Zed - Trouble In Eden (2016)

Genre - Hard Rock / Blues / Stoner Rock

Label - Ripple Music

Track listing:

01. Royale
02. Save You from Yourself
03. The Only True Thing
04. Today Not Tomorrow
05. Trouble in Eden
06. Blood of the Fallen
07. High Indeed
08. So Low
09. Across the Sea
10. The Mountain

San Francisco Bay Area's Zed takes it cues from the greats like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC, and mixes them with their other musical influences such as Clutch, Rage Against the Machine and Queens of the Stone Age. With this mixture, Zed crafts a sound that is new, yet familiar and are bringing back the guts, the grit and the balls to Rock. And they won't stop until they succeed. At least in getting drunk and having a good time. And I have to say at times they do remind me of fellow San Franciscan's Trouble.

“Trouble In Eden” is Zed’s third album, is their first for Ripple Music.
“Royale” starts the album off in grand fashion, and it’s strong yet melodic. Vocalist Pete Sattari really shines from the off set too. “Save You From Yourself” is a riff-heavy, pummelling, brute of a blues song! “The Only True Thing” follows a similar formula, but it has more of a hook to the chorus. “Today Not Tomorrow” which  leans on Black Sabbath’s "Supernaut", has a laid-back feel until the shredding guitar solo toward the end, and then explodes into a real monster of a track. "Trouble In Eden", the albums title track, is darker and more moody than its predecessors, as it builds slowly and has a massive feel with it atheistic lyrical lamentations. “High Indeed” has a  stripped-down feel, as it chugs along before launching into a high-energy chorus. “So Low” really brings the old school, bluesy aura to the forefront, and although it’s brooding, it builds to a snarling chorus. “Across The Sea” is perhaps the heaviest thing here and an excuse for a freak-out, whilst album closer, “The Mountain”, is simply a massive wall of riffs and killer guitar solos!

Zed are a band to watch. They make "old school" sound modern, with their own flair and musicianship. Listening to Trouble In Eden, feels like  reacquainting with a long lost friend, warm and familiar yet new and refreshing, plus it is a killer album from beginning to end.

Rating: 10/10

ZED are:

Greg Lopez – Guitars

Pete Sattari – Guitars/Vocals

Mark Aceves – Bass

Rich Harris – Drums/Percussion

Zodiac - Grain Of Soul (2016)

Genre - Hard Rock / Blues / Stoner Rock

Label - Napalm Records

Track listing:

01. Rebirth By Fire (03:00)
02. Animal (04:29)
03. Follow You (03:42)
04. Down (05:44)
05. Faithless (03:18)
06. Crow (03:02)
07. Ain't Coming Back (03:19)
08. Get Out (04:32)
09. Like The Sun (02:45)
10. Sinner (03:18)
11. Grain Of Soul (04:40)

Following hotly on the heels of 2014’s acclaimed ‘Sonic Child’, German hard rockers Zodiac return with their forth studio effort ‘Grain Of Soul’. With a sound steeped in the bluesy stoner / grunge arena, Zodiac are bursting with swagger and confidence, on this collection of catchy, well-structured tunes.
From the opening chords of ‘Rebirth By Fire’ the listener is grabbed by a groove laden riff and a hooky chorus which demands their full attention. The tempo picks up a little on 'Animal' which powers along with a Zeppelin-style feel and a sing along chorus, before halfway through turning into something that would sit very comfortably in therapy with Therepy's  book of riffs. 'Follow You' follows and adds a slam of Bad Company styled classic rock for good measure.
Vocalist Van Delft truly shines on ‘Down’ with his haunting vocals dominating over a grungey, jangling guitar sound. It's most definitely a stand out moment on the album, along with ‘Faithless’.
'Crow' adds a southern rock element, and sounds not unlike Shinedown in places.
‘Ain't Coming Back’ has an AC/DC groove that has the listener nodding along in approval, with ‘Get Out’ continuing in a similar vein, adding a fist-pumping chorus and an infectious beat. With a brilliantly slick production from Arne Neurand ensuring that the listener doesn't miss a sonic nuance from the beginning to end, there's definitely more than a ‘Grain Of Soul’ to Zodiac’s work.
Whilst 2014's 'Sonic Child' album was a very bluesy influenced affair, 'Grain of Soul' see's the band in a much more rock orientated frame of mind.

Worth checking out.

Rating: 9/10



  

Profane And The Sacred - Chapter 1 - A Long Time Coming (2015)

Genre - Stoner Rock

Label - Cargo Records

Track listing:

01 - Bench

02 - Bleed That Stone

03 - You Know

04 - Weather The Storm

05 - From The Top

06 - All For None

07 - Just A Little

08 - Words

09 - A New Leaf

 

‘Chapter 1 : A Long Time Coming’ is the debut studio album by stoner rock band PROFANE AND THE SACRED.

Featuring gigantic doom laden riffs that unashamedly smother you in nostalgia but waste no time in lacing prog tinged instrumental breakdowns into a 9 song musical journey. Showcasing time progressions that shift gears but never let up on the momentum - allowing the raspy, gritty vocals of singer Luke Alleeson to cover the organic soundtrack.

'A Long Time Coming' is an album specifically recorded to sound alive and not manipulated to the point of sounding ‘cookie cut’ -  the warm acoustic notes of album opener ‘Bench’ gives way to down tuned riffing with ‘Bleed That Stone’ and ‘You Know’ demonstrating the armoury of this band. First single ‘From The Top’ showcases Profane And The Sacred in a 5 minute classic stoner rock track, with the latest single 'Words' demonstrating fast pace and groove that hits you right between the eyes during its chorus.

The subtle tones of closer ‘A New Leaf’ captures the melodic side, with keyboards, acoustic and bass complimenting each other in this instrumental piece, leaving the listener in a soothing,  melancholy reflective mood.

Now I have to be completely honest, I am not the greatest fan of heavy stoner rock / southern metal bands, finding many of them to be just heavy for the sake of being heavy, with vocalist's that just shout scream and growl as opposed to singing, but this album is different. Profane And The Sacred are not only talented musicians with a penchant for heavy bone crushing riffs, but they also have an ear for a great melody, that together with their ability to pen some great songs makes this a great album!
 The riffs come thick and strong courtesy of guitarist Rick Spooner whilst the rhythm section of Rob Taylor and Kieran Smith keeps everything nice and tight, but the real highlight here is vocalist Luke Alleeson. This guy has one hell of a set of pipes on him! He has the range and power in his voice to really make the songs come to life, as can be heard on tracks like "Weather The Storm", "Bleed That Stone" and "From The Top".
This exciting debut album showcases Profane And The Sacred as one of the best UK based heavy music bands out there at the moment, and proves that they can more then hold their own when compared to their international contemporaries.

Very Highly Recommended

Rating - 10/10

 

 

 

Profane And The Sacred will release a new single / music video 'Words' in February.

 

Cargo Records Release: 23 February 2015

The Solid - Arrivals and Departures

The Solid features talented vocalist Brian Hagman (Black Lamb), SF-based guitarist Justin Caucutt, multi-instrumentalist/ bass player Greg Randolph from Frisco’s late, great Greenhouse Effect, and Clementine, late of the Stoner Rock sirens Bottom.

The band really fit together well, playing a heavy yet melodic 'stoner' rock, which this five track ep showcaes really well! 'Cry', 'Hoops' and 'Hot Rocks' really do say it all about this band. Although 'stoner rock' isn't exactly in vogue at the moment the songs stay with you, they well crafted and excellently played, so credit where credit is due.

Are The Solid going to set the world on fire with their music? Probably not, but they'll entertain you for a while a surely ease the pain of what we called day to day life!



rating 9/10