Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Oxford-based heavy burl riffers Desert Storm released their sixth full-length, Death Rattle (review here), earlier this year through APF Records. This is the second video premiere I’ve done from the record — the first was with the review, which is why I’m not spamming you with the link right now — behind that for “Bad Trip,” and, well, if they asked me to do a third, I probably would.
Here’s why: Desert Storm are among the dudeliest bands I cover on this site. You hear Death Rattle or anything going back to their 2010 debut, Forked Tongues (review here) — that’s right, I’ve been writing about these guys for over 12 years now — and you have no doubt that the parties behind it are dudes. From the guttural vocals of Matthew Ryan through Ryan Cole‘s guitar, Matthew Dennett‘s bass and Elliot Cole‘s drumming, and across different lineups, they have been no less consistent in this regard than in the growing quality of their songwriting, their expanding creative reach, and their maturity as performers.
Gender issues and gender expression — the performance of gender — have come into my life recently in a way that I never anticipated, and I find I’m thinking about these things differently than I used to. What is masculine? What does femininity look like? I’ve had occasion to examine these questions from a new point of view, as a parent, as an adult, rather than being a young (or old) person trying to figure something out about myself. But I’ve never been particularly ‘manly.’ I can move furniture, because I’m big, but that’s about as far as it goes, and maybe I find Desert Storm‘s expressed hyper-dudeness as a kind of fascinating, unconscious declaration of themselves. They border on chestbeating, but I know they’re on the right side of the line there, because if they weren’t, I wouldn’t have had words to say about them for the last decade-plus. Helps when the band kicks ass, just about always.
“Salt of the Earth” crunches with force and purpose, and if you dig the clip premiering below — and I hope you do — the full Death Rattle stream is below, courtesy of Desert Storm‘s Bandcamp. The band’s Nov. live dates are in there as well.
Here you go:
Desert Storm, “Salt of the Earth” video premiere
Taken from Desert Storm’s new album Death Rattle, released by APF Records 31st March 2023.
“Salt of the Earth” Recorded and mixed at Woodworm Studios, Oxfordshire UK, between winter of 2021 and summer of 2022 by Steve “Geezer” Watkins. Mastered in September 2022 by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland OR, USA. All music written by Desert Storm. All lyrics writted by Matthew Ryan. Artwork design by David Paul Seymour. Layout by Dominic Sohor.
Desert Storm UK Tour Dates 23.09.23 | Bristol | The Gryphon 29.09.23 | Hull | Polar Bear Music Club 30.09.23 | Manchester | Riffolution Festival 05.01.24 | Southampton | The Joiners 06.01.24 | London | The Black Heart 07.01.24 | Sheffield | Corporation 23.03.24 | Oxford | Buried In Smoke Festival
Desert Storm is – Matthew Ryan – Vocals Ryan Cole – Guitars Elliot Cole – Drums & Percussion Matthew Dennett – Bass
Posted in Questionnaire on August 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Matt Ainsworth of Trevor’s Head
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I guess I’d call it “stoner punk”, but in recent years, that seems to have morphed into “progressive stoner punk” – an unwieldy, pretentious journo moniker if I ever heard one! It came about through years of playing together, each of us with individual tastes that overlap at certain points. When we started, it wasn’t even really what I’d call “heavy”, it was just four kids with very different tastes trying to make up their mind as to how a band should sound while also being very inexperienced with our respective instruments.
Since losing our original bassist and lead guitarist back in 2014 and gaining Aaron as a bass player, it seems we’ve gone from strength to strength musically. Roger and I weren’t able to play music as heavy or expansive or diverse as we would have liked with the old lineup, whereas Aaron has a very open mind and thinks about playing from a more technical standpoint. It’s a very collaborative effort, all three of us are involved with the writing and arranging process. It also helps that we’re not afraid to experiment as well – there’s some risk-taking that goes into the creative process, hence the hybrid of stoner rock, punk and prog that we’ve come to adopt.
Describe your first musical memory.
It’s either being in the back of my mum’s car, hearing Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and hating it or being in the back of my dad’s car, hearing “China Grove” by The Doobie Brothers and absolutely loving it. Either way, I’d have been very young, only two or maybe three years old.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Seeing Stevie Wonder play at Hyde Park while totally tripping balls. He and his band were on fire, the whole park was radiating joy – and no, that wasn’t just the acid! My face ached afterward from smiling so much.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Hmm, interesting one. Can’t say that I’m able to pinpoint a specific moment where a belief of mine was tested, but I think it’s safe to say that much of the idealism I held (and for the most part still hang on to) in my early twenties seems to not have much in the way of grounding, the more I see and experience the way our species treats itself and its surroundings.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To widening your scope and experimenting with forms of music or musical ideas you might not have imagined yourself playing previously. Ultimately though, artistic progression should lead to satisfaction in what you do.
How do you define success?
Achieving what you set out to achieve. So within the parameters of being in the band, making the best record we can possibly make or playing the best gig we can possibly play. If anybody else happens to enjoy what we’re doing, then that’s a bonus.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Man, I worked in care homes for about five years. There’s plenty of things I’ve seen that I wish I hadn’t.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
That would be the next Trevor’s Head album, the writing of which is underway.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To engage with people. I’m quite socially anxious, so I find spoken communication fairly difficult sometimes, especially with people I’m not familiar with. Being in a band, I’m able to get up in front of a room full of people I don’t know and communicate directly with them, expressing myself clearly through music. The audience is able to respond to that however they wish. So to me, art is like an unspoken conversation.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
When I started answering these questions last week, I was fucking hyped for the upcoming Venture Bros. movie. I’ve seen it now though! It was excellent. A fitting end to a masterpiece of a series. Uhhh… what next though? I’m hoping the second installment of Dune is as good as the first. I’m also looking forward to holidaying in Kefalonia for a couple of weeks in September.
Well here we are, at last. A couple weeks ago I looked at my calendar and ended up pushing this Quarterly Review to mid-July instead of the end of June, and it’s been hanging over my head in the interim to such a degree that I added two days to it to cover another 20 records. I’m sure it could be more. The amount of music is infinite. It just keeps going.
I’ll assume you know the deal, but here it is anyhow: 10 records per day, for seven days — Monday through Friday, plus Monday and Tuesday in this case — for a total of 70 reviews. Links and audio provided to the extent possible, and hopefully we all find some killer new music we didn’t know about before, or if we did know about it, just to enjoy. That doesn’t seem so crazy, right?
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Bongzilla, Dab City
None higher. Following extensive touring before and (to the extent possible) after the release of their 2021 album, Weedsconsin (review here), Madison, WI, canna-worship crust sludge-launchers Bongzilla return with Dab City, proffering the harsh and the mellow as only they seem to be able to do, even among their ’90s-born original-era sludge brethren. As second track “King of Weed” demonstrates, Bongzilla are aurally dank unto themselves, both in the scathing vocals of bassist Mike “Muleboy” Makela and the layered guitar of Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and the slow-swinging groove shoving all that weighted tone forward in Mike “Magma” Henry‘s drums. Through the seven tracks and 56 minutes of dense jams like those in the opening title-cut or the 13-minute “Cannonbong (The Ballad of Burnt Reynolds as Lamented by Dixie Dave Collins” (yes, from Weedeater) or the gloriously languid finale “American Pot,” the shorter instrumental “C.A.R.T.S.,” or in the relatively uptempo nodders “Hippie Stick” and “Diamonds and Flower,” Bongzilla underscore the if-you-get-it-then-you-get-it nature of their work, at once extreme in its bite and soothing in atmosphere, uncompromising in purpose. I’m not going to tell you to get bombed out of your gourd and listen, but they almost certainly did while making it, and Dab City is nothing if not an invitation to that party.
Adventures await as Redhill, UK, three-piece Trevor’s Head — guitarist/vocalist Roger Atkins, bassist/vocalist/synthesist Aaron Strachan (also kalimba), drummer/flutist/vocalist/synthesist Matt Ainsworth (also Mellotron) — signal a willfully open and progressive creativity through the heavy psych and grunge melodies of lead track “Call of the Deep” before the Primus-gone-fuzz-prog chug of “Under My Skin” and the somehow-English-pastoral “Grape Fang” balances on its multi-part harmonies and loose-feeling movement, side A trading between shorter and longer songs to end with the seven-minute, violin-inclusive folk-then-fuzz-folk highlight “Elio” before “Rumspringa” brings the proceedings to ground as only cowbell might. As relatively straight-ahead as the trio get there or in the more pointedly aggressive shover “A True Gentleman” on the other side of the Tool-ish noodling and eat-this-riff of “What Got Stuck” (answer: the thrashy gallop before the final widdly-widdly solo, in my head), they never want for complexity, and as much as it encapsulates in its depth of arrangement and linear course, closer “Don’t Make Me Ask” represents the band perhaps even more in looking forward rather than back on what was just accomplished, building on what 2018’s Soma Holiday (review here) hinted at stylistically and mindfully evolving their sound.
Born in the ’90s as Amend, turned more extreme as V and now perhaps beginning a new era as Vorder — pronounced “vee-order” — the Dalarna, Sweden, unit return with a new rhythm section behind founding guitarists Jonas Gryth (also Unhealer) and Andreas Baier (also Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, and so on) featuring bassist Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis) and drummer Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia, In Mourning, Grand Cadaver, etc.) on drums, the invigorated four-piece greet a dark dawn with due presence on False Haven, bringing Baier‘s Besvärjelsen bandmate Lea Amling Alazam for guest vocals on “The Few Remaining Lights,” which seems to be consumed after its melodic opening into a lurching and organ-laced midsection like Entombed after the Isis-esque ambience of post-apocalyptic mourning in “Introspective” and “Beyond the Horizon of Life.” Beauty and darkness are not new themes for Vorder, even if False Haven is their first release under the name, and even in the bleak ‘n’ roll of the title-track there’s still room for hope if you define hope as tambourine. Which you probably should. The penultimate “Judgement Awaits” interrupts floating post-doom with vital shove and 10:32 finale “Come Undone” provides a resonant melodic answer to “The Few Remaining Lights” while paying off the album as a whole in patience, heft and fullness. Vorder use microgenres like a polyglot might switch languages, but what’s expressed from the entirety of the work is utterly their own, whatever name they use.
Multi-instrumentalist Beth Gladding (also of Forlesen, Botanist, Lotus Thief, etc.) shares vocal duties in New York’s Inherus with bassist Anthony DiBlasi (ex-Witchkiss) and fellow guitarist/synthesist Brian Harrigan (Grid, Swallow the Ocean), and the harsh/clean dynamic puts emphasis on the various textures presented throughout the band’s debut album. Completed by drummer Andrew Vogt (Lotus Thief, Swallow the Ocean), Inherus reach toward SubRosan melancholy on “Forgotten Kingdom,” which begins the hour-flat/six-track 2LP, and they follow with harmonies and grandeur to spare on “One More Fire” (something in that melody reminds me of Indigo Girls and I’m noting it because I can’t get my head away from it; not complaining) and “The Dagger,” which resolves in Amenra-style squibble and lurch without giving up its emotional depth. “Oh Brother” crushes enough to make one wonder where the line truly is between metal and post-metal, and the setup for closer “Lie to the Angels” in the drone-plus piece “Obliterated in the Face of the Gods” telegraphs the intensity to follow if not the progginess of that particular chug or the scope of what follows. Vogt signals the arrival at the album’s crescendo with stately but fast double-kick, and if you’re wondering who gets the last word, it’s feedback. Beholden may prove formative as Inherus move forward, but what their first full-length lays out as their stylistic range is at least as impressive as it is ambitious. Hope for more to come.
Even in the second half of “Tying Up the Noose” as it leads into “Give it Time” — which is about as speedy as Sonic Moon get on their Olde Magick Records-delivered first LP, Return Without Any Memory — they’re in no particular hurry. The overarching languid pace across the Aarhus five-piece’s 41-minute/seven-tracker — which reuses only the title-track from 2019’s Usually I Don’t Care for Flowers EP — makes it hypnotic even in its most active moments, but whether it’s the Denmarkana acoustic moodiness of centerpiece “Through the Snow,” the steady nod of “Head Under the River” later or the post-All Them Witches psych-blues conveyed in opener “The Waters,” Sonic Moon are able to conjure landscapes from fuzzed tonality that could just as easily have been put to use for traditional doom as psych-leaning heavy rock, uniting the songs through that same fuzz and the melody of the vocals as “Head Under the River” spaces out ahead of its slowdown or “Hear Me Now” eschews the huge finish in favor of a more unassuming, gentler letting go, indicative of the thoughtfulness behind their craft and their presentation of the material. Familiar enough on paper and admirably, unpretentiously itself, the self-recorded Return Without Any Memory discovers its niche and comes across as being right at home in it. A welcome debut.
With cosmic doom via YOB meeting with progressive heavy rock à la Elder or Louisiana rollers Forming the Void and an undercurrent of metal besides in the chug and double-kick of “Controlled Burn,” Cleveland’s Slow Wake make their full-length debut culling together songs their 2022 Falling Fathoms EP and adding the prior-standalone “Black Stars” for 12 minutes’ worth of good measure at the end. The dense and jangly tones at the start of the title-track (where it’s specifically “Marrow”-y) or “In Waves” earlier on seem to draw more directly from Mike Scheidt‘s style of play, but “Relief” builds from its post-rocking outset to grow furious over its first few minutes headed toward a payoff that’s melody as much as crunch. “Black Stars” indulges a bit more psychedelic repetition, which could be a sign of things to come or just how it worked out on that longer track, but Slow Wake lay claim to significant breadth regardless, and have the structural complexity to work in longer forms without losing themselves either in jams or filler. With a strong sense of its goals, Falling Fathoms puts Slow Wake on a self-aware trajectory of growth in modern prog-heavy style. That is, they know what they’re doing and they know why. To show that alone on a first record makes it a win. Their going further lets you know to keep an eye out for next time as well.
The Fierce and the Dead, News From the Invisible World
Unearthing a bit of earlier-Queens of the Stone Age compression fuzz in the start-stop riff of “Shake the Jar” is not even scratching the surface as regards textures put to use by British progressive heavies The Fierce and the Dead on their fourth album, News From the Invisible World. Comprised of eight songs varied in mood and textures around a central ethic clearly intent on not sounding any more like anyone else than it has to, the collection is the first release from the band to feature vocals. Those are handled ably by bassist Kev Feazey, but it’s telling as to the all-in nature of the band that, in using singing for the first time, they employ no fewer than six guest vocalists, mostly but not exclusively on opener/intro “The Start.” From there, it’s a wild course through keyboard/synth-fed atmospheres on pieces like the Phil Collins-gone-heavy “Photogenic Love” and its side-B-capping counterpart “Nostalgia Now,” which ends like friendlier Godflesh, astrojazz experimentalism on “Non-Player,” and plenty of fuzz in “Golden Thread,” “Wonderful,” “What a Time to Be Alive,” and so on, though where a song starts is not necessarily where it’s going to end up. Given Feazey‘s apparent comfort with the task before him, it’s a wonder they didn’t make this shift earlier, but they do well in making up for lost time.
Kliwon is the second offering from Indonesia-based meditative psych exploration unit Mud Spencer to be released through Argonauta Records after 2022’s Fuzz Soup (review here), and its four component songs find France-born multi-instrumentalist Rodolphe Bellugue (also Proots, Bedhunter, etc.) constructing material of marked presence and fluidity. Opener “Suzzanna” is halfway through its nine minutes before the drums start. “Ratu Kidul” is 16 minutes of mindful breathing (musically speaking) as shimmering guitar melody pokes out from underneath the surrounding ethereal wash, darker in tone but more than just bleak. Of course “Dead on the Heavy Funk” reminds of Mr. Bungle as it metal-chugs and energetically weirds out. And the just under 16-minute “Jasmin Eater” closes out with organ and righteous fuzz bass peppered with flourish details on guitar and languid drumming, becoming heavier and consuming as it moves toward the tempo kick that’s the apex of the album. Through these diverse tracks, an intimate psychedelic persona emerges, even without vocals, and Mud Spencer continues to look inward for expanses to be conveyed before doing precisely that.
It would seem that in the interim between 2021’s Ocean of Acid EP and this five-song/41-minute debut full-length, Tyhjiö, Finnish psychedelic death-doomers Kita traded English lyrics for those in their native Finnish. No, I don’t speak it, but that hardly matters in the chant-like chorus of the title-track or the swirling pummel that surrounds as the band invent their own microgenre, metal-rooted and metal in affect, but laced with synth and able to veer into lysergic guitar atmospherics in the 10-minute opener “Kivi Puhuu” or the acoustic-led (actually it’s bass-led, but still) midsection leading to the triumphant chorus of bookending closer “Ataraksia,” uniting disparate ideas through strength of craft, tonal and structural coherence, and, apparently, sheer will. The title-track, “Torajyvä” and “Kärpässilmät,” with the centerpiece cut as the shortest, make for a pyramid-style presentation (broader around its base), but Kita are defined by what they do, drawing extremity from countrymen like Swallow the Sun or Amorphis, among others, and turning it into something of their own. Striking in the true sense of: it feels like being punched. But punched while you hang out on the astral plane.
Greek fuzz alert! Heavy rocking three-piece Embargo hail from Thessaloniki with their first long-player, High Seas, using winding aspects of progressive metal to create tension in the starts and stops of “Billow,” “EAT” and “Candy” as spoken verses in the latter and “Alanna Finch” draw a line between the moody noise rock of Helmet, the grunge it informed, and the heavy rock that emerged (in part) from that. Running 10 tracks and 44 minutes, High Seas is quick in marking out the smoothness of its low tonality, and it veers into and out of what one might consider aggression in terms of style, “with 22 22” thoughtfully composed and sharply pointed in kind, one of several instrumentals to offset some of the gruffer stretches or a more patient melodic highlight like “Draupner,” which does little to hide its affinity for Soundgarden and is only correct to showcase it. They also finish sans-vocals in the title-track, and there’s almost a letting-loose sense to “High Seas” itself, shaking out some shuffle in the first half before peaking in the second. Greece is among Europe’s most packed and vibrant undergrounds, and with High Seas, Embargo begin to carve their place within it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The first single from the new Trevor’s Head album, A View From Below, is titled “Call of the Deep” and it also happens to be the record’s opening track. It starts off with an immediate thrust, but quickly turns into an intricate and melodic verse peppered with especially proggy plucked guitar notes and basslines before shifting into a more weighted semi-chorus, looping back through the verse, picking up into a solo and a dual-vocal actual-chorus with hints of grunge amid more intense riffing, building into a run at its finish. It does this in the span of three minutes and 20 seconds.
Not too shabby as regards covering a pretty significant chunk of ground, efficiency and scope meeting without sounding either busy-for-its-own-sake or unconsidered. The album is out May 5 through APF Records and it’s Trevor’s Head‘s fourth, so maybe not a surprise they’d approach it with a sense of command over their craft, but given the descriptions below I’m curious to hear just how far they range from what “Call of the Deep” sets forth, where they go, when, why and how it all flows together. A long way maybe of saying I’m looking forward to the release. Fine.
The PR wire has the all-important preorder link and more info besides. Song’s at the bottom of the post. You know how it goes:
TREVOR’S HEAD ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘A VIEW FROM BELOW’
RELEASED 5TH MAY (APF RECORDS) / LISTEN TO ‘CALL OF THE DEEP’
Quite possibly the most exciting thing to come out of Redhill in the last three centuries, Trevor’s Head markedly circle in three distinct orbits around stoner, punk and prog, creating a heavy, sonic vibe quite unlike anybody else out there.
Their new album “A View From Below, released on 5th May via APF Records (Mastiff, Desert Storm, The Brother’s Keg, Video Nasties) is a lean and cohesive expression of the power trio’s precision, which marks the next stage in the genre-bending and ever-evolving sound that is Trevor’s Head. For first single ‘Call of the Deep’, Roger Atkins (guitar/vocals) states,
“These last few years have been tough for us – for everyone – and I have constantly been struck by the strength I’ve seen in others. Whether battling personal loss, mental health difficulties, financial stresses, relationship troubles, whatever. This song is a nod to anyone who keeps fighting through the calm and through the storm. I have unending respect and pride in anyone who can do that, and this song is for them. Even if it didn’t go to plan for the protagonist this time.”
Following in the footsteps of their last three albums, it’s the product of the band’s fully collaborative approach to songwriting, where each member adds to the eclectic stew, creating an eccentric and unique record. Matt Ainsworth (drums/vocals) comments,
“We’re really proud of this album, it feels like the best representation of our band to date. Each track takes you on a journey and there are a ton of different musical influences, but this time we approached the writing process with a mind to make something more cohesive than our previous releases – it’s diverse, yet it still sounds like the songs were all meant to be on the same record together. You can hear how we’ve grown as musicians, too. We honestly don’t think anyone else sounds like Trevor’s Head… guess we’ll find out if that’s a good thing or not!”
Lyrically many of the songs on ‘A View From Below’, are a reflection of the hardship that many have endured over the past few years and continue to endure now. They are, according to Roger Atkins (guitar/vocals, ‘a celebration of courage, resilience and determination in the face of huge obstacles.’
Having gigged relentlessly for many years, with high points on the road being shared stages with (among others) Mondo Generator, Nebula and Colour Haze, as well as appearing at numerous stoner rock festivals across the country including Desertfest, Trevor’s Head are primed and ready to release their next album, “A View From Below”, through APF Records in May 2023.
Tracklisting: 1. Call Of The Deep 2. Under My Skin 3. Grape Fang 4. Elio 5. Rumspringa 6. What Got Stuck? 7. A True Gentleman 8. Don’t Make Me Ask
Lineup: Aaron Strachan – bass, synth and vocals Roger Atkins – guitar and vocals Matt Ainsworth – drums, synth, flute and vocals
Having marked their 15th anniversary two years ago, Oxford semi-aggro heavy rockers Desert Storm will issue their sixth album, Death Rattle, on March 31 through respected purveyor APF Records. The occasion also brought some change, as concurrent to their celebratory tour — also supporting their last album, 2020’s Omens (discussed here) — the veteran outfit swapped bassists, bringing Matthew Dennett (also of Battalions) in to replace Chris Benoist, who’d been with them at least since 2010’s debut album, Forked Tongues (review here), and probably longer, and also stripped down their lineup, moving from two guitarists to one in bidding farewell to Chris White (who also handled keys, backing vocals and some bass).
That leaves vocalist Matthew Ryan, guitarist Ryan Cole and drummer Elliot Cole (the latter two, who, yes, are twins, also of Wall and the recently-hiatus’ed The Grand Mal) as the remaining founders of a band that up till that point had managed to keep its lineup steady all the while. Longtime followers of Desert Storm may note some shift in dynamic in the direct one-to-the-other in comparing the nine-song/47-minute Death Rattle to its predecessor, but anyone concerned about some lack of impact as a result of the missing guitar need not fret — it’s called layering, as heard in the layered lead lines of “Druid’s Heath” — as there’s still heavy to spare in Desert Storm‘s sound, and perhaps a bit more flexibility around that than there’s been previously.
But the truth is even that’s more a continuation of the steady expansion of sound that’s been taking place all the while in Desert Storm rather than some radical shift brought on by a specific event. That’s not to downplay what either Benoist or White brought to the band, just to say that Desert Storm have been about more than boozy Southern-style burl ‘n’ plunder for years now and Death Rattle continues to move forward. “Master of None” provides a reassuringly weighted opening, a big swing in the drums behind the relatively straightforward, stage-ready rocker, catchy and punchy in kind in its hook and hinting in the melody of its bridge at some of the range that fleshes out beginning with second track (and lead single) “Cheyne Stoking,” also the longest inclusion at 7:46.
With no shortage of crash and thud behind in Elliot Cole‘s drumming, building tension that’s carried over from the leadoff and opening wide as it moves into its midsection, the band move fluidly through a progressive-tinged bombast, Ryan audibly pushing himself vocally to add to the melody around the three-minute mark as much as he brings to the headbanger-chugging crunch just half a minute later after the next turn. “Death Rattle” has a hook of its own and is emblematic of many of the moves Desert Storm make throughout Death Rattle, whether it’s the way the later “Insomniac” bravely lets go of its massive, intense and guttural beginning to shift into a long and relatively minimal stretch before coming back not quite at full oomph for a long march and fadeout, or the acoustic-underpinned album centerpiece “Salt of the Earth,” with its trades in volume and intertwining layers of fuzz and melody.
As “Melatone” touches on post-rock in its own floating layers of guitar — if you told me White was actually on the record alongside Ryan Cole, I’d believe you, but the point about the more open sound stands — and echoes the patient intro and subdued finish of the earlier “Bad Trip” (video premiering below), the sense that Desert Storm are perhaps letting the songs breathe a bit more becomes all the more an essential facet of Death Rattle. Even set next to, say, “The Path of Most Resistance” from Omens, the band in their maturity seem comfortable in pulling back on the onslaught factor — in places, lest we forget the frustrated mania that launches “Insomniac” or the wash of crash behind the final chorus of “Cheyne Stoking,” let alone the payoff of “Bad Trip” itself — and that also lets the distinguishing fuzz of “Melatone” and the crush/drift duality of the penultimate “Self Deprecation” have a richer context in which to unfold. Death Rattle, then, becomes not a story of what Desert Storm have lost, but the manner in which they’ve been able to stay on the path of their overarching progression despite the changes in their makeup.
Taken as a whole, Death Rattle is their most expansive offering to date, and maintains the strength of songwriting that’s been so consistent throughout their career while stepping with characteristic boldness onto new-feeling stylistic ground. If there’s a hiccup in the material from bringing Dennett in on bass, I haven’t found it, and as the record unfolds from “Master of None” into the more complex fare that follows, the band come across as well in control of both where their material is going, how it’s getting there, and — perhaps most importantly — why.
They close Death Rattle with the 2:42 instrumental “New Dawn,” which sweeps in on atmospheric guitar and percussion that still has some density of stomp behind; a desert-bluesy vibe without being blues or desert rock. Acoustic guitar returns under the electrics and there’s a vague sense of threat in the tension of its more active parts, but the guitars let it go gently at around two and a half minutes in and Desert Storm finish in a way that’s not so much unlike “Rebirth” from the last album (save for not having vocals), but more efficiently establishes its mood.
It becomes an ending representative in affect if not a total summary of how Death Rattle functions, and underscores the point that Desert Storm, at this stage in their tenure, know who they are and what they want to do as a unit, even as that idea evolves with time. One tends to make note of titles that could be interpreted as endings for the band in question, and Death Rattle — recorded and mixed by Steve “Geezer” Watkins at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire — certainly fits that bill, but whether or not it’s last rites for Desert Storm personally, the scope and sense of craft they bring forth is a triumph for them as a group and feels like a level of realization they’ve been working toward for years now. If they keep it going, so much the better.
The video premiere for “Bad Trip” is on the player below, followed by some comment from the band, the preorder link, tour dates and whatnot from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Desert Storm, “Bad Trip” video premiere
Matthew Ryan on “Bad Trip”:
“What happened quite naturally during the writing process for Bad Trip, was something just clicked. The thoughts and emotions associated just felt so familiar. It was an obvious choice at the time. This is a Eulogy about a great man who the band knew fondly. March 2023 marks the tenth year of his premature passing, and so it felt fitting to pay tribute by releasing Death Rattle this month. He was a thinker, was studying philosophy and was a self-professed psychonaut. He joined us on tour in our formative years and we loved having him on the road. We admired him and cared a lot about him, has been in our thoughts and our liner notes, but it is high time we immortalised him through song. As we get older, we think about our life experiences as well as his own that he is missing out on. Not able to join us in the journey through life, to see us wed, with families, large milestones and celebrations. He is sorely missed. The title itself refers to a particularly hairy moment in his history where we learned that the intensity of blotter acid is far easier to regulate than that of concentrated liquid acid. It was understood that a single droplet would be sufficient for an intense hallucinogenic experience, however, to mark the final trip of the bottle, somebody decided to lick the glass pipette.”
Desert Storm is a four-piece progressive metal band, which has been wielding crushing riffs and grooves into earholes around the world for the past 15 years. 31st March 2023 will see the release of their new album ‘Death Rattle’ out worldwide on APF Records (Video Nasties, Possessor, Battalions). In 2023 they will tour extensively to support the release of ‘Death Rattle’.
DESERT STORM ‘DEATH RATTLE’ EUROPEAN TOUR 31.03.23 | UK | Oxford | o2 Academy 2 01.04.23 | NL | Arnhem | Willemeen 02.04.23 | BE | Retie | Cafe Bazaar 03.04.23 | DE | Hamburg | Bar 227 04.04.23 | NL | Den Haag | Paard Cafe 05.04.23 | NL | Eindhoven | Effenaar 06.04.23 | DE | Dresden | Chemiefabrik 07.04.23 | CZ | Prague | Modra Vopice 08.04.23 | SK | Kosice | Collosseum 09.04.23 | PL | Katowice | Katofonia 10.04.23 | DE | Furth | Kunstkeller 027 11.04.23 | BE | Antwerp | Kids Rhythm n blues kaffee 12.04.23 | DE | Aachen | Musikbunker 20.05.23 | UK | London | The Dome 08.09.23 | NO | Stavanger | Checkpoint Charlie 09.09.23 | NO | Sandnes | Tribute 10.09.23 | NO | Oslo | Brewgata 30.09.23 | UK | Manchester | Riffolution Festival 17.11.23 | NL | Amsterdam | The Cave 18.11.23 | NL | Coevorden | MFC
Desert Storm is – Matthew Ryan – Vocals Ryan Cole – Guitars Elliot Cole – Drums & Percussion Matthew Dennett – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Last year, Oxford four-piece Desert Storm celebrated their 15th anniversary, and the impending APF Records issue of their new album, Death Rattle, and the concurrent tour that starts with a March 31 hometown release show would seem to double-down on their commitment to the ideal. They’ve got a couple runs lined up throughout this year — they’ll be in Norway in September, the Netherlands in November, etc. — and that’s about right for the band, whose hard-hitting approach is reaffirmed amid a played-up progressive flourish in the new single “Cheyne Stoking,” for which you can see a fairly disturbing video at the bottom of this post.
I try not to be too superstitious generally, but my eyebrows always go up at least a little when a band inadvertently references a demise, since I tend to believe that all art is on some level about itself. There are a lot of final albums with death or departure in the title, is all. Plenty without, too, but if Death Rattle was to be the final statement from Desert Storm, the band by no means owe anyone anything. They’ve consistently put everything they’ve got into what they do, and if you can’t respect that I’ve got nothing for you. I haven’t heard the new album yet, but I look forward to doing so in good time.
Meanwhile, the PR wire has preorders, tour dates, and copious narrative, blessings and peace upon it:
DESERT STORM ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘DEATH RATTLE’
RELEASED 31ST MARCH 2023 (APF RECORDS) / SHARE FIRST SINGLE
Desert Storm is a four-piece progressive metal band, which has been wielding crushing riffs and grooves into earholes around the world for the past 15 years.
Hailing from Oxford, the city of screaming spires, Desert Storm deliver their own unique brand of heavy music. Their sound is loud, punishing and unforgiving, but also woven with elation and electrical ecstasy.
31st March 2023 will see the release of their new album ‘Death Rattle’ out worldwide on APF Records (Video Nasties, Possessor, Battalions). Vocalist Matt Ryan states, “Death Rattle is an album that leans to Desert Storm’s strengths in songwriting ability. It is cohesive and flows with each song telling an individual tale, bound by common topics throughout. Genre traversing, musically progressing from the extreme and hard to softer palettes, moments of the ethereal. The light and dark shades are synonymous with the Desert Storm sound, as that which is completely light or dark is neither truly without contrast. This is true also for the lyrics which span thematically. The core string section of two guitars and single bass are complemented by an array of other instruments throughout the album, but act as a solid foundation for heavy grooves and riffs. Death Rattle is best served loud.”
The album was recorded & mixed at the beautiful Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire by Steve ‘Geezer’ Watkins. The studio used to be owned by legendary folk band Fairport Convention, and in recent years has seen the likes of Tony Iommi & Rob Halford recording there.
Once the album was recorded and mixed, it was sent to Portland, Oregon, USA for Brad Boatright at Audiosiege to master (Torche, Nails, High on Fire). The artwork is by David Paul Seymour & layout by Dominic Sohor.
Commenting on first single ‘Cheyne Stoking’, Matt adds, “Cheyne Stoking is about the death trip that occurs in all of us, moments before we die. As the pineal gland just straight dumps what DMT remains into the body to invoke the deepest dreamlike experience, otherwise referred to as the near-death experience. Lyrics drawing partially from ingestion of synthesized DMT and some imagination as it differs to what is reported of the actual death experience. Thoughts and memories come to the forefront of the mind, and it is reportedly like living everything all at once before the final curtain call. The lyrics are not cryptic, they quite explicitly describe what we imagine to be the experience. Cheyne stokes breathing is also known as the death rattle. This is where the breath becomes irregular and raspy in the final moments before death. This seemed a fitting title for the track and subsequently the album.”
In some towns you have a music scene to work with and in others, you have to make the scene around you. Desert Storm built the Oxford scene themselves. Launched into the world in 2007, Desert Storm’s mix of progressive metal and stoner doom was underpinned with a driving, pure rock ‘n’ roll strut. It’s a formula which makes for a reliably arse-kicking band.
After testing the waters with their 2008 self-titled EP, Desert Storm truly came into their own in time for their debut full length, Forked Tongues in 2010; a radically tighter band on said record and finally beginning to capture the force of their live shows. It’s an upward trend that carried through their two follow ups Horizontal Life and Omniscient respectively.
Perhaps that evolution in sound on record is through their consistency in touring. Always taking their wares on the road, operation Desert Storm has been in full effect on tours with the likes of Karma to Burn and Nashville Pussy, as well as when sharing the stage with bands such as Orange Goblin, Weedeater and The Atomic Bitchwax.
By the time of 2018’s Sentinels [APF011], Desert Storm had found a refined sound. More “oomph” driving the power behind the band than in any previous outing, tastier riffs and more viscidity throughout the record, it captured a band at the top of their game; road hardened and ready to get stuck in. Whether it’s the springy, stoner stomp of ‘Drifter’, or the verging on thrash moments seen in ‘Too Far Gone’ or everything in between, this was THE Desert Storm album so far.
But we didn’t bet against them topping those heights when the next album came around, and we were right not to do so. 2020’s Omens became their piece de la resistance. In 2022 Desert Storm won an HRH Award, in the Stoner Lords category, beating off stiff competition from Black Rainbows, Kadavar and Green Lung.
Unable to tour it due to the pandemic, work commenced on a new record which has resulted in ‘Death Rattle’, their greatest effort yet.
Over the years Desert Storm have been out on countless headline tours and have toured and shared the stages across the UK & Europe with many incredible bands including Crowbar, Orange Goblin, Karma To Burn, Red Fang, Corrosion of Conformity, CKY, American Headcharge, Conjurer and Raging Speedhorn to name a few. In 2023 they will tour extensively to support the release of ‘Death Rattle’.
DESERT STORM ‘DEATH RATTLE’ EUROPEAN TOUR 31.03.23 | UK | Oxford | o2 Academy 2 01.04.23 | NL | Arnhem | Willemeen 02.04.23 | BE | Retie | Cafe Bazaar 03.04.23 | DE | Hamburg | Bar 227 04.04.23 | NL | Den Haag | Paard Cafe 05.04.23 | NL | Eindhoven | Effenaar 06.04.23 | DE | Dresden | Chemiefabrik 07.04.23 | CZ | Prague | Modra Vopice 08.04.23 | SK | Kosice | Collosseum 09.04.23 | PL | Katowice | Katofonia 10.04.23 | DE | Furth | Kunstkeller 027 11.04.23 | BE | Antwerp | Kids Rhythm n blues kaffee 12.04.23 | DE | Aachen | Musikbunker 20.05.23 | UK | London | The Dome 08.09.23 | NO | Stavanger | Checkpoint Charlie 09.09.23 | NO | Sandnes | Tribute 10.09.23 | NO | Oslo | Brewgata 30.09.23 | UK | Manchester | Riffolution Festival 17.11.23 | NL | Amsterdam | The Cave 18.11.23 | NL | Coevorden | MFC
Desert Storm is – Matthew Ryan – Vocals Ryan Cole – Guitars Elliot Cole – Drums & Percussion Matthew Dennett – Bass
Oxford heavy rockers The Grand Mal issue their second album, The Grand Mal II — or simply II, since you’ll be on friendly terms with it soon enough — on Nov. 4 through APF Records. The reshuffling of personnel from other bands, which actually took place before the pandemic hit, brings together drummer Elliot Cole and guitarist Ryan Cole (both also of Wall and Desert Storm) and Möther Cörona‘s vocalist Dave-O, bassist Rob Glenn, and for this record, guitarist Lee Cressey as well, rounding out a desert-style double-guitar five-piece cramming 12 songs into 36 minutes that still give a sense of composition along with energy both stage-born and stage-ready.
The obvious influences at play are Cali desert. Following the synthy-feedbacky-thudding intro “Another Replicant,” “Petit Mal” takes off like Oliveri-penned Queens of the Stone Age, and a Lullabies to Paralyze-ish vocal melody and acoustic guitar — almost like a Mark Lanegan tribute — plays out in the later interlude “Lost in Time” as well, but amid the Kyuss-ism of “I Live for Today” and the Dave-O‘s calling to mind mellowed-out John Garcia circa Hermano in “Shallow” and “Seas of Glory,” the latter with a riff that feels particularly Orange Goblin‘ed, coming out of the handclap guitar/drone raga of “The Lingering” (the record’s by no means all desert, aesthetically), but whether it’s the fuzz shove of “Shallow” or the funky stoner strut of “Rule My Soul,” done faster in “Hellbound Blues,” there’s a strong current of Dutch heavy rockers Astrosoniq.
I don’t think that’s a direct influence — it’s certainly not impossible — but it is kind of where The Grand Mal end up. Like their preceding 2019 self-titled debut (discussed here), II is a deceptively varied listen. “Another Replicant” hints toward some of the reach that will follow, but the hooks across side A in “Petit Mal,” “Shallow,” “I Live for Today,” “Rule My Soul” and “Smash the Grave” have a grounding effect even as they space out with sundry swirls, tempo shifts, and other quirky odds and ends. Some lap steel guitar before the falsetto finish in “Rule My Soul.” The thicker roll of “Shallow” that still has room for tambourine to dance. On and on, the more one listens, the more The Grand Mal‘s depth of craft shows itself, and that’s very much in an Astrosoniq spirit, experimenting on a foundation of strongly composed heavy rock and roll inspired by ’90s and ’00s forerunners of the style that’s not afraid to bring something of its own to the mix, or to have a good time. There are far worse bands one could happen into sounding like; for example, most.
If one considers vinyl structure, then “Lost in Time” (found you right around 2005) is an intro for side B, which branches out in alternating more straightforward pieces with interludes, such that the rush of “Hellbound Blues” that resolves in the nodder chug of the song’s second half is complemented by the ’60s folk-psych of “The Lingering,” loops and samples courtesy of producer Jimmy Hetherington adding to the laid back ceremonial vibe, from which “Seas of Glory” picks up like it was Made in Oss with the fuzzy lead tucked into the finish to prove it. The back-and-forth flow, a purposeful shift from where The Grand Mal were on side A, is maintained as the penultimate guitar-led instrumental piece “Empire of Vultures” leads into capper “Bloodmoon,” which ties it all together in an electric-backed acoustic-up-front epilogue, creatively percussed and a final showcase of breadth that stands as analog for II ideologically — that is, it emphasizes the adventure that’s just taken place, rather than summarizes the sound, which would likely take more than its three and a half minutes anyhow.
The growth from the first record is likewise palpable here, and while The Grand Mal aren’t necessarily the first act to come along and make something of their own from their component influences, they do so with a marked attention to presentation and toward making each track hit with an impact of its own while feeding the overarching flow of the record as well. It’s classic heavy methodology, but as in the best case scenarios, they bring something of their own to it, too. More here than the first record, and probably more next time too. That’s how this shit works, ideally. The Grand Mal II lives up to that ideal and establishes the band as formidable songwriters as well as a group of dudes who clearly have their heads on straight when it comes to knowing what they want to sound like.
Most of all, it’s a rocker, so get to rockin’. PR wire info follows the album stream on the player below.
Please enjoy:
The Grand Mal are essentially Oxford royalty. A coming together of five of the city’s favourite sons, in the form of Desert Storm’s twin brothers Ryan (guitar) and Elliot Cole (drums), as well as Möther Cörona’s Rob Glenn (bass), Lee Cressey (guitar) and Dave-O (vocals), this is a band you should definitely already be interested in from that fact alone.
Formed in 2015 and having already honed their chops in their other bands, it was always a no brainer that they should find a place at APF Records given their individual pedigrees; so after hearing their tracks put to record, the band signed to APF in 2018.
Their self-titled debut, October 2019’s The Grand Mal [APF021], leant into grunge, whilst maintaining elements of the sludge, southern and stoner that have become staples of Desert Storm and Mother Corona’s output. Following the album’s release The Grand Mal would play live all over the UK, both on a 10-date headline tour and as support to Conjurer, Evil Scarecrow, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Tuskar, Dead Lettuce, The Brothers Keg, Alunah, Desert Storm, Limb, and many others.
Tracklisting: 1. Another Replicant 2. Petit Mal 3. Shallow 4. I Live For Today 5. Rule My Soul 6. Smash The Grave 7. Lost In Time 8. Hellbound Blues 9. The Lingering 10. Seas of Glory 11. Empire of Vultures 12. Bloodmoon
In support of the album release The Grand Mal will be performing at:
04.11.22 | UK | Oxford | Rabidfest w/ Discharge & Desert Storm 19.11.22 | UK | Stafford | Red Rum 10.12.22 | UK | London | The Devonshire Arms 12.02.22 | UK | Cardiff | The Moon 13.01.23 | UK | London | Helgi’s 14.01.23 | UK | Rotherham | The Hive 15.01.23 | UK | Nottingham | Tap n Tumblr 03.03.23 | UK | Bournemouth | The Bear Cave
Recorded and mixed at Shonk Studios January to July 2021 by Jimmy Hetherington. Mastered by Jimmy Hetherington at Warehouse Studios August 2022. Art layout by Dominic Sohor.
The Grand Mal is: Dave-O – vocals, tambourine, keys Ryan Cole – guitars, acoustic guitar on Lost In Time Elliot Cole – drums, percussion Rob Glen – bass Lee Cressey – guitars, acoustic guitar on Bloodmoon
Jimmy Hetherington – additional lapsteel on Rule My Soul; handclaps, loops and samples on The Lingering; mellotron on Lost in Time, guitar on Bloodmoon. Additional backing vocals by Ryan Cole and Lee Cressey.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Congratulations to Oxford, UK, heavybringers Desert Storm on the impending celebration of their 15th anniversary. Looks like it’ll come with a new album too, so all the better. The band are in the studio now-ish, at least judging by the look of the pictures they posted a couple days ago on the social medias, and what will be the follow-up to 2020’s Omens (discussed here) — they’re right on target with an album on every even year — will also mark the first appearance of bassist Matthew Dennett (also Battalions) with the five-piece, who steps in for Chris Benoist. Benoist, meanwhile, is getting a send-off at the hometown show, so the transition will actually take place on stage, though if I’m not mistaken Dennett has already done a couple gigs with the band as well. In any case, it’s nice when someone can leave a band and it’s not a fight or a hard-feelings thing and they actually get a chance to say goodbye. Kudos on being civilized, you riffy bastards.
I haven’t seen a target release date for the album yet, but will keep an eye. In addition to the February and March dates, Desert Storm also play at Desertfest London and at Riff Fest in Bolton. The full slate is as follows:
Desert Storm – 15th Anniversary Tour
Pleased to announce 2022 marks the 15 year anniversary of Desert Storm. To celebrate the occasion we have some tour dates in place…
***The Oxford date will be a special show where half the set will be with our new bassist Matt Dennett and half with Chris Benoist, his last show with us, so lets give him a great send off! (Tix from o2 website) ***
We’re happy to announce Matthew Dennett to the Desert Storm family as our new bass player. He brings great power, energy and tone to the band, and we are really looking forward to having him in the band and on the next album, which we start tracking next month.
A few of you will know him as bassist of Battalions. Dennett will still be playing for them as well as Desert Storm, they are a great band and friends of ours and the last thing we wanted to do was poach him / step on their toes…
PLEASE NOTE Birmingham show subject to change…
Support on selected dates from the awesome Battalions, Suns of Thunder and Regulus
TOUR DATES –
16.02.22 | UK | Bristol | The Crofters Rights 17.02.22 | UK | Cardiff | Clwb Ifor Bach 18.02.22 | UK | Manchester | factory251 19.02.22 | UK | Edinburgh | Bannermans Bar 20.02.22 | UK | Newcastle | Trillians Rock Bar 21.02.22 | UK | Leeds | Temple Of Boom Leeds 22.02.22 | UK | Blackpool | Waterloo Music Bar Blackpool 23.02.22 | UK | Birmingham | The Victoria 24.02.22 | UK | Milton Keynes | The Craufurd Arms (Live Music Venue) 25.02.22 | UK | Bournemouth | Anvil Rockbar Bournemouth 26.02.22 | UK | Oxford | O2 Academy Oxford 25.03.22 | UK | Lincoln | The Scene Lincoln 26.03.22 | UK | Sheffield | network 27.03.22 | UK | Nottingham | Nottingham Chameleon 21.04.22 | BE | Antwerp | Kid’s Rhythm ‘n’ Blues Kaffee 22.04.22 | NL | Arnhem | Willemeen 23.04.22 | NL | Coevorden | MFC Coevorden 24.04.22 | BE | Ghent | Muziekcentrum Kinky Star 01.05.22 | UK | Lomdon | The Underworld Camden ( Desertfest London ) 25.06.22 | DE | Obernzeen | Wasted Openair 16.07.22 | IE | Dublin | Fiibber Magees 17.07.22 | UK | Belfast | Voodoo Belfast 27.08.22 | UK | Bolton | The Alma ( Riff Fest)
