By Gruesome Greg

A self-proclaimed “stoner metal” band from San Jose California, the quartet Zed has some of the elements you would expect: fuzz pedals, slow-rolling breakdowns, heavy bottom-end. They also have a crisp, commercial sheen that you could file under modern rock. Their vocals are more aligned with Audioslave or Velvet Revolver than Kyuss or Fu Manchu, and these songs all hover around that radio-friendly four-minute mark. There are no spaced-out, free-flowing solos, no extended instro jams, no 12-minute desert rock opuses.

In other words, this isn’t good music to get stoned to.

http://www.myspace.com/zedrocknow/

(Self-released)

Rating: 5.0