Style: Sludge metal, heavy metal, doom metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Black Sabbath, Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Crowbar, The Sword
Country: England
Release date: 6 March 2026

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Sludge often gets a bad wrap. Slow, monotonous, drudging… that’s what the detractors say. What haters may fail to appreciate is the unique heaviness born from the steady, sustained notes of the down-tuned strings that characterize the genre. A bone-crushing, reverberating riff gets my adrenaline flowing more than any rapid death or black metal offering can. England’s Desert Storm, who sport heavy-metal-flavored sludge, are veterans to the scene, releasing their seventh full-length album, Buried Under the Weight of Reason. In addition to the slow hooks, Desert Storm incorporate elements of blues and gentle acoustic passages into the beefy rhythm. With a hefty supply of burly licks, the band don’t have appetite for the haters—only thick, beautiful sludge.

Twenty years into their career, Desert Storm have a treasure chest full of down-tuned goodies. The production of Buried Under the Weight of Reason is heavy on the low end, with Andrew Keyzor’s bass prominent in the mix alongside guitarist Ryan Cole, whose tone sounds like he is playing on strings the width of bridge cables. This gives a full and well rounded musical voice to the album. Charismatic and engaging riffs carry Buried Under the Weight of Reason, demonstrating the band’s proficiency in whipping up a variety of heavy metal and sludge hooks. Whether it’s the early Black Sabbath-like muted guitar lines of “Newfound Respect”, the energetic, bouncing riff that opens “Law Unto Myself”, or the the plodding and suffocating grumbling riff of “Rot to Ruin”, Desert Storm demonstrate an ability to create a diverse menu of sludgy tastiness. 

While many of the juicy licks on Buried Under the Weight of Reason initially induce listener stank face, Desert Storm tend to sit on their musical ideas for too long without introducing enough variety. The result, such as the monotonous distorted section of “Woodsman”, are songs that drag secondary to repetition. The majority of “Cut Your Teeth” is filled with uninteresting, slow-to-mid-tempo slogging that halts any momentum the band had built up to that point halfway through the album. This is frustrating, as Desert Storm prove that they are not a one-trick pony, injecting bluesy guitar solos on top of clean, groovy backings in the midpoints of “Cut Your Teeth” and “Shamanic Echoes”. Though in each case, these passages seem to be cut short, limiting the effect of Cole’s soaring guitar. Additionally, “Carry the Weight” is a low-energy acoustic guitar interlude that may have fit well setting the atmosphere in a post-metal album, though does not serve a purpose in Desert Storm’s riff-led, straight to the point approach. 

Matthew Ryan’s vocal performance is reminiscent of Boss Keloid’s gruff charm, though with a limited range. Ryan’s burly voice, like the backing music, lives in the lower end, rarely visiting mid or higher notes. Ultimately, his execution is satisfactory, though the unchanging approach loses appeal as the album goes on. Clean vocals are unsuccessfully incorporated in the final track “Twelve Seasons”, which grate on the listener, detracting from the song rather than providing a refreshing change in pace. Introducing a starkly different vocal approach on the last song of the Buried Under the Weight of Reason is especially jarring, considering the lack of vocal diversity in the preceding tracks.

Like many sludge albums, Buried Under the Weight of Reason is a good time— solid beer-drinking music. Listeners won’t find innovation in Desert Storm’s approach or a new take on the genre, though let’s be honest, are people coming to heavy metal and sludge for novelty these days? Nah, people come for the riffs and the party. So why don’t you just sit back, crack open a six-pack or three, and enjoy those thick, beefy tones.

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Recommended tracks: Rot to Ruin, Law Unto Myself, Newfound Respect
You may also like:  Boss Keloid, Somnuri, Lord Dying, Vokonis
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds Records

Desert Storm is:
– Matthew Ryan (vocals)
– Ryan Cole (guitars)
– Chris White (guitars)
– Elliot Cole (drums) 
– Andrew Keyzor (bass)