fu manchu

Stoner-rock torchbearers Scott Hill, Bob Balch, and Brad Davis go big on Gigantoid.


Bob Balch’s signature Reverend guitar is based on the company’s Sensei model and has beveled edges, satin finish, a tone chamber under the pickguard, and Railhammer Bob Balch Signature pickups. Photo by Jerry Miller.

Borne out of the same sunbaked SoCal soil that spawned stoner rock and doom metal mainstays like Kyuss and Goatsnake, Fu Manchu has been fighting the good fight for crushing riffs and Sabbath-esque grooves since before it was hip. On Gigantoid, the band’s first studio effort since 2009’s Signs of Infinite Power, singer/guitarist Scott Hill, guitarist Bob Balch, bassist Brad Davis, and drummer Scott Reeder prove that the fire burns as bright as it ever did in the band’s proto-grunge adolescence. Balch’s cascading fuzz effects form the perfect foil for Hill and Davis’ “plug in, turn up, rock out” ethos. On a short break between North American and European tour dates, they took time to talk to us about how they craft their larger-than-life tones.

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