With their killer riffs, badass vocals, pummeling drums, growling bass and sweet psychedelic solos, (the) Melvins might just be the ultimate Stoner Metal three-piece: they are as loud as Motörhead, as heavy as Crowbar and as noisy as Dinosaur Jr. Even when playing a Beatles cover, they can't help but tear shit up. It's just what they do.
This tour sees the band from Washington state celebrating forty years of gnarly-ass heavy, sludgy, punk-infused, molten metal from the grave, going from underground sensation to quasi-mainstream popularity, before settling into legendary cult status. The setlist reflects that trajectory, with numbers culled from eight of their LPs, including fan favorites Houdini and Stoner Witch.
By the way, Ggitarist/vocalist King Buzzo still sports the coolest haircut in rock, and don't listen to anyone who says that it isn't relevant. Dressed in some sort of psychedelic Illuminati mumu, he looked like the leader of an evil cult as he conjured demented, lysergic sounds while drummer Dale Grover beat his set and the audience into submission. Steven Shane McDonald's bass blasted droning low-ends and explosive high notes, and his style meshes so well with Buzzo's that it was sometimes impossible to discern the guitar from the bass through the thick wall of sound.
A wall of sound... But what sound? The best analogy would be that of a jumbo jet taking off. The volume, the heaviness, the metal, the sheer kinetic power... It doesn't just annihilate your eardrums: it hits you in the head, in the face, in the solar plexus, and it fucks with your entrails, too. You don't come out of a Melvins gig quite the way you came in.
Unbearably slow at times and frantically fast at others, (the) Melvins present all the shapes and colors of Metal and Punk. Oh, and the motherfuckers can groove, too.
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