Zenith Myth: Zenith Myth

Zenith Myth: Zenith Myth
Mike Edwards moved from the hills of California to upstate New York to create Zenith Myth. He enlisted an all-star cast including Meshell Ndegeocello, Melissa Auf der Maur , Blinker the Star‘s Jordon Zadorozny, Paul D’Amour from Tool, Sam Goldberg from Broken Social Scene, and Mike Bloom who plays with Julian Casablancas. All these moving pieces come together to record Zenith Myth’s self-titled debut album.
The album is an odd mixture of prog-rock song structures with grunge pathos. While listening to the nine-plus minute opener, “Zenith Myth”, it is hard not to think that if Kurt Cobain had liked Rush a hell of a lot more, this is what it might sound like. Complete with Slash-esque lead guitar lines and orchestral like movements, the track is a symphony unto itself.
The album evens out a little bit after the epic opener. “Ego Fader” is a little more of a conventional song; unlike “Zenith Myth,” the track is shorter and not an instrumental. Edwards does none of the vocals on the album, so he imports vocals from Mike Bloom. Bloom gives the track his best mix between Thom Yorke and Chester Bennington, with vocals that are simultaneously spacy and emotive. But the addition of vocals does not help the track pull itself together. With no real hook, the track feels like an aimless five-and-a-half minute listen.
Unfortunately much of the album follows the same aimless, wishy-washy path. While the album shows technical proficiency and some decent song writing, after listening to the album several times I can still not remember any of the songs. There is just something missing.
Rating: 5.8/10
MP3: Zenith Myth “Zenith Myth”
Buy: iTunes or Insound!