Kyuss: Biography

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• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

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• Masters of Reality
• Monster Magnet
• Fu Manchu
• Nebula
• Forte
• Galactic Cowboys
• Acid King

• Soundgarden
• Metallica
• Melvins
• Alice in Chains
• Discharge
• Black Sabbath
• Them Crooked Vultures

• The Mushroom River Band
• Lowrider
• Dead Rabbits
• Driven
• Goblin Cock
• Solarized
• Godsmack

• The Obsessed
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Unida
• Slo Burn
• Mondo Generator
• Ten East
• Hermano

Formed:

Jan 1, 1990 in Palm Desert, CA

Disbanded:

Jan 1, 1997

Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music, Metal Rock Music

Decades Active:

1990's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

Hailing from Palm Desert, CA, Kyuss (pronounced "kai-us") has become a heavy metal Velvet Underground of sorts. Though they are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the booming underground "stoner rock" scene, the band enjoyed little commercial success during their brief existence. Still, their combination of sludgy, down-tuned guitars (often played through a bass amp for maximum earth-shaking intensity), galloping thrash metal rhythms, and organic drum sound has become the blueprint -- often copied but never replicated -- by countless underground metal bands.

Formed in 1990 by vocalist John Garcia, guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri, and drummer Brant Bjork, Kyuss began jamming at "desert parties," in and around the isolated towns of the southern California desert. The band eventually built a local following, signed with tiny independent label Dali Records, and released their first album, Wretch, in 1991. Underproduced and financed, the album failed to capture the band's live sound and went completely unnoticed, but constant touring earned them a reputation as a ferocious live unit as well as the respect of many fellow musicians. One of those, Masters of Reality singer/guitarist Chris Goss, decided to produce the band's next effort, 1992's stunning Blues for the Red Sun, eventually hailed as a landmark album by critics and fans alike. The Kyuss sound takes the heaviness of Black Sabbath, the feedback fuzziness of Blue Cheer, plus other '70s influences, and infuses them with psychedelic flashes, massive grooves, and a sensibility for '90s metal and thrash.

The band was signed to Elektra Records just as their label was about to go bankrupt, and despite the loss of bassist Oliveri (he was replaced by Scott Reeder), the band continued to build momentum. Also recorded under Goss' guidance, 1994's Sky Valley saw Kyuss taking the novel approach of grouping the songs into three extended suites, and nearly matched the brilliance of its predecessor. But despite their creative promise and growing fan base, personal strife began tearing the band apart, and drummer Brant Bjork departed by tour's end. After recruiting Alfredo Hernandez to replace him on 1995's less-inspired ...And the Circus Leaves Town, a final rift between Homme and Garcia finally brought the band to a halt. Homme, Reeder, and Hernandez reappeared as Queens of the Stone Age in 1998, and Garcia is currently a member of Unida.

- Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide