Southern Italy's King Potenaz return with a scorched-earth sermon of fuzzy, raw, and occult-fueled doom on their long-awaited second album, Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 1, recently released via Majestic Mountain Records. Formed as a power trio in the deep south of Italy, King Potenaz invoke the classic vibes of Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Monster Magnet, Kyuss, and Sleep, blending stoner riffs with cavernous doom and occult psychedelia...
Warlung – The Poison Touch (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Warlung are a stoner/ doom band from Houston, Texas, with four albums released between 2017 and 2022. Fifth full-length The Poison Touch is coming out after a longer-than-usual three-year gap and offers eight new slabs of power chords, heavy rhythm section and really good guitar solos. These solos are actually what adds much more color..
Foot – You Are Weightless (Copper Feast Records)
The latest in my irregular, indulgent series of "impressive but little-known outside of Oz" bands is maybe the best yet - Foot are a four-piece desert/stoner rock collective hailing from Melbourne, Australia, who released their self-titled debut back in 2016 and its follow-up Buffalo two years later before joining the Copper Feast stable. Their third album titled The..
Wizard Must Die – L’Or des Fous (Klonosphere/Seasonof Mist)
Since 2013, the French trio Wizard Must Die has been riding the waves of the stoner rock scene. This Lyon-based band blends complex yet direct rock with a progressive and psychedelic twist, drawing comparisons to bands like Baroness, Mars Red Sky, and Motorpsycho. Their debut album In the Land of the Dead Turtles (2018) gained..
Barbarian Hermit share video for title track of new album “Mean Sugar”
Manchester's leading purveyors of groove laden, stoner/doom metal, Barbarian Hermit recently announced their return with new album 'Mean Sugar', released on 2nd August (APF Records). Written over a 3 year period 'Mean Sugar' is a cathartic creation, set against a back-drop that has seen people endure global pandemic, endless political turmoil, a cost of living crisis..
The Lunar Effect – Sounds of Blue and Green (Svart Records)
Wow! This is the genuine article - a full-on recreation of 1969 heavy psych-rock! The Lunar Effect are a quartet with a flair for humungous hair and a penchant for fuzzy, snarling retro-riffs who have been rattling the rafters since their formation in 2016. Starting as a grunge outfit with a retro hard-rock impulse, they..
Guenna – Peak of Al’Jinnah (The Sign Records)
Peak of Jin'Arrah is the debut album by Guenna. Hailing from the southernmost part of Sweden, this foursome offers a rather fine blend of fuzzy, progressive and heavy rock with vocal harmonies - wonderfully described by Nick Oliveri (formerly in QOTSA) on a night when Guenna opened up for his band Stöner in Malmö as..
Waste a Saint – Ravenous (All Good Clean Records)
Waste a Saint is a Norwegian band from Trondheim that plays melodic fuzz rock with psychedelic touches. Their sound has been compared to bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, The Dead Weather and Spiders, alternative rock from the nineties and fuzzed bands from the late sixties....and I'm going..
Blood Lightning – Blood Lightning (Ripple Music)
Formed in December 2020, Blood Lightning brings together the talents of vocalist Jim Healey (We’re All Gonna Die), guitarist Doug Sherman (GOZU), bassist Bob Maloney (Worshipper) and drummer J.R. Roach (Sam Black Church). Their style is heavily influenced by early Sabbath, with equal doses of classic Eighties heavy metal and some southern rock added over...
GIANT DWARF (SOUND EFFECT RECORDS)
This band could go a long long way.... Giant Dwarf are a new band from Perth, Australia, and this their eponymous debut album is an absolute gem. Musically, they plant their flag firmly in stoner territory with the stars of that genre (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age) being a visible influence along with the..