffinate ed estreme.

From Blow Up: (by Paolo Bertoni)

  Sensibilmente meno foriero d’inquietudine ma solidamente oscuro anche “Sum Things”, che raccoglie registrazioni di circa tre anni fa in cui Z’EV si esercitava, prendendo di peso le sue parole, in ‘a possible form for cold dark matter’. Il lavoro procede non solo ottemperando alla mantenuta promessa di grondare tenebre, con tessiture percussive ben chiare nella riverberata E = Z^4 e nella turbinosa V2= u2- 2, con la pregevole V=[P2-P1]/T che, con qualche ben assestata metallica dissonanza, è da affiancare alla più canonicamente di genere Z=-[Es+E3] come la traccia maggiormente convincente. (7/8)

From Obliveon: (by MK)

  Z’EV zählt zu den Pionieren der Industrialszene und hat darüber hinaus mit einer Vielzahl von Bands und Musikern zusammen gearbeitet, darunter so illustre Namen wie Boyd Rice, Sonic Youth, The Hafler Trio oder Psychic TV, um nur einige zu nennen. Das aktuelle Album „Sum Things“ entstand im Zeitraum von 2005 bis 2006 und besteht aus sechs Stücken, die sich dem Dark Ambient zuwenden und jeweils auf nur einer einzigen Feldaufnahme beruhen, die entsprechend bearbeitet und dann zu einem Stück zusammengesetzt wurde. Dabei führt „Sum Things“ zurück an den Ursprung aller Existenz und markiert so den konzeptionellen Hintergrund dieses wirklich spannenden und bei aller Experimentierfreudigkeit wirklich einmaligen Albums. Die Feldaufnahmen wurden soundtechnisch weder gross verändert noch durch zusätzliche Quellen aufgewertet, einzig die Dauer und die Modulation wurde verändert, so dass ein sehr einheitliches Bild entstand. „Sum Things“ und die Herangehensweise an dieses Album sind wirklich Kunst und dabei gut konsumierbar, zumal die sechs Stücke keineswegs wirklich düster, sondern eher experimentell (hörbar) ausgefallen sind. „Sum Things“ ist ein wirklich spannendes und innovatives Album geworden; absolut empfehlenswert.

From Ritual: (by Paolo Bertazzoni)

  Ogni volta, un nuova album di Z'EV stupisce per la sensibilità e l'estro con cui il musicista riesce a creare-trovare, fra le frequenze che si diverte a manipolare, sempre nuove e pregnanti sfaccettature. Ormai, non si tratta più di drone, drill, industrial o (dark) ambient, ma di qualcosa che rimanda all'invasività della musica, al suo potere di raggiungere, attraverso l'orecchio, l'inconscio di chi ascolta. Realizzate fra il 2005 ed il 2006, le sei composizioni di 'Sum Things' rappresentano ciascuna un'indagine specifica su una singola fonte sonora, arrivando a codificare con umiltà, come scritto nell' interno della back cover, una "possible form for cold dark matters". Una sommatoria, i cui addendi corrispondo ad equazioni, il cui risultato si traduce in una lettera del suo nome (Z+E+V+Z+E+V2). Mettiamoci comodi e facciamo i conti, senza preoccuparci di farli quadrare!

From Filth Forge: (by Simon V.)

  Since his return on the scene, the number of Z'EV's solo and collaborations outputs has remarkably increased. "Sum Things" is the latest offering by the master of metal percussions, and shows a different side of his sonic work, closer to dark ambient and drone. If you attended Z'EV's latest performances, you probably know what to expect: in fact, the CD captures the more meditative and trance-inducing side of his music, with thick masses of sound created by rubbing and making the instruments vibrate, rather than beating them. The result is a very minimal and distant sound, coming from the deep of underground caves or from an arcane dimension beyond ours, The track titles are represented by numbers, equations and formulas, which comes as no surprise since we are dealing with a Kabbalah expert.

  "Sum Things" is not at all the "typical" Z'EV release, don't expect metal thuds and rhythms here, this is pure atmosphere, and a very creepy as well as enigmatic one. The last two tracks only rise the volume, offering some sheet echoes and reverberations. This journey into elemental music is then recommended to initiates and extreme drone-addicted.

From Chain D.L.K.: (by Maurizio Pustianaz)

  Z'ev can't be filed as music player because his pefrmormances have always been linked to a theme or are the sum of kabbalistic formulas. He calls this process "Rhythmajick" and he explains it like this: "Z'ev has radically reformulated the mystical tradition commonly known as the Qabalha from an Astral/Cosmological focus, to an Earth-based paradigm, in harmony with the needs of our current time. It requires no knowledge of the Qabalha, nor does it assume or call for a prior knowledge of any of the traditional literatures". SUM THINGS contains six tracks and it follows the same path of Z'ev classic recordings as it deals with natural elements. Each track has been recorded at Anstey Road in Peckham during the 12/2005 ÷ 3/2006 period and they are based on a single sound source which hasn't been treated or mixed into a studio. We don't have further explanations about the creation process except the phrase "A possible form for cold dark matter". With titles like "z = -(Es+E3 )", "e = v~z!uEv~z " or "v= (P2 - p1)/t" the album doesn't sound like his previous ones as the sound is less crisp but his metallic percussion style is always present even if it sounds like recorded during a magnetic thunder.

From Gothtronic: (by Remco)

  Long time percussion experimentalist Z’EV has been concentrated on acoustic phenomena, developing a wide range of concussive and percussive instruments, sound sculptures and assemblages for over thirty years. Trance inducing tribal elements and transcendence seems key words to his huge discography. Also with this work Sum Things Z’EV transports the listener deep into sub consciousness to long forgotten memories of primal forces at the dawn of creation.

  Each piece is based on a single sound source. There are no effects used in any kind of way. Sum Things is pure sound and resonance. Z’EV relied solely on the stretching of the duration and pitch of the samples and then edited and mixed the results down into the heart of space. This results into a very warm and organic ambience of resonance and reverberation. Slowly these metallic reverberating drones take possession of your mind to lead you into the unknown. The cavernous sound goes deep into the psyche and is filled with overtones giving a spacious ambience to these archaic tracks with mathematic formulas as titles. The rumbling sounds are filling the atmosphere in which space is part of the instrumentation. You can feel the reverberating basses shaking the ground.

  This listening experience is one you should undergo with the entire body and let the frequencies penetrate the pores to prepare your body for time travelling and an altered state of mind. Sum Things is a beautiful work by one of the most prominent people in industrial sounds and music. Let this CD take control over your body and mind and find your Ohm.

From Hierophant Nox: (by Ellen Simpson)

  Maybe the most remarkable thing about Z’EV’s release "Sum Things" is the way in which the tracks have been constructed. Using recorded sounds that have not been subjected to effects - merely abused by changes in duration and pitch – this bold experimenter has created an aural journey that definitely earns the subtitle "A Possible Form for Cold Dark Matter". With track titles rendered as mathematical equations, structures at which no mortal can guess and a disturbing knack for creating ominous dread out of simple sounds, Z’EV is a challenging but absorbing artist.

  The opening track sets the pace with deep, soft sounds underscored by a pulsing ambience which rises and falls, creating the hypnotic hand-holds the listener needs to grasp what is going on. Metallic, shimmering noises scud overhead like thin rainclouds. The second offering has a sharper tone, shiny but dirty, like electronic barbed wire for the mind. The pulses, drifts and drones that emanate from below hint at future distress. Track number three sees a reprise of the shimmering sounds, with some strange choices of vocal sample staving off the moment when everything becomes harsher and noisier, the promised fear that has been lurking in the shadows from the off. While the fourth track has a clanking, gloomy feel, the fifth is where the assault proper begins, with the noise of tolling bells stretching out into the oppressive sound of some hellish, Dali-inspired monastery. Finally, a pulsing, grinding, propeller-like track disintegrates into sprawling noise, leaving the listener drained yet exhilarated, not yet able to process the whole.

  Indeed, just as it’s difficult to describe what I’ve heard, it will be difficult for newcomers to interpret Z’EV’s spiralling, confusing approach, but ultimately the reward of attempting to digest this experiment in the purest bases of sound is well worth the effort.