Zion Memorial Orchestra were a Canadian post-rock band that formed in 1999, originating from Montreal, Quebec.

Black Emperor leader Efrim Menuck, who was joined by fellow Godspeed members Sophie Trudeau and Thierry Amar.

Zion has undergone almost yearly personnel changes, evolving by stages from a mostly instrumental trio at the time of its first recordings into an eight-piece group, and then in 2008 into a strongly vocal quintet.

Zion's music has been described as post-rock,[1] though singer and guitarist Efrim Menuck identifies with the punk rock ethos and aesthetic.

[4] The band made its live debut on March 6, 1999, at Musique Fragile, a performance venue organized by the record label Constellation.

With the same lineup, but with the band's name slightly expanded to reflect the change in sound and membership, The Silver Mt.

Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir released "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing in 2003.

That winter Scott Levine Gilmore from Black ox orkestar joined the band and it began performing in a semi-circle onstage.

Following a short tour of eastern Canada in August that year, the band performed for the first time in the United States in Brooklyn, New York City.

At that time David Payant joined as drummer and the band officially renamed itself Thee Silver Mt.

In the spring of 2009, the band began working on recording material for its album Kollaps Tradixionales, released in February 2010.

The band began a tour of the UK and Europe in March 2010, beginning with a positively reviewed[7] sold-out show in Bristol.

[10] In another interview, this time with the Paper Crane Podcast, member Jessica Moss revealed that a reformation was set to take place in March of 2020 after the band's hiatus, but was offset due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are strong political motifs in the band's music, covering a variety of subjects from anarchy to war and freedom.

[12] Menuck's strident guitar work combines with strings, tape loops, and heavy drums to give the band its sound.

13 Blues for Thirteen Moons was the first album case to feature a photo of the band inside (along with the lyric sheets).

Album artwork has also included a sketch of a horse, a mountainscape from the back of a packet of cigarettes and a picture of Nina Simone (in relation to the song "God Bless Our Dead Marines").

Though Menuck's voice and lyrics are often prominent on the records, everyone in the band sings on stage, contributing to the harmonies while standing in a semicircle, with members facing each other as often as the audience.

Trudeau's breaking her collarbone in a motorbike accident prevented them from touring, leading the band to spend time working more singing into their pieces.