Occult Vibe Haven (OVH)
I didn’t expect to get into a sludge album this year, but Axis Mundi really hit me. It’s slow, heavy, and feels like it’s pressing down on you. After five years, TARLUNG could have played it safe. Instead, the riffs are thick and jagged, the drums mostly slow but sometimes exploding out of nowhere. The […]
The first thing Apocalypso does is refuse to warm up. It just drops you in. “Poseidon” opens the record already moving, already heavy, like the band couldn’t be bothered with scene-setting. The riff lumbers forward with that stubborn, almost workmanlike confidence — not flashy, not clever, just thick and necessary. It sets the tone immediately: […]
Sleeping Giant finally put out a full album, and it doesn’t feel like something that needed a long setup or careful framing. Recorded in 2024 at StĂşdĂĂł ParadĂs, it sits firmly in stoner doom sludge way, slow and stubborn rather than dramatic. The band sounds like they already knew how they wanted to hit. Heavy, […]
This record is built from long jams. You can hear it immediately. Parts don’t snap into place — they grow, lean, sag, then lock. Riffs stay around longer than they need to. Drums don’t chase change. They sit and grind. The band lets repetition do the work. The guitar tone is thick but not foggy. […]
Sardinia isn’t a place you forget. That sun, those coasts, the wind bouncing off empty villages — it’s all over this album. Western Wilderness smells like sand, rust, and heat in your ears. The band isn’t reaching for stars this time. They’re walking the dirt, slow, heavy, and not caring if anyone keeps up. Nine […]
Paramagia is the kind of record that will immediately piss off two types of listeners: people who want obvious hooks, and people who think “psychedelic heavy rock” should automatically be warm, cosmic, or fun. ABISSI aren’t interested in either camp. This album is stubborn, repetitive, and occasionally exhausting – and that’s exactly why it mostly […]
She Walks By Moonlight is a solid, slow-moving record that leans heavily on atmosphere rather than big moments. MOON DESTROYS aren’t trying to reinvent heavy rock here. Instead, they focus on mood, repetition, and a sound that feels intentionally worn and hazy. The guitars are thick and fuzzy without becoming messy. Riffs repeat, but not […]
COSMIC REAPER sounds like they finally stopped asking whether something works and just let it exist. Bleed the Wicked, Drown the Damned doesn’t try to guide you, doesn’t frame itself, doesn’t bother explaining why it’s slow or heavy or uncomfortable. It just sits there, looming. The stoner rock looseness from earlier days feels burned off; […]
Well, II Bleak feels less like an album and more like a place you’re not supposed to stay in for long. Vast Pyre don’t dress this thing up or frame it as some grand doom journey – it just sits there, cold and heavy, grinding away at its own pace. The band clearly aren’t interested […]
There’s a certain satisfaction in watching a band strip away the frills and hit you square in the chest with nothing but raw muscle and intent. That’s what Washington’s Borracho have done on their sixth studio album, Ouroboros. Gone are the sprawling psychedelic detours of the last couple of records – this is a power […]