ALBUM REVIEW: Sons Of Arrakis: Volume 1 – Sons Of Arrakis
The sci-fi universe of the Dune books by Frank Herbert are back in the popular frame once more with the release of the Denis Villeneuve film last year. SONS OF ARRAKIS have chosen a cracking time to release new music, putting their own interpretive sonic spin on the source material. With their own brand of stoner rock- ‘melange rock’ – they release their much-anticipated debut album, the self-titled and ominously promising Sons Of Arrakis: Volume 1. Fair warning, this review contains some fairly specific references that book readers will appreciate, film viewers might want to avoid, and those who are just here for the music can just ignore.
There’s plenty of rhythm and groove in this album, you can feel the heat and the intent of the world of Dune within the great expanse of sound that SONS OF ARRAKIS produce. The Black Mirror sets the tone for beefy psychedelic riffs that chug, closely followed by Complete Obliteration with its crooning and uncaring verses and unrelenting lead lines; the unknowable range of SONS OF ARRAKIS is much like the deep desert itself. On the surface, it’s simple enough and feels much the same as any stoner rock you might come across. What this record benefits from is the rich text that it draws from to create big, expansive passages and moments of complete psychedelic clarity.
Timing is everything with this album, and there’s the perfect balance between letting the music do the talking and filtering the themes and stories of Dune into the lyrics. Temple Of The Desert produces as much of a slow burn as the burning sun itself. There’s a delirious delight as the track builds, in the vocal harmonies, the churning and chugging that arises, like a great worm, mean and majestic.
Omniscient Messiah, a track fans have had for a while now, is still very much a shining heart of the record. It’s not necessarily to do with any far flung new ideas, but captures the conflict of Dune’s central character Paul and his son Leto II and their terrible purpose, the unimaginable might and horror that must conjure in a person. A crooning chorus of voices like the many minds of the past; the crunch of the guitars lamenting what must be done, the inescapable path. When things really hit a push in the final minutes, it’s with a fevered kind of bliss of many minds coming together, in something similar to a fremen sietch bacchanalia with the water of life.
Likewise, Lonesome Preacher has the best shift from chorus to verse going on this record, a smooth push from one tempo to another while maintaining something effortlessly cool. The five-minute something runtime flies by, and you’d be tempted to sit and play on repeat the sweet groove that carries the story. What you’d miss out on then is the finale of Abomination, which looks more towards the tragedy of Alia and the tormented prescience she lives through. The complicated journey between blissful intelligence and sorrowful torment is well realised in its musical form here, and a great way to end the record.
Overall Sons Of Arrakis: Volume 1 channels a rich understanding of what makes Dune such an interesting read in its overall tone and interpretation; the sinister, doom-leaning edge that stoner rock can conjure adds a new dimension to the story, while still maintaining its sense of psychedelic experimentation that is very much in keeping with the mind altering themes of the book. While the music itself isn’t breaking into revolutionary new places, the science fiction inspiration and the general concept overall lend themselves to the stoner rock anthems on Sons Of Arrakis: Volume 1. Especially in the baking summer, you can appreciate the fruits of SONS OF ARRAKIS’ labour and see something of the golden path they’re forging for themselves.
Rating: 8/10
Sons Of Arrakis: Volume 1 is set for release on July 15th via self release.
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