Trust Us: Non-Zero-Sum Game

By way of a short, sharp introduction to the world of Trust Us, the 25 minute EP Non-Zero-Sum Game has exactly no fat on its meaty bones. With stoner rock that fires itself straight into orbit circulating somewhere between the accessible fuzz of Monster Magnet and the more star gapingly fixated heavy end of Hawkwind. In terms of pure genre tags, 'post-this’ and 'post-that’ are, as expected, bandied about, but buggered if I know what that means, so lets just suggest that Trust Us are aware of how to stamp down hard into deeply gouged out riff filled valleys of driving beats and killer guitars, and be done with it. Yes, “Marathon� does so in a more pulled back stance and one that at times hints at a flamenco beat, but with the howling vocals from guitar player Rene Misje veering between soothing caress and swirling tornado, the atmosphere makes a stand.

“Pharaoh�, which opens this Norwegian band’s account is a much more straight ahead piece of stoner shenanigans but with Cato Olaisen’s drum work quite exemplary, there’s little ordinary about it. The third and final band member is bassist Bård Kristinson who underpins the boldest, longest statement on this short effort, “Silverware�, a seven minute-plus swoop and swirl of almost progressive space rock, which when coming after the near sludge metal of “Focus�, really does feel like something of a departure. Fittingly, the short blasting title-track closes out proceedings and, it has to be said, in some style - the more straight ahead but still nuanced and vocal-less attack it possesses being hugely effective.

Trust Us aren’t really offering up anything new with their short debut, and yet, neither does this feel like a simple reinterpretation of long known ideas. That in itself makes them worth keeping an eye on.

Track Listing
1. Pharaoh
2. Marathon
3. Focus
4. Silverwave
5. Non-Zero-Sum-Game

Added: August 18th 2022
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Non-Zero-Sum Game @ bandcamp
Hits: 419
Language: english

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