(Our Vietnam-based writer Vizzah Harri prepared the following highly entertaining review of the latest album by the Tunisian band Znous, released in early June of this year.)
And now for something completely different. No, I’m not referring to the Flying Circus, the music and the band is anything but unserious. Znous hail from Al Rudayyif, Gafsa in Tunisia and were covered by Andy Synn back in 2021 as “socio-political Punk-Metal firebrands” not to miss.
There is no better place to start exploring African metal, seeing as Tunisia can be seen as the place of origin of the continent’s name, relating back to a people that lived there before the Roman conquest. However, this name relates back to them pesky Roman elephant slayers, so to sidestep the pallid elephant bloated from decay in African imperial propaganda, we can safely say that the continent’s name originates in ancient Kemet, or Egypt. Af-rui-ka, in ancient Egyptian, means the motherland.
The Algerian-Franco war lasted 7 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days. That’s nearly 3000 days of terror which resulted in the death, displacement, disfigurement, and defiling of millions. Aftershocks and effects can be felt decades and even centuries after traumatic events. The squamous tentacles of greed and avarice corrupt even after the smoke clears, infecting the very dust. According to Znous, in their album art they reappropriated photos taken by Marc Garanger, “a colonial photographer,” from the aforementioned war in the country on their western border.
Znousland 4-1 clockwise from top left
Like radiation overspill, true evil has a half-life greater than Tellurium 128 (2.2×1024, or 2.2 septillion years – the number 1 followed by 24 zeros). Therefore, pushback, vilification of imperial thought, lambasting of imposed language, whether it be half a century later or more, is just as relevant today. Znous holds nothing back on what is now their 4th release in a series of their eponymous Znousland records. The title refers to their country Tunisia, as mentioned in their 3rd album.
The Hamsa is associated with the goddess Tanit, or tnt in Punic/Phoenician (wait for the fuse). A new god for a new city, Carthage’s etymology relating to just that, spelled in a way that can weave a story of the great old ones and from a language that uses nearly no vowels – qrt-ḥdšt. Phoenician can be postulated as having sparked many a metal band’s name or horror writer’s fancy.
Hamsa is the old symbol for magical protection against the envious or evil eye. From Khamsa meaning 5, referring to the digits of the hand. A symbol found even in other parts of the world through syncretism. Znous reinterpreted the khamsa with a middle finger raised up, and right away their message becomes explosively clear. And if it wasn’t, the lyrics of opener Salih will surely do the trick.
Unlike this writer, Znous don’t mince their words; you can find their essay on why they and other bands should not be called ‘Oriental’ here, and even further reading on the topic can be found in this article. Words hold weight, and they also change over time. The second link regards the use of a word in South Africa which originally meant ‘infidel’ in Arabic. Racial slurs always have a grounding in othering, in labeling the other as somehow less than human.
If you’ll excuse my captaincy of the obvious above, according to their website, Znous means “species” in Tunisian slang, a word reserved as a slur against denizens who display any form of deviance towards social norms. Znous reclaimed this word to define those who stand up against oppressive norms.
They “tackle social and political subjects and [are] fueled by social and political injustices in post-revolutionary Tunisia,” and beyond. Audiovisual media is an effective way of protest in encapsulating, condensing, and immortalizing the essence of ire.
Whether or not it seems like you hear familiar sounds after track one would depend on how deep you dove into the music of the devil. You might need a lot of satan for sure, perhaps even to add an ‘-ist’ as suffix (as in, if The Satanist and In Sorte Diaboli were reimagined through the lens of nü-metallic groove as an OST to a short film shot in Tunis). The absolute arsenal of varied, potent, and absorbing acoustic instrumentation I’m too musically impoverished to name that engulfs you after the opening volley of spoken word is sure to eviscerate any preconceptions of a yawning listening experience.
Both Menish Msemah (I shall not forgive) and Rameem (ruins) employ expansive orchestration reminiscent of the so-called pinnacle of symphonic black metal of old, 2-3 decades ago. Golden ages are an illusion, or perhaps a mass delusion spread by the same kind of people who still harken back to the gold standard. What could and should be standardized as motherfucking gold is this album.
Sure, many a person hearing this would like to add their 2 cents of what little box it falls neatly into. Try handling a colossal slimed-up electric eel with serrated chompers into them little boxes.
Nahki Maa El-Hoot and Sakret El-Mout (slow decay and sweet agony), sound like these musicians might just have taken their personal philosophy a step further than any of us could have expected. Going from polyphonic euphoria to dancehall aesthetics, trip hop to symphonic overtures, this record has it all. Where many bands fall into the trap of sameness, unable to shift directions and break new ground, here Not One Track Sounds The Fucking Same!
We’re not just here for innovation’s sake; just because something sounds new, has diverse influences, and is different doesn’t mean it is objectively good. I’m not going to claim to be in any way a judge of what that is. Whether something actually has staying power transcends a few catchy riffs and good marketing. Though I’d wager that if you were looking for something that doesn’t sound like anything else and got to the surprise final tones of the exceptional cover song Leklem Lemrassa, like me, you’re gonna go right back up to Salih and press play again.
Znousland 4 clocks in at 27 minutes and 30 seconds, shorter than their second EP of just over 29 minutes. Most people would therefore also argue that it’s an EP length; thing is, there’s so many musical ideas packed into this record that it seems denser than a neutron star. With sufficient mass, neutron stars turn into black holes, and they’re some of the heavier objects in the known universe.
This is not the heaviest album you’ll hear this year, but conceptually and the honesty it has been administered with contributes generous measures of M☉/solar mass to the music. The songwriting, production, and mix is… fucking stellar and that means that ideas are given space to breathe with nothing just latched on for effect. Every note placed by perfectionists. Perhaps if everyone’s favorite implement to hate on gave Znous a listen, they could spare their fans the extra nails on a blackboard fluff.
Znous manages to communicate a clear message of deconstructing normative values, whether held philosophically or perpetuated sonically. If any genre label can be slapped on this imposing record it should be extreme folk metal, folk punk nu metal, extreme nu metal folkpunk, fuck-it, Post Extreme North African Lead, because this shit is so infernally infectious (I hope you’d excuse my terrible faux pas/attempt at humor) that people should be locked up for making music this virulent. One’s environment can inform how one interacts with what is on the outside. Hailing from a country of cultural diversity, extremely rich history, and turmoil, Znous delivers an opus most mesmeric and defiant.
Znous is:
Hamma – guitars, vocals and orchestration
Halima – bass and backing vocals
Jabeur – drums and North African percussion
All lyrics, music, sound engineering, production and mixing by Znous
Except for cover track “Leklem Lemrassa” written by Jil Jilala
7 Shaltaat features Tunisian artist Lobna Noomen on vocals
If you like what you hear, then don’t hesitate to check out their older work, you can find the electrifying sounds of their previous albums on their Bandcamp page:
https://znous.bandcamp.com/music
For more about the band, what they stand for, and merch, check out their website:
They’ve released each track as a lyric video, so the other 3 not posted here can be found on their YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@Znousband/videos
https://www.facebook.com/Znous.tounes
2 Responses to “ZNOUS: “ZNOUSLAND 4””
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Got sent here via the band’s bandcamp message about the “finest review ever”. I’m glad someone else is enjoying this album as much as me. Cool review and interesting background links.
I absolutely love this band. Their commitment to their political worldview is impressive, and yet they are not humorless nags. The only comparison I can make for a western listener would be if Propagandhi were reincarnated as North Africans and raised as political prisoners where Ozzfest was their confinement camp.
Every song is dizzyingly musical and every written word worth reading.
Thank you for your amazing write-up. I learned plenty and was thoroughly rapt in your prose.