26th May 2024

Review: “Faults In My Design” by Zero One

The brainchild of brothers brothers David and Ross Cole (Vocals and Guitar, respectively) alongside close friend Dylan Thomson on drums, life was first given to Zero One back in 2019. Together they created 2021 debut EP “Empty” which fell between the worlds of Progressive Metalcore and Post-Hardcore, showing promise but perhaps in need of refinement. Drafting in reinforcements the Edinburgh based trio became a quintet with guitarist Corey Crawford and bassist Ally Darling on board, sharing stages with Ithaca, Rituals and Polar while tweaking their sound over three stand alone singles “Censor”, “Balance” and “Encrypted”. Pushing their boundaries they experimented with more diverse sounds before beginning phase two and having sophomore EP “Faults In My Design” mixed and mastered by Kieran Smith (To Kill Achilles, Bitterwood, newshapes).

A bouncy DJent fuelled riff gets the party started as “These Visions” rears it’s ugly head, caustic unclean vocals from David Cole reaching up and touching the void into Deathcore before an achingly beautiful clean sung passage changes the direction entirely. Finding a balance between the melodic and the heavy, the band attack in waves, matching intense bursts of fury with lulls of delicate grace. The formula is both a distinctive and potent one that takes the heaviest of Progressive Metalcore sounds and injects it with venom before nursing it back to life with melancholic melody and then repeating the process. You can feel the pain in the lyrics of “Hollowed” with the stunning emotive vocal performance, the clean parts being delicate and yet powerful in their lament. For most bands that would be enough but for Zero One its not, as they bring in the harsh vocals which are the polar opposite to the cleans and border on savage. No doubt a label might requested they drop them as the hit harder than the steel fist of Robocop but they are part of what keeps their sound unique. The almost ambient melodic clean guitar sound is tasteful, building atmosphere that the heavier parts crush, aided and abetted by a clean crisp drum sound. You could play 20 seconds of melody and 20 seconds of heavy from the same song and someone might be forgiven for thinking it wasn’t the same band.

An introspective lyrical narrative Zero One moving down the left hand path of Nu-Metalcore with “Vicious Cycle“, a heavier cut that leaps out like one that has Lance Prenc behind the boards. Playing with song structures the band don’t fall into the trappings of clean choruses with unclean verses and with this poison pen letter they do one clean verse alone before a thunderous Deathcore inspired breakdown to finish. “Trinity” flips the script, taking a page out of the book of Polaris with its solid Metalcore groove with some expansive moments and glorious tapped section. The catchy chorus will have you singing along but the gut punch of the blood spitting unclean ensures that this isn’t a band you could take your mother to see live. There is a warmth to these songs which is incredibly appealing with lyrics like “I’ve been losing days in this place” in finale “Orion” not only resonating but you might find yourself singing along to on the first listen. Add to that the sheer sonic weight of the rhythm guitar tone and this thoughtful record becomes an almost instant favourite. The evolution from 2021’s “Empty” to “Faults In My Design” is there for all to witness, the songs more refined with better balance and there is the distinct feeling that for Zero One this is just the beginning [8.5/10]

Track Listing