Zen, fresh from Sweden on Alex Hellid’s (Entombed) label Muse Entity, displays an amount of creativity long gone. The band’s remarkable mix of stoner, alternative, and melancholic make you doubt at first, wonder at second, enjoy at third. From Sebadoh-like charm to Pink Floyd’s psychedelica to bluesy punch. And that’s just what I hear. I’m sure you’ll pick up different influences. In short; variation-galore and very difficult to reference.

Inspired by certain substances, 70’s rock, and molded into a modern shape, Zen does what Motorpsycho has been doing for years. Tough competition for sure.

The threesome (yes, guitar, bass, and drums are all it takes) drives down a long road a few times too many though; the punchy, shorter tracks like “No Iou’s”, “Save Me” and “Losin” are clearly a step ahead of the groove-oriented “Soulcollector” and the mellow “In The Shade”, in which the band thrive a little too much on the same ideas over and over again. These tracks do, however, emphasize the band’s stubborn will, because they come from the heart and if the heart says it should take over six minutes, well, so be it…Anyway, if they keep this up I am sure we will hear a lot more from Zen.