Review by Vladimir on December 14, 2023.

Although some people wouldn’t imagine me as someone who likes industrial metal, you would be surprised to know that I did have a brief period where I listened to a lot of Rammstein, Fear Factory, Rob Zombie/White Zombie, Ministry etc. Recently I found out the existence of this band ZIM.ABU.E.TER. from Chile, whose vocalist is Alexis Marchantt aka Grindor, whom I know from Umbra which I reviewed back in Spring this year. It was quite the surprise when I discovered that he is a member of this newfound industrial metal band, and that got me more curious to look deeper into it. The topic of this review will cover the band’s debut album G.E.N.E.S.I.S. Divina, released on November 13, 2023. 

Their music is very reminiscent of the industrial metal bands from the Neue Deutsche Härte movement, which is expressed through the very catchy mid-tempo downpicking riffing and drumming with the addition of synthesizers, although with the growling vocal style that is much more death metal. The overall riffing and the general songwriting do feel like very standard industrial metal with a simple as you can get approach, but also very Rammstein-like, which a lot of people will notice too. Like I said about the vocals, instead of some shouting vocals, groovy vocals or even deep vocals, Grindor went with the dry growling vocal technique, which for some reason sounds a lot like Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. Although the songs are incredibly catchy and “industrial”, the strong side of every song is that they have a very uplifting mood and a very epic atmosphere as well, especially due to choir backing vocals that create a very grandiose experience next to the synthesizers. While listening to this album, you would get an alien and robotic vibe out of it, sometimes leaning a bit towards Starcraft. One thing that I generally disliked about this album is the cover art, but not the general output, more or less its visual style. Personally, I like the representation, but I just don’t like the fact that it looks obviously AI generated, which has put me off with a lot of bands who have been following this trend lately. I know that there are some songs that deal with themes of artificial intelligence, space, technology and such, but I still don’t find AI generated covers that attractive or appealing, even though they may suit the musical output. The album has a very top-notch sound production with a very polished industrial guitar tone, very reminiscent of many Neue Deutsche Härte bands that have a similar sound. 

Personally, I found this a generally pleasant listening experience even though I am not really into industrial metal. I was not expecting that Grindor would participate in something such as this, but I am glad that he has a very ambitious and promising work up his sleeve that could easily win over a lot of people who are into Blutengel, Rammstein and such. If you are perhaps a fan of industrial metal, particularly that which follows the traditional Neue Deutsche Härte, but with the addition of growling vocals, then I suggest that you check out G.E.N.E.S.I.S. Divina by ZIM.ABU.E.TER. 

Rating: 7.6 out of 10