Since 2002 Desert goes by not an easy way: line-up changes, experiments with the sound and meager budgets, which affected the records’ quality. Basically, all the problems that non-signed band can have. Also you can add geographic location to this: metal was never popular in Israel and there are no premises that it will change sometimes.
Nevertheless, nobody wanted to stop. The time passed, the skills improved and the sound became more qualitative. Desert share stages with Blind Guardian, Sabaton, Grave Digger, Civil War and Serenity. And in 2018 the band started to work on their third LP Fortune Favors The Brave.
According to the band, there were 30 songs written but only ten were included in the album. Also, Desert put aside all the sci-fi themes with video games and focused on a history: persons and events that in one way or another are embodiment of true braveness and heroism.
Musically the band also made major strides, especially compared to their previous works. The sound became denser and heavier, it is the work of soundman Alex Zvulun from A.G. Studio in Tel-Aviv. He also mixed and mastered the album. Music also became faster and much more aggressive: there are double pedals and blast beats (finally), guitar riffs became more technical. Keyboards are not hiding in a background, but play equally with guitars, creating an atmosphere and playing solo from time to time. Alexei’ vocals are quite low and very rich, it fit to the music perfectly. Actually, his vocal is one of the things that distinguish Desert from many other bands.
Traditionally, there are some guest musicians in an album. This time it’s Chris Boltendahl from Grave Digger (“Blood On The Sand”) and Georg Neuhauser with Fabio D’Amore from Serenity (“I Gave You A Kingdom”). The famous voice of Grave Digger‘s frontman added some epic to the song and Georg and Fabio added some colours to an already vivid, oriental melody.
And one last thing: many people compare Desert with Sabaton, mostly because of war theme and a little vocals similarity (or rather delivery). But unlike the Swedes that release the same music under different covers every two years since 2010, Israelis develope and become interesting from album to album. And I really hope that the next Desert‘s album will not be so long in coming.
Fortune Favors The Brave was released on August, 30.
Album: www.desertband.com
Spotify: bit.ly/FFTB2019
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