Tunnel Vision Brilliance could prompt purchases with its cover alone, as long as designers supplement its disturbing imagery (lumberjacklike Scott Reeder floating shirtless in embryonic fluid) with a sticker that reads: "The solo debut from the bassist of Obsessed and Kyuss." Like a more intimate expression of the latter band's psychedelic side,
Tunnel Vision Brilliance combines trippy guitar leads and multitracked vocal harmonies with hooks that cut through the haze like high-beam headlights slicing fog. Instrumental interludes, particularly a tribal-minimalist tune that's just begging to be paired with avant-documentary nature footage, enhance the mystic feel. The lyrics are grim — the record's first line is
When I was a boy/
Something deep inside said that I'd always be alone — but Reeder, one of the pioneers of doom-laden bass lines, keeps this material melodic. He plays every instrument, drumming with almost industrial precision and tapping bass strings with a tone that suggests metallic fingers.
Tunnel Vision Brilliance should render the "formerly of Kyuss" clarification as unnecessary for Reeder's future releases as it is for fellow ex-Kyussian and current Queen of the Stone Age Josh Homme.
