ZOLA JESUS

Rare cuts and mixes from the dark prog innovator.

remix albums can be hit or miss. Either they don’t add anything to the original recordings or, in the case of Zola Jesus’ Versions – a bold collection of orchestral reworkings – they’re a resounding success. As a companion to last year’s acclaimed Okovi, Okovi: Additions sits somewhere in the middle. Among the four remixes are four previously unreleased tracks that build on the grandiose album’s dark themes. Opener Vacant sits somewhere between Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode, with its gothic reverb and dark synth-pop atmosphere. Then there’s the EDM earworm Bound, the brief but anthemic ballad Pilot Light, and Bitten Wool, where Nika Roza Danilova’s passionate vocals really come to the foreground.

All work brilliantly in the context of Okovi but seem rather abrupt on their own. The remixes add little with the exception of Exhumed and Soak. The former’s pop sensibilities are plunged into darkness with a fierce post-metal remix from Wolves In The Throne Room. The dancedriven latter is elevated to a powerful ballad, just falling short of Versions. Although Okovi: Additions works an extension to its breathtaking parent, it feels incomplete on its own.