Aug. 23/ 2009--Review of "Desert Opuses" in Deaf Sparrow Zine (thanks to Hansel):
"With an album named like that, what did they think we’d expect? I was ready to settle for a second rate uninspired session of some Kyuss worshipping fuckers. And I love Kyuss, but I’ve had more than my fill of knock offs. Who knows? Maybe that was the strategy behind High Watt Electrocutions; distract the listener, make him/her think of a specific sound, then shock him/her with something different and even, original. The surprise element is certainly refreshing. It works. Because what you get is dense, hypnotic, drug-addled madness. But there is none of that standard rock bullshit around here. For that, go listen to Alabama Thunderpussy or some shit…
Even though there are certain elements to Desert Opuses that will recall the tired nature of stoner rock, that sub genre as is widely recognized is too limiting to describe this. To get the commonalities behind, well, besides the album title we can cite certain fuzzy sound that’s inspired most of these guitars. So when Ryan Electrocution himself (the sole man behind this) says High Watt Electrocutions is inspired by Godflesh, Spacemen 3, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Spiritualized and the Stooges, he is coming clean. There is a bit of each all over Desert Opuses.
Despite the experimental and bold nature of this album, the tunes are compact and there is very little fucking around. The tunes have no beginning, middle, nor end. There are no ten-minute songs either. The riffs are not upfront, nor are the songs based around them. In fact, the most straight forward cut is opening cut “Mountains of the Pharoahs” with its bass heavy density and Kyuss-like background guitars. It’s far from a conventional song, but that’s as close as High Watt Electrocutions ever get to radio format.
The rest of Desert Opuses is spent weaving a much more delicate album. There is a strong ethnic vibe, “Ode to Snakecharming” sounds like something written by some Godflesh-influenced messianic guru from Egypt, while “Light at the Speed of Sound” would have fit nicely in a Velvet Underground record. There is that droney feeling to this, like the author is trying to hypnotize the listener, so the guitars draw wavy lines and sound like sitars. The bass is sparse and omnipresent, check out those fat strings in “Obliteration”; this is string-based psychedelia.
Desert Opuses is an absorbing listener. This is the type of album that takes time to make and more time to appreciate. I imagine some genius cult leader making music like this."
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