Occasionally we get these mystery packages. In these mystery packages are usually CDs from local (or semi-local) artists that would like us to give their musical art a good listen. Sometimes there’s a press kit or a one-sheet that gives us a heads up on the band and what they’re about. 

An album arrived with the band name Zayne’s Gate on the front of it. With no idea what to expect, except it was recorded at Sweetwater Studios with music and lyrics by Zach Brown, I hit play to see what I was in for. What I heard was a dirge-y, doom-y rock album, heavy on the grooves, D-tunes, and lots of “yeahs” and “ooohs.” 

If you grew up on post-grunge alternative rock that tip-toed between Candlebox, Days of the New, and Tool-adjacent riffage, then Zayne’s Gate might be the scratch for your rock n’ roll itch.

“Snood” opens with a doom metal slow sludge guitar riff that is equal parts Black Sabbath, Sleep, and Pentagram, all delivered with a radio-ready chorus that brings us from the ’70s to the ’90s, with a great guitar riff and a pinch of late ’90s Stone Temple Pilots for good measure. “A New Way Out” teeters between metal mayhem and bands like Tool-lite, Chevelle, and Danzig.

Tracks like “Citizen” and “Useless” go the slow and sludgy route, while “Anchor” has an almost new wave of British heavy metal feel, vocally landing somewhere between Helmet and Motörhead. 

We end the album on the acoustic-driven “A Woman Like You,” that circles back to that Days of the New vibe, with almost Kurt Cobain-esque vocals. And just to throw you off, there’s a saxophone solo as well.

Zayne’s Gate takes the Wayback Machine to the early and mid-90s, a time where alternative music was in flux, battling it out between rain-soaked Seattle grunge, Midwestern indifference, and ’70s riffage all coming together to bring your ears something heavy. But it’s something your girlfriend might dig, too.