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

Out Today: Three Absolutely Epic Releases...

SUPLECS: HYMS UNDER A BLOOD MOON SKY

It's been 15 years since the last Suplecs album, and I definitely didn't expect to hear another one.  Far from being old and washed up, Suplecs have returned with a ferocity.  I preordered this back in December, based on this track they had released.  Suplecs have written some stoner-rock-hall-of-fame caliber songs over the years, and this is as good as any of them.

I'm just giving the rest of the tracks a first listen, but this one is another early favorite:

New Orleans' Suplecs are:

Danny Nick: Bass, Vocals

Andrew Preen: Drums

Durel Yates: Guitar, Vocals

BELZEBONG: THE END IS HIGH

Polish stoner metal/doom gods Belzebong are back with another face-melting, brain-dissolving, volume to eleven, must-have album.  Another album I pre-ordered (back in November) due to a pre-released track I thought to be as good as any of my previous favorites.

Hear for yourself:

Again, the rest of this was just released today, but here's the closing track, making a crushing entrance:

Belzebong are:

Sheepy Dude: Bass

Alky Dude: Guitar

Cheesy Dude: Guitar

Hexy Dude: Drums

L'Ira Del Baccano: The Praise Of Folly

Italy's L'Ira Del Baccano are such masterful musicians and songwriters that I pre-ordered this one without any pre-released tracks available.  Based on my previous three purchases, I was confident not only that I'd like this album, but that it would be a strong contender for my top ten of the year.  One listen in, I know I was right.  If you've checked out my previous posts about this band, you already know, but if not, make sure you've got your good speakers and sit back for this:

L'Ira Del Baccano are:

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

There's a whole lot of great stoner rock looming on the 2026 horizon, so keep checking back; it will be worth your while!

THESE JUST OUT!

 

DEAD MEADOW: VOYAGER TO VOYAGER

A brand new Dead Meadow, with the last bass tracks ever laid down by Steve Kille, who succumbed to cancer last April.  This was released today, but after one listen I believe it will land in my top few favorite Dead Meadow albums.  Check out the lead track:  

The incomparable Dead Meadow, originally from Washington D.C.:

Jason Simon: Guitar, Vocals

Steve Kille: Bass

Mark Laughlin: Drums

L'IRA DEL BACCANO/YAMA: TEMPUS DEORUM

L'Ira Del Baccano produced one of my top 10 favorite albums of 2023, and now they have a new single, released in a split with a band I had never heard before, but am so glad I found.  Also released today, this album has already blown me away.  Check out these amazing tracks:

This is so freaking heavy:

And here is the band that caused me to pre-order this album:

Yama are from The Netherlands.  They are:

Alex Schenkels: vocals, bluesharp
Sjoerd Albers: guitar
Peter Taverne: bass
Joep Schmitz: drums

L'Ira Del Baccano are from Italy.  They are:

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

And finally, released three weeks ago today, (and it's been in my car playlist shuffle ever since), is this masterpiece from a band that keeps getting better with each release:

THE DEATH WHEELERS: THE ECSTASY OF MOLD

The Death Wheelers add to their bag of tricks with each and every record.  Easily one of the best stoner rock/heavy psych/doom instrumental bands of all time, these tunes never drag or get stale.  The Death Wheelers are masterful songwriters and musicians, and take no prisoners.  Even though it's early, I am confident this will remain one of my favorite albums of 2025 when December rolls around.  Here is one of 10 tracks that each rate a 10 out of 10:

The Death Wheelers are from Quebec, Canada.  They are:

Max ‘the axe’ Tremblay 

Hugo ‘red beard’ Bertacchi 

Richard ‘the bastard’ Turcotte 

Ed ‘back from the dead’ Desaulniers

If you want more Stoner Rock, check out my Stoner Rock #29 Playlist here.

Until next time.

Stay Heavy!!!

2023 Top Ten Stoner Rock Albums

 2023 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#10-1)

The second half of my top 20 heavy rock albums list for 2023. One song from each album, beginning with album #10 and finishing with album #1. I understand I'm sure to be missing some great albums that came out this year, but am just sharing my favorite purchases of the year. Artist/Album/Track info is displayed for the first 10 seconds of each tune.

#10: "Cosmic Evoked Potentials" by L'Ira Del Baccano

Italian instrumental band with real technical precision.  Excellent songwriting here.  I've been listening to this since it came out in March

#9: "Fuzzrider" by Fuzzrider

Greek guitarist and vocalist Jim Lord has returned with a new band and 8 great tracks with his distinctive sound

#8: "Medicine" by Goat

The mysterious Swedish band has put out another album.  Of course it's really nothing like their others, and of course it's another masterpiece.  This one's got a real trippy, hippy vibe.  Goat can do no wrong in my book.

#7: "Superskull" by Black Rainbows

Italian stoner rock legends return with one of their most aggressive and catchy albums yet.  Also, another candidate for album cover of the year.

#6: "Enveletration" by Sandrider

This unique Seattle trio has their own style, which includes elements of punk, metal and stoner.  This is their best album to date, and one of the best albums of the year.  Every tune is great.  They also recently put out one of the best EPs of the year, also worth your while.

#5: "Sons Of Froglord" by Froglord

This British rock band with the weird face masks really knows how to write great tunes.  I love every one of these eleven tracks.  I refer to their sound as "groovy doom".  

#4: "Low Desert Surf Club" by Fire Down Below

The third album from this Belgian band is truly special.  They've really nailed that classic "desert" fuzz sound.  Obviously one of my favorite few albums of the year, and Cocaine Hippo is one of my favorite songs of the year.

#3: "Thunder Ape" by Bahboon

Even though their first album came out in 2015, I just found this Japanese band this year, and what a great surprise this album was.  Each song has a different atmosphere, and each one is polished and perfect.  I'll be listening to this for years to come.

#2: "Margarita Witch Cult" by Margarita Witch Cult

This British band caught my attention with an EP last year.  Even though the quality of the recording was rough, I listened to those two tunes countless times because the songwriting was so good.  This new album has nine new tunes that have all been stuck in my head since the album was released, in April.

#1: "The Old Ways Remain" by Blood Ceremony

Not just album of the year, this is one of the very best albums I've ever bought in my life.  The musicianship and songwriting here stack up with any rock album of any era.  The song I chose for this playlist is not typical of the album, but none of the songs is.  Each is its own masterpiece, and every note of every tune has wormed its way into the inner recesses of my brain.   

Notable Omission:

"In Times New Roman" by Queens of the Stone Age deserves to be in my top 10.  Few individuals have helped to shape the genre we call Stoner Rock like Josh Homme has, and this is as perfect an album as he's ever been involved with.  Yet, I am still unwilling to take any of these other albums off my list.  I'd like to spread the word on relatively lesser-known albums as the year closes.  I'm pretty confident this new Queens of the Stone Age album has already reached a pretty vast audience.

Best EPs:

"Kiss The Boot" by Glitter Wizard

"Aviary/Baleen" by Sandrider

"Parable Of The Taxidermist's Dilemma" by Mississippi Bones

"Fu30, Pt. 3" by Fu Manchu

"Lady Cadaver" by Tumble

Stay safe out there, and Happy New Year!

 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!

 NEW L'IRA DEL BACCANO

Full album out on March 3rd, this was an instant pre-order for me.  In 2017 I was introduced this band and reviewed the album Paradox Hourglass here.  In that review I likened L'ira Del Baccano to Mastodon with a more psychedelic slant, and noted that when I first heard them it took me awhile to notice that they're an instrumental band, since the songwriting is so engaging.  If you check out this pre-released track, I think there's a good chance you may want to pre-order the album too:

L'ira Del Baccano are from Italy, and are:

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

And how about that album art?  Fabio Listrani is the man we can salute for this instant contender for album cover of the year

I've got something different and cool on tap for next weekend, so be sure to check back in.

Until then, I leave you with this:

L'IRA DEL BACCANO: Paradox Hourglass

Bringing New Meaning to "Italian Masterpiece"

If you type those two words into a search engine, you're going to get referred to a whole lot of paintings, but you should be taken straight to Bandcamp to check out this April 14th  release by a band I just found today.  Bandcamp's home page had a link to a story on Italian Psych bands, and I clicked, thinking I would see a nice write-up on Black Rainbows and maybe find some new heavy psych that's right up my alley.  I was half-right on Black Rainbows; they got five sentences worth of mention, and were listed ninth out of ten featured bands.  But I got so much more than I expected in the way of rock that is new to me.  My favorite of the featured albums was definitely Paradox Hourglass.  It is analogous on a few levels to Mastodon, in that it has the technical precision of Rush while maintaining both stoner rock and heavy metal appeal, but adds a dimension of psychedelia that separates it from Mastodon.  It took me quite a while to recognize that this is an instrumental album, since it is so thoroughly engaging, it not once occurred to me that anything was missing.  Hear for yourself; this is track #3 of 4, entitled "Abilene", clocking in at the fastest 11:17 you have ever heard:

Now the tune that grabbed me first: track one, "Paradox Hourglass-Part 1" (11:10)

L'Ira Del Baccano lists themselves as being from both Rome and New York.  They are:

Alessandro “Drughito” Santori - guitar/direction and architecture of Baccano
Roberto Malerba - guitar/synth
Sandro “fred” Salvi - drums
Ivan Contini Bacchisio - bass

I had intended to post the pre-released tracks from the upcoming Devil Electric album tonight, but this blew me away and I needed to share.  I purchased this after one listen, and know that this will end up costing me pennies per listen, after all the plays it will get.

Until next time!   -ULTRA