Posted in Whathaveyou on October 19th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Yeah, this one makes sense. UK imprint APF Records has worked to make itself a home-base for some of its burliest countrymen acts, fostering the extremity, sludge and otherwise unabashed dudeliness of the likes of BongCauldron, Tronald, Under, Ba’al, Diesel King, Nomad and Mastiff, among others. That they’d go ahead and pick up Desert Storm and add the Oxford five-piece to that roster feels like a next logical step to me. They’ll make for good company. APF clearly knows what it’s doing in wrangling the viciousness of these acts, and as Desert Storm look to follow-up 2015’s Omniscient (review here), they’re deserving of as wide attention as they can get, particularly after touring as they have over the last year-plus with Honky and Limb in the UK and hitting the European mainland earlier in 2017.
So while it’s not necessarily the hugest of surprises conceptually, I’ll say all the more kudos to group and imprint for the logical fit, and hope for more to come from Desert Storm as we move into the New Year. The band, who also had a split 7″ with Suns of Thunder (review here) out last year on H42 Records to mark their appearance at Desertfest, will release their new album, Sentinels, in March. I’ll get my testosterone supplements ready.
APF posted the following announcement to make it official:
We are beyond thrilled to announce that Desert Storm have signed to APF Records.
Following on from Desert Storm (2008), Forked Tongues (2010), Horizontal Life (2013) and Omniscient (2015) we will be releasing the quintet’s new album SENTINELS worldwide and on all formats on 1st March 2018.
Welcome to the family, boys.
Desert Storm is: Chris White: Guitar Ryan Cole: Guitar Chris Benoist: Bass Elliot Cole: Drums Matt Ryan: Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 14th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Burl-loaded UK groove rockers Desert Storm will head out on a European tour beginning March 24. They’re starting in style with two shows in one day at Hammerfest and at Bristol’s storied Stag and Hounds venue, then kicking outward from there into the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and back to Germany for one more go on a no-nights-off run heralding the arrival of their fourth full-length, which may or may not be released to coincide with the tour but is definitely due sometime in 2017 according to the band.
When it drops, Desert Storm‘s next long-player will be the follow-up to 2015’s Omniscient (review here) and the H42 Records split 7″ with Suns of Thunder (review here) they released earlier this year to celebrate their appearance at Desertfest. Whatever they come up with for it, you can guess it will be the dudeliest thing you hear that day, as that’s kind of how it goes with the Oxford natives.
Dates and other info follow, courtesy of the PR wire:
For Desert Storm, 2016 has been a year of musical contemplation with the 4th album in the process of being forged. Hammerfest, Desert Fest Berlin, Camden Rocks & Bloodstock amongst other festivals along with a 12 day tour supporting the mighty Honky, have marked the bands commitment to getting out there on the road and honing their craft.
Gazing into the future, 2017 will mark a decade of riff making for the band, celebrating this with the release of their 4th studio album, along with multiple tours in the works. Keep your eyes open.
Desert Storm European tour: Fri 24th March – Hammerfest, UK Fri 24th March – Bristol, Stag & Hounds, UK Sat 25th March – Den Haag, Musicon, NL Sun 26th March – Antwerp, Kavka, BE Mon 27th March – Hamburg, Bar 227, DE Tues 28th March – Berlin, Urban Spree, DE Wed 29th March – Prague, Nad Viktorkou, CZ Thurs 30th March – Kosice, Collosseum, SK Fri 31st March – Katowice, Korba, PL Sat 1st April – Dresden, Chemiefabrik, DE
Desert Storm is: Chris White: Guitar Ryan Cole: Guitar Chris Benoist: Bass Elliot Cole: Drums Matt Ryan: Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 13th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
With 12PM doors and 13 bands on the bill, the Buried in Smoke All Dayer should most certainly live up to its name. The dirt-cheap and dirtier-heavy onslaught is set to take place Nov. 12 at The Bullingdon in Oxford, UK, and along with Desert Storm — who are also directly involved in putting the event and all of Buried in Smoke Promotions‘ shows together — the lineup boasts several noteworthy names out of the UK’s ultra-fertile underground heavy scene. Worth noting that Desert Storm fit right where they are in closing out the night, and to have them joined by Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight, Grifter, Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters and Lacertilia at the top of the bill shows the utter strength of the scene in which this show is taking place.
No less encouraging, however, are the names toward the earlier part of the day: Morass of Molasses, King Goat, Mastiff, The Atrocity Exhibit, Black Skies Burn, The Darkhorse, My Diablo and Crimson Tusk. You’re doubtless already familiar with all of the above (also below), because you’re more in touch than I am and/or you live in the UK, but they would seem to represent a decent cross-section of underground rock and metal, and as always with this kind of gig, it’s as much about seeing the bands you don’t know as the bands you do.
At least that’s how it should work. Full lineup info and links follow here, as hoisted from the social medias:
Nov. 12 – B.I.S. All Dayer
The Bullingdon 162 Cowley Road, OX4 1UE Oxford, United Kingdom
Buried In Smoke promotions present:
Desert Storm Trippy Wicked Grifter Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters Lacertillia Morass Of Molasses King Goat Mastiff The Atrocity Exhibit Black Skies Burn The Darkhorse My Diablo Crimson Tusk
UK heavy rockers Desert Storm will release their new split with Suns of Thunder next weekend at Desertfest Berlin. Released through H42 Records, the split 7″ (review here) brings together one track from each band, and for Desert Storm, follows up their 2014 third album, Omniscient (review here), it refines their burly take on post-Orange Goblin heavy grooves and brash riffing, booze-ready and sonically forceful. Crisp and clearheaded in its intent, “Signals from Beyond” nonetheless carries the swagger of Desert Storm‘s earlier offerings forward as it moves through its quick four minutes.
As a result, they sound like they know what the hell they’re doing. And well they should with three albums under their belt, an appearance last year Desertfest London, a tour upcoming with Honky (dates here), Berlin next weekend and so on, but it stands as a demonstration of what a few years of kicking around a busy scene can really bring out in a band. Desert Storm made their debut in 2010, and since then, they’ve worked steadily to progress their take across shows and albums, garnering a fanbase the old fashioned way: with songs and on-stage effort.
I wouldn’t look for that to change. Desert Storm seem to have found their niche and have set about developing in it. Not sure what they’re up to after their summer tour, but a fourth long-player for 2017 doesn’t seem like an unreasonable expectation.
Until then, enjoy “Signals from Beyond” on the player below, followed by more info on the Desertfest split from H42 Records:
Desert Storm, “Signals from Beyond” official video
Check out our new video for our track ‘Signals From Beyond’. This track is on our new split 7″ with our friends Suns Of Thunder which gets officially released at Desertfest on 29th April. Cheers to H42 Records and Winwood Media for the video.
Limited up to 350 copies 100 on clear ree vinyl with red artwork 100 on clear yellow vinyl with yellow artwork 100 on clear green vinyl with green artwork 50 on clear vinyl with blue artwork (DESSERTFEST Berlin edition and only available at the festival)
Limited Up to 350 copies (H42-031, H42 Records) 100 on clear red vinyl with red artwork 100 on clear green vinyl with green artwork 100 on clear yellow vinyl with yellow artwork 100 on clear vinyl with blue artwork (DesertFest Berlin Edition and only available at the festival)
Posted in Reviews on March 28th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
So it begins. I’d say this one snuck up on me, but the terrible truth of these things is that there are months of planning involved. You know the drill by now: Between today and Friday, I’ll be posting 50 record reviews in batches of 10 per day, and that’s the Quarterly Review. They’re not really in any order. Some have been out for a while, some aren’t out yet. I have tried to mark 2015 stuff where possible, if only to keep my own organizational modus straight. We’ll see how that goes as the week plays out. In any case, I hope you find something here that you dig. I know I have.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Wheel in the Sky, Heading for the Night
Although Wheel in the Sky’s presentation is modern enough on their The Sign Records debut album, Heading for the Night, to steer them clear of Sweden’s boogie-mad masses, they’re still very clearly taking influence from classic rock, most notably The Who on cuts like opener “Fire, Death to All” (also the longest track; immediate points), “Total Eclipse of the Brain” and “Thrust in the Night.” The clarity of sound and approach puts them more in line with bands like The Golden Grass and, for a countrymen example, Troubled Horse, than Graveyard, and the Uppsala/Stockholm four-piece distinguish themselves further through the dual-lead interplay of “A Turn for the Wicked,” which hints just a bit toward Thin Lizzy bounce to feed into closer “God on High,” which coats its vocals in echo to add a sense of grandeur before the last instrumental push, which picks up the pace at the end to cap a first album from a band clearly looking to find their own niche within a classic heavy rock feel.
Offered first by the band in 2012 and reissued through Sulatron Records with two bonus tracks from the same recording session, Sun Dial’s Mind Control puts the long-running UK psych/space rockers in their element in a kosmiche expanse quickly on “Mountain of Fire and Miracles,” and while electronic experimentation is a factor throughout “Radiation” and “Burned In,” there’s always a human spirit underneath and sometimes out front in what Sun Dial do, and the newly-included “Seven Pointed Star” and “World Within You” fit in with the sense of acid ritual that the original album tracks convey, the title cut transposing Hawkwindian warp drive on a more relaxed atmosphere, each measure seemingly a mantra in a longer meditation. Even with its wah-soaked ending, “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” has a more straightforward tack, proving that even when you think you know what a group like Sun Dial are up to, you’re probably wrong.
The second EP from San Francisco-based shoegazing psychedelic rockers LSD and the Search for God, Heaven is a Place, arrives a whopping nine years after its self-titled predecessor. Granted, it might be the wash of effects and the almost-whispered vocal melodies that seem to barely break the surface of the waves of airy distortion, but if any of this material goes back that far, it doesn’t show its age. The five-piece – guitarist/vocalist Andy Liszt, vocalist Sophia Cambell, guitarist Chris Fifield, bassist Ryan Lescure and drummer Ricky Maymi – offer five tracks of blissed-out, dripping wet vibe, with “Outer Space (Long Way Home)” at the center of a post-grunge swirl following the cosmic push of “(I Don’t Think that We Should) Take it Slow” and before the serenity of “Elizabeth” takes hold as a lead-in for seven-minute finale “Without You,” simultaneously the most lucid and dreamy of the cuts included. Nine years is a long time. Heaven is a Place begs for a quicker follow-up.
Austin purveyors Duel make a striking impression from the cover onward with their Heavy Psych Sounds full-length debut, Fears of the Dead. The four-piece, which by all reports features two former members of Scorpion Child, get down with classic swing on the opening title-track and thereby broadcast the intent of the album as a whole, bringing ‘70s-style grooves and boogie forward in time with modern fullness and a crisp production that highlights the gruff vocals of guitarist Tom Frank, who alongside bassist/vocalist Shaun Avants, guitarist Derek Halfmann and drummer JD Shadowz, swaggers through the record’s eight included slabs as one might through a crowded venue for the next in a long series of an evening’s beers. Later cuts like “When the Pigs are Fed” and 7:52 closer “Locked Outside” bring some more variety to the approach, but the heart of Fears of the Dead remains brash and unbridled, and one doubts if Duel would have it any other way.
One might blink and miss the debut single from somewhat mysterious psychedelic rockers The Canadian Sweetmen, which totals its A and B sides together for a runtime of about four and a half minutes, but the fact that the 90-second “Intro” (the A side) manages to marry The Velvet Underground and The Beach Boys in that span is definitely something worth taking the time to note. There’s just about no information on the band as to who they are, where they come from, where they’re going, etc., but the three-minute “New Cigarettes” makes an impression on style and substance alike and offers an encouraging glimpse at what seems to be a psychedelia bolstered by organ and Rhodes and unbound by a need to adhere to genre tenets. “Intro” doesn’t even stick around long enough to do so, but “New Cigarettes” careens into a rhythmic push for its chorus that offers an earthy undertone to the heady, spaced-out vibe. More please.
Absolutely devastating. UK post-sludgers Wren dole out a punishment that won’t be soon forgotten on their second EP, Host (on Holy Roar), following up the blackened post-rock of their 2014 self-titled EP (review here) and their 2015 split with Irk (review here) with four pummeling but still richly atmospheric cuts. Working now as the lineup of Owen Jones, Chris Pickering, Robert Letts and John McCormick, Wren have had three different vocalists on their three releases, but not a one of them has failed to add to the ambience and crushing impression of their riffs, and the hook of “No Séance” particularly on Host signifies that despite whatever lineup shifts they may have had, Wren continue to progress and refine their attack. “Stray,” “No Séance,” “The Ossuary” and “Loom” are unshakable, deeply weighted and righteously spaced. They may have flown somewhat under the radar up to this point, but Wren are too loud to be a well kept secret for much longer.
Some 12 years after their initial demo surfaced in 2003, Massachusetts’ Transient present an atmospheric take on alt-metal with their self-titled debut full-length, self-released last fall. Bringing together nine tracks/46 minutes with a patient but tense pacing and underlying currents of progressive metal in cuts like “Ditch of Doubt” and “Wrong Time,” it unfolds gracefully with the intro “Voyager One” and finds an aggressive burst in “Wrong Time” and the Tool-gone-psych build of the penultimate “Slightest Scare.” That song is part of an extended two-cut closing suite with “Hold this Grudge,” which highlights Scott McCooe’s bass tone as it provides a surprising but satisfying laid back finish. McCooe, joined here by guitarist/vocalist Tim Hayes and drummer John Harris, splits his time with metalcore progenitors Overcast, and as Transient was recorded over a year’s stretch and then mixed and mastered a year after that – living up to the band’s name – it may be a while before a follow-up, but after so long from their demo, it’s still a welcome debut.
Issued by H42 Records in a limited edition for this year’s Desertfest, the new split 7” from UK heavy platoons Desert Storm and Suns of Thunder is so dudely they could sell it as vitamin supplements on late-night tv. A complex critique of gender it is not, heavy it is. One track from each band. Desert Storm bring the burl of “Signals from Beyond,” which with its strong hook and gravely vocals brings to mind Orange Goblin nestled into a nodding riff. For Swansea’s Suns of Thunder, it’s “Earn Your Stripes,” with its complex vocal arrangements for lyrics about small men and big men, paying your dues and other whathaveyou that dominant culture tells those with testicles will make them more complete people. Fine. Masculinity and femininity are scams to sell pants, but “Earn Your Stripes” is catchy as all anything and “Signals from Beyond” is even catchier than however catchy that is, so a testosterone overdose seems a small price to pay.
Telstar Sound Drone, Magical Solutions to Everyday Struggles
Magical Solutions to Everyday Struggles is the second album from Copenhagen-based auralnauts Telstar Sound Drone, and like much of what Bad Afro releases, it presents a strong temptation to drop out, tune in and turn on. Little surprise the band is something of an offshoot from Baby Woodrose, sharing guitarist Mads Saaby and drummer Hans Beck with the seminal garage rockers, but the lush impression made on “Something I Can’t Place” with the watery vocals of Sean Jardenbæk comes from an even more lysergic place, and the experimental side that comes through on “Closer Again,” “Dark Kashmir” and the languid “Dead Spaces” is a multi-tiered dreamscape that closer “Lean down on White” seems sad to leave. Reasonably so. With guest spots from members of Spids Nøgenhat, Bite the Bullet and Baby Woodrose (Kåre Joensen on bass/synth), Telstar Sound Drone’s sophomore outing is an otherworldly psychedelic vision that, as promised, does seem to cure what ails, exciting even in its most subdued moments.
Initially offered by the band in 2012 and subsequently pressed to a six-song 7” and jewel case CD, the self-titled debut EP from San Diego trio Fantasy Arcade only runs about 11 minutes, but that’s all it needs to bring together punk, thrash, sludge and heavy rock across fuckall-heavy cuts like “The Dwarves are Missing” – the longest song here at 3:38 – and the rumbling finale “Die Before You Suck,” which gallops and shouts and seems to crash into walls on its way out, though drummer/vocalist Adam, bassist/vocalist Chris and guitarist Mike actually do well in deciding when to keep control and when to let it go. More nuanced than it lets on, Fantasy Arcade is an aggressive pulse given to moments of frustration boiling over, but being rooted in metal as much as punk, its dwelling in two worlds gives heft to the freneticism at play, as shown in “Poison Arrow,” the first half of which runs at a sprint right into the brick wall slowdown of its second, and final, minute.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 25th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Austin heavy rockers Honky released their last album, 421, in 2012, but they’ve linked up with Housecore Records for the follow-up, Corduroy, which is due out this spring, and to herald the new release, they’ll be heading over to the UK to tour with Desert Storm, who as previously announced have a new 7″ split out in April with Suns of Thunder via H42 Records. Last I saw Honky was with Fu Manchu in New York nearly half a decade ago (review here), but they certainly kicked ass then, and having also seen him play before, I have severe doubts the addition of Dixie Witch drummer Trinidad Leal to the lineup will have done anything to diminish that.
Leal is one of a number of guests joining founder JD Pinkus (Butthole Surfers) and bassist Bobby Ed Landgraf (Down) on the record, as the info below details:
Honky proudly carries the torch held by the likes of Bloodrock, Pantera, ZZ Top and the red-headed stranger himself, Mr. Willie Nelson.
This Austin Superboogie trio was founded in 1996 by long time Butthole Surfer, part time MELVINS bassist JD Pinkus, Bobby Ed Landgraf (DOWN, Skrew) on guitar, and rounded out by Trinidad Leal (Dixie Witch) on them skins.
Honky dishes out an appetite pleasin’ Superboogie servin’ that’ll keep ya’ comin’ back for more. Austin’s favorite sons have released some of the best stripped down, butt shakin’, rock ever cut to Wax, Tape, or CD, and have toured with the likes of Nashville Pussy, the Reverend Horton Heat, Fu Manchu, Melvins, Peter Pan Speedrock, Down, and David Allan Coe.
Honky’s newest release, Corduroy, is another feast of down and dirty rock, rollin’ across the finish line late this Spring on Philip Anselmo’s Housecore Records. Thick enough to eat with a fork but you’ll wanna keep a spoon handy so ya don’t miss out on that gravy… Drum duties are handled by a more then qualified group of drummers, Trinidad Leal (Dixie Witch), Michael ‘Night Train’ Brueggen (Blackula, Syrup, Supagroup), Dale Crover (Melvins), and even Original Honky drummer, Lance Farley, makin’ the grooves proper… Guest appearances by Mark ‘Speedy’ Gonzales and the Fantasma Horns, as well as, our favorite Honkette, Rae Comeau, add to the tastees thrown y’alls’ way.
Honky/Desert Storm UK Tour July/Aug 2016: 07.26 Cambridge Portland Arms 07.27 Exeter The Cavern 07.28 London The Underworld 07.29 Oxford The Bullingdon 07.30 Cardiff Red Sun Festival 07.31 Milton Keynes Craufurd Arms 08.01 Bristol Exchange 08.02 Evesham The Iron Road 08.03 Coventry The Arches 08.04 Bournemouth The Anvil
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
With a special edition to be sold at Desertfest Berlin 2016, UK outfits Desert Storm and Suns of Thunder have announced a new split single due in April via H42 Records. It may be something of a companion for the Monster Magnet and Raging Speedhorn split (info here), but even more than that it shares in common with the concurrent platter a pairing of two decidedly different acts.
Suns of Thunder bask in a crisply produced heavy rock bounce, while Desert Storm offer burl overdose in sludgy form. Both are plenty, plenty dudely, but they definitely have missions of their own. So in other words, if you’re passing by the merch table at Desertfest or if you have a hankering to place a preorder, it’s worth keeping an eye out.
The PR wire had info to add:
DESERT STORM/SUNS OF THUNDER ANNOUNCING PRESALE START + A FIRST LOOK AT THE ART OF THE UPCOMING SPLIT 7″
March 29th H42 Records will start the PRESALE for the new Split 7″ of Oxfords finest Heavyrockers DESERT STORM and their pals SUNS OF THUNDER from Wales. It is also time to preview some art for the upcoming 7″.
And don’t forget – for the DESERTFEST BERLIN they will have a strictly limited special Edition of the single!
Oxford based riff hounds Desert Storm have been making a name for themselves since they formed in 2007. From the beginning the band have worked hard…with 3 albums and a demo and relentless touring of the UK & Europe with the likes of Karma To Burn, Nashville Pussy, Peter Pan Speedrock, Honky (ft members of Down/Melvins/Butthole Surfers) as well as support slots to the likes of Orange Goblin, Red Fang, American Head Charge and festival appearances at The Bulldog Bash, The Desertfest, Brisfest & Roadkill.
Suns Of Thunder was formed in 1999 – They have spent many years sharing the stage with some of the most amazing musicians all over the U.K and Ireland….and spent our fair share of hours in the back of shitty white vans…plodding along, doing our thing all in the name of Stoner & Rock and roll.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 20th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
It’s been fun particularly over the last two years or so to really watch the two springtime Desertfests distinguish themselves as more bands are added to each lineup. Desertfest London and Desertfest Berlin 2016 will still share many bands between them, no doubt, but in seeing acts like Kaleidobolt and Desert Storm (who played London in 2015) join the roster for Berlin in 2016, alongside the newly announced Crowbar, Truckfighters and Egypt — each of whom will also play London — gradually the shape of the German fest itself becomes apparent, and likewise for its European counterpart.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind ending up at either or, but there are some considerable arguments to be made in those steely owl eyes.
Here are the latest announcements:
Desertfest Berlin 2016 – TRUCKFIGHTERS, CROWBAR, EGYPT, DESERT STORM, KALEIDOBOLT added to the line-up!
We all love heavy music and rock concert. Needless to say that we were as shocked as everybody else about the horrible things which happened in Paris last Friday. Our thoughts and hearts are with all the people who lost family members and friends in that senseless attempt…
After such a terrible event , it´s not easy to switch back to “normal”… nevertheless we would like to announce a few more bands today for DESERTFEST BERLIN 2016. We are pleased to welcome Sweden’s phenomenal, bone-rattling godfathers of fuzz Truckfighters, New Orlean’s sludge titans Crowbar, North Dakota based doom/psychedelic/stoner Rock Pharaohs Egypt, Oxford based heavy stoner / blues metal riff hounds Desert Storm and Helsinki’s groovy 1970’s Classic/Hard Rockers Kaleidobolt.
These 5 acts join the first 8 bands previously announced Electric Wizard, Elder, Wo Fat, Monolord, Death Alley, Monomyth, Mothership and Somali Yacht Club. Happening from APRIL 28th to 30th, DESERTFEST BERLIN 2016 might be the trippiest experience of your life, so join us… take the ride and buy your ticket now! (tickets’ links below).
See you all in 162 days!
Regular HARD TICKETS or E-TICKETS can be purchased on our WEBSITE! Our ticketprices remain the same, that’s 85 Euros for all you newbies! But remember that we were sold out last time about 7 weeks ahead, and we think we may top that this year!
