Dunsmuir are set to release their debut self-titled LP on iTunes and in a 1000 copies only limited Vinyl edition on July 22nd. The band features Neil Fallon (Clutch) on vocals, Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath) on drums, Brad Davis (Fu Manchu) on bass and Dave Bone (The Company Band) on guitar.
Dunsmuir had me at Neil Fallon. Clutch is one of my favorite bands ever so it only took that bearded dynamo’s inclusion to automatically hook me into this new supergroup. However – Vinny Appice on drums??!? Are you shitting me – the dude behind the kit who has worked with Sabbath-era Dio? Now you really sold it – calm down guys. Davis and Bone I was less familiar with, but I know of their bands and I’ll be revisiting them soon.
The sound that these four guys came up with on Dusmuir is such a love-letter to the doom and stoner rock of the 80’s and early 90’s that it made me reflect on the current music scene and it kinda bummed me out. You just don’t get this kind of music or sound anymore in the current rock or metal scene. Dunsmuir is a concept album that you turn on and play front to back, beginning to end, stoned to asleep – however you wanna put it – this is oldschool groovy hard noise for classic metal die-hards.
‘…and Madness’ sounds like it was literally written and recorded in a different time period and I dig that. Fallon’s lyrics are headier than ever and the man can certainly float our minds into bizarre territory on a Clutch album as we all know… There’s something fascinating about listening to him sing over a band that is playing from a decade that sadly feels lost and abandoned, certainly at a mainstream level anyway. ‘The Bats’ and ‘What Manner of Bliss’ are both fast and in your face doses of ballsy rock but it’s hard to really pick out a favorite standout cut, as this is an effort that really comes together as an entire experience.
That’s probably because that’s exactly how it was created and intended to be played: as a concept album. The story is about a 19th Century shipwreck and the various fates of the survivors. The description line of the plot is as follows: “What had been intended as a voyage of scientific discovery, quickly devolves into a struggle to survive the natural world, and the supernatural.”
Dunsmuir is trippy, fast-paced and really makes me miss the era of when we had bands like Dio putting out those badass records for the fans and only the fans. I don’t know if you’ll dig this crew if you’re a Clutch only fan, but if you appreciate the good ol’ days of classic metal then you’re more than prepared – because that’s what you’ll find here and you’ll find it in sweet, tasty droves.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]
Pre-Order the album HERE – You can do just that as of TODAY
1. Hung On the Rocks
2. Our Only Master
3. The Bats (Are Hungry Tonight)
4. What Manner of Bliss
5. Deceiver
6. …and Madness
7. Orb of Empire
8. Church of the Tooth
9. The Gate
10. Crawling Chaos
Follow Dunsmuir:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DunsmuirBand
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dunsmuirband
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DunsmuirBand
Official: http://www.dunsmuirband.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCav_GlS4rhekNZsOZTp3SzA