TDK – ZHVK EP

When back in 2023 the Bulgarian noise-rock band TDK (ТДК) dropped their previous release Неместа, I thought tracks like “Fiasko” and “Avtomontyora” low-key hinted that they’re done with their more alternative metal leanings and are about to dive into an even more intense genre-bending music territories with their future output. And, boy, was I right.

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Released last Friday (March 7, 2025), their new EP ZHVK spans over just three tracks which are so dense with ideas, lyrics, and music from all over the experimental and noise rock specter, that I’m both thankful the release is so short while I’m also a bit pissed off we have to wait for another fix of this pretty wild musical mixture they’ve put together.

The vinyl version of ZHVK keeps things fairly balanced because in addition to the brand new material that inhabits Side A of the record, we also get the calmer yet brooding track “Beli Ruji,” which the band dropped as a single in the summer of 2024.

Ok, let’s get this done. ZHVK opens with “Zhiveya v kanalizatsiyata” (I Live In The Sewers), a chaotic and menacing track that somehow keeps it together through some of the best drumming in the band’s catalog so far. Guitars are in a constant exchange, making the stereo image of the track a puzzle you have to solve. That is when you’re not busy tracing the stories delivered by the psychotic vocals.

Time stretches while you’re trapped in this one and then it morphs into “Do mene e maika ti” (Your Mother’s Next To Me) with its jazz-infused basslines, playful guitar arrangement, and repetitive, or should I say persistent chants. It’s funny how, this track feels exactly like the opposite of the album opener, its six minutes feel shorter, and the track itself is a bit of a tension-relief only so the band can kick you in the teeth one last time with the Side A closer.

“Burkana s heroin” (A Jar of Heroin) is the jazziest track of them all, the whole band completely loses their shit, with only the bass keeping your feet from lifting off the ground. That lasts until the first half of the track when ZHVK reaches its absolute climax and you have no choice but to just let go and completely surrender to whatever is coming. And then, after one last blast of guitar noise, it’s all done, said and gone.

And what about Side B? I leave that to you, I’m drained.

This is the saddest song we are capable of.

One last thing I’d like to point out is that not only have TDK broken their own boundaries musically once again but have managed to come up with a record that’s perfectly crafted production-wise. Recorded locally but mixed by their trusted co-conspirer Jesse Gander it sounds huge, abrasive, and alive but extremely detailed as well which ensures a lot of spins will have to pass before you get it all sorted out.