Another Past-blast: A trip w/ ZERO MENTALITY to meet the lovely SUNDAY INN

As a request by David Pankrath... here is an old MySpace-entry revisited:

SUNDAY INN - »ever fallen in love with someone?«

First and for all, if you came here to expect nothing - you came to the wrong place. This is just about me and how I liked being in one place at one time and sharing it with… whoever. I came to expect nothing - I even came to expect worse than that. I got out with ALOT more, hey, I even got a CD. Great! What the fuck, sounds like the cheesy editorial to a 1990s HC-fanzine ...hum, maybe that's why this is it: MY SHIT
I did not intended to go to this show with alot of excitement - other than that of being around the ZERO MENTALIY-crew and giving them the best I can: their hard earned money. It is an open secret that THIS GUY never was and probably never will be really a big fan of the »DDR« and its remains (for you stupid foreigners there: the happy Easter Germany), but after being a little bit - just a little bit - in a positive mode from last weekends experience, I took this trip to Saalfeld as an light-hearted way into the Pampas. After getting aware of why Adolf and his guys (yes, i know that this is historicly not that right) once decided that Autobahns are the best way of getting your car from here to there we pulled back the van in font of the club and heard strange noises. Yes, this must have been some kinda language used there by the indigenous people. Luckily, some of them also spoke German fluently, so we entered the club and the GAME got rolling. Lucky me, I sat up my table right next to THE ONE THING that made this night oh-so-special. Well, that would be a lie. There was alot more - but I just wanna make a point here. About the point device. Some smaller talks got delivered under the smoothing shine of old living-room lamps, and with setup-work gettin' finished, I came to rest. But my eyes found themselves caught in a ongoing tour de force.
The most interesting thing about the whole night is, there was a sheer overload of beauty in this room. Okay, there were alot of strange and ugly men, as usual, but: there was much potential to fell in love with a girl. I already knew a guy who is probably one hellova lucky guy because he got an astonishing one by his side that came from this part of our de-walled country. And I lately had to admit that I already got to know female beauty from »Ostzone«. But Saalfeld was like heaven - or hell, if you already felt like you had too less intimacy the last couple of hours. 

I sat down, and next to me appeared THIS ONE, a blond and shining little heap of charme and grace. I discovered, she is the singer to the band playing right before the ZERO MENTALITY, and i honestly did not expect that at this evening it would mean, the one in that position would be wearing high-heels. Okay, there was this second band, where the singer sported a bunch of orange cotton on his head - but that was not really as positive as I THIS. So, Catherine and me, we made some jokes about the idigenous, and I was once more aware that Berlin and the Ruhrpott share something. Well, later that evening I found out that maybe I shared a bit too much, but that's another story. This one here goes on with me getting to expect a little nice twist of the musical evening, also. SHE bought a record there of a older HC-project she did, and all her guys seemed to share the same upbringing. But as we »older« folks (referring to everone above 25 in this case - yes, very true for me) know, we don't really need all that noise anymore all time all day - or to be blunt we usually listen to alot of other music than Hardcore. This brings SUNDAY INNto this, and onto the stage. Catherine took of her nice shoes, and was almost as tall as me, being on stage and me in front. I took three songs off of my duty and was joined by also as much positively surprised Dennis. We witnessed a warm and spreading amount of good layback Rock-Pop with a voice that filled the room with a clear and smoothing tone. And I still do not believe she never took any lessons, at least in singing. Gettin' Emo here? Well, maybe just a little bit, also in the music, but all in all: it popped. Right after the first four to five songs, people kept coming to the tables in the back and grabbed their CDs. Even more, way more, than they came to pick the other bands stuff - alhough it was obvious that NOBODY came here to expect SUNDAY INN. They sold 5-times more records than ZERO MENTALITY, and that wasn't even a bad night to them. Honestly, even the show they put on later was also very good and people liked it very much. But, Berlin, Berlin, it was only Saturday - and everything was just a perfect setting for the ones to the left. I told HER, and just to pretend also two of the boys in SUNDAY INN, that after this experiece i would want to sleep with the whole band. She jokingly replied that there could be something arranged - I was luckly already that drunk that I only remember that now and did not expect that to really turn out.
The most interesting thing about the whole night is that I got a CD I could bring home with, and that now fills this room again. Love died, but I survived. If you still do not believe what I am talking about, here is a picture :

And yes, the guys also look fine, but you just have to believe it 
After the SUNDAY INN left right into the set of the last band, Confronto, I came to act like a yunkie on a party with all his favorite drugs gone: I kinda absorbed all the others. Hey, don't say I got an alcohol problem - I mean, I was talking to at least three other really beautiful girls and even came out with one email-contact by one (making here believe I just wanted her to sent me pictures of Z.M.'s set) and a kiss by another one - who I thought of having a little resemblance of a girl I talked in abstracts above this line. Not a blonde one, though…
Nevertheless, the SUNDAY INN - you gotta pick that up! DO IT! NOW!!!

10 years & now - ZERO MENTALITY - X: a review

When I was asked to give a benefitial listen to the new recordings of ZERO MENTALITY, it felt like coming home, baby! I already missed the recording session due to work - but for this thingy here, I'll put my own work into. I always tried to give my very best for Z.M. I have a history with Z.M. And I saw alot of Z.M. in the past. Maybe I missed some of the members and lineups especially in the later days, but you should all know: I have been there...with them...saw them in a practice room before the had a demo, saw some of the very first shows, saw the energy and the omni-cultural potential that build this machine. I soon hit the machine, drove the machine, sold the machine, fueled my machine, loved them, hated them, despised them, supported them...them...me...and the machine...ZERO MENTALITY.

They going to put out a new recording. ZERO MENTALITY is back. Don't call it a comeback. I never would. I never saw this lineup play a single show. But I know all the guys. There are rockers, metalheads, weirdos, football supporters, musicians, teachers - there are once again a whole lot of influences this band draws from. But with "X", they do not only seek the unknown - they also try to come back to what made them a successful force on alot of stages and country-parts we all traveled to.

Don't be mislead, this is not another "In fear of forever" that totally pushes back the achievements in Black Rock. You can still hear that in the vocals and read it in lines like:

"a thee im me assaults from behind 

a veil of haze has darkened my mind 

a soul all-seeing, yet numb and blind 

antagonism of two of one kind"

(from: Gemini)

But you will also get some very classic speed-riffs, some hookful parts, a certain mosher in between, an uplifting crunch, and a nothing but classic hardcore phrase like "with a blunted edge i'm stabbing my back."

This first track is musically totally along the lines of the first two albums.

I never made it a secret, that I rated "Invite your soul" their most superior work, but I always felt like their best record would have been a mixture. With "Serenity Now" they probably just did that - in one song. At least, there are parts of "In fear of forever", "Invite your soul" and the (much underrated) split with THE HEARTBREAK MOTEL. Lyrically, you'll once again get a classic theme:

"eaten up with envy and grief 

morbid jealousy and misbelief 

pretend to suffer hell on earth 

a cruel charade to make it worse"

(from: Serenity now)

To really give this a happy ending, there is this one thing I always liked alot more about ZERO MENTALITY than I liked on alot of other bands - because not many are capable of doing it in such a

catchy way. I am talking INSTRUMENTAL, baby! For some funny reason, this is named "Bürgerliche Kälte" - but on the contrary, it is once again tempting and captivating. And another classic!

If you have ever liked ZERO MENTALIY, you don't wanna miss "X". I you haven't heard them before, listen to "X" and you will want to grab the old stuff. If you expect more ZERO MENTALITY, start to believe in the year X of their existence.

It is coming - soon... very soon! Keep your eyes open, your hearts on fire and your emotions in charge!