Review Summary: On “Malfunction” Zachary Sticker creates a fully immersive experience from which there is no escape.
Zachary Sticker’s “Malfunction” is a sonic bacchanal. Fully realized, Zachary Sticker effortlessly fuses melody with distortion, rhythm with noise. Throughout the album the percussion hits particularly hard and serves as one of the few constants in a sea of sound that is consistently in flux. Pieces of shoegaze, noise rock, glitch and even folk emerge in a kaleidoscopic array of textures. By refusing to adhere to any sort of structure the sound is completely free. “Malfunction” takes full advantage of this sheer madness as Zachary Sticker lets layer upon layer of sound interact rather gorgeously. Interesting his exploration of sound always is grounded in the emotional as a great many deeply compelling melodies emerge from the din.
Bombastic and bold is the album opener “11;26;13” whose harsh approach introduces Zachary Sticker’s unique approach. Offering a mellower sound is the shoegaze-inflected work of “9;1;13” (and indeed later in the album Zachary Sticker’s penchant for shoegaze is shown in a My Bloody Valentine cover). All engrossing is the surprisingly tender swirl of “Lunar Eclipse”. Expansive in nature is the spacious atmosphere of “10;3;13”. Sounding quite timeless in its satisfying groove is the heavy “Walk In The Park”. Easily the highlight of the album is the maelstrom of “Winter IS Darkest, Winter Is Quietest”. Starting out with a harsh wave of distortion the song’s ability to balance the loud and the soft together makes it deeply compelling. An eerie sound dominates “Out Of Order” which at times feels akin to a nightmare with its uneasy melody growing increasingly unstable. Closing off the album is the distortion heavy “Gone”.
On “Malfunction” Zachary Sticker creates a fully immersive experience from which there is no escape.
