Duel - Fears of the Dead

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 25 / 3 / 2016

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Review

Duel are a Texan four-piece who blast out fat slabs of straight-up hard rock. Often lumped in with the stoner/sludge acts, they harness the sound of a band made of ‘men’s men’. Admittedly my initial impressions were that of "This is a bit like Clutch, a lot like Clutch in fact", but, however,after some consistent listening I concluded three things: That is a lazy comparison. There are worse bands to sound "a bit like" and this sort of music is not meant to be pondered over by somebody behind a keyboard. ‘Fears of the Dead’ is brimming with hard riffs and belted-out vocals courtesy of guitarist/vocalist Tom Frank and bassist/vocalist Shaun Avants. This is an album that should be listened to at great volume, preferably having had a skinful of beer and spirits. With that spirit in mind, it is highly recommended to listen to ‘Fears Of The Dead’ at maximum volume. The titular opening track manages to comfortably cram enough of a flavour of the rest of the album to give you a good first impression straight off the bat. The remainder of the album sees the band taking the chunky riffs, 70’s tinged solos and that dirty Southern groove and embellishing on each of these facets. There is the slower whiskey (or potentially rum)-drenched ‘The Kraken’ which couldn’t be more ‘dude on a motorbike racing through the sunny desert’ if it tried , and ‘On the Edge’ which jumps right into Southern Rock territory with its string-bending and call-and-response, before changing in pace to really let the solos from Derek Halfmann shine. What I really liked about the lead guitars in this album is that there is enough but not too much. It is not noodly or over-the-top for effect. It is just the right amount and manages to lift and compliment the rest of the music rather than stand apart from it. ‘When the Pigs are Fed’ is a standout track for me, and if I were pushed to suggest one song to check out I would definitely go for this and I would be confident that it would leave you wanting more. ‘Locked Outside’ finished the album off blissfully with some Slash meets Skynyrd sounds that will send you off into a much better place.

Track Listing:-

1 Fears of the Dead
2 This Old Crow
3 The Kraken
4 Fell to the Earth
5 On the Edge
6 Electricity
7 When the Pigs Are Fed
8 Locked Outside

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/DUELTEXAS
https://duel3.bandcamp.com/

Label Links:-

http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOU
https://twitter.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUND
https://www.youtube.com/user/MonoStere
https://instagram.com/heavypsychsounds