Quest For Fire

Arising out of the ashes of celebrated Toronto groups Deadly Snakes, Cursed and No No Zero, Quest For Fire have released a debut that doesn’t sound anything like their previous bands. In a pinch, you could argue four-minute opener "Bison Eyes” has the tightly wound intensity of the Snakes, but it’s a different story for the remaining five songs. The seething psych phoenixes that make up the album fall between the six- and nine-minute mark, and are heavy, insistent and just as satisfying as the opener. "Strange Waves” is an exercise in how to pull off the ubiquitous quiet/loud dynamic, moving from tense blues to thunderous full-band stomp. The seriously epic "Next To The Fire” is an all-too appropriate closer, a many-armed Cyclops propelled by the untiring rhythm section of a band that belie the primitivism of their name.