ZENDEN GREENPURP — Darkspace Ltd. (review)

ZENDEN GREENPURP — Darkspace Ltd. album cover

EP · 2024 · Progressive Metal

5/5 · 2024-09-26
siLLy puPPy

ZENDEN GREENPURP hit the Reading, England scene in 2021 and has been dazzling their fellow Brits ever since with some of the most wild and kooky music that seems like the chimeric forging of Devil Doll, The Doors, Captain Beefheart and well…. The Rocky Horror Show! This theatrical heavy psychedelic prog act debuted with its three track debut “Quadrillionth” which featured a bizarre mix of proggy punk, proggy metal and proggy psychedelic rock completely brought to the insane asylum by the strange histrionic vocal eccentrics of lead singer Jack Brissenden who sound like he just may have escaped from the local looney bin and jumped on stage to sing with a band he just met!

The GREENPURPS return in 2024 with a brand spankin’ new EP titled DARKSPACE LTD. of yet again only three tracks and while the band’s overall stylistic approach hasn’t shifted gears too much, there are a few differences which allow the two EPs to stand apart somewhat. This album features a lot more mellowed out moments with piano based melodies finding smooth synthesized atmospheres that offer some downtime from the frenetic discharge of adrenalized psych rock run amok. While still difficult to actually differentiate if this is punk based or more in the realms of metal as the heavy chord stomping and occasional solo take it out of the world of punk completely, the right answer seems to be simply a heavy psychedelic display of avant-proggy excess totally run amok.

The tempos are a bit slowed down on DARKSPACE LTD at least at key moments that offer more contrast than the balls to the wall frantic debut which didn’t seem to let the foot off the gas for even the tiniest of moments. While the heavy prog psych punky metal is still fully implemented on this second EP offering, ZENDEN GREENPURP offers more contrast and in that regard this second coming reminds me of Mr Doctor and his Devil Doll act even more so than the first. While the opening “Back Album Cover” evokes a lot of the heavy romping that the debut offered, the second track “Beautiful Dread Eyes” is a lot different with a more gothic feel with creepy melodic scales and Brissendon belting out crazed dialogue like an insane clown trying to escape a psychotic circus scenario.

The closing “Void Observation Technician” turns up the distorted grungy guitar heft again allowing the bantering bass and bombastic percussion to enter the realms of metal madness. Once again crazed vocals hop, skip and jump over the steady rhythmic drive with crazy time signature psychedelic keyboard runs frenetically whiz up and down the scales. The album also finds small respites of just atmospheric backdrops with the vocals becoming more of a whispered craziness rather than bleated, bellowed or clownishly squealed. The track also offers some creepy interludes and a wider breadth of tempos, timbres and dynamics offered than the previous two tracks. This track sort of encompasses everything the band has dabbled in so far and crafts a feisty little smorgasbord of frantic freakiness unlike anything else you could ever possibly experience in the vast realms of the music universe.

Wow! Two EPs in and ZENDEN GREENPURP is one of my favorite bands of all time as these guys dish out everything i love about a band. They are unique, creative, excellent musicians, brilliant composers and have seamlessly melded various genres together as if they all melted together like butter in a heated up pan. The band also has the perfect strategy of keeping you hungry after the three songs so you actually want more! One of the coolest bands to hit the scene anywhere in the 2020s if you ask me. A bit unclassifiable but psychedelic prog punk metal would do the trick. Whether these guys are going to keep cranking out EPs or have a full album in the works is anybody’s guess but i certainly will be waiting for whatever these guys have crafted on planet freak-a-zoid. What can i say except i love this band!