With funky beats, loud guitars, and tight production, FoldZan, formerly known as Fold Zandura, releases King Planet, a 7-song EP to whet your appetite for more. Like all rock music, it's meant to be played LOUD. From the opening track, "King Planet," a mean, rocking jaunt with percussive effects bounding back and forth across the stereoscape, to the smooth and relaxing "Way You Are," FoldZan explores many facets of rock-flavored electronica -- or is it electronica-rock?
Jyro Xhan wrote all seven songs on King Planet and contributes vocals and guitar. Jerome Fontamillas is the other half of the duo which formed Fold Zandura after the band Mortal broke up. Carla Joy Lavilla contributes smooth, light vocals on "Way You Are," a refreshing departure from the rest of the album's intense, almost angry sound. In reality, it is difficult to classify the broad range of sounds they deftly present, but FoldZan has a similar sound and style to Newsboys, Pax217, Project 86, and the O.C. Supertones. "Silverlight," for example, is a radio-friendly pop/rock tune with a catchy chorus, while "Lunar Wave" is a spacey sounding track that will please old Mortal fans.
This may be a hard-to-find CD since it has not been widely distributed at the normal outlets, and the www.foldzandura.com site, as of this writing, has been down for some time. One can probably contact Floodgate Records to get a copy. It is also possible to download additional singles from CDNOW.com at a pricey $2.49 each. Any way you get FoldZan's music, it is worth keeping in the media player for a while.
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Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #79Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThis prolific outfit is once again mysteriously out of a record deal, so they've released this 7-song disc called King Planet on their private-issue Nowhere Music label. The title track finds the band rocking as loud and straight-up as ever, with nice layered vocals and phat distorted guitars. There's definitely some reminders of the late great Mortal here... The band is sounding fantastic here.…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Josh MarihughFold Zandura, and its predecessor Mortal, seem to have been plagued by label problems. Since Mortal's Pura, the groups have never released more than a single record on any one label, Jyro's own independent XhanRecords excluded. The next step on this path finds the band going the independent route once again, this time with a seven-track EP. Those who have preferred Mortal's more industrial style…
