KYUSS BAND PAGE
 KYUSS
|
CURRENT NAME
|
Kyuss |
|
FORMER NAMES
|
Sons of Kyuss |
|
ORIGIN
|
USA |
|
STATUS
|
Disbanded |
|
FORMED IN
|
1989 |
|
GENRE
|
Stoner |
|
STYLE
|
- |
|
LYRICAL THEME
|
- |
|
BAND ADDED
|
2004-05-30, 00:00 |
|
LAST UPDATE
|
2008-04-04, 09:01 |
Hailing from Palm Desert, California, Kyuss (pronounced
"kai-uss") have become a heavy metal Velvet Underground of sorts. Although
they were widely acknowledged as pioneers of the booming underground
"stoner rock" scene of the 1990s, the band enjoyed little commercial
success during their brief existence. Still, their combination of sludgy,
down-tuned guitars (often played through a bass amp for maximum,
earth-shaking intensity), spacey jams, galloping thrash metal rhythms, and
organic drum sound has become the blueprint, often copied, but never quite
replicated, by countless underground metal bands. Formed in late
1989/early 1990 by vocalist John Garcia, guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick
Oliveri, and drummer Brant Bjork, Kyuss (named after a character from
Dungeons & Dragons) began jamming at so-called "desert parties," in and
around the isolated towns of the southern California desert. The band
eventually built a local following, signed with tiny independent la!
bel Dali Records, and released their first album Wretch in 1991.
Under-produced and poorly financed, the album failed to capture the band's
live sound and went completely unnoticed, but constant touring quickly
earned Kyuss a legendary reputation as a ferocious live unit, as well as
the respect of many fellow musicians. One of these, Masters of Reality
singer/guitarist Chris Goss, decided to produce the band's next effort,
and the collaboration resulted in 1992's stunning Blues for the Red
Sun. Eventually hailed as a landmark by critics and fans alike, the album
took the underground metal world by storm and established the signature
Kyuss sound once and for all: the heaviness of Black Sabbath, the
feedback fuzziness of Blue Cheer, and the space rock of Hawkwind infused
with psychedelic flashes, massive grooves, and a sensibility for punk
rock, metal, and thrash. Based on this sudden surge of interest, the band
was signed to Elektra Records just as Dali was about to go bankru!
pt, and despite the loss of bassist Oliveri (he was replaced by Scott
Reeder, formerly of Obsessed), the band continued building momentum.
Also recorded under Goss' guidance, 1994's Welcome to Sky Valley nearly
matched the brilliance of its predecessor and saw Kyuss taking the novel
approach of grouping the songs into three extended suites. But despite
their creative promise and a growing fan-base, personal strife had
already begin tearing the band apart, and drummer Brant Bjork departed by
tour's end. After recruiting the jazz-trained Alfredo Hernandez to
replace him on 1995's less-inspired ...And the Circus Leaves Town, a final
rift between Homme and Garcia finally brought Kyuss' meteoric run to a
disappointing halt. 2000's Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss collected
rare outtakes and live recordings, and effectively put a capper on the
Kyuss legacy, but, after a period of relative silence, the band members
gradually began making their mark in a number of significant proje!
cts. Garcia briefly worked with the forgettable Slo Burn in 1997 before
reuniting with Reeder in the much more promising Unida two years later.
As for Josh Homme, discounting a short touring stint as rhythm
guitarist for the Screaming Trees, he initially retreated into production and
spent much of the late '90s collaborating with an impressive array of
musicians on the eclectic Desert Sessions. Some of this material was
later reworked into his next major project, the Queens of the Stone Age,
which saw him paired with original Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri, and at
first, drummer Hernandez as well. Ironically, by their third release,
2002's Songs for the Deaf, they had already achieved larger sales than
Kyuss ever did, while retaining the same amount of respect, both as
critical and cult favorites.
Written by Ed Rivadavia for Allmusic.com.
| Session musicians Add - Fetch |
| Unknown / none |
