Oliver Zisko premieres Fake 5 single feat. Anthony Crawford & Marius Pop

Progressive fusion with crushing metal guitar sound: drummer Oliver Zisko has launched the pre-order campaign for his upcoming new solo album, “PLAN(e)T-BASED“ , slated for release on June 1st 2026.

After recording many metal albums, I decided to change the concept for my upcoming release. In 2025, I’m working on the mixes and videos of my fourth solo album, “PLAN(e)T-BASED”. The foundations of the songs were written earlier, between 2021 and 2023, and I’ve been developing them continuously over the past few years.

Musically, the concept differs from my previous release. While Global Warning was a mixture of electronic music genres—such as drum and bass—and modern fusion music elements, the new album moves toward progressive/fusion music, featuring a detuned 8-string metal guitar sound.

The album features bassists Anthony Crawford (Allan Holdsworth band, Virgil Donati band), Péter Erdei (ex-Kurt Rosenwinkel band), Roland Rácz, Péter Papesch (ex-European Mantra), and Robin Zielhorst (ex-Cynic, Exivious; Our Oceans) & guitarist Márton Kertész (Special Providence, Sear Bliss, Rivers Ablaze), Marius Pop, and Attila Kovács (Bong-Ra, The Answer Lies in the Black Void). It also includes a special guest appearance by Planet X’s Derek Sherinian on keyboards.

Oliver Zisko shares his thoughts about ‘Fake 5’:

I’ve long planned to write a song built not on the standard 4/4 pulse, but around the logic of five – quintuplets, 5/4 time signature, and 5-bar cycles. Most ideas in this composition follow that structure, except for a few deviations: the wamp loop (4+6) and a short 3/4 section. That’s where the title comes from: Fake 5 –a nod to Brubeck’s Take Five, but through a fractured rhythmic frame.

Visually, I contrasted human cultures living in harmony with nature with long-lost civilizations. Of course, the booklet dives much deeper into the theme. On the vinyl insert, all tracks of the album have a detailed description technique-wise and a special story, or we can call it a message. I have chosen real, earthly themes instead of fantasy creations.

Sharing more insights into the recording of the album, the playthrough videos to all 10 songs on it, and his artistic approach to this project in general:

What was special about the drum recording mode was that all videos and audio were recorded at the same time. I recorded most of the songs in one take, and some of them in two takes. That was quite a challenge because of the complexity of the grooves. I practiced all songs separately for weeks before the final recording. I recorded only when I felt prepared to do it precisely in one take.

Amongst today’s increasingly appearing effect-driven AI-created compositions, I wanted to keep the natural, human identity. During the sessions, two cameras were running. The focus throughout was entirely on the performance, without staged movement or acting. As a result, the drum playthrough videos have a natural, lifelike feel. Realism is also an important aspect of the production: although I carried out minor micro-edits on the recordings, I deliberately chose an old-school approach in the mixing procedure, and I avoided grid alignment on the drums. I aimed to choose song titles — including the album title — that are realistic rather than sonorous or artistic. Every song title has its own, real, earthly story/message, which I detail in the booklet.

“PLAN[e]T-based” is scheduled for release on June 01, and you can pre-order the special limited 180g vinyl edition here: PLAN(e)T-based 180g vinyl pre-order!

Check out the first single ‘Fake 5’ right right now:

“FAKE 5” credits:
Guitars: Marius Pop
Bass: Anthony Crawford
Drums, keyboards, music programming, video editing, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered by Oliver Zisko

Oliver Zisko