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Kyuss was an American stoner rock band formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1987, and considered one of the pioneers of the genre. After disbanding in 1995, a number of band members have gone on to form or play in several notable bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees, Fu Manchu, Dwarves, Eagles of Death Metal, Mondo Generator, Hermano, Unida, Slo Burn and Them Crooked Vultures.
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple lineup changes. Since 2013, the lineup has consisted of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore. The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.
Queens of the Stone Age is the debut studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released by Loosegroove Records on September 22, 1998. It was primarily written and recorded in April 1998 by founding member Josh Homme and his former Kyuss bandmate Alfredo Hernández, with Hernández playing drums and Homme singing and playing the rest of the instruments. Homme also produced the album alongside Joe Barresi. Bassist Nick Oliveri, also a former member of Kyuss, would join the band by the time of the album's release. Queens of the Stone Age received generally positive reviews from critics, who placed it in the stoner rock genre and drew comparisons to krautrock bands such as Neu! and Can, as well as to Kyuss and other metal bands.
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics are intended to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre. Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass have been referred to as "the Big Four of Doom Metal".
Nick Steven Oliveri is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a former bassist of Kyuss and later Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004. Oliveri is also a solo artist and frequent contributor to his friends' albums and tours, including Winnebago Deal, Masters of Reality, Turbonegro, Moistboyz, Svetlanas and Big Scenic Nowhere among many others. He is currently the frontman of his project, Mondo Generator, a punk and metal hybrid that he formed in 1997, and the co-founder of the stoner rock power trio, Stöner. He has also worked periodically with the Dwarves since 1993.
Joshua Michael Homme is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he formed in 1996. Homme is the band's primary songwriter and mainly sings lead vocals and plays guitar. He also plays drums in the rock band Eagles of Death Metal, which he co-founded in 1998.
The Palm Desert Scene is a group of related bands and musicians from Palm Desert, California. Their hard rock sound – sometimes described as desert rock – contains elements of heavy metal, psychedelia, blues, punk, alternative, grunge, and other genres. It often features distinctive repetitive drum beats, a propensity for free-form jamming, and "trance-like" or "sludgy" grooves. The involved musicians often play in multiple bands simultaneously, and there is a high rate of collaboration between bands. The Palm Desert Scene is also notable for fostering stoner rock pioneers Kyuss. The term "stoner rock" is sometimes used interchangeably with the term "desert rock". However, not all Palm Desert scene bands are "stoner rock" and not all stoner rock bands sound exactly like those in Palm Desert. Palm Desert has been named by Blender magazine as "one of the top seven rock n' roll cities in America".
John Garcia is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the vocalist and founding member of stoner rock bands Kyuss, Slo Burn, Unida and Hermano. Garcia also performed in Vista Chino, formerly Kyuss Lives!, with former Kyuss members Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri. Garcia has since decided to pursue his solo career, having formed his band, John Garcia and the Band of Gold, in 2019.
Brant Bjork is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the drummer and founder of the influential Californian stoner rock band Kyuss. Bjork has also been a member of Fu Manchu, Mondo Generator and Vista Chino, the latter with former Kyuss members John Garcia and Nick Oliveri. He is currently the frontman and co-founder of the stoner rock power trio, Stöner. Bjork is one of the more notable figures in the stoner rock and Palm Desert scene and maintains a prolific solo career with over a dozen released albums.
Troy Van Leeuwen is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he has recorded five studio albums. Joining the band in 2002, he is the second-longest-serving member of the band, after founding member Josh Homme. Van Leeuwen is also a member of the supergroup Gone Is Gone and has fronted his own projects, Enemy and Sweethead.
Chris Goss is an American record producer and musician. Best known for producing records for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, he is regarded as an important figure in the development of stoner rock and desert rock genres. Goss is also the lead singer and guitarist of the hard rock band Masters of Reality.
Alfredo Hernández is an American drummer best known as a former member of desert rock bands Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork and the Bros and Yawning Man, and as a current member of the band, Avon.
Cocaine Rodeo is the debut studio album by American rock band Mondo Generator, released through Southern Lord Records on 18 July 2000. It was compiled of material recorded by vocalist/bassist Nick Oliveri with drummer Rob Oswald, vocalist/guitarist Brent Malkus, and his ex-Kyuss bandmates Josh Homme, Brant Bjork and John Garcia. Recorded in 1997, the material was shelved for three years due to disinterest from the band to release it and Oliveri's full-time commitment to Queens of the Stone Age.
Wellwater Conspiracy was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993. The band was created by members of the grunge-era side project Hater. Wellwater Conspiracy featured Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and ex-Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain. The band originally featured Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd, who left the band in 1998. Various other artists have contributed to the band's albums, notably Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil.
Kyuss / Queens of the Stone Age is a split EP by American rock bands Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, released in December 1997 on Man's Ruin Records. It features some of the final studio recordings by Kyuss while debuting former Kyuss guitarist Josh Homme's next project, Queens of the Stone Age.
Truckfighters are a Swedish rock band from Örebro, formed in 2001. The band's current lineup comprises founding members Oskar "Ozo" Cedermalm and Niklas "Dango" Källgren, and Johan "Toro" Marberg. Truckfighters have released five studio albums.
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep.
Vista Chino was an American rock band formed in 2010 by vocalist John Garcia, drummer Brant Bjork and bassist Nick Oliveri, all previously members of Kyuss, along with guitarist Bruno Fevery.
References
- Review at Stonerrock.eu
- Interview with Joerg Steineck (Desert Rock Scotland)
- Article in German music magazine Visions
