Moments

Michael Gira (The Swans) “One of the best french band in the last 300 years…”

Wire Magazine (UK): “Ulan Bator’s music follows an eccentric orbit, while their power is usually kept simmering in reserve. The players investigate the borders of song structure.They build up enormous tension (…) they played a marathon three hour set with Faust early last year. Hard to imagine, given Ulan Bator’s inherent sense of control: halting on the brink before complete freakout sets in is what makes the group so special”

Alternative Press (USA): “To say that this is the best rock music France has ever produced is to damn it with faint praise. This trio may be the only band from that oversauced nation to be worth a damn in a long time maybe since Metal Urbain or Magma (…) Call it musique concrete paved with irreverence.”

Ulan Bator started in 1993 in Paris as a duet composed of founding member Amaury Cambuzat (Vox, Guitar and keyboards) and Olivier Manchion (Bass). Their first rehearsals sessions happened in a deep, unused chalk-mine in the suburbs of Paris. This strange location was, step by step, transformed into a “recording studio” where they were to record, compose and produce their first three recordings albums: “Ulan Bator”, “2 Degrees” and “Végétale”. In 1995, the duet was joined by Franck Lantignac (drums) who became the third permanent member of the group until 1999.

It was with the second album ” 2 degrés” (DSA-FR) that the group garnered their most enthusiastic critical praise in France, the USA and elsewhere. The band’s third album “Végétale” was released in 1997 and is entirely sung in French. The album was to reach a far broader public, due, in particular to the strong support of the leading French music magazine ” Inrockuptibles”. Since then Ulan Bator have toured heavily in Europe. They also gave a series of unforgettable concerts in 1997 with the german group Faust, a band with which Amaury Cambuzat continues to collaborate (the album, “C’est Compliqué”, was released by the label Bureau-b in 2009).

In 1999 they released an EP “D-Construction” (DSA-FR) made up of remixes by notable figures from the electronic scene including Scanner, Otomo Yoshihide, Erik M, Carl Stone.

The album ” Ego Echo” (Virgin-It/DSA-Fr/Young God the Record-USA), produced by Michael Gira (Swans, Angels off Lights) marked an important turning point in the career of the group. The band moved to, and continue to work from Italy. The album was released in the US by Gira’s label Young God Records (Devendra Banhart, Swans, Lisa Germano, etc). The duet Cambuzat/Manchion finally separated after extensive touring following the release of “Ego:Echo”.

Amaury Cambuzat continued to front Ulan Bator, releasing “Ok: Ko” (Audioglobe-IT) in 2002.

The next release in 2003 “Nouvel Air” (Alternative-It/DSA-Fr) saw the band preserving their usual musical complexity whilst also adding a new level of accessibility, due both to the introduction of new instrumentation, and also the mix by Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins, Violet Indiana). In 2005 the album “Rodeo Massacre” came out (Jestrai-It/Rock’n’roll revolution-Fr), it was far more ‘direct’, and met with large success when two of the videos for the album were shown in heavy rotation on European MTV.

ZRN (formerly Zeroine) play Ambient Doom with melancholic Low-core elements.Equipped with two guitars, a vast array of effect pedals, drum machines and synth modules, the band's live performance sees the bands weave together solid tracks and improvisational elements through extreme noise infernos and beautiful, droned-out ambient landscapes. ZRN offers a punch in the gut and a gentle stroke down the back.

The band released their debut EP in 2013, which was followed by the album "Animous" in 2015.

ZRN will release their next EP in April 2017 which will see the band take a step towards an experimental heavy noise-rock sound, while honing their simplistic style and inebriating inertia.