The eighth track here might be called 'Bandwagon' but Desert Storm's excellent follow up album to 2013's 'Horizontal Life' is decidedly anything but jumping on the proverbial. 'Omniscient' is very much business as usual for the Oxford quintet: rapid-fire heavy metal and blues, with massive hooks, scoured with acid riffage that fans of Clutch will certainly appreciate.
Band leader Matt Ryan's vocals are full of spit and vinaigrette crushing under their own weight. However there is light here too particularly with opener 'Outlander.'
Recorded with Jamie Dodd (Orange Goblin), the album certainly harks back to elements of late 60s psychedelic majesty abound in the reverb heavy arrangements making it a standout effort for the genre it occupies. While the album evokes the sound the band have honed across their previous three albums, this record is more surefooted and at its best when it launches into ferocious roots-drone of 'Collapse of the Bison Lung'. While a number of bands make the mistake of biting off more genres than they can chew Desert Storm stick to their guns refusing to slide too deep into sludge-rock slurry. A vivid, breakneck-paced listen that begs to be heard.
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