THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 29, 1994 TAG: 9407290122
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
IT'S BEEN A rough couple of years for Kyuss. After releasing 1992's critically hailed ``Blues for the Red Sun,'' the SoCal metallers lost their drummer, bassist and record label. But it was all for the best, affirms new bass recruit Scott Reeder.
``The plug was pulled'' when Kyuss' former label, Chameleon, folded, he explained from Toledo, Ohio, ``and we were in limbo for a while. We kind of retreated back into the garage and wrote a lot of new stuff. It was actually a good thing; we had no pressure. There was no record label breathing down our necks.''
``Sky Valley,'' recently released by mega-label Elektra, was the epic result. A suite in three parts that comes with the instruction ``Listen without distraction,'' the new disc is a throwback to the '70s heyday of concept albums and wooly mammoth metal. Bold shades of Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Mountain and Cream color Kyuss' monster grooves, piledriving the band back to the future of beyond-grungy heaviosity.
``The whole point of the three different sections'' of songs, each clocking in at over 14 minutes, Reeder said, ``was we didn't want people to be able to switch from song to song on the CD. We just wanted to encourage people to sit down with some headphones in a dark room or whatever, and check it out.''
Kyuss's distinctively dense, bone-rattling bottom end evolved quite by accident, Reeder tells.
``Before I was in the band, they didn't have guitar tuners,'' the bassist said, chuckling. ``Their tuning ended up getting lower and lower . . . and (now) that's probably one of the biggest factors in our sound.''
Kyuss was born in the late '80s when vocalist John Garcia, guitarist Josh Homme, drummer Brant Bjork and bassist Nick Oliveri merged their metal and punk influences to play ``generator jams'' - a few kegs, a few friends and a power generator under the stars - in the desert east of Los Angeles.
Reeder, formerly with the Obsessed, joined up just two days after the release of ``Blues for the Red Sun'' and just in time for globe-trotting touring stints with Metallica, White Zombie, Danzig, Faith No More, Babes In Toyland, Fishbone and Biohazard.
Kyuss's live show is loud, Reeder warns, ``and on a good night we get people grooving. We like it best when we see people dancing, boogieing. We get all kinds, people doing stage dives and slam dancing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MICHAEL ANDERSON
The Southern California metallers Kyuss recently released the new
disc ``Sky Valley,'' which comes with the instruction ``Listen
without distraction.''
CONCERT FACTS
Who: Kyuss, with Stompbox and Lizard Dog
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Nsect Club, 1916 Armistead Ave., Hampton
Tickets: $5 advance; $6 at the door. Call 838-5463
by CNB