Vannon

For many artists, the global shutdown was an opportunity. A chance to hone their skills and rediscover their purpose. To hermit and reemerge stronger than ever. This worldwide threat also created much on which to draw creatively. The grandeur of epic books and spiritual texts which once seemed outlandish and fantastical were now becoming all the more real. Plagues could very well wipe out the population. Global mandates could cause mass hysteria. False prophets could come to sow chaos. Their stories became relevant cautionary tales.

Oakland-based Vannon did just that out of the ashes of a former project, they rematerialized with a renewed vigour and a legendary story to tell. Desert of Our Dreams is a psychedelic retelling of the Book of Exodus. Tales of heroism and tragedy, birth, death, and reincarnation. A tale this huge requires big riffs and monster vocals and on this Vannon deliver in spades. Their sound takes the soaring Valhalla wind assault of Viking metal and Devin Townsend style tech metal and infuses it with heavy psych and doom in the vein of Yob, with moments of Soundgarden-esque melodic grunge.

'Call Up a Storm' does what it claims. From a calm stream comes reverberant claps and major swells of organized guitar cacophony. It acts as the lead-in to 'Two Snakes' which plows forward with a Ministry-style pummeling beat and industrial drilling sounds accompanying frontman Max Hodes chunky riffs. His demonic growl soon takes off from underground, shattering the crust and lifting off into the stratosphere. His range is mind-boggling as he goes from guttural growl to Dickinson level scream and back in the song's first two minutes. A languishing half-time carries us through to the end.

'Above the Stars' shows another side of the band. Hodes opens the track with an airy strummed acoustic and Cornell-esque vocals. The band explores a trippy mix of eastern and western textures as Hodes details the protagonist's trek out of the desert on a quest for the stars. He builds to operatic heights as the mighty stomp of the finale brings us to a new life in the sky. The title track is an engrossing instrumental palette cleanser of ominous static mixed with divine synths and big film score guitars filling out the soundscape. The penultimate 'Cold July' juxtaposes a jackhammer full-band press with crooning calm verses. Hodes sneer takes on some of the vitriol of Mike Patton at his most metal. The closer 'I Come to Destroy' truly matches the grandiosity of the source material. Slowly building from nothing as the small stones start the avalanche. Howls echo out as the guitar plays out a barren land melody. Hodes rises to a god-like furor as the full band joins into the refrain “I come to destroy!!!”. The mustangs are set loose and a stampede is unleashed. Vannon reach the pantheon of epic metal splendour.

Desert of Our Dreams is biblical in proportion and a masterful display of talent. Hodes sensational pipes and whirlwind guitar take us on a fantastical journey and the band is right there with him, airtight. Vicious when they need to be but eclectic enough to keep the record interesting. Layered segues and nuanced song structures make this go beyond your everyday power metal wankfest to something more compelling.