Hard rock’n’roll with a stoner style…
Released August 26th on Ripple Music and reviewed by Atom Heart Mutha
Another week goes by and another release from Ripple Music presenting an album cover featuring a six-armed woman (see also Devil to Pay’s A Bend Through Space and Time), must be something in the water. San Jose’s Zed follow up to 2013’s self released Desperation Blues is here: Trouble in Eden is the third release for Zed, and it’s a killer.
‘Royale’ opens the record with a weighty riff and heavy drum beat rooted in the very best of heavy Rock ‘n’ Roll’s heritage. The pace and style is maintained with ‘Save You From Yourself’ and ‘The Only True Thing’ both showing confidence and skill instrumentally and vocally. Things slow down and get heavier with ‘Today not Tomorrow’ and demonstrate splashes of 70’s rock within it contemporary rock construction. ‘Blood of the Fallen shows off a brilliant stoner groove whilst still going hard on the guitars and solos, ‘High Indeed’ builds on that formula and exhibits some of the best drum work on the record. Standout track ‘So Low’ follows taking in influences from the 70’s to now but forges something individual as the track moves towards its crashing conclusion. The album finishes with the mighty stomp of ‘The Mountain’ weighing in at 7 minutes it’s a colossal monster that one can imagine slays the audience played live.
I’ve been lucky enough to live with this record for a few weeks, and the more I’ve played it the better it’s been. 2016 has been an interesting year within Psych-rock/Stoner/Desert/Space whatever scene; there’s an emergence of artists that I hope to see break out of where they are now and gain more worldwide exposure, Zed are one of those bands.
As with pretty much all of label Ripple Music’s current output, this is a band that deserve wider appeal and Trouble in Eden offers them an excellent chance to break out and grab some well-earned attention; there’s nothing lazy or formulaic about what you’re getting here over 10 solid tracks, just great rock music played with confidence by a band that are getting bigger and better, absolutely recommended.
8.5 out of 10
Track list:
- Royale
- Save You From Yourself
- The Only True Thing
- Today Not Tomorrow
- Trouble in Eden
- Blood of the Fallen
- High Indeed
- So Low
- Across the Sea
- The Mountain
