Best of 2025 May - August

 

Coming Attractions...

 

    

New Nightstalker (one of my favorite bands) due on March 14 on Heavy Psych Sounds Records

New Pentagram!!! due one week from today, also on Heavy Psych Sounds.  With Tony Reed on guitar, this promises to be one of the best albums of the year.

New Lo-Pan due on April 4th.  Lo-Pan's last album was their best yet, so I can't wait to hear the rest of this one.

Finally, another new Dope Smoker album (back-to-back years!).  This one's due on April 20 (of course).

And the cool thing about it is that you can preview the current state of the tracks and give the band feedback.  As stated on their Bandcamp community page:

"This is not the final product!

Don't like the mix? Too much bass? Not enough 'I didn't wanna see youz' on the first track?
Well! Now is your chance to do something about it!
Leave a comment with some feedback, I will reply to every comment!

Change to outcome of the album!
Have your influence on the Album!
Help me to finish this album!"

Enough said.  Also, back in 2018, Sleep surprised us with a 4/20 release.  Dare I hope that this may happen again this year???

A man can dream!!!!

2021 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#20-11)

Each tune is one I've never posted or included in a playlist.  
Since these are the best albums of the year, they're deep enough that I don't need to 
re-post in order to make a classic playlist:

          

#20: "Coffin Face" by Table Scraps

Monster Magnet introduced me to this great band by covering one of their songs, "Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)".  Now Table Scraps has a new album, and it's got lots of great catchy tracks.  The song I've included here has a real Baby Woodrose feel.

#19: "Paralyzed" by Paralyzed

Great debut album that sneaks up on you and gets better with each listen.  Really strong vocals and guitar.    

#18:  "Devil's Bridge" by Dope Smoker

Dope Smoker sticks with their formula and manages to get better at it with each release.  Excessive volume will help you to understand what this is all about.
   

#17:  "Stoners Rule" by Stöner 

Brant Bjork keeps on making timeless stoner rock.  Another must-have album from one of rock's most legendary musicians

#16: "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy" by Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie has carved out his own niche in rock music, and has surpassed everything he did with White Zombie.  This incarnation of the band is elite, and the new album is longer than the last one

         

#15: "Memento Mori, Motherfucker" by Stone Cadaver 

          
Brutal heavy rock music, mixed to perfection.  Great album.

#14:  "Ultra" by Kadabra        

Great sound and great songwriting.  Don't know if they're sick of being compared to Asteroid, but they will definitely appeal to a similar audience

        

#13:  "False Dawn" by Spacelord

Spacelord only puts out great albums with great replayability

#12:  "Fractal Altar" by Snail

Snail takes their time between releases, but when they put out new music, it's a guarantee that you'll get a few songs that are among the year's best, and Fractal Altar is no exception

#11:  "Volume III" by Pseudo Mind Hive

I always leave albums under 30 minutes off my best albums lists, but Volume III really feels longer than that, in a good way.  All four tracks are must-owns for true fans of heavy psychedelic rock; a real masterpiece that deserves recognition

#10 through #1 on New Year's Eve!
ULTRA  

CREATURE TRIPLE FEATURE

MASTODON: HUSHED AND GRIM

Mastodon just slapped every other rock band out there with a white glove.

Hushed and Grim is without flaws, and is one of the most perfect rock albums to come out in years. 

This whole album features planning and attention to detail on a level with bands like Tool and Omar Rodriguez Lopez.

Don't give up on this one, and you'll be rewarded with a treasure trove of tasteful and totally sick ideas.  It's called "Gobblers of Dregs"

JERRY CANTRELL: BRIGHTEN

This is heavy music you can play in mixed company.  It's got a mainstream sound with a subtle heavy side.  Some of this will remind you of Alice In Chains, and some of it won't.  Ten out of ten if you're as big a Jerry Cantrell and Alice In Chains fan as I am.

Here's a really melodically interesting one, called "Siren Song".

DOPE SMOKER: DEVIL'S BRIDGE

Some bands I appreciate for the way they constantly evolve and create new sounds.  Other bands I appreciate for never deviating from what they do, because it's just so cool.  Dope Smoker is in the second category.  I took a free "name your price" download of the Marijuana album five years ago, and am now paying for them before even listening; 

("sound unheard" should be the equivalent of "sight unseen", right?)

I'll feature the new Spacelord album next weekend.

-ULTRA

DOPE SMOKER: ZEROIN

AS ADVERTISED

Look at the album cover, and understand you'll get exactly what you expect when you play this album:  repetitive, fuzzy, crunchy stoner doom.  Dope Smoker's self-description is all you need to know:

"Dope Smoker are a 3 piece rock group from South West Wales where everyone smokes dope & surfs"

If you are familiar with this band, you're getting exactly what you expect.  If you are not, prepare to enter a heavy trance-like state where heavily distorted guitar and bass combine with lazy, hypnotic vocals and plodding drums to make you forget what you've been doing all day.  This is as good a tune as any on this release:

Here's a video the band put together that I think is hilarious.  It contains part of the opening tune, "Go Away":

Dope Smoker are:

Gareth "Lightnin'" Hopkins - Guitar/Vocals
Andrew "Boots" Woods - Drums
Neil "G" Gwyther - Bass

For years, Dope Smoker has given us their music for free on Bandcamp and this has made me happy to pay the $6.17 for this album.  Every once in a while, Dope Smoker is exactly what I need to listen to.

In the words of the late Wayne Static, "Tune it in, chill out, drop dead, I need a fix" 

Please share this.  Until next time!

ULTRA

 NEW ALBUM BLITZKRIEG

Here is a track each from three new albums

CHURCH OF MISERY: "And Then There Were None..."

I love the way this album was recorded.  This is the best sound an already awesome and devastatingly heavy band has had to date.  "River Demon" is an early favorite for me:

SON OF A WITCH: "Thrones In The Sky"
If Son of a Witch's next album is even close to as good as this one, then they may very well be headed for the same category of greatness as fellow Brazilian metal bands Sepultura and Soulfly. "Thrones In The Sky" is available on bandcamp .  It contains five tracks, clocking in at just under an hour of music.  Here is the album's opener and title track, "Thrones In The Sky."  Check out the awesome heavy sound, and the band's ability to keep the tune interesting for the entire ten and a half minutes:




DOPE SMOKER: Marijuana
This band from Wales has a limited repertoire in terms of what it is trying to accomplish, but what they do, they do really well.  Some tracks are a bit boring, but there are several that I really like.  They have a Kyuss-inspired sound, delivered with a cool vibe .  This is track seven of ten:     "Legalise It" (the main lyrics in four of these ten tunes)
This album is "Name Your Price" too, so if you liked this track, go download the album and you'll find several others just as good.

That's it until next weekend; Stay Heavy!

-ULTRA