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VISTA CHINO
Peace

Napalm (2013)
Rating: 6/10

Depending on where you stand Vista Chino is either the best new band on the block, or the resurrection of the godfathers of stoner metal. Rising from the ashes of arguably the founding band of the stoner rock movement, Kyuss, Vista Chino picks up the banner dropped by the 90s fuzz masters and brings it to a new generation. Former Kyuss members John Garcia (vocals), Nick Oliveri (bass) and Brant Bjork (drums) are joined by new guitarist Bruno Fevery to revisit the roots of the stoner scene on ten new tracks to create Peace.

There is no way anyone can review Peace without making comparisons to Kyuss. Though Josh Homme has gone on to fame with Queens Of The Stone Age, Vista Chino was originally christened Kyuss Lives! until a lawsuit provoked a name change. It’s more than clear on these songs that Homme alone did not create the classic Kyuss sound. The same Black Sabbath-influenced desert groove rock is prevalent on this release. Bearing in mind that Brant Bjork was originally a prominent songwriter in the Kyuss equation, one can expect no less than a classic sound revisited. For the most part, this is what Vista Chino achieves on the band’s debut.

In typical stoner fashion, Peace opens with a drone rather than a bang. ‘Good Morning Wasteland’ is a one minute abstract piece of droning, echoing guitars. ‘Dargona Dragona’ is where this release really kicks off, with high energy fuzz driven guitars, Brant Bjork’s Bill Ward meets Ginger Baker drumming and John Garcia’s unique voice. Yes, the Kyuss formula is still in place, and it’s impossible not to wonder if this is how the band would have sounded if Bjork had become the primary songwriter rather than Homme. While this track loses momentum during the extended drone guitar solo, at the end of which Fevery holds a single note for an irritatingly long time, the pace picks up, and the song ends well.

There are few surprises on Peace. ‘Sweet Remain’ is a good example of a typical Vista Chino song, mixing Black Sabbath with a southern rock tinge that sounds like a doom band providing its own take on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s trademark formula. Not that this is a bad thing. The guitar solo on ‘Sweet Remain’ is a nice piece of work. ‘Mas Vino’ has a similar southern doom flair, though delivered in a slow, menacing package. Oliveri’s bass riff keeps this instrumental flowing until it stumbles into ‘Dark And Lovely’, a track that could easily be an outtake from an early Sabbath session.

Overall, Vista Chino has created a good debut. Good, but not great. The sheer repetition of the riffs is enough to cause one to drift off while listening. The constant recycling of a single riff for minutes at a time is both hypnotic and a tad dull. Also, Garcia’s voice is not improved by the distortion added to it occasionally. When it comes right down to it, his voice is excellent and needs no such treatment to be thoroughly enjoyable. The added effects take away from the impact of an already unique sound.

What is most evident on Peace is that Vista Chino remembers the classic formula the members helped create many years back. Hopefully, this is just a warm up for the next release. If the band continues to build on this formula and stretch the boundaries a bit Vista Chino should have a bright future.

Jim McDonald

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