It's
been a while since we featured UK Blues/Hard Rock/Stoner Metallers –
Desert Storm. Well about 7 or months or so when they were about to
embark on a massive UK Tour with Stoner Rock Legends – Karma To
Burn – and to provide details of their eagerly awaited 3rd album
Omniscient
Omniscient
is about to be released upon to the world and what an album Desert
Storm have created here. It's a stunning mix of Blues Rock, Hard
Rock, Stoner Rock, Sludge Rock and a hint of Psychedelic Folk. This
maybe the album that will turn Desert Storm into one of the UK's best
Hard Rock/Stoner Metal bands. These guys deserve a shot at the big
time as they have toured extensively over the last 5 years or so.
Tours with Karma To Burn and Honky. Plus supporting Red Fang shows
you how talented these guys are.
I
described Omniscient as:
“Their
third full length record sees Desert Storm blending Hard Rock, Blues,
Psychedelia, Folk with hard-riffing Sludge tinged grooves. Desert
Storm have excelled themselves here while Horizontal Life was a great
album for the guys, it was a little bloated at times. Though that is
not the case here as Desert Storm have released an album that builds
upon what came before it and only enhances their well deserved
reputation.
I
don't know what more I can say about the album. I think I have
covered all the bases here. The album does sound incredible from
start to finish. Legendary Producer - Billy Anderson - has mastered
this bad-boy so you know it's gonna sound fresh, loud and crisp. He
gives Desert Storm sound such a dynamic feel that makes you feel
you're seeing the band perform live in the comfort of your own home.
My
final thoughts on the album - Well, what do you think? - Omniscient
is a testament to Desert Storm's talents for delivering another great
album to impress people with. It sees the band turning into one the
UK's finest Hard Rock/Stoner Metal Bands we currently have to offer
at the moment. On this form, who is going to stop them? Omniscient is
a must have album. Plain and simple.”
Desert
Storm have kindly agreed to another interview with me. Can you
believe my 4th interview with them over the years. You can read the
previous interviews below.
So
if you want to find out about the history of the band then please
read the other interviews. As this interview will be focusing on the
last 8 months or so of life with this hard-rocking band. Matt
(Vocals), Chris White (Guitar) and Ryan Cole (Guitar) are back to
talk to us here at Sludgelord HQ.
Q1
– Hi guys. How are things with you all today.
Good
thanks!
Q2
– So you're new album Omniscient is about to be released. So are
you excited, nervous or thrilled what people are going to make of it.
Matt
R - Bloody relieved to be honest. We've been sitting on this
for too long.
Chris
W - A mixture of all of them. Every new release is a bit of a
jump into the unknown, a lot of people say that they don’t care
about reviews or what people think, but really everyone does, you
want to know that people enjoy what you produce!
Q3
– Was it a hard or easy album to write and record for. As you have
a lot of different sounds going on with the album.
Chris
W - We have taken that approach with all of the releases so
far, so it’s something that we are constantly trying to tweak and
refine to get the right balance, in some ways it gets easier as your
experience grows, however you are constantly being exposed to new
influences so there are always new things to work on!
Q4
– It's very different to your last album – Horizontal Life. It
seems more focused and more driven. Though I still love Horizontal
Life. It seems this album is where every song has a purpose with a
beginning, middle and end. Was that your intentions before recording
the album.
Chris
W - We have to make sure every song has a purpose, really
that has to be the aim before every release. It’s very difficult
because different people will respond and identify with different
tracks, you can only hope that find the album as a whole pleasing to
listen to and that they find something of value in the whole piece.
Matt
R - A small criticism with Horizontal Life was that it was
too long, so before hitting the studio we decided on the best songs
to feature on Omniscient. We have loads of material and in the past
we might have recorded whatever was most ready, this time we thought
about the cohesiveness and what we wanted to present. The track
ordering is more clean-cut on Omniscient too.
Q5
– What things did you do differently when recording the album. It
has a more sombre and heartfelt feel compared to your previous
albums.
Chris
W - We recorded it all in one go in the period of about a
week, on previous releases the process had been stretched over
several months depending on our various other commitments. I think
doing it in one period has given more coherency to the sound and
feel, plus we were considerably more road worn by that point so
plenty more real life experiences to draw on!
Q6
– What influenced you when writing and recording the album.
Matt
R - There are so many different subject matters coming across
in Omniscient, some are bluntly put ideologies and some are lore-ish
tales. We have an appreciation for so much that it's difficult to
list.
Ryan
C - We all listen to lots of music, a lot a bands from the
70's...the classic rock stuff to the sludge/doom/stoner stuff.
Q7
– This is a question for Matt. Matt – your vocals are very
different compared to your other albums. On Home – your vocals are
more sombre and heartfelt. Whilst on Queen Reefer and Horizon I felt
you were venturing into more extreme vocal territory compared to your
earlier releases. Did you want to something different on this album.
What preparation did you put yourself through when recording the
vocals for the album.
Matt
R - To be honest I wanted something new and old for
Omniscient. Recently I've been thinking what else can be done with my
vocals. After spending so long twisting and contorting them to
produce the low end gravelly barks, it's been interesting to
experiment with new techniques. We'll leave it up to the listeners to
decide what works! I actually had a stinking cold during our time in
the studio which worked really well for some of the more guttural
sections. For the most part we started with getting the cleaner stuff
down so I didn't ruin my voice too early before moving on to the
throat shredding vocals. In terms of prep, it was practising
thoroughly and warming up. Vocal pastels, water and proper food. I
smoked whilst recording Horizontal Life too which didn't make it
easy. All lyrics to hand in the studio for reference and generally a
cleaner or more professional approach to being in the booth.
Q8
– Why did you choose the name Omniscient for the title of your
album.
Matt
R - I didn't. Can't even pronounce it.
Ryan
C - well we had a few ideas, I personally think the best idea
was 'Shield' but Benoist was was like 'oh people will think it's a
gulf war reference'...we get that a lot anyway, so I don't know why
he was so bothered really....in the end the other album names were
pretty shit, so we all thought this was the best we had, and the
meaning of the word is pretty cool too.
Q9
– So the album is being released on DD/CD via Blindsight Records.
Was it an easy decision to go with Blindsight once again to release
the album. Did you have any other offers from labels to release your
album.
Matt
R - Blindsight worked really hard for us on Horizontal Life
so we decided to work with them again. We have a good working
relationship and we're pleased that they've taken on Omniscient.
Ryan
C - Yeah Umair at Blindsight is a good guy!
Q10
– Though the album will be released on Vinyl through Secret Law
Records later in 2015. Can you give us more details about the Vinyl
release.
Ryan
C - The Vinyl will be a limited run of 300 and will be
released on Secret Law Records on Sun 28th April which is when we
perform at Desertfest!
Q11
- How important is a physical product to your band being either CD or
Vinyl. As some bands are relying on Digital Downloads for their first
release(s).
Ryan
C - Very important, a lot of people still really like to buy
a physical copy be it CD or Vinyl or tape cassette! Also very good
for touring as bands rely on selling merch! I love to have a physical
copy of my music.
Q12
– You recently completed a mega 2014 UK Tour with Karma To Burn.
How did that go. Any funny or exciting stories you can tell us all.
It was cool meeting up with you guys in Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Awesome show you put on there.
Ryan
C - Thanks, glad you liked it! It was a great tour!
Matt
R - Thanks man! That was a slug of a tour as it was 18 dates
back to back without a break. Afterwards we all agreed that it could
be done again. Once you've survived a couple of weeks on it non stop,
you know that you're ready for those longer stints. There were a
couple of messy after party nights which were good fun! We almost
left Chris W behind on the ferry coming back from the last show in
Belfast, I think we were all fairly braindead by that point.. Was
great seeing our extended families all around the UK too.
Q13.
It seems you have a great friendship with Karma To Burn as you have
done previous tours with them over the years. And another short UK
tour coming up in April 2015. Have they provided you with any advice
or words of wisdom.
Chris
W - We have a good friendship with them apart from me and
Will. Will hates me and reminded me on a daily basis, it was so
relentless I still can’t used to walking into a room and not have
him stood there ready to tell me to fuck off. I miss it in a weird
way.
Q14
– I know you all have day jobs away from Desert Storm. How hard is
it combining the two. It must be hard especially when you have to
tour and promote your new album.
Chris
W - Touring is our holiday! Every spare minutes we have goes
into the band in some way, be it writing, organising, promoting,
gigging, rehearsing.
Matt
R - It's all down to time management and knowing what we can
realistically accomplish in our time off. All our holidays go on the
band, weekend shows are no problem, midweek shows are possible but a
little more difficult etc. Again, we've pushed it to the extremity
before by doing UK tours while working (RE: Nashville Pussy,
Honky...) It just results in brief sleep deprivation and exhaustion.
We're in agreement that you only live once and we should make the
most of being able to while we're still in our 20s.
Q15
– The UK Hard Rock/Stoner/Doom/Sludge Metal Scene is probably more
vibrant than ever with tons of great bands starting to appear. Have
you noticed this yourselves or do you just focus doing your own
thing.
Matt
R - Totally, there's such a community for this kinda music in the UK
now. It's here in a big way and there's no denying it.
Q16
– Which bands/artists are currently rocking your world. Any bands
would you like to recommend to our readers.
Ryan
C - I think there are some awesome bands coming out of south
Wales - Suns of thunder, Vails, Prosperina, Sigiriya, Hark. Our mates
in Mother Corona rock too! Bands like Conan & Bast seem to be
getting a lot of recognition too, both great!
Q15
– What is your musical setup when playing live or recording new
material. Do you have an advanced setup or basic setup.
Chris
W - Live is very basic, usually just guitars straight into
amps with very few if no effects. It’s a direct hard hitting sound
that’s also practical, there’s just less to go wrong! In the
studio there is quite a bit more experimentation as you have time and
space to do things there that you could really do live, unless you
are playing really large venues.
Q16
– What is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it down to one
individual or a group collective.
Ryan
C - It usually starts around a riff that Chris or myself will
write, and we kind of take it from there, jamming and seeing what
else happens, and Matt usually writes lyrics to the music....he used
to write lyrics in his own time before the music was written, I also
felt this worked well lyrically.
Chris
W - We will each bring pieces that we have written, then as a
group arrange it into a song structure. It remains a very open
process so that we don’t have one person walk in and say “This is
how it’s going to be”.
Q17
– A question for Ryan. You are involved with Buried In Smoke
Promotions. How is that going at the moment. I see you are promoting
the tour with Dutch Space Rockers – Monomyth and the forthcoming UK
Tour with Karma To Burn. Do you have any other exciting tours coming
up. Plus how hard is it running the promotions company in today's UK
musical scene.
Ryan
C - Yeah got some real cool stuff coming up, we have tours
for Karma To Burn, Monomyth (NL), WhiskeyDick and shows booked for
Electric Eel Shock (JPN) and Conan! Lots of good stuff in the
pipeline, going very well this year it seems. I don't think it's too
difficult, but there is always a risk financially! I can be
frustrating when bands agents don't reply too. But me and Elliot both
really enjoy booking bands we love to listen to and see play
ourselves. Find us on facebook to keep on top of the gigs/tours -
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Buried-In-Smoke-Promotions/152851731433057
Q18
– Before you go do you have anything to say to your fans.
Ryan
C - Cheers for the support, see you at a show!
Matt
R - Thanks for all your support and for coming out to the
shows, you make it all the more meaningful.
Well
guys thanks for this. All the best with your new album, vinyl release
and forthcoming tours. I am hoping to see you guys on the tour.
Thanks again.
Desert
Storm – Thank You!
I
want to thank Matt, Chris and Ryan for taking the time out to talk to
us again at Sludgelord HQ. We are huge fans of these guys. Their new
album Omniscient is available to buy now from Blindsight Records and
all good stockists. The Vinyl of Omniscient will be available to buy
from Secret Law Records from April 2015.
Words
by Steve Howe and Desert Storm.
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