Review Summary: Straight outta Palm Desert, one of the best overlooked rock albums of the 90's
Heavy metal in the 90's was dominated by alt metal in the form of groups like Tool and Alice in Chains, and genres like groove metal and death metal. In the midst of grunge and alternative rock, Kyuss comes out of nowhere with a sound so friggin heavy and trippy that it created a genre within itself, stoner rock. Kyuss's strain of stoner rock is faster and much more energetic than then the stoner doom pioneered by Sleep. Welcome to Sky Valley is one of the most ambitious heavy albums released in the 90's, continuing the bludgeoning riffs heard on Blues for the Red Sun but also taking steps into prog and psychedelia. The band also famously plagued fickle record buyers by putting all the songs into three long suites, forcing the listener to sit through appreciate the music.
Gardenia, with its ridiculously fuzzed out riff pouring out of the speakers like lava, showcases a more dynamic Kyuss than ever seen before, with Homme and the boys jamming tight, funky riffs and spaced out solos. This band has never sounded looser before. Gardenia along with the pummeling instrumental Asteroid and the melodic, interesting Supa Scoop and the Mighty Scoop makes up the whole of suite 1.
Suite 2 is by far the best, most consistent suite on the record. The high octane 100 degrees opens up this suite with a bang, and pummels the listener with its relentless stomping riffs. The next two tracks showcase the band experimenting with more melodic, mellow sounds, Demon Cleaner is a remarkably relaxed, smooth track, but perhaps not as mellow as the wonderful space rock track Space Cadet. This tune is loose, melodic, and stands out as one Kyuss' most memorable tracks. Suite 3's main highlights include the galloping Odyssey, driven by another great Homme riff, and the psychedelic jamming in the album's closer Whitewater. Conan Troutman is a short heavy riffer, while N.O. is blues rock, served Palm Desert style.
Heavy, melodic, and ambitious, this record embodies everything Kyuss was in one powerful package.
