Album Review: Duskwood – The Lost Tales

Album Review: Duskwood - The Lost Tales
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings

When you think of desert rock what images are conjured up in your mind? The palm desert scenes of Southern California? Without a doubt. Yeovil? With all due respect, probably not. Well, Duskwood are doing their hardest to relocate those palm desert sounds of Kyuss and a multitude of peers that followed to the West Country and to be fair, this latest EP is pretty enticing.

Formed in 2012, the four-piece have several releases already under their belt, most recently the 2019 EP ‘The Long Dark’. Influences are plentiful, the fuzzy stoner vibe of Clutch, The Sword, Wolfmother, you name it, they are in here. But there is a vibe which catches the ear and suggests more than just another one of the zillion stoner bands out there. Kenosha is the opening song, and it starts with some battering drums and a right filthy riff which demands your attention. This segues into a sludgy, thunderously heavy section which explodes with a venom that ticks every box. Liam Tinsley’s smoky roar is perfect, his soaring vocal clear but with a gruffness that makes you go “yeah!” It’s accessible enough to appeal widely, but there is a grungy feistiness which ensures the fingernails stay grubby. This isn’t your clean polished affair.

The 8:33 long ‘The Watcher’ is next, beginning with a some smouldering guitar from Greg Watts. Tinsley hits the higher vocals before allowing the throaty roar to open again. This man has some lungs on him. A fuzzy riff signals a change of pace and all hell breaks loose. It’s wild, bursting to let go and you can feel the metaphorical struggle to hold this unbroken bronco in place. A gentle mid-section breakdown allows Watts to demonstrate the more subtle side to his art, an echoey, haunting passage with high pitched singing and a groove driven bass line from Aaron Tinsley. The melody is addictive, the mood steamy and you can feel the temperature beginning to increase once more before detonation into a stomping finale. It’s damn good stuff.

Two shorter tracks conclude the EP. The Queens of the Stone Age flavoured ‘Oraculum’ punches and drives hard, heavy riffs making this an ideal track for driving at speed. The Wolfmother influences are self-evident but it’s ‘The Devil Ride’ by Tracer that was most similar, the riff almost identical in its power and passion. ‘The Island’ is the final track, a five-minute song that once more combines the subtle calmness with massively fuzzed up riffage. Like most genres, the desert stoner scene is overflowing with bands who churn out the same old stuff. Duskwood have something a little different in their locker. Maybe with the world’s climate changing, the palm deserts of Yeovil may not be so far-fetched.

Duskwood self release 'The Lost Tales' this Friday, February 28th on your usual streaming outlets!