It all started with Black Sabbath. The now timeless sludgy blues riffs emanating from one Tony Iommi’s guitar in the 1970’s would prove to have far reaching implications for the musical cornerstones of heavy metal up to the present day. Sabbath would become over the course of their careers both the godfathers and possible inventors of the entire genre. Amongst all this, they also planted the seeds which would later directly spawn an entire subgenre, stoner rock. A quick flick through Al’s Awesome Dictionary of Metal Subgenres (patent pending) reveals the following entry:

Stoner Rock n: A genre of music typified by repetitive, bass heavy riffs, a medium to slow tempo and mildly fuzzy production geared towards the bottom end of the sound. Lyrical subject matter and increased enjoyment both associated with recreational marijuana use.

But of course there’s a lot more to it than that. The presence and influence of stoner rock is surprisingly far reaching in modern music, from the less well known rockers such as Fu Manchu and The Sword to mainstream chart-botherers Queens of the Stone Age and Wolfmother to psychadelica infused variant Monster Magnet and more metallic Doom bands such as Electric Wizard. The subgenre’s appeal and its influence cannot be denied and it has in some way retained its relative popularity and survived reasonably unscathed since its conception. Which of course, Sabbath aside, brings me to Kyuss. Starting life as Sons of Kyuss in 1989 the band released an EP and in 1990 shortened their name to Kyuss. The founding line-up consisted of vocalist John Garcia, drummer Brant Bjork and two then unknown gentleman called Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri. The latter two would of course go on to form Queens of the Stone Age. Oliveri and Bjork later left the band and were replaced by Scott Reeder and Alfredo Hernandez, the latter also a founding member of Queens of the Stone Age. Things started off slow for the band after the release of their debut Wretch as they gained little fame or acclaim. Slowly however a reputation and momentum began to form, due in no small part to Homme’s unusual but revolutionary (for the genre) habit of playing his guitar through bass amps and his undeniable talent. Skip forward a few years after the release of the critically lauded Blues for the Red Sun and a tour supporting Metallica and the band had the world at their feet. A few years and two albums later and it was all over, the band called it a day and the members moved on to other and in some cases bigger things. But not before leaving behind a rich legacy and a little album entitled Welcome to Sky Valley.

The reason I’ve chosen to focus on Welcome to Sky Valley is both simple and selfish. While Blues for the Red Sun may be their most critically acclaimed work the former was the album that introduced me to the band and responsible for my current love of the genre and is still my favourite album from one of my favourite bands. Here endeth the justification.

From the moment album opener Gardenia’s fuzzy riff kicks in until the closing meandering guitar of Whitewater, Welcome to Sky Valley throws one raw, driving and exhilarating slice of rock brilliance after another at the listener. Garcia’s vocals veer from a gentle croon on Space Cadet and Demon Cleaner to a cut glass near shriek vaguely reminiscent of Chris Cornell on 100 Degrees and (deep breath) Supa Scoop and Mighty Scoop. All of this soars above a pounding and consistently tight rhythm section. The shining star of the show however is undoubtedly the guitar work. Homme crams in so many chunky, driving and balls out cool riffs into the album’s running time that it should be illegal. I challenge anyone with a taste for rock to not get swept up and nod their head along with the oscillating lead in to Demon Cleaner. Season this smorgasbord with some inspired soloing throughout and you have a real gem on your hands. Another laudable aspect of all this is that despite the relative heaviness of some of the tracks the album as a whole gives off a generally laid back vibe, making it the perfect soundtrack to mildly banging your head while relaxing.

I really have very little detraction I can make against this album. The production is a bit fuzzy throughout but this is a calling card of the genre and I don’t feel it detracts from anything in a significant way. A couple of songs such as N.O. don’t quite live up to the rest and Asteroid can err on the side of repetition to those of a sober disposition but even they are decent tracks in their own right.

Kyuss are one of those bands I truly wish I had known more about when they were around. Despite that they hooked me instantly with their expertise at what they did, their ingenuity at doing it and the little things such as the stabs of humour that often interject their song titles and lyrics. Above all else, this is a band that practically invented one of my most beloved genres and thus I have an enormous amount of respect for them. If you’ve been unlucky enough to not experience the band's music I urge you to do what I did, pick up this album and discover one the greatest things to come out of the 90’s.