Some catchy-ass songs. I avoided the hoopla around the release of what’s still the latest Queens of the Stone Age full-length, In Times New Roman…, upon its release through Matador Records in 2023. Not being cool enough to get a promo helps in that regard, I suppose. The band are big enough that their online-fanbase retreated into the usual camps: old material is best; everything Josh Homme touches (except that woman’s camera that one time) is gold; it’s mid, etc. All arguments you’ve heard before, none of them based on more than a personal opinion. ‘Takes’ to be broadcast on social media. Spare me the opinions of dudes my age.

Queens of the Stone Age continue to be the five-piece of Homme, guitarists Dean Fertita (also keys and percussion) and Troy Van Leeuwen, bassist Mikey Shuman and drummer Jon Theodore, but the band also continues to belong to Homme. It’s his show, his songs, as the writing credits make clear, and in the case of the 10-song/47-minute In Times New Roman… — furthering Homme‘s lyrical predilection for twisting idioms and clichés into clever one-liners offering insights somewhere between drugged and genius; see also every song at one point or another — his production, helmed alongside a slew of engineers at his own studio and others. The implication is that more than 2017’s Villains (review here) and 2013’s …Like Clockwork (discussed here, review here), In Times New Roman… is true to who the band are in themselves 25-plus years into their career.

Fair enough for the sound of it. “Obscenery” opens with crucial swagger. If someday decades from now some cruel AI or whichever corporation ends up owning the world wanted to bring a Homme hologram back and have it write a record, I have to feel like some of the elements throughout here — the construction of the lyrics and riffs, the practiced overconfidence of one about to take a fall, the Bowie-ism, the way the guitar is manipulated to sound like various skronky weirdnesses, including a kazoo on the Beatles-y “Made to Parade,” and so on — would be plucked out and employed for fans to identify as proof of veracity. That is to say, In Times New Roman…, from the pun on ‘scenery’ onward, is very Queens of the Stone Age, but what does that mean in terms of sound?

It depends on the song and it depends on what a given listener is bringing in terms of expectation. If you’re thinking Homme and his band of ace-pedigreed players are going to unfurl a desert-rocking fuzz collection like 1998’s self-titled debut (discussed here), kudos on your delusion. Couldn’t and wouldn’t happen anymore than I can go back to 1998 before my knee hurt all the time and I spent my days playing Final Fantasy. Though their connection to desert rock is indelible thanks to Homme having made his major-label breakthrough in Kyuss, despite setting an influence in the genre with 2002’s Songs for the Deaf, genre or the refining thereof has never been a huge part of their project, and In Times New Roman… finds them long since removed from that foundation.

But there are riffs, and it does rock, and, as noted, the songs are catchy. There are quirky details throughout as “Obscenery” and “Paper Machete” give over to the ultrahook of “Negative Space” before “Time and Space” gets a bit moody and “Made to Parade” sets itself to its own march. That’s side A, executed with and for momentum, purposefully and effectively, professionally. Tonally, Homme‘s guitar is given to more crunch on average than either of the previous two full-lengths, and to no surprise the band behind him is on point, with a string quartet and backing vocals in “Obscenery” — the strings come back in “Carnavoyeur,” “Sicily” and closer “Straight Jacket Fitting” — fleshing out the mood and space in Mark Rankin‘s mix in ways that the songs will continue to manipulate. The strut of “Made to Parade,” the open-into-the-chorus methodology of it and “Negative Space,” “Paper Machete,” the sense of reach in “Carnavoyeur” at the start of side B, are all quintessential Queens of the Stone Age. Identifiable markers.

Side B has always been a creative haven for the band, and while In Times New Roman… doesn’t bask in this the same way as, say, 2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze, or even …Like Clockwork, but the consuming chug at the end of “Carnavoyeur” speaks to branching out from the down-to-business-ness of the first half of the record, and the boogie rush of “What the Peephole Say” and the slower, minor-key string-infused theatricality of “Sicily” bear out the modus to some degree, as do the ’70s-arena-rock harmonies singing “Baby don’t care for me” in the penultimate “Emotion Sickness,” the title of which also appears in the lyrics to “Negative Space,” though the two songs seem otherwise thematically unrelated. This all leads to closer “Straight Jacket Fitting,” which is as big on attitude as it is in sound, and takes about the last third of its nine-minute runtime for a drifty acoustic-based reprise.

Prescient of 2025’s acoustic live EP Alive in the Catacombs (review here)? Maybe, but not out of character either way for the band, and one could say the same of the album as a whole. It’s in-character. With a quality of songcraft that’s unmistakable and a sound that flirts with heavy rock while refusing to commit to anything other than its own maximalism, In Times New Roman… is indeed “Made to Parade” many of the tropes that make Queens of the Stone Age who they are at this point. It adjusts the balance away from the willful, let’s-not-talk-about-it dancey vacuousness of Villains but isn’t quite as weighted emotionally as …Like Clockwork turned out to be. As porridges go, does that make it the one that’s just right?

I don’t know, and it’s an arbitrary question dependent largely on what the listener is bringing to the proceedings. That is, if you think Homme is tired as a songwriter and the band has little to offer rockers, that’s what you’re going to hear. If you’ve loyally followed the creative path that led Queens of the Stone Age to this point (and, now, beyond it), then In Times New Roman… is another forward step in that ongoing narrative. For me, it’s readily sing-alongable, and that in itself has value, and it brings a creative mindset — if formulaic in its own ways — to a genre that has zero other operators working at its level of commercial relevance. Ups and downs, as always, but all things considered, a stronger outing than I expected it to be. And again, it rocks. In the 2020s, that in itself feels like an accomplishment.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

This week was a lot. Right up to Ruff Majik announcing a new record like 15 minutes ago. Hang on…

Okay, that’s posted.

Anyhow, I got back from Freak Valley this past Sunday, was home shortly before 5PM. Unpacking, showering, feeding the kid, normal routine stuff, bedtime. Standard come-home evening. The next day was Monday. She had a good day at school according to the stupid fucking metric that’s the only information the school actually gives us about her day. Sometime after pickup, I clicked send on the email to the school telling them we wanted outside placement for next year.

Monday evening, I asked The Patient Mrs. if she wanted to take the dog around the block, and she did and invited The Pecan, who generally would say no. She said yes, then started laying out ground rules — we had to go around twice, once with her bike and once on foot and it had to happen this way and did daddy have to come and blah blah blah and by the time they were getting out the door and The Patient Mrs. said with all due incredulousness “are you coming?” I waved her off with a correspondingly dickish “fuck it, no.”

Next I saw them they were sprinting in the house with blood running down The Pecan’s arm; bitten by a neighbor’s German shepherd. I was glad to be stoned. We tried to go to an urgent care down the way — becase the actual ER would take six hours and suck even worse — and they turned us out saying they closed at 8PM. It was 8:06. Not one word asking what happened; they pointedly didn’t look at The Pecan, whose crying and wimpering they had to have heard because, well, they fucking had ears. No care, just leave.

We went down the way to PM Pediatrics, which is another urgent care, but for kids and open until 10PM. About 10 minutes of me speeding down the road later, we were there in time to sit for minimum 90 minutes while we waited for the line in front of us to get called in. When the P.A. — because who the fuck ever wants to see a doctor anyhow — said she would need to “close” the cuts, my wife and I didn’t know if that was stitches or staples or fucking masking tape or what. Stitches. Three of them. Two in one cut, one in the other.

My sister lives up the way and came (at The Pecan’s request, which I thought was nice) and had Bluey on her phone, and because what’s a child’s medical trauma without a chance to relive your own, I sat with her on my lap while they put her right arm on the table and held her in place along with The Patient Mrs., who had her feet, and my sister, who held the phone so Bluey could be seen. Started at episode one, I think got through episode four, but golly it felt longer than half an hour. The P.A. and other assistant whose title I don’t think I ever got did a great job, considering, and I respected the hell out of the fact that at 10PM they didn’t stop in the middle of running the needle through my child’s arm to tell us to get the fuck out, they’re closed, come back tomorrow, or better, don’t.

We got home around 11 Monday night and The Patient Mrs. drove to West Caldwell (25 min.) to a 24-hour pharmacy to get antibiotics. Really, really glad we taught this kid how to take a pill this year. Quality of life improvement for everybody. The neighbors had sent the rabies certificate and left a gift basket outside the house and wrote a nice card and all that. They’re not strangers. They own jetskis and have a volleyball net in their backyard, so I call it the Fun House. The Pecan has met and interacted with this dog before; something just spooked it and it went for her. The actual definition of shit happening in the finest tradition of “shit happens.”

We kept her home from school on Tuesday. She watched videos in the morning as usual and then we put on the live Nintendo Direct because I’d of course seen all the rumors about the Ocarina of Time remake being announced, which it was, tucked away at the very end, in a quick “this exists” trailer. Coming later this year. I broke out into tears, I was so happy it was actually happening and the kid got to see it. She’ll play that game and remember it. It can be her Ocarina of Time, just like I had my own in 1998. I still have the cartridge. It’s still got my game on it. You get the idea. That was a great little moment to be alive, and something that, had I tried, I wouldn’t have been able to orchestrate better than it worked out.

After that, it was a trip to Target to buy her Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which we’d held off because it’s rated for teens and is really just monster-slaughter and cutscenes she’s already seen on YouTube. But with the injury and trauma of the night before, I wanted to push positive memories and associations, so there you go. She spent the rest of Tuesday playing and having a damned good time doing it. She also had ice cream, which she’d had as well Monday night at like 10:30 after we got home. We’d told her she could go Monday to Friday on ice cream if she wanted. She forgot to ask yesterday, but otherwise had the streak going.

Wednesday I woke up ready to write and sat down and banged out 800 words of that Monolord review that went up this morning. The Pecan had her full-day visit at the school we want to send her to instead of the home-district public school and by her own report had a great, fun day there. No one contradicted this impression when I picked her up, and holy crap, even though it’s a half-hour from here and adding in that commute changes the shape of my days in ways I don’t yet understand, I really, really hope we can make that happen. Our first meeting about it, where we say yes and they say no and then we set up the next meeting, is set for next Thursday at 1PM.

Normally she gets a bath on Wednesday after school — and bathtime can take anywhere from 20 minute to two and a half hours depending on how much time she wants to spend in the tub — but with the bandage on her arm, I didn’t want to take the chance. She could be stinky for a few days. Yesterday was her first normal back-to-school day of the week since the bite and there was a math test she didn’t know about, so she got pissed about that in class and blah blah the usual it becomes about her behavior instead of how can we educate this amazing, genius-ass kid. I’ve said all that before. I’ll be saying it again next Thursday, and doing my best not to use the word “fuck” while doing so.

She had OT yesterday after school and the therapist was like “Little on edge?” and we gave a quick summary of the week to that point, receiving a knowing nod in return. The Patient Mrs. had been out Wednesday with her sister (who came down from CT to go see the Indigo Girls together, as they will) and had a board-of-ed thing last night, an awards ceremony that kept her out past 10, so she did that while I re-setup the Tears of the Kingdom Randomizer on the modded Switch so The Pecan could start a new game, which she said she wanted to do. Mellow by comparison, but the overarching anxiety about the fight we’re picking with the school loomed, and I was alone with the kid and correspondingly lonely as The Pecan sits facing the tv in the blue chair and I’m back on the couch wondering what I’m doing with my life. Everybody misses The Patient Mrs. when she’s out. When I go, I’m pretty sure things are better here.

Today is the second grade field trip to some farm, which despite her being in the special ed. class, The Pecan was invited to go on… as long as my wife tagged along to actually manage her and do all the work of both the teacher who couldn’t handle her in the first place earlier this year, and the paraprofessional who’d otherwise be in the classroom with her at the school building. Good fun. The Patient Mrs. was dutiful this morning but markedly less than stoked, and I get that. They also have Girl Scouts this afternoon together, so I expect that by the time they’re back from one, let alone the other, she’ll be good and cooked. All I need to do is shut the fuck up and handle my business. Can I?

Tomorrow The Pecan has a birthday party — which again, The Patient Mrs. will take her to; labor credit where it’s due, and that’s mostly to her — and I’m going to see Primus with my sister, nephew and I think one or two of his friends who probably won’t be hanging out with the old people anyway. I’m meh on the new Claypool-Lennon album (I’ll close the week with it next week, probably), but I’ve listened to Primus since I was just a little older than The Pecan is now, so don’t want to miss a chance to see them for the first time since 2017, especially with the new drummer, and especially with The Claypool-Lennon Delirium and the Frog Brigade — both Les Claypool projects — opening. It’s gonna be a good time.

This post is long enough but here’s a Zelda update. I think since I last checked-in, I beat the Ship of Harkinian PC port of Ocarina of Time, and the Dusklight PC port of Twilight Princess, both of which were brilliant. I’ve flirted with starting a game on 2Ship2Harkinian, which is the Majora’s Mask complement to the original Ship, but I didn’t like that game when I tried it on the 3DS emulator, so am hesitant. Meantime, as noted, The Pecan started Age of Imprisonment and the TOTK Randomizer.

Not strictly Zelda related, but next week, Square-Enix’s Adventures of Elliot comes out and I’m looking forward to playing that, and in the Nintendo Direct earlier this week they also showcased Final Fantasy Resonance, which is a new, original HD-2D game in that series made for the bald-dad types such as myself who went hard on FFII and FFIII for Super Nintendo way back when. It’s out in October. In my best impression of myself at age 12, I already told my mother I want it for my birthday.

That’s it, and that’s plenty. I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Unless you’re a fascist in which case I hope you fall on spikes and bleed out slow.

But failing that, don’t forget to hydrate. I’m back Monday with more of whatever we’re calling this by now.

FRM.

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Ohio heavy psych rock upstarts Black Moon Cult have a handful of dates coming up later this month supporting Hashtronaut. I got to see them last month in NYC at Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous (review here), which it turns out will have been one of if not the last time they played as the trio of guitarist/vocalist Kaleb Riser, drummer Jeff Vandebussche and bassist Kevin Lewis, as the latter split from the band a couple weeks ago and has been replaced on the quick with Bronson Mikal Gamble.

After the shows this month, the band plans to hold off further live activity and begin ot write their second full-length in earnest. Any change in lineup brings a corresponding shift in dynamic, but honestly, I was looking forward to Black Moon Cult‘s next offering, which should tell a good bit about who they are and are going to be as a band, and I still am. These things invariably need sorting sometimes after a band hits the road for real. I hope the writing is productive with Gamble in the band, and that the shows are killer as well. That’s exactly as complex as my feelings are here. To quote my brain, “Duh, well okay.”

From social media:

We are stoked to introduce Bronson Mikal Gamble as the new permanent Bassist of Black Moon Cult! Ohio locals may be familiar with Bronson through his work with Hospital Brute/ Brute Fest of Marion. Bronson came in last week to audition, and his chemistry within our music/ enthusiam/ technical proficiency made him the obvious choice. Beyond excited for the refreshing energy he’ll bring to the mix as we dive into the writing process of our 2nd full length album! He will be joining immediately for all live dates/tours, including our run with Hashtronaut in just a couple weeks! Come out and say “Hi” to the new guy!

Black Moon Cult w/ Hashtronaut:
June 23 — Cleveland, OH — Beachland Tavern
June 24 — Detroit, MI — Sanctuary
June 25 — Columbus, OH — Rumba Cafe
June 26 — Chicago, IL — Liars Club

Black Moon Cult is:
Kaleb Riser – Vocals, Guitar, Synth, Theremin
Bronson Mikal Gamble – Bass
Jeff Vandebussche – Drums, Vocals

https://psychedelicblackmooncult.com/
https://blackmooncult3.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/blackmooncult
https://www.facebook.com/PsychedelicBlackMoonCult/

https://www.blackdoomba.com/
https://linktr.ee/BlackDoomba
https://blackdoombarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/blackdoombarecords/

Black Moon Cult, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (2025)

What’s ‘Generator Party’ at Giant Rock at the end of this tour? Is that an actual generator party out in the desert — some codified version of the renegade setups of the ’80s and ’90s — or something else? Is it a fest? A venue? I don’t know. I’m curious, that’s all.

Author & Punisher‘s new video for “Black Storm Petrel” was filmed live in Warsaw, Poland, at VooDoo Club, and wouldn’t you know it, the clip’s unveiling and the tour of the Pacific Seaboard the two-piece just announced come even as they make ready to embark on their current UK/Euro run, supporting 2025’s duly-flattening Nocturnal Birding (review here). Timing is everything. Tristan Shone and Doug Sabolick embark on that tour June 23, where the new-announced shows are for September, so make sure you know where to be when.

The PR wire has it thusly:

AUTHOR & PUNISHER: Announce Fall US & Canada 2026 Headline Tour

Share “Black Storm Petrel” (ft. Fange) Live 4K Video

New Full-Length Nocturnal Birding Out Now on LP/CD/Streaming

After celebrating 20 years since the inception of AUTHOR & PUNISHER in 2024, founding composer, vocalist and mechanical engineer Tristan Shone embraces the project’s broadest scope to date with the crushing Nocturnal Birding, out now via Relapse Records.

Today, AUTHOR & PUNISHER announces US Fall 2026 headline tour dates further celebrating Nocturnal Birding! Support from Guiltless on all dates.

Tickets are on sale this Friday, June 12 @ 10am local time at https://authorandpunisher.com

Additionally, AUTHOR & PUNISHER shares the official 4K live performance video for “Black Storm Petrel” from Nocturnal Birding. The video was filmed live in Warsaw, PL @ VooDoo Club with FANGE, who perform on the song’s studio version.

A&P Summer US 2026 Headlining Tour
All shows w/ Guiltless
Sept 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Golddigger’s
Sept 20 – Cottonwood, AZ – Queen B Vinyl
Sept 22 – Denver CO – The Bluebird Theater
Sept 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Sept 24 – Boise, ID – The Shredder
Sept 25 – Portland, OR – Dante’s
Sept 26 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt
Sept 27 – Seattle, WA – Substation
Sept 29 – Sacramento, CA – Cafe Colonial
Sept 30 – Oakland, CA – Stork Club
Oct 01 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
Oct 02 – Landers, CA – Giant Rock – Generator Party

Previously announced 2026 Nocturnal Birding Dates:
w/ King Yosef
Jun 23 – Glasgow, UK @ Slay
Jun 24 – Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
Jun 25 – London, UK @ XOYO
Jun 26 – Bourlon, France @ Rock in Bourlon
Jun 27 – Hauteville, Switzerland @ Abyss Fest
Jun 29 – Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk
Jun 30 – Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Gromka
Jul 1 – Zagreb, Croatia @ Močvara
Jul 2 – Belgrade, Serbia @ KC Grad
Jul 3 – Budapest, Hungary @ Turbina
Jul 4 – Linz, Austria @ Kapu
Jul 5 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Bike Jesus

LISTEN & SHARE: Nocturnal Birding:
http://orcd.co/authorandpunisher

http://www.authorandpunisher.com/
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http://www.relapse.com
https://relapserecords.bandcamp.com/
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Author & Punisher, “Black Storm Petrel” Live in Warsaw

Author & Punisher, “Titanis” official video

Author & Punisher, Nocturnal Birding (2025)

South African hitters Ruff Majik are skipping the studio. They’ll record their new album at four shows next month — two of which take place at That Winter Fest, held over two weekends in Johannesburg and Cape Town (would) — and one of which is in a secret location that, just guessing here, also isn’t a recording studio. The idea is to put forward as much humanity as possible at a time where that in itself feels like an act of rebellion. To create something more than the data center they’re building in your otherwise residential neighborhood and telling you it needs the water more than you or your family or your dog or anything else alive. Opening a mouth and speaking in a human voice, but you know, with songs and riffs and probably beer spilled on you and so on.

I count myself so, so lucky to have seen this band live, and still I’m jealous if you’ll be at one of these shows, because you know they’re going to bring it for the material they’ll then take and use to comprise the record. You’ll get to say you were there. You’ll have that memory stored in the goo of your brain. The band will be on to their next marauder’s errand, but you will have both the experience and the document to attest to it. Doesn’t get much more human than that.

The PR wire dropped this mere moments ago as though it too high-temperature to hold comfortably. Ruff Majik‘s two recent singles and latest EP stream at the bottom:

RUFF MAJIK DECLARES WAR ON A.I. WITH NEW ALBUM: “REEFER SADNESS (AND THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MODERN LIVING)”

In an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence, algorithmic playlists, and machine-generated slop, South African fuzz-punks Ruff Majik have announced their most ambitious and confrontational project to date.

Their next album will be titled: REEFER SADNESS (AND THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MODERN LIVING)

And it will not be recorded in a studio.

It will be recorded live, in front of real people, with real mistakes.

Every cheer, every missed note, every burst of chaos and moment of unexpected magic will remain exactly where it belongs: in the music.

Most importantly, every person attending these performances will become part of the record itself. The band will also announce an international ‘support’ counterpart in the coming weeks.

—

The album will be captured across four performances during July 2026:

• 11 July — That Winter Fest, Sognage (Johannesburg)
• 12 July — Secret Location
• 17 July — That Winter Fest, District (Cape Town)
• 18 July — Aandklas (Stellenbosch)

Every moment exists once and can never be repeated.

Machines can imitate music, sure.

But they cannot create a room full of strangers singing together. They cannot create the feeling of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a fellow reveller while a song falls apart and somehow becomes better because of it. They cannot be punk.

The band has issued a simple challenge to proponents of AI-generated music (Suno specifically it would seem, if their social media is to be considered):

Can your machine do this?

Can it fill a room?

Can it make people sweat?

Can it make people cry?

Can it make a crowd of strangers feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves?

Ruff Majik is willing to bet it fucking can’t, and awaits Suno’s response on further parameters for the wager.

REEFER SADNESS (AND THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MODERN LIVING) begins recording this July.

Ruff Majik:
Johni Holiday – Lyrics, vocals, guitar
Brendon Bez – Guitar
Jimmy Glass – Bass
Steven “Boz” Bosman – Drums, percussion, programming

http://www.ruffmajik.com
https://www.tiktok.com/@ruffmajik
http://www.instagram.com/ruffmajik
https://www.facebook.com/ruffmajik

https://shop.soundofliberation.com
https://soundofliberation.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/soundofliberationrecords
https://www.facebook.com/soundofliberationrecords

Ruff Majik, Tan Halen (2026)

Ruff Majik, “For the Life of Me”

Ruff Majik, “Can of Wyrms”

As far as album narratives go, ‘The Gang Gets Produced by Sylvia Massy’ is a pretty strong one. Last Fall, Gothenburg’s Monolord traveled from Sweden to Ashland, Oregon, to work on Neverending with said producer, whose decades of credits include Tool, Johnny Cash, and actual hundreds of others. The trio of guitarist/vocalist Thomas V Jäger, bassist Mika Häkki and drummer Esben Willems (interview here) had previously always been in-house with production — Willems runs Studio Berserk, which is handy in that regard — and the intent was to do something different, to get away from everything, take time and make an album that captures something new from the band now six records and a busy 13 years into their tenure.

This is the story of the record, and it’s a fitting installment in the overarching thread of Monolord‘s progression. To-date, among their six albums, there has been none that has attempted to repeat what’s come before it, and outside of maintaining core elements of their sound in terms of riff structures, writing catchy choruses, evoking largesse of groove and expanding their capacity for melody to fill the spaces their songs create, Monolord have never more purposeful in the craft decisions they’ve made than they do on Neverending. While focusing on individual pieces like the advance single “You Bastard” or the seven-minute tone-drenched rumbler/stoner-doom swayer “Ooozing Wound” (which I assume has the extra ‘o’ so as not to be confused with being about the band?), Monolord and Massy seem to plunge into the details of the songs beneath the lumbering outward face of the material.

You can hear them taking their time. The way Neverending uses repetition is more willful even than 2021’s Your Time to Shine (review here), and that’s keyed in from the outset as “Iodine” opens the record with Willems running through a cyclical drum fill behind the verse, bolstering the nod of the riff with a punctuating snare, disappearing for the next stop, then slamming back in with the arrival of the next line. This single progression tells you something essential about the album in that it is both what the song needs and speaking to the overarching ethic applied to the material surrounding. Monolord are focused, they are dug in, and they’re laying out a flow that will not only carry into the subsequent hook of the aforementioned “You Bastard,” but on into the slowdown of “Into a Collider,” one of just two songs here over eight minutes long.

Weepy in its guitar lead and morose in the verse as Jäger has always had the capacity to be, the way the riff in “Into a Collider” seems to hold on for more measures after you think the change will come — that subversion of expectation — stands further testament to Monolord purposefully dwelling in the part. And maybe that notion applies less to a shorter, faster cut like “You Bastard” or “Crystal Bridge,” or “The Masque” and the penultimate “Invisible” on side B, all of which like “Iodine” check in on either side of four minutes long while offering sonic variety between them, but it’s still relevant to how “Crystal Bridge” shifts from its initial chug and Häkki‘s bass punch — one isn’t often tempted to write a haiku about bass tone, but… — into a dreamier-if-still-melancholy subdued midsection of lighter strumming and hand-percussion behind the vocals.

Jäger is more confident in that voice-showcase moment than he might’ve been in years past, but the choice to build back up around that patiently, finally getting back to the bookending central riff, speaks to veteran songwriting. “Ooozing Wound” is about as grim as the nod gets in leading off side B, and that revelry in the crush feels very ‘classic Monolord,’ which I guess means reminiscent of their earlier output. They’ve never actually been a primitivist band, but their songs can have a physical lurch that feels urgent regardless of its probable slowness, and that’s true of “Ooozing Wound” as well, but another middle-third departure brings a more floating psychedelic guitar part over steady bass and drums, evoking a jam as a bed beneath the guitar solo, and soon enough slamming back into the next verse, all-business.

That turn is stark and it’s meant to be. Every studio session has happy accidents and things working out (and not) that no one expected going in, and surely the same is true of Monolord‘s collaboration on Neverending with Sylvia Massy, but if you take anything away from this review, take how on-purpose Neverending sounds in the choices that comprise it. Even before you get to the swing and I think layered-in acoustic (is it really there? might be) of the verse to “The Masque,” the way the band keep momentum on their side without repeating themselves in what the songs are actually doing is striking, and the dirtied-up megafuzz of “Invisible,” the lightly headspinning guitar work that, in layers, marks a launched-into culmination that leaves the verse/chorus interplay behind because, again, it’s what most serves the song itself, as well as the album as a whole, which by then has featured an array of resonant choruses.

And if you need further evidence of Monolord refusing not to grow or try new things, the outsourcing of the harsh vocals on the closing title-track to Jörgen Sandström (The Project Hate MCMXCIX, ex-Entombed, ex-Grave, etc.) arrives as the longest cut on Neverending to underscore the point. Later in the song, wistful melodies and, near the finish, shimmering psychedelic guitar will expand the finale’s complexity, but the raw-throat gutturalisms of Sandström are a defining feature, and they bring a strident sense of command to the ensuing crush that Jäger‘s own voice contrasts without either detracting from or feeling out of place. The guitar/voice/keys outro comes across as a moment intended to apply to Neverending as an album more than “It’s Neverending” as a song, but it’s another intentional choice made in either case, so yes, one would say it’s on theme.

I’ll argue for the ascent of Monolord as one of the highlights of the last 15 years in underground heavy. While holding firm to who they are as a band, they’ve consistently been able to evolve their processes, and Neverending serves not only as a demonstrable next forward step in that ongoing development and a landmark for their willingness to break with their own production methods, but also a churning collection of massive aural proportions that invaribly pulls with gravity and the character of its execution. It is the work of masters.

Monolord, Neverending (2026)

Monolord, “You Bastard” official video

Monolord website

Monolord on Bandcamp

Monolord on Instagram

Monolord on Facebook

Relapse Records website

Relapse Records on Bandcamp

Relapse Records on Instagram

Relapse Records on Facebook

This tour, which will see Kal-El hitting Ripplefest Texas after a warm-up gig and then heading north up the Pacific Coastline and ending in the mountains, is a week longer than that which brought the Norwegians to the East Coast last year (review here). It follows the March release of Astral Voyager Vol. 2 (review here), which came in hot as the sequel behind 2025’s Astral Voyager Vol. 1 (review here), and is parcel to the momentum that Kal-El have fostered over the last four years since the end of the pandemic. They’ve been hitting it hard. They continue to hit it hard.

Joining them on the stint will be Goya and Volume, picking up the former in their native Arizona and traveling as a package from there on out with Kal-El in a well-earned headline position. The tour runs into October and hits into Canada for a stop in Vancouver, should you happen to be on that part of the continent. I give kudos to anyody traveling to the US for any reason at this point, let alone tour. They’ll also do UK/EU dates in August before this trip happens.

From social media:

USA and Canada – it’s time to crack this open: We are coming back for a 3 weeks run this fall with Goya and VOLUME

Go get your tickets today, spread the word, and we’ll see y’all very soon.

9/18 Haltom City, TX – Haltom Theatre
9/19 Austin, TX – RippleFest Texas (Far Out Lounge)
9/20 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
9/22 Santa Fe, NM – Desert Dogs
9/23 Phoenix, AZ – Last Exit Live
9/24 Las Vegas, NV – Dive Bar
9/25 Landers, CA – The Annex
9/26 Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing
9/27 Los Angeles, CA – Redwood Bar & Grill
9/29 San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
9/30 Sacramento, CA – Café Colonial
10/1 Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
10/2 Portland, OR – High Water Mark
10/3 Seattle, WA – The Funhouse
10/4 Vancouver, BC – Astoria
10/6 Spokane, WA – The Cameleon
10/7 Boise, ID – The Olympic
10/8 Salt Lake City, UT – Aces High
10/9 Denver, CO – Black Sky Brewing
10/10 Colorado Springs, CO – What’s Left Records

http://kal-el.no
http://kal-el.bandcamp.com
http://instagram.com/kalelband
http://facebook.com/kalelproject

bluesfuneral.com
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/

http://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com
https://majesticmountainrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://instagram.com/majesticmountainrecords
http://facebook.com/majesticmountainrecords

Kal-El, Astral Voyager Vol. 2 (2026)

Kal-El, Astral Voyager Vol. 1 (2025)

I was lucky enough to be in the crowd last weekend at Freak Valley Festival (review here) to see the first time Stoned Jesus played their new single “Under the Skin” live. I even confirmed with guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko afterward that it was ‘the’ skin in the title rather than yours, mine, his/hers/theirs, etc. But the song itself was striking in its aggression and post-metal churn from the stage, and bassist Andrew Riordan has a killer scream. You can see him doing room shouts in the video for “Under the Skin,” and he’s also up on the mic. I think he’s layered into the early verses as well, but there’s a lot going on there, where the call and response later is more stark.

American heavy-heads don’t know what they’re missing with this band.

If you caught last year’s Songs to Sun (review here) — to be followed later this year by Songs to Moon, from which the single comes — it might be fair to think of “Under the Skin” as an expansion on the foray into metal of “Shadowland” from that record. The two cuts certainly worked well back-to-back in that Freak Valley set, anyhow. I’ll hope to have more on Songs to Moon as we get closer to the release. For now, this is fresh off the PR wire:

Stoned Jesus Go Deeper and Darker on New Single “Under the Skin”

Heavy prog trailblazers begin next phase of album trilogy

Stoned Jesus are true trailblazers. While often associated with the stoner crowd, the heavy progressive rockers have experimented with folk, prog, pop and alternative rock amidst familiar doses of doom. Last year, the band entered the first phase of an expansive album trilogy that promises to take them from the sun to the moon and back. Songs to Sun was named one of the best albums of 2025. Now, as frontman Igor Sydorenko and his bandmates prepare to blaze through the European summer festival circuit, they’re cycling into the next phase of their evolution.

Today, Stoned Jesus are releasing a new single. Though packed with the band’s reliable dose of heaviness, the progressive post-metal contained within “Under the Skin” shows them entering the darkest, most daring and deeply moving territory of their 17-year career.

“Our upcoming album trilogy started last year with Songs to Sun, which is a loud and heavy album that’s big on choruses and meaty riffs”, Sydorenko says before turning to Stoned Jesus’ latest single. “‘Under the Skin’ begins our next phase in a somewhat similar fashion, but with a sinister twist. The fans of the very first SJ demo will recognize the influence of post-metal, which resurfaced after our tour last summer with the legendary Cult of Luna. But “Under the Skin” is not a step back. It’s darker, bolder and more introspective than anything the band has done before”.

Watch the music video for “Under the Skin” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.

Stream “Under the Skin”: https://orcd.co/stonedjesusundertheskin

On the surface, “Under the Skin” picks up right where Stoned Jesus left off. The sinking anxiety that swallowed Songs to Sun gives way here to heavy breathing. And while catchy as ever, the song’s weighty riff isn’t the only dark force that’s rattling inside Sydorenko’s head. “I feel it, it’s creeping in”, he strains, backed by bassist Andrew Rodin, who adds some of the harshest vocals the band have ever pressed to wax.

The video for “Under the Skin” was filmed while Stoned Jesus were recording in Cologne, Germany at Goblin Sound Studio with sound engineer Andy Rosczyk (ex-Ultha). Despite the song’s bleary state of mind (“Promises to keep / I will never sleep”), the band never lose their glow. As drummer Yurii Ciel guides them through a proggy middle passage that leads deeper into the shadows, we catch a glimpse not only into their psyche but the shape of what’s to come. “Sky glider, gone wilder / With the setting sun”.

The video for “Under the Skin” was edited by Marco Menestrina.

Catch Stoned Jesus this summer on the European festival circuit.

Stoned Jesus 2026 European Festival Dates
June 4 – Nepthen, Germany @ Freak Valley
June 19 – Clisson, France @ Hellfest
June 27 – Betanzos, Spain @ Fumega Fest
July 3 – Gisors, France @ Kave Fest
July 11 – Trieste, Italy @ StonerKras Fest
August 8 – Rome, Italy @ Roma Stone Fest
August 29 – Teramo, Italy @ Suburbiae Festival
September 25 – London, UK @ StoomFest

Songs to Sun is out now on Season of Mist.

Order: https://orcd.co/stonedjesussongtosun

Production Credits
Producer – Igor Sydorenko
Sound Engineer – Andy Rosczyk
Mixing and Mastering Engineer – Karl Daniel Lidén

Recording Studio
Goblin Sound Studio in Cologne, Germany

Mixing and Mastering Studio
Studio Tri-Lamb, Sweden

Cover Art
Vadym “Karaska” Karasiov

Recording Lineup
Igor Sydorenko – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Andrew Rodin – Bass, Backing Vocals
Yurii Ciel – Drums, Backing Vocals

Live Lineup
Igor Sydorenko – Vocals, Guitar
Andrew Rodin – Bass, Backing Vocals
Ihor Biriuchenko – Drums, Percussion

https://stonedjesus.bigcartel.com/
http://stonedjesus.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/stonedjesusband/
https://www.facebook.com/stonedjesusband

http://www.season-of-mist.com/
https://www.instagram.com/seasonofmistofficial
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
https://tap.bio/@SeasonOfMist

Stoned Jesus, “Under the Skin” official video

Obviously, as a fan of both Elder and Temple Fang, I’m excited to see them hooking up for a tour together, let alone one for which Rezn will also take part in the UK portion. Elder‘s new album, Through Zero (review here), emerged just a couple weeks ago on May 29, a release date it shared with Monolord and All Them Witches, among others, feeling all the more pivotal to the underground this year and beyond, the band’s continued progression writ large in the expansive melodies and twisting craft that’s seen them become such an influence worldwide over the last decade.

I’ve included the tours for this year below that Elder had previously announced — their summer UK/Euro run starts in two days; US and Canada shows follow thereafter in September — after the new one, but you get the idea. They’re hitting it hard for the album cycle, and if you need me to tell you to see them, fine. See them.

From socials:

Continuing onward Through Zero – we’ll be hitting the road across Europe and the UK this February, joined by our brothers Temple Fang. The fantastic REZN will also join us for our UK dates.

Elder – European & UK Tour Feb. 2027
3rd Feb – Oberhausen – Kulttempel
4th Feb – Brussels – Botanique
5th Feb – Amsterdam – Melkweg
6th Feb – Hamburg – Gruenspan
8th Feb – Gothenburg – Monument
9th Feb – Oslo – Rockefeller Music Hall
11th Feb – Stockholm – Kollektivet Livet
12th Feb – Copenhagen – Pumpehuset
13th Feb – Berlin – Festsaal Kreuzberg
14th Feb – Leipzig – UT Connewitz
16th Feb – Prague – Futurum Music Bar
17th Feb – Vienna – Flex
18th Feb – Munich – Technikum
19th Feb – Zurich – Plaza
20th Feb – Saarbrucken – Garage
21st Feb – Paris – Trabendo
23rd Feb – Bristol – Trinity Centre
24th Feb – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club – Main Room
25th Feb – Glasgow – The Garage
26th Feb – Manchester – Academy 2
27th Feb – London – Electric Brixton

Tickets go on sale Friday 12th June, 11am local time and will be available via our website: www.beholdtheelder.com

Previously Announced Summer 2026 European Shows
13.06. – GB – Derby, Download Festival
14.06. – GB – Colchester, Colchester Arts Centre w/ Blood Incantation
15.06. – GB – Southampton, The 1865 w/ Blood Incantation
16.06. – GB – Brighton, Concorde 2 w/ Blood Incantation
18.06. – FR – Clisson, Hellfest
19.06. – BE – Dessel, Graspop Metal Meeting
20.06. – DE – Dortmund, Junkyard Open Air w/ Kadavar
23.06. – CH – Winterthur, Gaswerk
26.06. – NO – Oslo, Tons of Rock
27.06. – DE – Thyrnau, Blackdoor Festival
01.07. – GR – Thessaloniki, Eightball Club
02.07. – GR – Athens, Arch Club
07.07. – HR – Slunj, Bearstone Festival
10.07. – PL – Pleszew, Red Smoke Festival
23.07. – DE – Reutlingen, Hafensounds Festival w/ Kadavar
25.07. – SI – Tolmin, Tolminator Festival
26.07. – IT – Milan, Circolo Magnolia Summer
28.07. – RO – Brașov, Rockstadt Extreme Fest
30.07. – DE – Breitenbach am Herzberg, Burg Herzberg Festival
31.07. – DE – Michelau, Rock Im Wald
04.08. – DE – Rostock, MAU Club
05.08. – CZ – Josefov-Jaroměř, Brutal Assault Festival
09.08. – PT – Âncora, Sonic Blast Festival
14.08. – CH – Valais, PALP Festival

ELDER Previously announced North America Tour 2026

September 09 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry*
September 10 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel*
September 11 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade*
September 13 – TBA
September 16 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater‡
September 17 – San Diego, CA – Music Box‡
September 18 – Los Angeles, CA – Regent Theater‡
September 19 – San Jose, CA – The Ritz ‡
September 21 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre‡
September 22 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater‡
September 23 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre‡
September 25 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge‡
September 26 – Denver, CO – Federal Theater‡
September 28 – Chicago, IL – Avondale Music Hall‡
September 30 – Toronto, ON – Opera House‡
October 01 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount‡
October 02 – New York, NY – Webster Hall‡
October 03 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club‡
* with Bask
‡ with Blackwater Holylight

Artwork by Adam Hill

Elder is:
Nick DiSalvo – Guitars, Vocals
Mike Risberg – Guitars, Keys
Jack Donovan – Bass
Georg Edert – Drums

https://beholdtheelder.com/
https://linktr.ee/elderband
https://beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/elderband/
http://facebook.com/elderofficial

http://www.stickman-records.com/
http://stickmanrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940/

https://www.birdsrobe.com/
https://www.instagram.com/birdsrobe/
https://www.facebook.com/birdsrobe/

Elder, Through Zero (2026)