Widows – Death Valley Duchess (Bad News)

With enough depth and heavy swagger to bring down a large woolly mammoth, Nottingham’s beer- swilling, guitar-thrusting, fist-pumping purveyors of stoner rock, Widows, have collated a truly destructive debut record, excelling beyond many of their brethren.

Their sound is iconic with many bands that have come before them (Viking Skull, The Plight, High On Fire) but Widows stand on their own right, thanks to their guitar hooks that enthral the hips as well as the head, the most danceable stoner rock band to walk out of any smoke-filled bar, probably ever.

Adam Joliffe’s grizzly howl proves perfect accompaniment to the heavy riffs, and none is more evident than in opening track ‘Green Tsunami’, as the electric riffs vibrate around your body and the vocals proceed to pummel your head into dust. There is no slow part to Widows as each track follows a similar formula of energy + riffs + aggression, which is basically THE perfect combination for rock music, shown best on ‘Something For Deities’, as it becomes basically a challenge for you not to dance or bang your head.

A criticism to be thrown at Widows would be the lack of variance in the style of their songs, but that is something to be judged on future records. For now, we’re privileged to have a pummelling, heavy record, which is just full of angry joy: the best kind there is!