Typically slow and suffocating,
Zoroaster is a fine example
Acid King's blacker-than-Sabbath doom. After working the West Coast stoner rock underground and releasing their debut EP, Lori S. and her band dropped this, their first full-length disc on Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1995. While
Zoroaster is a fine listen,
Acid King were still developing their brand of sludgy excess, and the tongue-in-cheek satanic grind might lack some their later work's commitment to the almighty riff. Singer/guitarist Lori S. gives fine performances throughout, but some comparatively traditional arrangements and faster tempos give an undesired luminescence to this disc that the band surpasses with the complete darkness featured on later works. Standout tracks like "Evil Satan" have enough low-down, barely decipherable, devil-riffing to make Ozzy blush, revealing a deep musical connection with all things unholy. New listeners might be advised to pick up later efforts that display the group in complete command of their form, but
Acid King enthusiasts will instantly get it, and delight in
Zoroaster's primitive conceptual guts. ~ Vincent Jeffries