Review by JD on April 28, 2012.

Instrumental albums can be hard to digest for some, a necessity for others. I have loved some and found others to be overdone and made me fall asleep from boredom. Minnasota based instrumental Doom/Stoner act Zebulon Pike is one of those.

Going instrumental after a line up change, was a choice that the band never once seemed to regret. Mixing Doom, Stoner, Post Rock and some wicked speedier metal they are unafraid to use any style of metal to meld there sound, and to slam it right into your face. Musical broad and incredibly heavy, they deliver the doomier goods, yet it seems lost and that is where they lose me.

With most tracks clocking in at over ten minutes long, they give you a musical ride through a musical expression of all human emotions. They do this to a point, but I have to say that getting a vocalist and great lyrics would launch this amazingly musical band into the metallic elite. It is sad when people have such talent, but the vehicle is equivalent to a broken down Lada car - useless. I like the music to a point, but with what I think is missing, and I hope that this band will heed this suggestion, and fast.

I think they need a very unique and powerful vocalist, sort of like Paul Kuhr of Novembers Doom, but perhaps with a lower vocal style that would put Zebulon Pike into a higher plane. Even Yngwie Malmsteen, who had one of the best instrumental albums of all time ("Far Beyond The Sun") changed to having a vocalist and made it work... and he was amazing.

This is a nice musically sound instrumental album but limiting to both the members, and the metal public. I hope that they take my little critique and just think about it, a vocalist as individual as they are would make them unstoppable. They are their own worse enemy.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Originality:9
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.9 out of 10