Single Review | Queens of the Stone Age | 'The Evil Has Landed' (2017)

source: b0neface

‘The Evil Has Landed’ Queens of the Stone Age into a familiar soundscape produced on their seminal, 2002 LP Songs for the Deaf. Frontman Josh Homme recently stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that he wanted Villains to ‘be like … looking at [Songs for the Deaf] with goggles underwater – that kind of clarity.’

There were hints of this clarity in the first single, ‘The Way You Used to Do’, but this newest taste of the upcoming record screams a revamped Songs for the Deaf vibe. From the varying, dirty guitar, the rolling bass, Homme's crooning falsetto and the tight drum-beat, ‘The Evil Has Landed’ pulses through two distinctly different tempos -- the majority of the song plays roughly at 85 bpm, whilst the final minute amps up to 156 bpm -- and lasts for a heavenly six minutes.

Queens of the Stone Age have released six (soon to be seven) albums to date, all of which contain their own specific aura and sound. Queens are band known to constantly reinvent themselves, harnessing varying genres and influences, giving them their specific, heavy desert flair.

Working with pop-producer Mark Ronson furthers the bands ability to experiment, allowing heavy rock to prowl with disco and beat orientated styles whilst retaining a signature fuzz-infused sound that makes Queens, well, Queens.