2024 #30 - #21 Best Stoner Rock Albums

 2024 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#30-21)

This is the first time I've ever done a year-end top 30, but I would argue that there was so much great music to come out this year that picking 20 albums wouldn't do the year justice.  I'm confident that all of these albums in my #30-21 are, deservingly, in someone else's top 10. 

 

#30: Duel: Breakfast With Death

Much more "In Your Face" than the previous album, "Breakfast With Death" rocks hard.

#29: 1,000 Mods: Cheat Death

Greek band 1000 Mods have been at it for a decade and a half, and keep getting better with each release 

#28: Cortez: Thieves And Charlatans

Another band that's been making great music for a long time and continues to get better and better.  Cortez is one of four Massachusetts bands to make my top 30 albums of the year

#27: Old Blood: Midnight Climax

Old Blood's "Acid Doom" was one of my favorite albums of 2020.  Here they are again, with a more polished and more musically diverse release that is well worth your time

#26: Sundrifter: An Earlier Time

This is a really impressive album.  Hints of Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead and lots more.  Excellent songwriting and a unique sound.  Another band putting Massachusetts stoner rock on the map

#25: Sergeant Thunderhoof: The Ghost Of Badon Hill

Sergeant Thunderhoof produced my favorite album of 2022, and the fact that this gem of a follow-up  album is at #25 this year only goes to show how great of a year this has been for stoner rock

#24: UFOMAMMUT: Hidden

Italian masters of all that is heavy continue to tear the bottom end out of our speakers and to floor us with bone-crushing soundscapes.  Hidden is their most creative album yet.

#23: Melvins: Tarantula Heart

Another Melvins release, and another round of musical surprises.  As usual, it will take several listens to lock onto what these Melvins are laying down, but the reward is worth it.  There are usually a couple of tunes per Melvins album that I'm not into, but I very much appreciate every song on this one.

#22: Mirror Queen: Dying Days

A Mirror Queen album is an instant purchase for me, and this one is my favorite so far.  Mirror Queen for me are a modern-day Blue Oyster Cult: fantastically creative arrangements of classic hard-rock sounds

#21: The Obsessed: Gilded Sorrow

Doom legends for four decades now, The Obsessed graced us with this classic early in the year, and it's been getting consistent play here ever since.  Scott's guitar sound is unmistakable, and hall-of-fame worthy.

 

2021 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#10 - 1)

This playlist provides a taste of the very best rock albums of the year, in my opinion.

Each tune is one I've never included in a post or a playlist.  
Since these are the best albums of the year, I can make a great playlist without repeating:

          

#10: "A Better Dystopia" by Monster Magnet

The cast has changed, but Dave Wyndorf always surrounds himself with great talent, and 'A Better Dystopia' stacks up with the best of Monster Magnet's albums.

#9: "Memorial" by Spaceslug

I was still finding more to appreciate about last year's "Leftovers" and now I get a full length release right before Christmas.  Spaceslug is one of the very best stoner/heavy psych bands on the planet.    

#8:  "Working With God" by Melvins

The fact that the Melvins do whatever they want makes them awesome, but it also means I don't like everything they record.  This is one Melvins album where I appreciate everything on it.  The Melvins have managed to stay energetic and fresh for decades.

#7:  "In Carne Persona" by Duel 

Duel's best album so far, and it's top ten status for 2021 is indisputable.  Almost every song has a truly creative opening, and keeps you listening to the end.

#6: "The Burden Of Restlessness" by King Buffalo

King Buffalo made my top 20 last year, but are in my top 10 this year.  How they not only produced another album so quickly, but upped their game and took their songwriting to the next level is amazing

         

#5: "Hushed And Grim" by Mastodon 

          
Almost 90 minutes of new Mastodon.

Enough said.

#4:  "Like No Tomorrow" by Wedge        

One of the first albums to come out this year, and still one of the best.  Wedge has an authentic classic rock sound with inspired, catchy songwriting.  I'll be playing this album for years to come.

        

#3:  "The Family" by Dirty Pagans

Another January release that's stood the test of time, 'The Family' is raw power, with tasteful doses of  falsetto vocals that would make King Diamond proud.

#2:  "Endless Searcher" by Maha Sohona

Maha Sohona is a 122 foot tall demon who is able to spread disease and possess humans(*).  Sweden's rock band Maha Sohona has produced 2 albums, and both are heavy psychedelic masterpieces capable of possessing your entire attention span for their entire duration.

#1:  "Dunbarrow III" by Dunbarrow

As I've said before, Dunbarrow has become the gold standard for the genre that originally inspired them.  

I Wish You A Safe And Happy New Year's Eve!
-ULTRA  

DUEL: IN CARNE PERSONA

Flawless Victory

Duel's fourth album is their best, and is a masterclass on hard rock songwriting.  The intros to these songs rate a 10 out of 10, really grabbing your attention and imagination.  They flow into really well-written and catchy main bodies, with clean closings.  In Carne Persona is definitely one of the year's greatest albums.

I really do like them all, but here are a couple of my favorites:

Another:

The guitar playing on this album is immense, and I think it's undebatable that "In Carne Persona" is Duel's best album yet.

Duel features two former members of Scorpion Child.

They are:

 

Shaun Avants : Bass, Vocals

Justin Collins: Drums

Jeff Henson: Guitar, Vocals

Tom Frank: Guitar, Vocals

You can obviously pick this album up on Bandcamp.  If you're like me, you'll play it so much it will cost you just pennies per play.

If you haven't already, check out my interview with Stone Cadaver below.

 -ULTRA

DUEL: VALLEY OF SHADOWS

Duel Is Back

Duel's debut album, "Fears Of The Dead" was one of my top ten albums of 2016.  I've played it more times than I can count.  Can't put my finger on exactly why 2017's "Witchbanger" didn't do it for me, but I am happy to report that "Valley Of The Shadows" proves that "the third time's the charm."  

Tom and Shaun from Scorpion Child have something special going, and have produced another memorable rock album, with equally great guitar, bass, drums and vocals.  

Check out 'Red Moon Forming":

And now "Tyrant On The Throne", an epic tune if there ever was one:

Valley of Shadows is great rock that's interesting and catchy, and I can't get enough of it.  It's on Bandcamp but you'll have to search Heavy Psych Sounds, not Duel, to find it.  Or you can just click here.

Duel is:

• Tom Frank - guitar,vocals
  Shaun Avants - bass, vocals
  Justin Collins - drums
  Jeff Henson - guitar

• 
  
• 
  

I am already blown away by the quality of rock that's come out this year.  I've been a little slow to check out new things because I just can't stop listening to the stuff I've already bought.  

Anyhow, enjoy this nice weather and I'll catch you next weekend, at latest

-ULTRA

ANTICIPATION

Here are teaser tracks for some upcoming albums that promise to be among the year's best:

NEBULA: HOLY SHIT

 It's amazing how this sounds like it was recorded at the same time as "To The Center" or "Charged".  Seems like Nebula decided to get back together one more time just to remind everybody how stoner rock is done.

The track is called "Witching Hour": 

Holy Shit is scheduled to release on June 9th

GLITTER WIZARD: OPERA VILLAINS

 Glitter Wizard is an acquired taste, but I've definitely acquired the taste and can't wait to hear the rest of this one.  

The teaser track, "Spell So Evil" seems to pick up right where the Hollow Earth Tour album left off: 

The full album is due out on Saturday

DUEL: VALLEY OF SHADOWS

 I gushed about "Fears Of The Dead" and was indifferent about "Witchbanger".  The teaser track "Black Magic Summer" has me drooling to hear the rest of this album.  Interesting and awesome, this is exactly what I hoped for after the debut album.  

The full album releases on May 17th.

If you're wondering, I have no connection to Heavy Psych Sounds Records other than the fact that I love both Gabriele Fiori's music and his taste in music.  So many great albums on this label.

Here's an album that's not on Heavy Psych Sounds, but this is the third of three pre-released tracks which all make me need to hear the whole thing.

THE WELL: DEATH AND CONSOLATION

As the album art suggests, this album seems to be the perfect fusion of all three band members' unique talents.  This will be track 8, entitled "This Is How The World Ends":

Death and Consolation will be released on the 26th.

Until next time

-ULTRA

 SOME OTHER 2017 STUFF

Here are a few we haven't discussed:

YOUNGBLOOD SUPERCULT: "The Great American Death Rattle"

I really enjoyed their 2016 release, "High Plains" (mentioned here).  The singer David Merrill, reminds me of Craig Riggs of Boston's own Roadsaw.  This tune is fairly representative of what this album has to offer; it's the closing track, entitled "Sticky Fingers."

DUEL: "Witchbanger"

Duel's last album made my top ten list for 2016.  It got a LOT of listens and continues to get regular play from me.  Witchbanger seems to be better-recorded, and definitely shows effort by the band to maintain familiarity while branching out a bit.  Sounds like a can't miss album, yet for some reason I am not addicted to this album like I was to its predecessor.  Still a quality hard-rock/stoner release.  This is my favorite track here, "Heart Of The Sun":


HAZY SEA: "Astrolabe"

Astrolabe is the second full-length release in 2017 for this band from Athens, which plays instrumental stoner/hard rock on par with the greats, including Karma To Burn and Pelican.  I loved "Electric Abyss", mentioned here, and "Astrolabe" is equally great; not sure I can decide which is my favorite.  Here is the lead track, called "The Journey": 

Just a quick sampler this week while I am checking out a couple of super-recent releases.  Will review whichever is my favorite next weekend.  Over and out.
-ULTRA

DUEL: Fears Of The Dead

DUEL: Fears Of The Dead

A Hard Rock Gem

"Fears of the Dead" is a pretty flawless hard rock album.  Well-written, perfectly executed and expertly recorded tunes, cover to cover.  Precious few debut albums ever hit a home run like this one did.  Duel is from Austin, Texas and two of them (Tom and Shaun) were former members of Scorpion Child.  Turns out they have a great chemistry, and Duel hits the ground running with an instant candidate for hard rock album of the year.  Check out "Fell to the Earth", and then "Electricity":

"Fears of the Dead" is on Heavy Psych Sounds Records, known for great finds.  

Duel is:

• Tom Frank Guitars / Vocals
• Shaun Avants Bass / Vocals
• JD Shadowz Drums
• Derek Halfmann Guitars
• 
  

Signing off.       -ULTRA