Zu is a strange beast.
Officially born in Ostia, near Rome Italy in 1997 but active even before in other projects, the band has released more than 15 albums and played thousands of shows throughout the planet, gaining a cult status worldwide.
Genre-defying and boundary-blurring, Zu has evolved a unique musical language following their own personal path. Parts of metal, noise, prog, electronic music, ambient, industrial, and contemporary music, are transformed and reshaped in their unique form, resembling none of the above.
In the last 20+ years they have collaborated with a vast array of artists, from their famous collaboration with Mike Patton on their Carboniferous album, to acclaimed theatre director Romeo Castellucci and his Societas Raffaello Sanzio.
They have released albums on labels such as Ipecac Recordings and (Ulver-curated) House Of Mythology.
The list of their collaboration is endless so will summarise here the most relevant: Joe Lally and Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, King Buzzo of The Melvins, David Tibet of Current 93 ( releasing an album in 2018 as Zu93 ), FM Einheit of Einsturzende Neubauten, Thurston Moore & Jim O' Rourke of Sonic Youth, Damo Suzuki of Can, Steve McKay of The Stooges, Mats Gustafsson, and also members of The Ex, The Locust, etc.
Individual members have played with artists such as world famous piano duo Katia and Marielle Labeque ( with an album on Deutsche Grammophone), soprano superstar Barbara Hannigan, composer and electronic music pioneer Alvin Curran, but also Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) and Oren Ambarchi, Thighpaulsandra ( Coil), just to suggest an idea of the vast scope of their sound exploration.
Since 2014 they have released an experimental trilogy on House Of Mythology.
In 2019 for the first time in their life they became a quartet adding maverick guitarist Stefano Pilia ( Mike Watt, David Grubbs, etc ) to the band.
In 2020 they are recording their new album in Rockfield Studios and Aerial Studio in Wales with the production of Thighpaulsandra (Coil).
This album is ideally rekindling where they left with Carboniferous, their 2009 album , with their recent more electronic releases. Synths, mellotron, modulars, and a lot more , are now an integral part of the Zu sound, that becomes at the same time more accessible yet highly unique.
