Album review: Desert Storm – Buried Under The Weight Of Reason

Meat-and-potatoes heavy metal gets a lot of shit. Done just right, however, nothing else hits the spot quite like the blend of big riffs and haunting melodies, easy crooning and guttural roars. Almost 20 years since they first bulldozed out of Oxford, Desert Storm have iron-fastened themselves as a fixture on the British underground, rarely failing to leave necks wrecked and beers spilled in these isles’ countless back bars and bunker stops. But titanic seventh album Buried Under The Weight Of Reason underlines a talent that’s world class.

Greatness starts at home, mind. Working under that sandblasted band name, one might expect sounds channelling modern warfare in exotic climes – and there is no lack of shock and awe – but this is music rooted in England. From Kacper Gilka’s Shakespearean artwork to songs like Newfound Respect and Shamanic Echoes whose lineage can be traced back through Orange Goblin and Cathedral to the mighty Black Sabbath, they revel under the weight of history. There’s even a folksy hint of Led Zeppelin on the brilliant Woodsman.

Building on those sturdy foundations, they layer on dazzling colour and intoxicating heft. The latter-day blues-rock of Maryland riff masters Clutch remains a telling reference point as Cut Your Teeth veers between sledgehammer impact and easy noodling, or Law Unto Myself hits its gleeful gallop. More often, though, with drummer/guitarist twins Elliot and Ryan Cole leading the charge, they go for the palatial grandiosity and dump truck tonnage of High On Fire, with Rot To Ruin and Dripback custom-tooled to separate skulls from spines. But as churning closer Twelve Seasons reverts back to joyous Sabbath worship, it’s a poignant reminder not to overanalyse and simply enjoy heavy music at its groovy, growly, undiluted best.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Orange Goblin, High On Fire, Clutch

Buried Under The Weight Of Reason is released on March 6 via Heavy Psych Sounds.