“Vienna, Austria’s Tarlung has been coughing up thick clouds of resinous doom and smoky sludge since 2013, when, after just six months in existence and having never performed live, they released their eponymous debut album. Now, with two additional full-lengths—2017’s Beyond the Black Pyramid and 2021’s Architect—and some healthy touring under their belts, Tarlung braces to bring their fourth album in nearly five years, Axis Mundi, to the masses.” Coughing up the goods.
“The best things in life often happen organically. Temptress began in 2019 in Dallas, Texas, as three friends casually jamming together, and they had enough natural chemistry to decide to take their alluring stoner doom to the studio. Like someone who is well-versed in the art of seduction, they appear to be working their way through each of the five senses. Their debut full-length, see, was born in 2023, but now the time has come to close your eyes and hear what Temptress has conjured up for their sophomore record.” hear in the now.
“Known for cultivating legendary acts such as Cult of Luna, Meshuggah, and Refused, Umeå, Sweden, sows fertile ground for seminal rock and metal bands. Formed in 2022, Skogskult joins their compatriots with a self-titled debut of grimy stoner doom in hand.” It’s in the water.
July Filters get sticky from the heat. It takes time to cool em down and unstickify those rascals. We did it though, for YOU.
“Concept albums inherently have higher aspirations than the average release and therefore necessitate an elevated standard of critique. Not only must the music delight, but everything on the album—lyrics, instruments, tone, track placement, pace—must support a well-developed central narrative.” Now that, motherfucker, is what I mean when I say “set up the stakes of the review.”
“Can you guess what genre Acidsloth plays? Yes, that’s right, it’s thrash! Ok, no, obviously not, it’s stoner doom—what else with a name that’s a portmanteau of a drug and a notoriously slow-moving animal? Kicking around since 2021, Kraków’s Acidsloth already have two LPs to their name, but it’s their third that they bestow the honor of being self-titled. The reason is that this time, they’re a “full band” (to use their own terminology), totaling eight(!) musicians, five of whom perform vocals.” The hateful 8 and the danger sloth.
“Before snagging their new album out of the sump pit, I knew next to nothing about Ontario, Canada’s Witchrot. It turns out the band gained a fair amount of notoriety in 2018, after releasing just one EP, when co-founder and original bassist Peter Turik posted an unexpected message on Facebook announcing the band was taking an ‘extended hiatus,’ revealing his girlfriend of seven years had slept with the guitarist. And that, oh, yeah, in a grave, Spinal Tapish post-script, Witchrot’s drummer had died.” Witch in the system.
“The Flight of Sleipnir’s 2021 opus Eventide made ripples in the underground, blending stoner doom, acoustic folk, and post-metal—familiar elements but crafted into a cohesive, beautiful whole. We hadn’t covered them since 2014’s V., so I nabbed Nature’s Cadence as soon as I could, hoping it would elevate the band from goodness to greatness. I knew that either way it would be a breath of fresh air, and its gorgeous cover art was irresistible.” Even AMG is getting into cadence discussions this week.
“One look at the cover of Neolithic Flint Dagger, the second album by the independent Swedish band Eyes of the Oak, and it should be no surprise that they play a mix of psychedelic doom, stoner rock, and traditional metal. That means fuzzy guitars, gruff cleans, and brief psychedelic passages of the kind that Pink Floyd plays on Dark Side of the Moon.” Neolithic Flint Daggers flying through space is not on my “Album Cover Bingo” card, I’ll give them that.
“One of the most effective hooks to guarantee my initial interest in an album will always be some form of seafaring or spacefaring vessel on the cover art. I’ve maintained for years that there’s a strange, cosmic connection between a ship on an album cover and quality music. I don’t make the rules. I just follow them. So, it was easy for me to snatch up Finnish doom metal outfit Sarajah as they prepare their self-titled debut for release. A fine ship graces its cover, giving me a potentially unjustified boost of confidence that Sarajah would be great. Bias in tow, I dove right in.” Vessel of fickle fates.
