Break out the questionable popcorn buckets everyone, we’ve got Dune-themed stoner rock inbound! Since 2019, Montreal quartet Sons of Arrakis have been preaching the Gospel of Herbert. Dropping Volume I in 2022, they made a quick turnaround with follow-up Volume II1 and this one managed to wriggle its way out of the sump like a determined sand trout. The promo language describes the band as “melange rock2 and cinematographic sci-fi rock,” but my eyes were drawn to the Black Sabbath and Queens of the Stone Age name drops. I could use some dusty, bloodshot grooves in my life, and what’s not to like about songs fawning over gargantuan, drug-dealing worms?
Sons of Arrakis pull their sound from a desert much closer to home: Southern California. Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures are clear influences here, especially with the slithering guitar lines that refuse to stay in one place long. But the biggest—and most contemporary—comparison I find would be King Buffalo, albeit with the prog dial turned down a few notches. Volume I saw the band flirting with stoner doom, but with the exception of a few riffs in “Blood for Blood” and “Burn Into Blaze,” most of what you’ll get here is psychedelic, stoner rock. Not that this is a negative, per se. If anything the riffcraft of Frédéric Couture and Francis Duchesne fares better than before, balancing rhythmic chug with leaping diversions and fuzz-driven divebombs. And befitting the gorgeous cover art, this record sounds excellent, especially Mathieu Racine’s all-natural drum kit, balancing perfectly against Victor Lepage’s rumbling bass and the warble-and-fuzz of the guitars.
For a relatively young band, Sons of Arrakis feel comfortable with both sound and direction on Volume II. Groove and swagger rule this empire of sand, often mid-paced and always lashed to an admirably constructed riff (“Scattering,” “Beyond The Screen of Illusion,” “Burn Into Blaze”). The verse of “Beyond The Screen of Illusion” echoes Mastodon’s “Blood and Thunder,” and “Metamorphosis” reminds me of Second Stage Turbine Blade-era Coheed. I adore the tone of their guitar leads, which are generally too short to call solos and are woefully underutilized on the whole (“Scattering,” “Metamorphosis”). Frédéric Couture sticks strictly to clean vocals, utilizing a reedy, nasal tone not unlike what one would hear in Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, and while this may be a polarizing choice, it works within the style. Only taking up a lean—near-starved—33 minutes of music, all the pieces should be in place for a pleasant excursion into the deep desert. So what’s the catch?
Sons of Arrakis rarely change gears from their tried and true formula, and this causes much of Volume II to congeal into a single, fuzzed-out amalgamation. Opening duo “Scattering” and “High Handed Enemy” contrast nicely, placing a mid-paced stone rock anthem against a more down-tempo, atmospheric number. But past that, tracks begin to blur together in both tempo and swinging groove (“Beyond The Screen of Illusion,” “Interlude I, ”“Retaliation”). This is also a good place to mention the two interludes contained herein, which add little to the conversation other than a really fun riff (“Interlude I”) and ethereal noodling (“Interlude II”). Closer “Caladan” is a beautiful piece for acoustic guitar and swirling, faintly menacing synths, but the denouement is unearned since its preceding track, “Burn Into Blaze,” never really reaches any heights that require descent. And finally—and this is mostly a personal gripe—nothing in the music or the lyrics really screams DUNE! to me, which is a bit of a letdown for a band with such a pointed name. Without the anchoring of the concept, and without any real peaks and valleys to the songwriting, Volume II comes off as a great collection of tracks, but not a cohesive album.
Volume II shows that Sons of Arrakis have all the tools to make a great record, but need to reach out of their comfort zone. There are some sharp riffs lurking in “Blood for Blood” and “Burn Into Blaze,” but they’re in the minority amongst their homogeneous brethren. Fans of the stoner and psychedelic variants should give this a spin, they may find more to love than I did. I’ll keep my eye out for the band’s future work, but I foresee this album fading into my rearview as a shimmering mirage.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Black Throne Productions
Websites: sonsofarrakis.com | facebook.com | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: June 7th, 2024
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