Clifford Dinsmore has had a bit of a change of pace. Formerly with Bl’ast, an 80s band probably best known for giving current Alice In Chains singer William DuVall one of his early breaks, he was a practitioner of hardcore punk moulded strongly in the style of Black Flag, however their sound also offered a definite tip of the hat to the hard rock and doom stylings of Black Sabbath. One would assume therefore that this would be where the seeds of Dusted Angel would have been sown. When Bl’ast ceased to exist in 1990, Dinsmore went on to form stoner band Gargantula with little success, moving on to start Dusted Angel in 2008. Following a well-received, if poorly produced self-titled E.P. last year, they have ventured forth with their first full length album.
Opening with ‘The Thorn’, which was also the lead track from the E.P., the pace is predictably slow and atmospheric, before it breaks into a groovy, fuzz laden, riff and bass heavy beast, covered in the DNA of Kyuss and Sleep. Dinsmore doesn’t have the most charismatic or even varied voice in the world, but it suits the music perfectly. The first of the new tracks, ‘Seeking the Dawn’ opens with a fantastically soupy riff before we step into Sabbath territory. Dinsmore’s vocal does suffer a little here, often weaving out of tune, not that it is hugely important here, this is more about the music, and that is very good indeed. The production is also of a very high quality, with the guitars, bass and vocals all coming through clear in the mix, regardless of the amount of fuzz or phaser used. The overall effect is highly tuneful and yet at times crushing. It's a perfect mix.
The influences range from Kyuss, early Queens of the Stone Age, elements of Mastodon, Black Sabbath and others, and the end result is pleasing, especially on the likes of ‘Dogwhistle’, with a riff that is hugely simplistic, yet melts into your brain. There’s something quite redneck about all this too. It’s music that makes you want to don an old oil stained work shirt, jump in your battered pick up, and blast off down a very quiet and straight road, occasionally chucking the odd beer can out the window. Not that I’m suggesting you do this of course, as I don’t want to be responsible for a large increase in the number of metal fans pulled over on the M6 toll road for drink driving. The title track is quite oppressive in its nature, certainly having more of the faster passages on the album, and the guitars sound just a touch more down tuned than the rest of it. It’s music that enters through your ears, registers in your brain, but you feel in your gut.
I’ve got to admit, this one really did surpass expectations. The production is spot on, not overdone in any way, and not a mess, with just the right level of fuzziness making its way across the whole recording. Musically, it’s not the most technical or inventive thing you’ll ever hear, but it’s bang on the money for the music. The only real complaint I can think of is a lack of variation in Clifford Dinsmore’s vocals. They’re by no means bad, but he does tend to stick to one tone throughout. Not that he needs to warble his way up and down the scale like one of those perennially irritating R&B bints, but just a few variations now and then would have served him well. Overall though, this is one of the best examples of the genre I’ve heard in the last few years. Up there with Black Pyramid’s excellent self-titled release of last year in my opinion, and as far as I’m concerned, that is very high praise.
http://www.myspace.com/dustedangelrocks
