The 2004 Reviews Section: The Quill, Hooray! It's A Deathtrip

THE QUILL

HOORAY! IT'S A DEATHTRIP
STEAMHAMMER/SPV, 2003

It's funny how things work. The Quill was one of the first bands I reviewed in 1999 back when I was still doing what was then called The Ziff-Davis PornoWeb. That review reads terribly these days considering I was, like, mentally five when I wrote it. For some reason I was considered a better reviewer when I didn't know what the fuck I was talking about. What the hell have I done with my life?

I'm going to come right out and say that The Quill plays commercial-esque stoner rock. There's no way to get around it, considering the band sounds more like Soundgarden than Soundgarden did ten years ago. Personally, The Quill are more hard-driving and louder than Soundgarden, so that's a big plus in my book. Hooray! It's A Deathtrip is full of long Southern-influenced dirges that I personally think kick ass. The album is rather overlong at fifty-two minutes but Hooray! It's A Deathtrip sticks to the point throughout the album, dealing no-frills, simple, well-produced stoner rock. Magnus Ekwall's vocals have improved immensely since the last time I heard them, delivering a better range and sung a little more deeply. He sounds like Chris Cornell, granted, but he has a distinctive vocal style and considering he's from Sweden he couldn't sound more American. Hooray! It's A Deathtrip is surprisingly commercially viable without sounding weak or derivative, and I'm surprised this band hasn't broken through into the mainstream yet. The Quill certainly deserves to.

I realise I'm normally disdainful of the mainstream, but we've needed another Soundgarden since around Down On The Upside and Queens Of The Stone Age are just not the band to fill that void. SPV should he pushing Hooray! It's A Deathtrip more; the publicity knobs there certainly have the resources to do it. As it stands now, the label will probably be trying to get Monster Magnet over again instead. SPV amazes me sometimes.

SPV GMBH - STEAMHAMMER
Brüsseler Straße 14
30539 Hannover
GERMANY
http://www.spv.de/eng/steamhammer/default.html
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THE QUILL
http://welcome.to/thequill/
http://www.thequill.nl/ (fan site)
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