18. June 2025
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Media Review

Human Zoo – Echoes Beyond

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Human Zoo - Echoes Beyond

Human Zoo - Echoes Beyond
4.5

Rating

 4.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great melodic rock / hard rock album
  • Nice, versatile range of songs
  • Hard rock with a saxophone

Doing hard rock with a saxophone? Human Zoo simply do it! On 14th June 2024, some eight years after their last album, they share Echoes Beyond with the music community. I ran into the album on a promotion platform and felt that this unusual setup is definitely worth a review.

 

Human Zoo – About The Artists

Human Zoo is a hard rock / melodic rock band from Southern Germany. The roots of the band are in 2004. At that time Thomas Seeburger (vocals), Zarko Mestrovic (keys) and Ingolf Engler (guitar) started to form the band. Nowadays, the sextet also consists of Rolf Grespan (bass), Matthias Amann (drums) and Boris Matakovic (saxophone). The band has released four albums so far. After Precious Time (2006), they also released Over The Horizon (2007), Eyes of The Stranger (2011) and My Own God (2016).

 

Human Zoo – Echoes Beyond – Track by Track

The twelve song album lasts 46 minutes.

1. Gun 4 A While

The opening song comes with a catching melody and a lot of rock power. Human Zoo underline their ability to write catching melodies from the very beginning. Hard rock fans are in their comfort zone, indeed. The sax tunes, especially in the bridge, definitely add a nice touch.

2. In My Dreams

In My Dreams follows a similar concept. This does not mean that the album already gets boring – Human Zoo simply present another straight, not at all fuzzy melody. This finally leads to a hymnic chorus, which simply stays in your head. The ridge comes with a narrative vocals part. The key/synth part is worth to be mentioned in here as well.

3. To The Ground

Human Zoo push the throttle and increase the speed of the album for To The Ground. The very present rhythm is making the song march – or better: run – during the whole 3:22 minutes. The chorus is an ideal sing-a-long – it is also simple enough that you can do that during the first listen already.

4. Ghost In Me

Apart from Gun 4 A While, Ghost In Me has been the only song, which has been published before the album release. The song is almost five minutes long – a well-invested time, as Human Zoo puts a lot of effort into the song’s atmosphere. The sound of ravens at the beginning and a mystical, slightly threatening sound makes you feel the ghost, indeed. The song is coming with a slower pace than the tracks before.

5. Daddy You’re A Star

Some of the tracks before just give a little presence to the saxophone. Daddy You’re A Star definitely changes that. The emotional ballad is rather quiet, especially in the beginning, where you just listen to the voice of Thomas Seeburger and the piano sound by Zarko Mestrovic. Finally, another proof that rockers do the best ballads.

6. Hello! Hello!

Sirens are howling at the beginning of Hello! Hello! The band explicitly asks you Are you ready to rock right thereafter. A song which is made to interact with the band’s fans. Or just using the band’s own lyrics: the stage is where we belong, it’s all we want. Especially for the band’s live performance, this one is the perfect boost for a party.

7. Echo

Echo is a song with some cool keyboard lines and thumbing guitar riffs. I love the saxophone in the bridge. Overall, other songs leave a stronger memory at the listener, though.

8. Heartache

The first tunes of the chorus feel familiar. However, Human Zoo creates their very own sound around this theme. They also leave some space to Boris Matakovic and his saxophone. The song comes with a cool rhythm. While it took me a bit to get into the song, I like it more and more the more I listen to it.

9. Waiting ‘Til The Dawn

The ninth track has a slightly soppy touch. Human Zoo asks Can we stay forever? in this love song. The song can be best described as a power ballad. In these kind of songs, the band is profiting the most from their unusual instrumental setup.

10. Forget About The Past

It is getting dark and heavy at the beginning of Forget About The Past. If you like that kind of sound, you will enjoy Forget About The Past, definitely. Even though the song finally turns into a slightly more “friendly” atmosphere, it is definitely one of the key tracks of Echoes Beyond.

11. Ready 2 Rock

It is time to rock again at the end of the album. The title suggests it – and Human Zoo delivers a song just in line with that promise. A typical hard rock party track, which comes with a great pace.

12. Forget About The Past (acoustic)

At the end of the album, Human Zoo present Forget About The Past in a very different way. Doing the track in an acoustic version underlines the role of the track on this album on the one hand. On the other hand, this version is simply a beauty. Great that they shared it as well.

 

Human Zoo – Echoes Beyond – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Human Zoo – Echoes Beyond – My View

Echoes Beyond is indeed a really fun listen. From hard rock power to a lovely acoustic track, the band delivers a wide range of songs. The album never feels boring or monotonous. And finally, the saxophone parts always add an unusual, but cool icing on the rock lover’s cake. Very nice release!

Favorite Song: Hello! Hello!

 

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