UK prog/stoner metal quartet Desert Storm are set to release their new album, Death Rattle, on March 31 via APF Records.

And the Oxford band, who formed in 2007, have also shared a new single, Bad Trip, from the forthcoming full length.

Vocalist Matt Ryan commented: “What happened quite naturally during the writing process for Bad Trip, was something just clicked. The thoughts and emotions associated just felt so familiar. It was an obvious choice at the time.

“This is a eulogy about a great man who the band knew fondly. March 2023 marks the tenth year of his premature passing, and so it felt fitting to pay tribute by releasing Death Rattle this month.

“He was a thinker, was studying philosophy and was a self-professed psychonaut. He joined us on tour in our formulative years and we loved having him on the road. 

“We admired him and cared a lot about him, has been in our thoughts and our liner notes, but it is high time we immortalised him through song.

“As we get older, we think about our life experiences as well as his own that he is missing out on. Not able to join us in the journey through life, to see us wed, with families, large milestones and celebrations.

“He is sorely missed.

“The title itself refers to a particularly hairy moment in his history where we learned that the intensity of blotter acid is far easier to regulate than that of concentrated liquid acid.

“It was understood that a single droplet would be sufficient for an intense hallucinogenic experience, however, to mark the final trip of the bottle, somebody decided to lick the glass pipette.”

Death Rattle, Desert Storm’s sixth album, was recorded and mixed at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire by Steve ‘Geezer’ Watkins. The studio used to be owned by legendary folk band Fairport Convention, and in recent years has seen the likes of Tony Iommi and Rob Halford recording there. 

The record was mastered by Brad Boatright – known for his work with Torche and Nails – at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon.

Desert Storm will soon be embarking on a European tour to promote Death Rattle: it kicks off at the O2 Academy 2 in Oxford on March 31.