Live Review: Zetra - Exchange, Bristol
Support: Moth Slut
7th February 2025
Words: Chris Taylor
Photos: Laura Muraska-Ross (Glasgow)
Off the back of their long awaited debut album synth rock duo Zetra brough their unique blend of dreamy pop with gothic trimmings to Bristol as part of their Dream of a World tour with support from Moth Slut.
The night was started perfectly by rising stars Moth Slut. The goth inspired darkwave duo understood the assignment, beginning their set gracefully passing black roses into the audience over droning backing. What followed was a set of infectious dark rock with a cheeky vampiresque attitude running throughout. Both members were clearly thrilled to be part of the tour, with smiles never leaving their faces throughout and consistent energy on the stage. With an unashamedly striking image and more than a few irresistibly catchy tunes it’s a strong introduction to the band for anyone in the room who were unfamiliar with Moth Slut. Suffice to say they most definitely left Bristol with a few new fans. Good support bands do their job of warming the crowd up for the night to come, but great support bands like Moth Slut go further and set the tone for the whole night as well. This was as close to a night stealing set as it gets.
Before Zetra take to the stage the main lights are dimmed and the venue is lit mostly by the glow of a stone mirror with pulsating images like a portal to another realm. With the lights down for the entire set, Zetra stand either side of their centrepiece as two shadowy figures with their corpse paint covered faces being the only discernible features. With this ominous aesthetic the duo take Bristol on an ethereal soundscape of epic synth rock that is as beautiful as it is striking.
Treating the audience to a meaty set they play through their self titled debut in full. Feeling like one flowing piece of music there is no addressing the audience between songs with words, however the music itself communicates the emotion and weight of Zetra’s music completely. With all the guitar work, prominent synths and constant vocal harmonies there are a lot of elements to this band’s music and thankfully all of them come through clearly with excellent sound in the venue.
It really can’t be said enough how good Zetra’s vocal harmonies are. Throughout every song are beautiful melodies and expertly performed with the right amount of gentle delivery to sit perfectly under the music itself. It’s a display of vocal talent that is one thing to experience on the album, but another thing entirely to listen to raw.
The band have clearly worked hard to gain a devoted following over the years as each track is warmly received by the the audience. Particular love is shown to the track Starfall, which still carries all it’s impact even without the album versions’ additional vocals from Serena Cherry, but the back end of the set filled with songs from the band’s older works get the biggest response. It’s a far cry from Zetra’s more muted audience the last time the band played Bristol at 2024’s Arctangent festival.
Closing their performance with Sacred Song before disappearing into the darkness again, the audience were still ready for more waiting for quite a while before accepting that an encore wasn’t going to happen. However as they say you should ‘leave them wanting more’. Zetra’s rise through the UK scene has felt like a long time coming. However with a live show this strong off the back of a stunning debut album, it’s very likely their upwards trajectory is about to get much faster.
Photo Credits: Laura Muraska-Ross
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