Desert Storm / Urzah / Vulture God @ The Gryphon, Bristol, 8th February 2025

Grassroots support is something I go on about a lot. It is key to the survival of our music by giving up-and-coming bands a platform, to not only hone their craft, but to also introduce themselves to new fans. Nothing epitomises the spirit of this more so than the hard-working team at The Gryphon in Bristol.

Crammed above the pub on Colston Street, the quirky live space is a small wedge-shaped room with a rough capacity of 50 that frequently plays host to a host of metal events, delivering intimacy and volume in equal measure that sell out fast.

I write this in the shadow of the Black Sabbath final spectacle with frankly astronomical prices, having attended an event that for £15 saw some top-quality UK bands light up this space in a celebration of all things underground and heavy, up close and personal.

Sadly, the fantastic Sergeant Thunderhoof had to drop off the bill, but no matter as Oxford’s finest Desert Storm were the main attraction. Having not seen the band since they supported Karma To Burn in Plymouth some fifteen years ago, I have since covered them extensively for The Shaman and have spoken countless times with the brothers Cole, but never actually met in person.

Main support came in the form of Bristol’s own Urzah, fellow APF Records labelmates whose debut The Scorching Gaze won such hyperbole from me in my review last year as ‘no quarter-given, brutal music… with a far-reaching, modern sensibility’, making this a recipe for a top night but before this we were treated to the debuting Vulture God.

Also hailing from Bristol, the freshly minted band were playing their first show since ditching the previous handle of Anorak. They wasted little time in breaking out solid, chunky grooves. Playing a technical, progressive style of death/sludge, they proceeded to get down to business with hardcore, machine-gunning double bass, grungy tones and barking gruff vocals courtesy of frontman Milo Clack.

It is clear that the band have been honing their chops and despite the playful ribbing from the hometown audience, they deftly executed their blend of melody and heaviness, peeling off solos and creating moments of mosh-inducing synchronised head banging.

Set highlights induced an impressive on-point Gojira cover and dedicated one of their tracks, Safe Haven, to the headliners for whom they were huge self-confessed fans. The band will be playing Bloodstock’s Metal To The Masses Heat 4 in April and heading to the studio to record their debut EP in May to hopefully see the light before the end of the year. One to keep an eye on.

After a smooth change over, Urzah took to the stage with their controlled fury. Harnessing the focus of their debut, the sheer intensity of Ed Fairman’s rasping delivery contrasted with the clean melodies and sumptuous guitar tone that made The Scorching Gaze such a stunning release.

Given the confines of the space, the band may not have been the most animated performance of the night, but the onslaught of the post-metal soundscapes, mixed with samples and balanced the intricate passages with high-brow bludgeon that let the music do the talking.

The hammering chugs and ringing notes from the pairing of Tom McElvceen and Fairman on guitar shone through as the rhythm section of James Brown and Dan Bradley (drums and bass respectively) brought a stomping heavy groove. The cavernous doom twisted into djent like lurching bends that collided in violent technicolour as they tore through highlights such as Of Decay with a relaxed air that belies just how intricate and flat out powerful the music they create is.

Debuting a brand new track, Entwined (Twisted Root Of Chaos), to be featured on their upcoming release slated for the end of the year, the dark ominous intro gave way to a monstrous, towering track with stop/start dynamics and a melancholic, progressive psych ending.

And so to Desert Storm. Despite Ryan Cole being ill and suffering from a cold, the four-piece from The City Of Dreaming Spires hit the stage at full pelt with the rolling blues riff of Astral Planes, Matt Ryan commanding with his gruff vocals and The Gryphon immediately transformed into a huge party atmosphere with the capacity crowd in full voice on the catchy chorus.

From the huge sounding Master Of None with its Celtic pounding that turned the entire space into a circle pit to the simmering ballad (about dying) Salt Of The Earth, the band had the room eating out of their hands from start to finish. The combination of undulating rhythms, gravelly vocals and spacey melodies show why Desert Storm have grown from the fledgling band I saw over a decade ago into the tight outfit that rocked the main stage at Bloodstock last year with such aplomb.

Following a shout out to the venue and the bands (as well as mocking Ryan’s guitar) a meaty rendition of Vengeful Gods saw them at their most Cro-Magnon and after the thunderous Cheyne Stoking, they also debuted a slamming new Sabbath-inspired number off the follow-up to last year’s Death Rattle which they are currently working on.

As they headed to the finish with the triple whammy of Bad Trip with its cyclical melody, personal favourite Black Bile and an absolutely savage The Machine, which saw Vulture God’s Milo given the mic to deliver some killer lines, the band finished the set triumphantly.

However, the crowd weren’t going to let them get away that easily, demanding an encore, to which the band duly obliged with the glorious stoner riffing of Queen Reefer, ending the evening on the perfect soundtrack to bodies colliding.

All in all, it was a perfect evening of heavy music and a wonderful sense of unity and support for the scene. Check out all the bands and the venue. This is the lifeblood of our music.

Desert Storm

Urzah

Vulture God

Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
Photos by: Antony Cook