TOUR NEWS: Desert Storm announce UK Tour dates in August with direct support from Limb

 

It probably doesn’t need to be said but I’ll say it again, Desert Storm are one of our favourite bands currently from the UK, their blend of blues based stoner jams has won them a whole range of fans and admirers within the scene. We originally reviewed their superb debut album “Forked Tongues” back in 2011and every subsequent release thereafter has been louder, heavier and more kick ass than the last, indeed their latest full length “Omniscient” was no different, a must have album. Plain and simple.  No strangers to the road, Desert Storm are set to head out on a 5 date UK tour sponsored by yours truly, in conjunction with Buried In Smokeand Sleeping Eye.  Adding further weight to these impending live rituals, Limb will act as direct support.  

Make no mistake this is a tour not to be missed.  You can catch them on the following dates

Wed 16^th Aug – London, The Black Heart

Thurs 17th Aug – Manchester, Rebellion

Fri 18^th Aug – Glasgow, Nice’N’ Sleazy

Sat 19^th Aug – Leicester, The Firebug

Sun 20^th Aug – Milton Keynes, The Crawford Arms

Limb: Facebook | BandCamp

Desert Storm: Facebook || BandCamp

Live Review: Oxbow, SUMAC @ Brudenell Social Club. 26/04/2017 Leeds, UK

By: Aaron Pickford & Charlie Butler

Few could argue that Aaron Turner has been one of the strongest advocates for the promotion and composition of heavy music over the last 20 years. Musician, artist and founder of the highly regarded Hydra Head Records, Turner has played a pivotal role in the release of countless classic albums, but it seemed that with the demise of the revered band ISIS (band),perhaps Turner’s appetite for producing suffocating heaviness would end too.

Whilst Tuner was far from inactive in music since ISIS (band), Turner would re-emerge on his own terms alongside drummer Nick Yacyshyn with a new project and they set about creating some of the heaviest music they had ever written, indeed over the course of two albums, their debut “The Deal”and 2016’s “What One Becomes” SUMAC'smusic seamlessly weaves between periods of crushing heaviness, fragile calm, hypnotic repetition and mind-bending mathematical chaos, taking all of their previous achievements as a foundation and building something even bigger in its own right.

SUMAC have indeed found their voice and with their following growing exponentially, they returned to our shores for the second time in 12 months and on April 26^th in Leeds, my appetite to see them was impossible to quantify. 

Now with a career spanning nearly 30 years, it was a view in some quarters that it was somewhat of an injustice that San Francisco exepermentials Oxbowwould act as second fiddle to tonight’s headliner, however the band were consummate pros tonight and their talent was clear to see, showcasing their truly unique sound.  Trying to categorise their music, is the equivalent of putting a square peg through a round hole, it’s like musical algebra, but impossible to quantify by way of rationale mind.  For me the commonalities of their music is indicative of Nick Cave esque post punk circa The Birthday Party, songs laden with staccato guitar and flagrant discordant keys, giving the listener a sense of nausea, whilst front man Eugene Robinson in a typically rambunctious manner spits out his laments, stalking the stage like a prowling cat.  Given that Oxbow was entirely new to me, to my ears their music evokes the quirkiness of The Butthole Surfers, whilst not entirely draped in acid, the songs are of kilter , unconventional and the antithesis of anti pop.  This is a band who don’t play by the rulebook indeed their din of exultant noise leaves you queasy green like a 5 years first boat journey.  With a promise to return next time in under ten years, the final track opens with layers of feedback like the swell of an ocean enveloping your senses, guitars , bass, drums coming at you even more cacophonous than what has come before it and their set is over and my anticipation for SUMAC has literally reached fever pitch. 

It is hard to frame concerts without resorting to the clichéd response of “man it was awesome”, in fact the use of a simple adjectives to describe an experience cannot truly encapsulate that experience and yet here I am attempting to do just that, however truth be told, words fail me for what I witnessed with SUMAC.  Given the dense nature of their recorded material, SUMACbrilliantly translated their music from record to the live arena, shimmering between pummeling heaviness, and more free spirited jam movements.  “Blackout”, “Rigid Man”, “Thorn in Lion’s Paw”, “Image of Control” all were aired tonight, at times the music is as subtle as a brick to the face, with the bass at times overriding the guitar, but SUMAC are more than just a vessel of heaviness, live there is a genuine symbiosis between Turner and Yacyshyn, so much so in fact that if you didn’t know the songs, you could be forgiven for thinking they were improvised jams, Turner flipping between dense riffs to master noise manipulator, allowing the feedback to ring out then we’re awash with psychedelic passages, Turner producing a drumstick to tap the strings, Yacyshyn pulling off impossible drum beats and at times giving the impression this is a man built at a cost of six million dollars, given his apparent bionic abilities.  This was not perhaps a gig that everyone would enjoy, yes at times you're banging your head , but live these compositions are more about feel, dynamic shifts, the manipulation of sound and for me it was an absolute pleasure to witness.  It was a lesson in absolute power.  

Band info: Facebook 

LIVE REVIEW: This Feels Like Never Ending: A farewell To Dillinger Escape Plan

By: Philip Weller



“Farewell, fair cruelty.”

William Shakespeare

“It's just kind of known in the music industry that a farewell tour means 'for now.’”

Nikki Sixx

 

The Dillinger Escape Plan are a violent, Molotov Cocktail of aggressively designed soundscapes. From the rhinoceros charge of hardcore to their chaotic and angular mathcore inhibitions, as strobe lights flash and flicker like a warzone in a thunderstorm in Manchestertonight, it is clear that they are leaving behind a lasting legacy. As of July 2017, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s indefinite hiatus is initialised, and one in which uncertainty hovers over it like a vulture circling its prey. With Greg Puciato moving into poppy, electronic territories with former Nine Inch Nailsman Joshua Eustis – albeit ones shrouded in a dark ambience – and with Ben Weinman focusing upon his own label, Party Smasher Inc., nobody knows whether this staggeringly unique band will grace us with their presence again. Yet, tonight feels like anything but a funeral.

 

Bodies packed in tight, a sticky sense of anticipation clogging up the air; an intensity ready to burst. Tonight has the feel of a proper gig, tonight is going to be sweaty. Then, as the band burst, exploding like a hand grenade, into ‘Limerent Death’s’ opening grooves, which resemble the sound of metal scraping on concrete, it begins. Only the day before had Swedish tech metal giants Meshuggah laid waste to the city across town at The Ritz.That was catastrophically heavy, leaving you breathless, motionless, their perfectly timed lights show as mesmerising as the abundance of face distorting riffs. But here, while still being heavier than an elephant’s turd, their music has a different effect. As their lightshow does its upmost to blind you, you watch the band’s silhouettes throw themselves across the stage as if battling an itch that will not be scratched, the urge to do likewise surges inside you. This is heavy, but this is fun.

And their songs have so much character to boot. ‘Black Bubblegum’ is anthemic, it sounds fictionally massive and the whole room gets caught in its web. ‘When I Lost My Bet’ is inhumanly tight, with its off-beat, blitzing attack opening up the mosh pit as if it were the mouth of hell. ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’ is heart and gut wrenching in equal measure; haunted and beautiful, like a wolf dressed in Granma’s clothes, it is a pop single with deadly and sinister intentions.

 

Alongside earlier material, like the sheer musical obliteration of ‘Farewell, Mona Lisa’ – and one where Weinman really flaunts his technical guitar wizardry – ‘Sympton of Terminal Illness’, taken from their aptly titled final record ‘Dissociation’, represents their growth is beholden in all its glory. The latter builds on eerie broken guitar chords, infused with occasional thrust of metallic impotence and capped with a searing chorus. The heaviness and the insanity is still there, but the song writing is sharper, smarter and more dynamic. For all the decibel plundering however, there is so much personality which colours and brightens their songs. ‘Milk Lizard’ however, will always be the true party smasher.

 

Having seen Puciato in The Black Queen, a band where he can really explore the depth and quality of his singing abilities, to see him here in a more rabid setting is a delight. It is credence too, to a special talent.

 

‘Mouth Of Ghosts’ is one of the most incredibly surreal and hypnotising songs to witness in the flesh. That galloping beat, which waltzes with a gorgeous, emotionally distraught piano line brings a kaleidoscope of images to your head. From vast open plains to the red deserts of Cydonia, it is the kind of song which stirs the soul and heightens inner contemplation. It introduces an encore cut unfortunately short. Halfway through ‘Sunshine Werewolf’ they cut the music and raise the lights. Someone in the crowd is having a seizure. Puciato encourages the crowd to give the individual room and calls for medical attention. The atmosphere in the room changes, a real concern blankets us all. It dampens the spirit and indeed the power of the band’s farewell to a city that has supported them for a long time.  But it also accentuates the band’s humility. They sound like animals, play like animals, but have hearts that betray that visage: A heart that will be sorely missed when it stops beating this July.

 

COMPETITION: Win a bunch of Raging Speedhorn swag

Following a recording absence of 9 years, much heralded Corbyhate machine Raging Sppedhorn roared back into action with one of the finest comeback albums of recent memory, with the release of “Lost Ritual”.

What we found was a more measured beast. Gone were almost all of the out of control frenetic changes and overall delivery, and what we have instead is a band still capable of viciousness and aural violence, but approaching their craft in a more measured manner.  As Comebacks go “Lost Ritual” was great and the band has lost none of their power, releasing an album of uniformly good quality. Raging Speedhornproduced an album well worthy of your time and a perfect antidote for these troubling times.

So if that write up hasn’t garnered your attention, perhaps this will.  We’d like to offer two lucky winners the chance to win two pairs of tickets for the upcoming Skindred/Speedhorn show in Holmfirth, two pairs of Raging Speedhorn shirts and two pairs of their new album "Lost Ritual"

All you have to do is answer the following question?

Q. John from Speedhornjoined another band during his time with the band. What was the name of the band?

All you have to do is email your name and answer for the attention of Tom here.  The closing date for answers is 2^nd Feb and prizes will be allocated on a first come first served basis.