ZACH TABORI RETURNS WITH A NEW, UNHINGED FULL-LENGTH FLESH FURY LP, ‘ATTACK OF THE CLOUT CHASERS’
Leave whatever sonic genre-bound expectations you had at the door. Craftsman Zach Tabori has worked with a diverse range of artists, from Jaden Smith to Dweezil Zappa, providing an eclectic mix of stylistic elements for his Flesh Fury project. You could call it prog metal, though that would be selling it short, as it defies everything prog metal tends to be. It lacks the pretension that most would associate with the genre, instead focusing on core messaging that is sometimes serious and sometimes satirical. One must put their literary analyst hat on for their newest LP, Attack of the Clout Chasers. Poignant and timely, the LP traverses previously uncharted mental and sonic territory. It’s not perfect, but that’s the point. If it were, the spaghetti would not have stuck to the wall.
2025 has been quite the year for progressive music. Perhaps it’s the existentialism we’re all feeling from looming political dread, or something is just in the air. Still, progressive and experimental bands have given it their all, with Flesh Fury being no exception. Attack of the Clout Chasers begins as a whisper and ends in a scream, a cataclysmic explosion of sounds and feelings. Throughout, Tabori expertly articulates his voice; sure, his lead vocals are powerful, but his compositions are brilliant. One day, these will be studied among the greats; we don’t particularly recognize that we are living in history until after we’ve experienced it. However, sitting with a record like this one forces you to take in the weight of existing at this specific time…which is, of course, essentially the point of the record.
Sure, the title might give way to the satirical elements within it, humorously criticizing social capital that’s truthfully plagued our screens and real-life interactions more than any of us would care to admit. Still, there’s an earnestness throughout the LP as it balances jokes with realness. Many of us, including myself, tend to use humor as a coping mechanism, and I believe that is Tabori’s technique in this project. He’ll say, “let me see the nipple” multiple times in a row, one second, and then hit you with a harsh reality about life as we know it being fragile and impermanent, the next. He also doesn’t do it without anything to back him up. No, he cites all his sources in MLA format as he goes, rendering him a subject expert. Which begs the question: Does Tabori have a good therapist? I hope so, because I do too, man.
Still, it would be disingenuous to review Attack of the Clout Chasers without dissecting the absolute musical goldmine within it. This LP may not appeal to everyone; it appears chaotic and seemingly random, but we all know that it is a carefully calculated endeavor. What’s extraordinarily impressive is not only the technically skilled instrumental playing, but the compositional choices. There’s the rub; untrained ears are given musical whiplash, turning their heads at each new plot twist, as interludes transition into 15-minute epochs. However, Tabori’s rabbit exists not in his hat. Instead, he is giving us a musical cinema, more akin to a rock opera that transcends most comprehensible mediums. The chaotic nature of the soundtrack mimics the chaos within his brain. He quite literally gives his audience a direct peek behind the wizard’s curtain. Thus, the 15-minute epoch does not feel as such. I was more disappointed when it ended.
Records like this encourage active listening—in fact, they demand it. Attack of the Clout Chasers requires its audience to treat it like they’re in AP English Literature, examining each detail with a magnifying glass to score the most points. However, as mentioned previously, it lacks the same pretension that plagues progressive metal, making it nearly impossible for the modern ear to digest. Tabori’s variation allows room for humor, not only assisting the narrator in coping but also keeping the contemporary attention span hooked. See, most of us are TikTok addicts, myself included. I'm a 28-year-old music journalist with ADHD, and I had the time of my life listening to Attack of the Clout Chasers. Firstly, I’m a Star Wars addict as much as I'm a TikTok addict (I named my dog Artooey), so the title immediately caught my eye. But moments like the piano roll or the other dissonant periods added a gritty texture compared to a swelling string outro.
Attack of the Clout Chasers was a treat to listen to from start to finish. Don’t let its appearance deceive you; plot twists abound, and the record leaves plenty of room for the imagination. It’s a fantastic deviation from easy-listening music that most of us have grown accustomed to. There are nods to American Idiot, perhaps referential to the title’s thesis statement, and grandiose operatic epochs. Regardless, the record has something for everyone if you’re willing to give it a chance—and I believe you should. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll thank Flesh Fury for putting god knows how many hours into it for our selfish, social climbing enjoyment.