And so we stumble upon a group of seekers from the sweltering climes of San Diego. They are seekers on a great electric quest. It's a heavy quest. Hot and heavy. Their journey is fraught with giant rock and high stone, their destination unknown, unknowable, unreachable. The only possible outcome of this quest, is death. And of course, they are taking you along for the ride.
The Great Electric Quest is always on the lookout for experiences and are willing to push the perceived limits that surround them into the realm of unceasing extremity. As is the seeker's burden, the outer limit of experience, the reward at the end of the journey is always just out of arm's reach, no matter how far forward they have pushed. All that is not to create the wrong impression that The Quest is an extreme metal band complete with cookie monster vocals, walls of sound and blast beats obsessed with visions of failure and death. Rather, the extremity manifests itself in the form of Russian doll song structures and a moxy, an approach, a confidence that pushes limited skill into rarified territory. The seeker does not fail in reaching for the unattainable, it is in the reaching itself that the seeker succeeds.
The Great Electric Quest take a Kyuss-influenced stoner rock sound and filter it through the progressive sudden twists, shout choruses, shreds on a dime, general vocal inflections and other movements of early metal bands like Metallica. With each successive spin it becomes harder and harder to remain composed and contain enthusiasm as before long at all you find yourself 'bangin' along raising a leather gloved fist high into the air and you have no idea how that glove got there, but you don't question it either. It's all part of the Quest, man. It's also hard for me not to get too geeked up about this band because they remind me so much of me and my buddies in an earlier age. Back before life crushed us all down (well, some of us anyway [ahem]). I can't see that happening to these colorful characters though, these are what you might call 'lifers'.
Above and beyond all else, what you get from The Great Electric Quest is positive vibes, which along with the high energy of the songwriting makes this 5 song E.P. a dynamo. "1901", "Break the Shackles" and "Beers in Hell" are uplifting songs, giving the listener a hearty push start in the direction of a more productive use of one's creative energies. I told vocalist Tyler Dingvell that his lyrics were empowering and that there ought to be more dudes like him out there using their platform wisely. Here's what he had to say in response:
"Rock and Roll is empowering!! It's not wallowing in the sorrows of life. It's drinking a beer with your friends and forging on to meet the next challenge. It's empowerment of one and an embodiment of brotherhood. Love for humanity with the absence of fear."And maybe that's all you need to know about the band to join them in their quest.
Highlights include: "1901" and "Break The Shackles"
Rating: 4/5
Total Run Time: 22:40
Tyler "T-Sweat" Dingvell - Vocals
Buddy Donner - Guitar
Corey Ciota - Drums
Mr. Mikey Hurrin - Bass/Vocals
Genre: Metal, Stoner
Reminds me of: Corrosion of Conformity (Blind era), Gentlemen Bastards, early Metallica, Red Wizard, Saturn
Release Date: December 1, 2013
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