2026 Top Third

Best of January - April 2026

 

Over 90 minutes of excellent rock tunes released from January to April, 2026. These artists are from: Argentina, Australia, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United States

2026 Spitting Out Treasure....

All kinds of great music already released and about to be released this year.

Here's a taste:

JACK HARLON AND THE DEAD CROWS: INEXORABLE OPPOSITES

Picked this up on a recommendation and was pleasantly surprised:

Another excellent Australian band:

Tim Coutts-Smith: Vocals, Guitar

Jordan Richardson: Guitar

Brayden Becher: Drums

Liam Barry: Bass

NEW MEXICAN DOOM CULT: ZIGGURAT

Another recommendation I'm ecstatic I followed:

Stoner-Doom perfection from Sweden:

Nils - guitars, vocals
Fredrik - bass
David - guitars
Magnus - drums

MOTORPSYCHO:THE GAIA II SPACE CORPS

 

The mighty Motorpsycho return with another gem of an album, only a year after releasing my personal number 2 favorite album of 2025.  A week after release, I'm enjoying this one just as much.  

Norway's equivalent of Pink Floyd:

Bent Sæther – rhythm & lead guitars, lead & background vocals, bass 

Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan – electric sitar, background vocals

Reine Fiske: Electric lead guitars

Olaf Olsen: Drums

DESERT COLOSSUS: APPARATUS

Dutch stoner rock veterans have released their finest album yet, and for some reason, decided to offer it as a "Name Your Own Price" release.  This appears destined for my 2026 top ten; I can't stop playing it.

Frank Zoomer: Vocals, Guitar

Leon van Wijk: Guitar, Background Vocals

Tom Collé: Bass, Accordion, Bacground Vocals

Frank Fey: Drums, Background Vocals, Synths, Trumpet

WEEDPECKER: V

Polish stoner rock veterans are contending for both album of the year and album art of the year.

Piotr Dobry - guitar,vox,synths
Piotr Kuks - bass
Zbigniew Promiński- drums
Piotr Sadza - sytnhs
Tomasz Walczak - synths

And last, but not least....

ROB ZOMBIE: THE GREAT SATAN

If you have read many of my posts over the years, you know I've always had a soft spot for Rob Zombie.  I've enjoyed whatever musical avenue he's gone down over the years, with my only complaint being that the albums are usually not long enough.  After years with John 5 on guitar, Rob's brought back Mike Riggs, who played on the Sinister Urge and Hellbilly Deluxe albums (both among my very favorites).  This album is getting very good reviews, and count me among the fans (although once again I do wish it was longer!)

Rob Zombie is from Haverhill, Massachusetts.

His current band:

Rob Zombie: Lead Vocals

Mike Riggs: Guitar

Rob Nicholson (Blasko): Bass

Ginger Fish: Drums

  2025 Top Ten Stoner Rock Albums (#10-1)

Of course, there are great albums I'm unaware of, but here are my top ten favorite albums I've bought this year:

 

#10: Death Wheelers: The Ecstasy Of Möld

The Death Wheelers get better with each release.  They are now my favorite instrumental stoner rock band.  Every track on this is perfect, and if you told me it should be #1 on the list, I wouldn't argue.

#9: Nightstalker: Return From The Point Of No Return

I've always loved Nightstalker, and this is one of their best albums.  It soothes my soul.

#8: Dozer: Rewind To Return: Rarities, Singles And B-Sides

The fact that Dozer had this much quality unreleased music blows me away.  Even though this is older music, these gems were released this year, making this a top 10 album of the year.

#7: Stonebirds: Perpetual Wastelands

I didn't like this a lot the first time I played it, but I did seek it out again and started a sequence of events which resulted in every single one of these tunes being cemented in my head.

#6: Froglord: Metamorphosis

Froglord does not disappoint!!!

#5: The Riven: Visions Of Tomorrow

In a different era, I think this band would have been huge.  Great musicians and songwriters, and a flawless album.

#4: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs: Death Hilarious

This album is also perfect.  The creativity along with the sheer heaviness of their sound makes this band special.  I was close to making this album #1

#3: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd - 50 Years Later

An impressive addition to the "50 Years Later" series of tribute albums.  Again, a situation where I didn't like all these covers at first, but they wormed their way into my head to the point where I love every single one.

2: Motorpsycho: Motorpsycho

Motorpsycho are consistently operating on a different plane than everybody else.  How they have been this good for this long is mind-boggling.

#1: Brimstone Coven: The Light Shines Not For Thee

How does anything beat that Motorpsycho album?  While I can't rationalize the answer, I can say that I've just played this one more often.  I've been playing it since I bought it, and that makes it my favorite album of 2025.

Happy New Year!!!!

I didn't have time to make posts for these, but if you're interested, you can find my #30-21 album picks here, and my #20-11 album picks here

Merry Christmas

 

Here's a bunch of good stuff I've been meaning to share:

MOTORPSYCHO

2025's self-titled album is one of Motorpsycho's very best, and that's no small claim.  Motorpsycho has been putting out innovative rock for over three decades, and has not lost its edge in the least.  Calling them Norway's answer to Yes helps describe their talent and creativity, but not their sound.  Here are a couple of my favorites, from one of the very best albums of the year:

This one is what it would sound like if Steppenwolf and Yes had a baby:

And this one shows the band's versatility, with all kinds of classic rock influences:

Motorpsycho's current lineup is two of the original members:

Bent Sæther – lead vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, drums 

Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan – lead guitars, vocals, keyboards, mandolin, violin, bass 

KADAVAR:  KIDS ABANDONING DESTINY AMONG VANITY AND RUIN

Kadavar's first album of the year, "I Just Want To Be A Sound", emphasized just how versatile these German rock legends are, and their second album puts a gratuitous quadruple exclamation point on that idea.  The range of musical ideas between these two albums is enormous, and just about every single one of the nineteen tracks will worm its way into your brain and get stuck there for days on end.  Try these two on for size:

The leadoff track says "You thought we went soft?  Think again!"

Track 3 says "You thought this was a heavy album?  This is all kinds of rock, swirled together and it's about to get stuck in your head for good!"

Kadavar are:

Christoph "Lupus" Lindemann – guitars, vocals 

Christoph "Tiger" Bartelt – drums 

Simon "Dragon" Bouteloup – bass 

Jascha Kreft – guitars, keyboards 

And now for two more traditional heavy rock albums:

WINDS OF NEPTUNE

Three veterans of multiple Detroit rock bands came together and produced this masterpiece.

Throwback rock and roll, masterfully executed.

The lead track sets the tone:

And here's another one of my favorites:

Winds of Neptune are:

Ross Westerbur: bass, vocals
Mike Alonso: drums
Kevin Roberts: guitar

WOLFTOOTH: WIZARD'S LIGHT

This Indiana band is not trying to do anything other than satisfy your need for kick-ass rock and roll.  Another winner of an album in late 2025.

This is the track they steer you to on Bandcamp:

And this is another one I love.  Reminds me of about a million tunes I used to rock out to in my teens:

Wolftooth are:

Terry McDaniel: Bass

Jeff Cole: Guitar

Chris Sullivan: Vocals, Guitar

Jeremy Lovins: Guitar

Shane Shook: Drums

Hope you had a great Christmas and got quality time with your family.  Now lull yourself to sleep with all this fine "stoner rock".

Peace!

 AMALGAM

STÖNER: Boogie To Baja

The band's description of this EP is as follows:

“During the recording of TOTALLY, we were having a blast and the music just kept rollin’ out so we decided to also put together a tasty EP.
Guests Mario Lalli on STÖNER Theme and Greg Hetson of Circle Jerks and Bad Religion on our version of the Motorhead/Pink Fairies classic City Kids makes this EP extra sweet.
Jump in and let’s BOOGIE TO BAJA!"

As I've said before, when Brant Bjork puts out music, I buy it, and have yet to be disappointed.

(by the way, the cover art above is by Stevie Gee.  Instant album art hall of fame material)

Stöner are:

Brant Bjork

Nick Olivieri

Ryan Gut

L'IRA DEL BACCANO: Cosmic Evoked Potentials

The full album is finally out, and it's their most approachable and also most impressive album yet.  

Grade: A+

(artwork by Fabio Listrani, another all-time great album cover)

L'ira Del Baccano are:

Alessandro “Drughito” Santori - guitar
Roberto Malerba - guitar/synth
Sandro “fred” Salvi - drums
Ivan Contini Bacchisio - bass

SANDRIDER: Enveletration

Another album I've been waiting for is out, and my luck continues; again, an album I feel is the band's most approachable.  From now on if I want to turn someone on to Sandrider, I'll have them start with this album, then go back to the first and go in order go in order.  Another A+

(artwork by Jesse Roberts)

Sandrider are:

Jon Weisnewski: Guitar & Vocals

 Jesse Roberts: Bass & Vocals 

Nat Damm: Drums 

Here's where the amalgamation comes in...

Transitioning from new music to a two-fer of some top-notch heavy psych from 2022:

-because I care!

MOTORPSYCHO: The Tower

YES!!!

The title here has double significance; "The Tower" is not only one of the best rock albums I've heard in a long time, but it seems to be heavily influenced by 1970's Yes.  I saw a comment left by a YouTube viewer of the tune "Every Dream Home" that said "Problem is that after listening motoropsycho, hardly any other rock band matters that much anymore." I remember when I first heard Yes' "Fragile" album, (it was a 1972 album but I heard it first sometime in the '80's). A few of the tunes really grabbed me because they were so much more complex than what I had been listening to, yet still heavy in a unique kind of way (Roundabout, South Side Of The Sky, and of course Heart Of The Sunrise). I started to play the album to death, to the point where I came to love every tune on the album and recognize the musical genius that Fragile represented. As far as other rock bands not mattering any more, complexity is definitely not everything. To this day I have not grown out of my love and appreciation for all the other heavy music that I was listening to; great music comes in lots of forms.

Back to the topic at hand though.  "The Tower" will likely go down as one of Motorpsycho's best releases, and that's saying a lot.  Here is "In Every Dream Home (There's A Dream Of Something Else)":

And here's the lead and title track, "The Tower":

Motorpsycho are from Trondheim, Norway and have been making great music for the better part of 30 years (formed in 1989).  They are:

Bent Sæther: lead vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, drums
Hans Magnus “Snah” Ryanlead: guitars, vocals, keyboards, mandolin, violin, bass
Tomas Järmyr: drums

"The Tower" brings 85 minutes of some really different and creative rock.  You can purchase or check more out here.  Until next time! 

-ULTRA