Any variety of stoner music be it rock or metal can sometimes feel exhausting as there are so many different takes on the style without much variation other than making it really heavy and drawn out, but every now and then there’s a band that just nails it. It’s difficult to take a formula tested by time and make it work as it can naturally feel dated, but Bort makes the renowned sound of stoner rock work to a great degree with their debut being a delicious helping of their talent.

In my adventures through the stoners’ corner of music, it tends to be soaking as much in riffs as much as it’s bathing in the smoke of the finest weed. It can easily be a satisfying combo as many, many people have discovered from acts like Sleep over the decades, but after a while, you really need exceptional talent to pull it off by bringing it all together in a solid manner. Bort does little to nothing to change up their take on stoner rock as their latest record, “Crossing the Desert”, has many motifs of the style, but the quality of this nine-track piece and the pure flavors we’re treated to allow Bort to really shine through in order to show they’re not another typical act of the style that can just be tossed in with the already massive group of cheap rip-offs. Yet, Bort manages to separate themselves from the mass as they don’t focus too much on the “stoner” part like many do and instead make the actual rock the true shining part of “Crossing the Desert”. As a result, the record is balanced as Bort manages to implement tasty riffs, delicious rhythms packed with immaculate pacing, and a solid variety that keeps “Crossing the Desert” fresh as well as interesting.

Everything that went into “Crossing the Desert” makes for a volatile combination that makes for an excellent concoction for a powerful punch if delivered correctly and Bort fucking smashed it! There’s no moment that feels boring or overused as Bort truly understood the sound they were going for and how they wanted to do it, and by the end, it’s hard not to call “Crossing the Desert” simply delicious.

LISTEN to “Crossing the Desert” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Bort on Facebook here.