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Tag Archive for: Dark Terror

Orange Spotlight: Desert Storm

Who are Desert Storm?

Matthew Ryan – Vocals
Ryan Cole – Guitar
Elliot Cole – Drums
Matthew Dennett – Bass
Chris White – Guitar (Studio / writing only)

Desert Storm are a five piece progressive heavy metal band that have been dealing crushing riffs and grooves into earholes for the past 17 years.  Hailing from Oxford, the city of screaming spires, the quintet deliver their own unique brand of heavy music. The sound is loud and unforgiving, but also woven with elation and electrical ecstasy. For Fans of – Black Sabbath, Crowbar, Neurosis, Mastodon

Desert Storm formed in 2007 after me (Ryan), Elliot and Matt, who we met at secondary school, decided we wanted to form a band and start jamming. We asked Chris White (guitar – studio) to join, who we’ve known since we were young and rocked with in a school band previously. The only bassist we knew was another old school friend – Chris Benoist. Chris (Benoist) was in the band for almost 15 years, but left due to not having the time to commit anymore, but we’ve remained good friends. We replaced him with Matt Dennett, who we have known from gigging with his other band Battalions, he lives in Hull, so it’s quite a trek for him, but he seems committed!
The name Desert Storm came simply because we didn’t have any other ideas that were as good, it was supposed to be temporary, but we started gigging a lot and eventually everyone knew the band as Desert Storm, so we just stuck with it.

What inspires Desert Storm?

We as a collective have quite an eclectic taste in music. Many things inspire us – the love of other bands we look up to (Black Sabbath, Metallica, Tool, Kyuss, Clutch, Karma To Burn, Mastodon to name a few), hearing great guitar riffs / guitar-based music is an obvious inspiration and reason why myself and Chris (White) learnt the instrument in the first place. Matt (Ryan) will often write lyrics to our music rather than them being pre-written. He lets that dictate his thoughts / moods / feelings before jotting lyrical ideas down. Sometimes other forms of art – film, games or personal life experiences have inspired songs to be written in the band as well.

What Orange gear is important to Desert Storm?

I am currently using an Orange Rockerverb 100 through an PPC-412 speaker cabinet. I’ve had the amp for about 15 years now, and it just rules! It’s loud, and the tone is just perfect for what we do. You see some bands whacking in fuzz pedals etc (which is great in places, don’t get me wrong) but for me the natural sound this amp provides is all I’ve ever needed. This is my first and only Orange amp I have owned, but I am looking at some more!

Future Orange amps?

We are doing more fly in shows these days, so I’d like to get an Orange head that is ideal for transporting. I’d like to try the Dual or Dark Terrors. On recent fly-ins I’ve ended up using mostly Marshall JCM 800’s which are great, but sometimes you don’t know what you will get, and that is why i need my own! When we flew to Oslo I used an Orange TH30 though which was awesome. I recently used a Rockerverb 100 MK III at a festival and that was fantastic, probably one for the future too!

What does Orange mean to you?

Orange is awesome. I’ve always loved the look and design of them as well as the sound. The first time I remember seeing Orange amps was as a teenager in PMT, and I remember thinking how much it stood out and how cool it looked. Then I noticed a wall of Orange amps during a Down show, and more and more bands seemed to be using them. The first amp I owned was a Marshall MG 50DFX which was a cool little combo, but when Chris (White) started using his Mesa Boogie Tremoverb or Diezel, I knew I needed something louder. First I had a Randall RH 100 camo head & cab which was a great solid state amp but eventually I wanted a valve amp…so I went to PMT and tried out a Blackstar and the Orange Rockerverb 100, it was then that I bought the Orange and I’ve been using it ever since – live and in the studio. I have a Sovtek as a back up, but I’ve only used it live a handful of times as the Orange is so reliable.

I think there are quite a lot of doom, stoner and sludge bands using Orange amps these days and I can see why – Killer tones!

What’s the most memorable Desert Storm moment?

We’ve had a lot of memorable moments over the years that it’s hard to pick just one. A few highlights that spring to mind are getting booked for mainstage at this years Bloodstock Open Air & performing on the Sophie Stage at Bloodstock (2016, 2021). Some other great festival slots were at Wasted Open Air (Germany), Langeln Open Air (Germany), Into the void (Netherlands), HRH Ibiza (Spain) and Desertfest (London & Berlin). We’ve had some memorable tours too, including headline UK & European tours, as well as support slot tours with the likes of Skindred, Red Fang, Orange Goblin, Corrosion of Conformity, Karma To Burn, Peter Pan Speedrock, Raging Speedhorn, Crowbar, Honky, American Head Charge, Nashville Pussy and Weedeater to name a few. Hopefully a lot more to come!

What’s on the horizon for Desert Storm?

We finished up a 2-week headline UK / European tour in April, promoting the latest album ‘Death Rattle’ (which came out last year on APF Records). Coming up we have a mainstage slot on the Friday at Bloodstock Open Air with the likes of Opeth, Clutch, Hatebreed & Green Lung. We also visit Leon, Spain later in the year for a fly in show. As well as these shows there are a few other weekenders in the works which should be announced shortly, we will continue writing for the next album as well, and we have 2 new songs in the bag already.
For the future, we’ll keep doing our thing, writing and releasing music and touring hard.

Gear Currently Used

Listen

Those of you who have been following us for a while are most likely familiar with our annual “Wish Granted” competition where we give away thousands of pounds / dollars worth of gear every Christmas. Those of haven’t, well, that’s pretty much it but we’ll give you the lowdown anyway. Our Wish Granted competition is run yearly in December, allowing our customers to wish for any Orange product of their choice either via our website, or by making their wish in a comment across our social media channels by including the #WishGranted hashtag. Last year was a particularly shitty year, so we were happy we were able to put some smiles on people’s faces by making their amplifier dreams come true.

Below, you’ll find the top 5 wished for products of website competition entries during 2020’s campaign. Anyone able to guess number one…?

5. AD200

Truls Mörck of Graveyard with his AD200 & OBC810

To see our AD200 in the top 5 is hardly a surprise, as it’s quite simply one of the purest valve bass amplifiers ever produced. Designed on the premise that the best tone often comes from the shortest signal path from guitar to speaker, this classic, uncomplicated design features inputs for both active and passive instruments and a simple but effective EQ.

“I’ve tried a few other amps but for me there’s just no comparison; If you wanna play rock ’n’ roll, there’s no amp like the AD200.”
Truls Mörck

4. Crush Pro 120 Combo

Solid state never sounded so good! Taking inspiration from the twin channel circuit in our prestigious Rockerverb series, the Crush Pro range (which comes in both a head and combo, with the combo being in the Wish Granted top 5) has been developed using high grade solid state components. The result? Amplifiers that deliver the warm, rich tonal characteristics that have been our hallmark from the very beginning, coupled with extraordinary levels of versatility and construction to match. The clean channel is a vintage-inspired design, with plenty of sparkle, and the Dirty channel takes its roots from the Rockerverb, with four stages of gain covering a wide range of driven tones.

3. Merch, Merch, Merch

Designer Holly Watts wearing our wireless Crest Headphones

We have an extensive merch range and we’re glad you dig it! Cause let’s be honest, it’s easier sending you a t-shirt or set of headphones than an OBC810. Check our our Global Merch Store here, and our US merch store here.

2. Dark Terror

Picking up where the original Tiny Terror left off, the Dark Terror takes this classic ‘lunchbox amp’ formula and gives it a dark, modern twist. Designed to put high-gain heavy tones first, the 4-stage preamp borrows technology from our flagship amps, packing the best of Orange saturation into a portable, 15 Watt package. Equipped with our all-valve FX Loop and output power switching, the Dark Terror summons not only demonic distortion but also great clean and crunch tones.

1. Rockerverb Series

Nick Johnston by Grant Cooper

It might not come as a surprise that our Rockerverb amps were the most sought upon items in the Wish Granted competition. The award winning series, which consists of both a 50W & 100W head as well as a 50W combo have in many ways become our flagship amps since the release of the MKI back in 2004. The Rockerverbs demonstrates better than anything else that a workhorse amp can be a master of all trades, and the original was actually our first ever ‘high gain’ amplifier, with a unique voice that quickly became a firm favourite amongst the heavy crowd. However, its supreme versatility and dependability meant the series has been a mainstay for touring artists and session aces, both on the road and in the studio.

“I’ll never forget the first time I played an orange amplifier The rockerverb was always one that lived somewhere in my mind after the first time I experienced a note through one. Not only is it the coolest looking amp on the planet, but it changes my playing in a way that makes me sound more natural, more organic and more like myself. It sounds massive, but it still manages to let my fingerprint shine through.” Nick Johnston

Tag Archive for: Dark Terror

Tag Archive for: Dark Terror