Mars Red Sky serve up a (relatively) unusual mix of grimy desert rock and psychedelia on their fourth record – the first time I’ve come across them. The Task Eternal is full of languid bass-led riffs and ethereal vocals buried deep in the mix. It’s definitely a grower. There are few initial hooks here, apart from maybe ‘Collector’, which breaks into a soaring, but very hummable, chorus. Other than that the album’s joys need a little mining. Highlights include the off kilter ‘Hollow Kings’ (which has a strange time signature and in some respects calls to mind Pure Reason Revolution’s 2006 masterpiece The Dark Third); ‘Soldier ON’ (which lands some real punches, albeit at glacial pace); and instrumental acoustic closer ‘A Far Cry’ (which is a brilliant, if initially jarring, departure from everything that precedes it). Lots to enjoy at the calmer end of ‘heavy’.