UMUR "A Hiding Place" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German hard rock act Zodiac. The album was released through Napalm Records in October 2013. Zodiac are a relatively new band and "A Hiding Place" is released almost to the date one year after "A Bit of Devil (2012)".

Stylistically the two albums aren´t terribly far from each other either. The music is blues based hard rock played with a great organic touch and featuring a vintage take on the genre. These guys are hardly original sounding, but they sure can both play and deliver their message in a convincing manner. Lead vocalist/guitarist Nick Van Delft is definitely the main attraction here although the rest of the guys in the band are also very well playing. Van Delft possesses a deep and warm voice that embraces the listener all the way through the album´s playing time. Even at the most generic bluesy hard rock moments he shines and elevates the music to a higher level. The many soulful bluesy guitar solos and the omnipresent organ are some of the other assets on "A Hiding Place". Compared to "A Bit of Devil (2012)" I think "A Hiding Place" is slightly less energetic and less hard rocking and more laidback and bluesy, which is a bit of a shame as I sometimes miss some raw energy. There are a couple of hard rockers on the album though and that´s when a Thin Lizzy reference isn´t all wrong. The cover version of "Cortez The Killer" by Neil Young gives away another influence. A good cover version by the way.

While I might miss a couple of more hard rocking tracks, the material are generally very well written and performed and fans of more laidback bluesy hard rock with soaring guitar solos and and a warm organic sound should definitely give "A Hiding Place" a listen or two. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "A Bit of Devil" is the debut full-length studio album by German hard rock act Zodiac. The album was released through Prosthetic Records in October 2012.

The band play a retro sounding heavy blues based hard rock with a great warm and organic touch. Not completely unlike their Swedish contemporaries in Graveyard. I hear quite a few nods toward Thin Lizzy too. The dual lead guitar attack especially points in that direction. There is a healthy dose of Led Zeppelin worship going on too, so all in all a band that knows their "classics". Lead vocalist/guitarist Nick Van Delft has a pleasant voice (sort of like a rough John Mayer) and he is able to both sound raw and a little more laid back and cool, when that is needed. The rythm section of drummer Janosch Rathmer and bassist/organist Ruben Claro are energetic and deliver a really strong performance that brings just the right organic touch to the music. I´ve long admired the former´s work with Long Distance Calling, so it´s interesting to hear him play in another constellation. He is a really skilled drummer so I´m not surprised to hear that he pulls it off with conviction.

While based in simple heavy bluesy hard rock, the material on "A Bit of Devil" is varied enough to be entertaining for the duration of the album. The band skillfully add details and variations to their tracks, but also variation between tracks. Take for instance the title track album opener, which is an energetic rocker and compare it to the slow blues of the ZZ Top cover track "Blue Jean Blues". A track like "Assembly Line" also deserves a mention as a highlight. Great track with a number of brilliant guitar solos.

The band are generally very well playing, the sound production is warm and organic and the songwriting strong, so "A Bit of Devil" is overall a very entertaining release by Zodiac. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.