After doing thousands of reviews concerning albums that capture my imagination in virtually every category, it can be somewhat of a challenge to remind myself that you don’t need a larger-than-life presentation to make for a damn good album. Having immersed myself in hundreds of creations that have entirely changed my listening habits since I first started these reviews, a straightforward creation that is no more than a group of friends coming together for a good time can fly right under my radar with my sights always looking forward to the next magnificent sight and listen. When the latest from Zeup fell in my lap, I wasn’t sure what I had at first but I was met with a glorious reminder as to why it pays off to slow down and remember that quality can be found wherever you open your mind to.

Eight tracks that are thrown down with real passion the knot that ties everything together in such a form that feels downright euphoric in more than one instance, “Mammals” definitely caught me by surprise. A record like this could have easily handled shaky or unsteady in its foundations with there being flavors at play here that give off the feel of Zeup rehearsing this material in their garages or basements with naught but the collective love for stoner rock and the desire to have something of your own out in the world propelling the effort into existence. Nothing overly fancy or technical is brought to the table here with it being made incredibly clear right out of the gate that Zeup thrives in the mindset of keeping it simple and effective with every given minute of this album showing off that approach to glorious effect. Tantalizing riffs put together with an impeccable sense of what has always made stoner rock such a treat since its earlier days from its ripping solos to casual grooves to its bouts of instrumental wonder, “Mammals” offers a lot more than what I think many would come to expect out of the Danish act, myself included.

Bands like this have always been the driving force for any genre given the passion and hard work that’s on full display for the absolute entirety of this creation, but it’s just not often that we’re given an effort that delivers in virtually every capacity from its production down to the very attitude of the performance overall that truly elevates “Mammals” above a large swathe of the cutthroat competition. With this being but the first full-length creation from Zeup after a pair of EPs, I cannot help but feel as though the very future of Zeup is viciously promising given all that’s put on display here.

LISTEN to “Mammals” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Zeup on Facebook here.