Long Beach, California’s O Zorn! isn’t, as the dunce cap writing this might have assumed at one point, a tribute to John Zorn in any way shape or form. If I’m correct in my understanding, in this context, the doom metal/rock trio’s moniker apparently draws inspiration from Watership Down’s Lapine glossary which denotes a tragedy or catastrophe. Whatever the case, Naked City isn’t reforming or speaking to us for Hall of Fame purposes, a wound for which O Zorn! offers temporary salve via their melodic and monolithic formations. Your Killer is the band’s second album and today we offer an advance listen of the title track. Album number two, which was recorded at the Foo Fighters’ 606 Studio on the famed Sound City Neve console and is set for release on March 20 via Seeing Red Records, follows on the missing heels of the band’s 2017 obscure and nigh-on impossible to find debut, an album which has been described in some circles as “one of the best albums no one’s heard.” Hopefully, Your Killer won’t suffer the same fate as it would be a shame to have an album so invested in the sort of emotional expression and bald honesty guitarist/vocalist Bill Kielty describes below succumb to a lack of attention.
“[‘Your Killer’ is] about my on again-off again relationship with Paxil and other trial and error antidepressants. In my late 20s, I was suffering from quite a bit of paranoia and social anxiety, and though I’ve had suicidal tendencies since I was young, they had ramped up during this time period. My girlfriend at the time was going to leave me if I didn’t seek help, so I did. The meds started working immediately. My thoughts and mood leveled out, but the side effects were brutal. You’ve seen the commercials. A month or so later, said girlfriend told me to kick rocks. This threw me into a tailspin of mixed emotions. Though on medication, thoughts of killing myself intensified. Take that, mix in a steady diet of gin and tonics, and shit went sideways.”
