This is perhaps what Queens Of The Stone Age might sound like if Mr Homme hadn’t turned it into his one man band and ripped the guts out of their sound. Black Mastiff are from Canada, but if you had told me that they were part of the desert rock scene that threw up so many great bands and artists, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. There’s a definite young Ozzy Osbourne meets Josh Homme in Bobby Yiannakoulias’s vocals, while drummer Allan Harding has a swing and groove to rival the master himself Bill Ward and with new album “Loser Delusions” out now, the trio are ready to take on the world.
All these influences come to light in the opening chords of the first track, “Downed By A Sound” with a great bit of lead guitar work from Yiannakoulias. “Bike Club” has a slower, feel to it, led by bass player Clay Shea, who holds down the groove in much the way Dan Maines does so well in Clutch. If you want hear the band in full on jam mode then check out “Machines.” This is the sound of a band locked into each other’s groove and just losing themselves. Amazing track. “Starbase” has a more modern QOTSA/Black Keys vibe to it with the guitar doing a lot of the talking. A lurching almost jarring bit of drum work is the motor powering “Spastic Rhythms” in what can only be described as the sound of descending into a black hole, as it fades out. If you happen to be in a band that plays in straight 4/4 patterns(nothing wrong with that mind) then it’s probably best you avoid final track “Stranger” where it’s also worth noting at this point, that although I’ve drawn comparisons with the Queens Of The Stone Age frontman – unlike Homme, Yiannakoulias has range in his voice.
So with all those Desert Rock comparisons, it’ll be no surprise to you, to know that “Loser Delusions” was in fact produced by Kyuss legend John Garcia, who is also a fan of the band having covered a track of theirs on his solo album. Essentially Black Mastiff have crafted a classic sounding album with very modern elements and the result is rock perfection. Pick up the album, catch them on tour, do whatever you need to do, to check Black Mastiff out now.