Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Delirium > Zzooouhh > Reviews
Delirium - Zzooouhh

Chaotic meditations from an obscure origin. - 91%

hells_unicorn, November 12th, 2023
Written based on this version: 1990, CD, Prophecy

The roots of death/doom are as decrepit as they are tough to define, as whether one considers the slower, more somber, and somewhat younger cousin of the original old school sound to be rooted in fragments of the early strides set up in the mid-80s or the subsequent ones that were slightly clearer at the tail-end of the decade, nailing down a full codified example that reflects what came about as the 90s unfolded in Northern Europe is all but impossible. Naturally one could point to the Black Sabbath influences that painted over the earliest musings of death metal accredited to Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, as well as the penchant for extremely slow and murky segments thrown into the thrash-happy OSDM sounds typical to Florida pioneers Death, Obituary and especially Autopsy, but the sub-genre of death/doom wouldn't be commonly attributed to an act with a full length studio effort under its belt until the closing months of 1989 on into 1990, and even then the earliest offerings out of trailblazers of this new style like Winter, Sempiternal Deathreign and later Asphyx retained much of the old school demeanor.

Amid the aforementioned trio of early death/doom acts, Dutch-born power trio Delirium tended towards the same short-lived and non-prolific existence as the former two, fielding a lone LP after a couple of years toiling in the underground in the late 80s. In many ways, their debut and long full length offering <zzooouhh is an enigma, particularly in what is implied by its very title. A perusal of the lyrics of the de facto title song "Voices Of Zzooouhh" as well as a few other songs with similarly puzzling allusions to "Urth", which is possibly an alternate rendering of the Norse Urðr for one of the Norns, though it seems more likely based around the fictitious location for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy works of Gene Wolfe, reveals a dark and highly cryptic mode of storytelling that mixes the horrific with the fantastical in a fashion well in line with the Lovecraftian exploits of metal throughout the 80s. When combined with a rather unique musical approach that leans heavily on the slower, dirge-like trudging end of the spectrum, though with frequent and often jarring shifts into old school thrashing territory comparable to what was heard on Leprosy and Slowly We Rot a bit earlier, an atmosphere of nightmarish meditation unfolds that masterfully envelopes the listener.

Yet in spite of its highly unusual character, this album comes off as extremely methodical, almost to the point of blurring the lines between 80s old school death metal and the emerging 90s death/doom craze in a perfect 50/50 fashion. It begins with a long-winded and eerie ambient intro dubbed "The Ninth Dimension", which proves a fitting exposition to what becomes an epic excursion into otherworldly horror. At the center of it all is guitarist/vocalist Mark Honout, whose riff work and intermitted, noise-driven and chaotic guitar solos remind heavily of what Tom G. Warrior would conceive of years earlier when codifying the death metal sound, though with an even murkier tone, while his voice exhibits a forbidding, groaning hum is almost a perfect forerunner to the standard sound that subsequent death/doom and gothic metal outfits would standardize. For the most part, the rhythm section provided by bassist Laura Beringer and drummer Han Swagerman plays it safe and bolsters Honout's muddy foreground into a lumbering colossus of heaviness, functioning best on drawn out odes like "Amputation" and the closing slough "Beyond The Gates Of Afterdead", but even on more concise and thrash-happy entries like "The Sign Of Urth" and "Bitch", the result is as dreary and unsettling as one could hope to achieve.

Doom may well be the close precursor of tragedy, but few mishaps in metal's more than 5 decade history can hope to match the eventuality of this impressive slab of history within death metal's missing link period not receiving any kind of a follow up. One might argue that given its traditional tendencies, this album's creators may not have faired well in the upcoming scene that saw the likes of Death's Human and Suffocation's Effigy Of The Forgotten become the standards of death metal at large, while the nascent death/doom scene would soon glom onto the beauty and the beast vocal motif of Theater Of Tragedy, but it could be just as plainly argued that the folding of outfits like this one alongside fellow tradition-leaning outfits Winter and Sempiternal Deathreign left a vacuum that was filled by whatever happened to come next. But whatever the result of Delirium's self-destruction into obscurity may have been historically, the work that they achieved is beyond impressive, and the resulting cult status that Zzooouhh has achieved in subsequent years is more than deserved. OSDM trustees are strongly encouraged to seek this out if they haven't already, as it reflects the same level of qualitative excelence as many of the better offerings to come out of Germany and Sweden in the early 90s.

I'm bored, let's experience some death/doom - 85%

PrincessAdzzziee, October 8th, 2023

As a preface, I'm writing this review spontaneously and whilst giving this album my first ever complete listen. I have heard the song 'Bitch' before, first around a year or two ago, and I kind of like it, but I don't have any big remarks to make on that right now. Anyways, now that the collection of Steel Reserve cans has been removed from my desk and placed on the floor where the smell will no longer bother me while listening and writing my review...let's discuss Delirium's one and only full-length, Zzooouhh!!

Since I'm early into this listen, and only have approximately 12 minutes of playback to go off of, I'll start by focusing on sonic qualities. I find the production and general vibe of Zzooouhh very inviting. Much like the other works of the late 80s/early 90s that spawned the death/doom style, the production is thick in the characteristic old school death metal way, but also a little bit muddier and swampier in it's own vein. I would say that Zzooouhh leans a bit more to the muddy side than something like Obituary's Slowly We Rot, and honestly, it sounds like the album cover, which I also find pretty appealing. There are some flaws, in that it doesn't exactly sound quite as nasty as I think it should, but overall, I think the production does a good job at fitting the thick, murky death/doom vibes of the music.

As for where Zzooouhh stands stylistically, it leans a bit on the death/metal side of things, with an abundance of faster riffs and growled vocals mixed in with the slower, drawn-out sections that remind me of Saint Vitus. Something about that thick and heavy guitar tone reminds me a lot of SV's eponymous debut, albeit a lot more distorted, and I like it. Overall, the style runs the gamut between the two genres, with death metal leanings, but I especially love the moments where they seem to combine death metal and doom metal almost perfectly to produce a very grooving style reminiscent of old Celtic Frost.

Overall, this is a really good album. I give it 82 percent, because I'm not sure how math works, and that's what the average is at the time of writing this, and I think that's fair. It's not quite "knock your socks off good", but Zzooouhh is a rather unique way to experience death metal, and definitely a solid listen, if you're looking for a chance of pace from the faster, more prominent old school death metal bands.

I'm Livin On A Chinese Rock (Maybe) - 70%

Sweetie, March 6th, 2023

I’m going to preface this review by saying that I tried my absolute hardest to dig up what the fuck “ZzoooUHH” means, between reading the lyrics, older reviews, and a simple google search. No results besides this album itself were yielded, and the closest other thing I could find was the Zhou Dynasty, a family that ruled northeast China from 1046 - 256 BC. I doubt that’s what this record is about, but if nothing else, there’s something you now know. Staying on track, Delirium is a Dutch doom/death outfit known for being a death metal counterpart to Celtic Frost, and their only full-length titled ZzoooUHH certainly laid some genre foundations in 1990.

Keep in mind, though, just because something feels like it was ahead of its time does not make it a masterpiece. Before we jump to any conclusions, it’s worth clarifying that ZzoooUHH is a worthwhile album, but it doesn’t realize the genre’s potential, much like its early black metal counterpart. This is a long-winded disc full of buzzing riffs and small changes in pace from slow trudging and throaty vocals into faster tempos with early death metal alignment. The issue is that there’s a little too much, and the transitions aren’t exactly superb. For that, it works more as a slightly-too-long start-to-finish experience with little in regards to singles that stand out.

With all of my complaints out of the way, we can talk about what really saves it, and that’s the musical void it creates. The doom-out sections cast such a dark energy that feels like being stuck in a blackened world of nothing, with Obituary-esque vocals adding a cavernous vibrance. When things get to the faster side, the drums carry a lot of weight, pummeling the listener with shaking momentum, shining a quick light in the darkness only to reveal surrounding horrors. Really, that’s what this is; an immersion into unclear horrors portrayed through doom and death tactics.

Had Delirium decided that some of these songs needed to be taken in, with a little more variety and transitional thought added, they probably could have come up with something masterful. Unfortunately, there was no follow-up, so the listener is left to wonder how it could have been expanded upon. Plenty of bands would take this task on themselves, so I can’t complain too much, especially with other doom/death being in the works at the time. But the pits of darkness found in here are what make it worth the ride, given the correct mood.

The Dutch and their weed - 75%

colin040, October 25th, 2021

How many Celtic Frost-inspired doom/death metal bands does one need in their life? While this would clearly depend on your love for Celtic Frost and doom/death metal, I’m actually amazed by the different results that we’ve got from all these bands to begin with and hence I’m convinced that this style will never get old. Sure, the sounds of Divine Eve, Cianide, Winter and Delirium, as well as many others could be traced all the way back to To Mega Therion to a certain degree, yet plenty of these had their own take on this kind of style.

Zzooouhh may be one wacko title, but it’s a decent mish-mash of grooves, inhuman vocals and smashing guitar work that's responsible for the band’s sense of dynamics. Indeed, this couldn’t sound further from your slow-motion collapse that Winter expressed, as Delirium are more of an instant band that move into captivating death metal territory as much as they evoke cryptic doom metal, yet they don’t do so in the way that Cianide circa ’92-’94 did either. Zzooouhh works for me because the execution sounds fresh and inspiring enough - that coarse guitar tone is partially responsible for my joy, but the surprising riffs are responsible for the variation and fluent tempo changes of these songs and frankly, you’re never exactly sure what to expect. Of course, it never takes long before an obvious nod to Celtic Frost makes it between the faster and pure doom passages, yet despite the band’s dear love for this band, calling Zzooouhh plain Celtic Frost worship would be too unrealistic. Just hear how ‘’The Sign of Urth’’ combines those hardcore punk-inspired riffs, some grinding death metal fury and some faithful Celtic Frost-esque rhythms with good measurements - if we’d be dealing with actual Celtic Frost worship, then any other influences wouldn't have been this notable, right?

Regardless of its quality and the many ideas that it possesses, Zzooouhh is something that I have to be in the mood for though, as I tend to forget about the record’s details once I haven’t heard it in a while. I also can’t help but notice that it doesn’t make a fantastic start, as the first few tracks display a variety of moods and musical ideas with rather mediocre results. Delirium refrain from dragging on, but once they speed up, they don’t always deliver; as the six minute long songs like ‘’The Warrior’’ and ‘’Amputation’’ lack those addictive and top-class riffs to justify their lengths. Sure, the band absolutely tries to build up and release tension here, but the faster riffs appear as if they were used for variation’s sake more than anything else; clearly lacking some fire when compared to the far superior tremolos that are present elsewhere. It’s a shame because the mid-paced ones actually do work a lot better; especially that catchy verse riff before the first minute mark of ‘’The Warrior’’ and the frightening crawling of ‘’Amputation’’ promise a lot. ‘’Bitch’’ isn’t much fun to begin with either, but I guess that’s to be expected with a title like that and while you can easily detect the Celtic Frost and Death influences in this track, the result is something surprisingly tame. Say what you want about Tom Warrior and Chuck Schuldiner before they had decided to become artsy and whatnot, but their earlier stuff remains raw works of extreme metal with plenty of appealing factors and you can’t say that about this track itself now, can you? I suppose that taking influences from the right kind of bands doesn’t always pay off after all, but it's a bit of a bummer.

Over time I’ve also noticed that my preference leans towards side B of the album, as ‘’Flood of Intricate’’ sounds rather refreshing compared to the earlier tracks that aren’t too compelling to begin with. It introduces the most horror-esque doom metal riffs that harken back to early Cathedral, before gradually picking up with some Celtic Frost-esque rhythm work; ‘’Visions of Immortality’’ and ‘’Return to the Eve’’ to be specific - but of course, taking inspiration of two heavy-as-hell bands is always a good idea. ‘’Menace Unseen’’ is another banger that doesn’t reveal its main theme right away, but gets a lot closer to the death metal territory once the vocalist pulls off a wicked Chuck Schuldiner-esque shriek and those fiery tremolos appear and I’m also fond of that unexpected break when even the guitars start to wail like banshees. Saving the most surprising track for the last, ‘’Beyond the Gates of the Afterdead’’ is a nine minute track that consists of a variety of unique sub-chapters, yet I’d argue that it mainly consists of two divided sections. During the first few minutes, a constant shift of moods drive the song onward; ranging from the crawling opening to that Celtic Frost-flavored bursting verse with one of the most infectious riffs on the record to the rabid thrashing that appears shortly after. Second of all, the track takes a far more grandiose turn by the time those driving drums lead toward that steamrolling death metal section and eventually to that creepy outro. I find it quite strange how this nine minute long track works just fine considering that the two six minute tracks don't...but one out of three is better than nothing, wouldn't you say so?

Delirium’s Zzooouhh isn’t a favorite of mine in the doom/death metal field, but it does serve my needs rather well once I yearn for more Celtic Frost-inspired doom/death metal. It's pretty neat stuff…just don’t think too much about the album title’s meaning; it probably makes more sense once you’re high.

This review was originally written for antichristmagazine.com

Dutch Warrior-fetishists succeed on cool album - 80%

caspian, July 15th, 2012

As the previous few reviewers will likely tell you, it's pretty much completely impossible not to mention Celtic Frost every time you pick up the keyboard and try writing a few words on this very cool, very underrated, very celtic frost slab of celtic frost celtic frost celtic frost, er, cool dutch doom/death album.

It's cool in that while the swiss aesthetics are there (ugly riffs, total disregard for melody), the songwriting that so many frost-ish bands lack is also there in full swing. Tension's always thick in the air (that weird, high pitched breakdown in Bitch), tempo changes come in when they should, basically you just never get bored. I like how things like lead guitar and really, really slow doom bits (Amputation) are more of an exclamation mark than something that becomes staid and boring. There's a tendency towards thrash parts -everywhere the frost love really comes through- such as the very cool and surprisingly accessible title track. It'd be cool if shit got really fast occaisonally and it's a shame it never really happens; can't really complain though. These guys do anywhere up to maybe 160 bpm really well; a lot of bands can't get a single tempo/feel right! Maybe it never reaches neck breaking speeds but there's plenty of fresh parts on offer here; a fascinating variety of ugly, chunky, misshapen riffs.

That frostian riffing style aside, the production's the other big thing here. It's not bad; dank, dirty, real cavernous; rather unique, just that the guitar needs to be louder! The rough, reverb tinged vocals - I definitely get the feeling that if they were less aggressive and more Warrior-esque no one would call this death doom and it would just be straight out "Celtic Frost tribute", but no matter- and cavernous, not-good-sounding-but-perfect-for-the-album drums are great, just the guitar and bass have to be turned up. It's some what weird how a lot of very early death doom has real thin guitars; you'd think that'd be the main priority for the people recording this? Ultimately this didn't really make the album any less enjoyable; it still crushes, still thick as molasses, but.. yeah. What mighta been, I guess.

Overall this is a simple, really enjoyable album. Uglier than the back of your knee, heavier than a pineapple the size of a small yacht. Well arranged, well put together. Worth checking out!

Dutch delirium about certain Swiss band! - 89%

dismember_marcin, January 10th, 2011

Within two years since their formation Delirium managed to put together two demos and finally also a debut LP in 1990, after signing a deal with Prophecy Records. Great tempo, I have to say, especially if you compare it to some other bands, which let us wait for their album even twenty years (come on Sadistic Intent!). Anyway, "Zzooohhh" (which you pronounce like Polish word for "scout" hehe) is a damn classic to me and I hold this vinyl with great admiration! What’s more, maybe this music sounds bit outdated nowadays, but I just can hardly find any faults in this piece of old school shit.

Just imagine if you take the best parts from such bands as Asphyx, Autopsy, Necroschizma, some doomy patterns from Winter, and add the biggest influence – Celtic Frost… And this is Delirium and "Zzooohhh". Great band and great album! First of all, I really like the sound “Zzooohhh” has got. It is very powerful and strong, gives the songs enormous energy, while keeping the raw edge that early death metal albums had. For the production I definitely give “Zzooohhh” at least 9 out of 10!

The albums starts with weird “The Ninth Dimension” intro and then attacks with an oldie, “The Warrior" song originally from the second demo. Great death metal anthem indeed. Well, “Zzooohhh” has all four tracks from “Amputation” demo re-recorded actually and I have to say they all got totally different strength on the LP. They were good on the demo, but with this killer sound of “Zzooohhh” they just shred. Fuckin’ great songs, with brilliant riffs, some sickening guitar solos, heavy bass and mutilating drumming… Oh, and don’t forget the great van Drunen-esque vocals of Mark Hanout. You'll find an example in the catchiness of “Amputation” and fast riffage of “Menace Unseen”, which make them one of the best songs from the album. Another old song is “Beyond The Gates Of Afterdeath”, originally from the very first demo! And this is a great surprise, because debut Delirium demo wasn’t much interesting, but this very slow and doomy track – with growled vocals this time, while the demo version had different, not so brutal, kind of singing – sounds almost completely different and better of course. It is now much more heavy and raw, I’m almost surprised how much did they manage to transform rather average track from a bad demo tape into such highlight – and what’s more, this almost 10 minute long death / doom anthem is one of the best tracks on the LP, really really great stuff.

And what about the new Delirium tracks? Well, there are three new anthems – “Bitch”, “Voice From Zzooohhh” and “The Sign Of Urth”. “Bitch” for instance is totally slow and has some patterns totally inspired by Tom Warrior, but it is great song. All three are pretty standard doomy death metal tracks, but I wouldn’t take is as disadvantage – they’re really great and I can’t imagine someone liking ASPHYX (and Celtic Frost of course!) who wouldn’t fancy DELIRIUM. To conclude then – very, very good album from totally underrated band; a classic you shouldn’t miss!

Thank you, Celtic Frost - 90%

UncleMeat, May 25th, 2009

There is no denying that Hellhammer and Celtic Frost were two of the most influential metal bands of all time. While some took this influence and incorporated it with an array of different elements from other pre-existing genres, others took the ideas that the aforementioned had and took them to the next extreme. In this case, Holland’s Delirium fall into the latter of the two categories. Like the US doom cults, Winter and Goatlord (although Winter were much more doom-oriented), Delirium took the basic elements from Celtic Frost and Hellhammer and fused with crushing, heavily doom-laden death metal, and the end result was some truly remarkable. ‘Zzooouhh’ is an excellent album, and has gone down in history as one of the finest Hellhammic Frost-worshipping slabs of black wax to have ever been released.

The production on here is a bit odd, but most of its weirdness lies in the guitar department. As opposed to being pushed up in the mix and having a crushing, thick, meaty tone, it is actually pretty quiet, and has more of a creamy tone then anything else. And oddly enough, the two LPs from the other bands I mentioned (Goatlord and Winter), all have the same exact problem: somewhat thin sounding guitar tones that were mixed too low. However, like those two albums, the music more then makes up for it, so in the end, it’s not really a big deal. But other then that, the production is great. The bass has a rich, strong, clean tone and the drums were mixed properly and hold enough power to make up where the guitar is lacking.

‘Zzooouhh’ reminds me of a mixture of ‘To Mega Therion’, ‘Scream Bloody Gore’ and ‘Apocalyptic Raids’, and from that description alone, you know it just has to be a great album. One of the best parts is Mark Hanout’s utterly sickening vocals. He sounds like a more low-pitched John Tardy, but he does on occasion use the higher register when he does his “eeuuuuuuugggggghhhhHHAAASSSSSSS”. These kinds of vocals are ideal when it comes to this form of death/doom, and although they are commonly used, they are usually not pulled off quite like this fella. When I say they are sickening, I mean really, really vile, muculent, putrid, and gut-wrenching.

Luckily the music is equally as well done as the vocals, as this really is some of finest death/doom you will ever come across. The riffing is fantastic, and shows that technicality is not a prerequisite for quality metal. In fact, these riffs would be nowhere near as heavy as they are if the band decided to throw in a bunch of pointless widdely-wahs and poorly placed pinch harmonics. I’d say they keep it to a slow or mid-tempo pace about 70% of the album, and they do so without ever making it sound stale or overdone. They definitely know how to use restraint and move from tempo to tempo coherently. Although this album doesn’t necessarily require the world’s best drummer, the one they use on here does a decent job anyway, and adequately keeps up with the crawling sections as well as the faster ones. His double bass skills could use a little improving, but it’s not bad enough to hinder the overall force of the band.

‘Zzooouhh’ is an excellent slab of death/doom done in the vein of the ancients, and adds to their unique touch by drawing some elements from their country’s death metal scene as well, and ultimately make one hell of a album. I’d recommend hunting this down to all fans of REAL, old school, death/doom. But if you’re looking for more homo-erotic goth shit, then look elsewhere, as this album is not for you.

Sweet, Celtic Frost Worshipping, Doom Death - 87%

Fatal_Exposure, November 23rd, 2006

This is some pretty cool stuff. Anyone who is into old death metal or doom-death would most likely enjoy this album. This has strong ties to the doomier Scandinavian death metal scene of the old days, rather than to the Floridian (Deicide, Morbid Angel) or NY (Suffocation, Immolation, Revenant) styles. Most accurate comparisons to other bands would be Obituary, Decomposed (uk), Winter (us), Sorrow, early Pungent Stench, Divine Eve, and Bolt Thrower.

The riffs are all here, check out "Bitch" for some good doom riffs and headbanging. This stuff is well done, straight forward, doom-death. There's also a healthy dose of Celtic Frost worship on this album, which is of course a welcomed thing. Just listen to "Amputation" to hear the great CF worship. Other highlights are: the best song on the album - "Floods of Intricate," which is complete CF ownership, "The Warrior," "Menace Unseen," and "The Sign of Urth."

This is a great album, no fillers here. The only complaint I have is that I wish the production was a bit thicker, especially the guitar sound, but that is a really minor complaint. If you’re into any of the above mentioned bands or other bands like, God Macabre, Abhoth, Demigod, Pyogenesis, Suppuration, Stonehange, Dusk, Disembowelment, Autopsy, or Dream Death, then you probably know what’s up anyway and should go ahead and grab this nice little, sweet, Dutch obscurity. Cheers.