Zetra - Retro Wave Electronic sound haunts London

December 1st 2023

London, Koko, UK

***3/4

A beautiful soundscape

Zetra ***3/4 come out and go to their pillars, which are above TV screens that show creepy images, as they blast out their haunted music which is a soundscape of sounds that is inspire by Retro Wave and Electronic which is based round an 80's / 90's sound. If The Birthday Massacre joins Deadsy and dressed like they were going to do Black Metal, then you kind of have Zetra. I have to say that I think image doesn't realy go with the sound that they produce which is almost like a film soundtrack meeting meditation music. With added guitar as a bonus. The haunting keys ar so like the sound The Birthday Massacre have been producing for years. You can hear this sound best on their new single 'Sacrifice', which you can see a video for at the bottom of this page.

They opened their set with the fantastic 'Float', that really feels like an old friend coming back to visit from the dead. You are taken to what almost seems like an outer body experience, you really do 'Float' to the clowds. They have a nice merge of over lapsed vocals that are very soft in the mix, with heavy down tuned guitars and keyboard. The melodies that come off the keyboard are very nice and catchy, and you really do feel at home with them. The weird thing is that get songs would be very commercial if the came in another package, but this package would only suit a niche market / audience.

'Into my Flesh' and 'Life melts Away', make way to songs like 'Care' which was released as a single a couple of years ago. This track really does keep peoples interest in the band, But the dead tones of the song that really grabs you in is Satellite'. This song shows off their dead tones / death tones more prominently, and I have to say is one of my favourite tracks. 'Satellite', does remind me at times of a some of the Deadsy slower tracks. And I have to say I am one of Deadsy biggest fans, and have supported members in their other projects.

I think they fit in quite nicely on the bill with Skynd, they're the right band to be playing with her. But personally I think they would be better suited to a sighty different imge, the Black Metal look doesn't really work for me with the music they are producing . I do think some of the mix of the songs should be brought up, and some of the vocals are more brought out like on the recordings. I want to hear all the sounds they are making, which I couldn't at the London, Koko because some blend into each other... and Zetra have some really nice melodies and sounds I really want to make out.

I think sometimes their performance seems like a continuously moving movie soundtrack, meaning you couldn't always make out all the songs. It was like a blend of beautiful music, rather than tracks. But one of the nice things is that they are lifted up so everyone in the venue can see them, which is great for the audience but no so go for the photograhers and can restrict some of their movements in their performance. I really like Zetra, and hope I get to see them live again.

Review and Photos by Dan Devour

Zetra - Setlist
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Float
Sacrifice
Into my Flesh
Life melts Away
Care
Sacred Song
The Angel Cries
Satellite
Call of the Void