Day 1 of the Spring 2026 Quarterly Review starts now. I know you’ve had it on your calendar just like I’ve had it on mine, and I’ll just say that if you’re new to the process or don’t know what this thing is all about, that’s cool too. A Quarterly Review, or QR if I’m feeling saucy, is a review roundup I do every few months for however long, always with 10 releases covered per day. The bare minimum for a QR is 50, and sometimes that actually happens. More often these days, it’s more than a five-day run, and that’s true this time as well.

This Quarterly Review will go seven days and cover a total of 70 works from bands and artists all over the world. It’s always a little nervewracking to start one of these, but it’s a special kind of deluge of music for me and I’ve been looking forward to it. Accordingly, it’s time to get this show on the road, as my dear wife might say.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

The Cosmic Dead, Beyond the Beyond

Four one-word titles on what I read somewhere is The Cosmic Dead‘s 10th album since 2010? That’s not even ridiculous. In any case, Beyond the Beyond strikes as advertised — the Glasgow-based heavy cosmic rockers are indeed far, far out. The 16-minute longest-track “Further” opens (immediate points), and even though the last song is called “Aether” (it bookends at 12 minutes), they’re pretty ethereal across the board as Luigi Pasquini‘s synth and Calum Calderwood‘s effects-laden fiddle lead the way into an obscure, semi-Eastern-scaled modern psychedelic krautrock, Omar Aborida‘s guitar (he also plays bass, mixed, and did the cover art) running deep in wah in shorter second cut “Stronger” as Tommy Duffin‘s drums both ground the procession and help push — wait for it — further. The immersion factor is high, and when “Aurora” gives over to “Aether,” there is a sense of having now arrived at the place you’ve been going all along, the long drone intro seeing a jangly movement rise up and recede again before it’s done, righteously imperfect and expanded of mind. If you could do this kind of thing all the time maybe you’d have 10 albums too.

The Cosmic Dead website

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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SÖNUS, Planes of Torment

If you might hear opening cut “Pagan Woman” and think The Cult, SÖNUS drive the point home by covering “Phoenix” penultimate to the closing title-track of Planes of Torment, so yes. Elsewhere on the David Wachsman-led heavy rock/classic metal trio’s third LP, “Heart of Stone” touches on Danzig and the flute-inclusive “Scorpio” touches on Middle Eastern-influenced progressivism and “Sisyphus Stomp” enacts a bluesier course. The seven-song release is tied together by Wachsman‘s vocals and the apparently-at-least-mostly-live-recorded energy of the performances around them, and though the prevailing atmosphere even in the classic rocking “Saturation Driver” is moody, by the time they come around to the grandiosity of “Planes of Torment”‘s 10-minute sequence, the stage has been duly set for such a dramatic finish. They are no strangers to the perils of living between styles, but the songwriting remains firm and SÖNUS are sure in their purposes across Planes of Torment, which pushes them forward in sound and construction and continues to refine the persona, craft and intent behind the project.

SÖNUS website

SÖNUS on Bandcamp

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Uzio, Uzio

A hard-hitting Dec. 2025 self-released and self-titled full-length debut from this Richmond, Virginia, trio, Uzio‘s Uzio hits with force from the outset as they open up the groove in “And When it Doesn’t Break Your Fall” before giving burlier ’90s vibes in “Lantern Fly” — somewhere between C.O.C. and Ugly-era Life of Agony (see also “Wandering Eye”), with Chris Sundstrom‘s guitar and vocals leading the way with Ed Fierro on bass and Erik Larson (Thunderchief, ATP, Avail, etc.) drumming. They find a noteworthy fervency of chug in “Katabasis” and loose a “Hole in the Sky” of swing in “No One Sacred” before “Leeches” thrashes out and “Dissolve” throws big-riff elbows and “Dark Empath” caps with a more metallic crux, distant from the punk of “Familiars” earlier but subtly so with a continuity of structure throughout. One to watch if you feel like getting roughed up, as everybody does from time to time.

Uzio on Bandcamp

Uzio on Instagram

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Mount Palatine, Wormholy World

There is a strong meditative current built up around the apparent root jams of Finland’s Mount Palatine. The Helsinki outfit’s six-song/53-minute debut on Argonauta imprint Octopus Rising, Wormholy World is rife with texture and expanse as 10-minute opener “The Sands” casts a vast landscape of intertwining guitar lines and a slow march through the desert hinted at by its title. “Whispers of the Holy Land” grows more aggressive in its midsection, preceding a solidification of groove in the back end of the song that’s both satisfying and consistent in ambience with the opener. That crunch proves essential to “The Dreaming” and “Panther Eyes” as well, and the balance and blend of urgency and warmth keeps Wormholy World united but not staid in approach as their pilgrimage takes them through the outreach of lead guitar in “Ethereal” and into “Newborn Sun,” which closes out as less an arrival than a next departure point. So one hopes, anyhow. They’re not the first to work in this style, but there’s burgeoning perspective to be found here.

Mount Palatine website

Argonauta Records website

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Death of Manfish, Desert Cuttlefish

Smooth boogie alert as Perth, Australia’s Death of Manfish — who accrue weirdo points before you even get to the shufflefunk of “Sync” just based on the name — unfurl the five-track/16-minute Desert Cuttlefish with “Brunt,” a rollout that would make Brant Bjork smile and a hint of intent at things to come. “Sync” makes a rousing centerpiece to the short instrumental outing, which is furthers its outsiderism with “Manfish Folk 4” and “Manfish Folk 2,” the first of which is wistful with accordion sounds and the latter of which has acoustic guitar at its core but is more urbane, preceding the space-jammier finish in “Fritz.” So what you get is five instrumentalist pieces, each kind of operating in a different style, drawn together by rhythmic fluidity but more celebrating their differences than trying to convince you it’s all part of the same thing, which it is anyhow. Good fun, purposefully and effectively oddball, and backed up by chops and groove to spare. There’s more going on here than the 16 minutes imply, but the brevity of the format suits the showcase aspect of Death of Manfish‘s sound.

Death of Manfish on Bandcamp

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Ralph Penegun, Who the Fuck is Ralph Penegun?

Ralph Penegun ask and waste precious little time answering the operative question on their apparent debut, Who the Fuck is Ralph Penegun?, released in early January. The answer is they’re a band, not a person, and with the record, they offer a driving and aggressive heavy-hardcore punk sound. “Choose Your Poison” feels positively expansive at 3:54, and that’s as close as the Turin, Italy, unit come to expanse, as most of the album is given to the shove of cuts like “Epitaph” or “Working Class Idiot,” the latter of which follows the title-track intro and feels complemented by the head-down, fist-throwing “New Level Slave,” which closes, though those are hardly the only two on a sociopolitical bent. The earlier “Sickness” brings up tonal largesse and pays off its push with a nodder of a groove, and “Caught in a Trap” ends with a sample of Elvis Presley‘s “Suspicious Minds,” so there’s some deviation from the genre norm happening, but know that if you’re going to take it on, you should be ready to keep up. That’s who Ralph Penegun are.

Ralph Penegun on Bandcamp

Ralph Penegun on Instagram

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Winds of Neptune, Winds of Neptune

Longtime stoner rockers will recall Winds of Neptune bassist/vocalist Ross Westerbur from 500 Ft. of Pipe. He, guitarist Kevin Roberts (The Meatmen) and drummer Mike Alonso (Flogging Molly) foster an expansive take on classic heavy rock with Winds of Neptune‘s Small Stone-issued self-titled debut, bringing what began as a pandemic project to a place of embodying post-grunge heavy rock with an even deeper classic sense of reach. There’s some psychedelia to be had in the first half of “The Fitz,” where “Temporal Mutant” is more boogie, and the eight-song/hour-long album welcomes listners with a bright sensibility on “The Faun’s Rhyme,” but make no mistake, once they dig in, they stay dug. “La Cacciata” shimmies like Scorpions while “U.S.L.” gives breadth to grounded roll, but the real deal is the closing trilogy of “So Sayeth the Mouth of the Void” (9:09) “The Fitz” (9:02) and “Queen of Sumatra” (10:21), which are basically a record unto themselves. Bluesier Roadsaw-style heavy with just an edge of spaceblast? Ready for it.

Winds of Neptune on Instagram

Small Stone Records website

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Nero Kane, For the Love, the Death and the Poetry

Let’s pretend you were raised to believe in god. Doesn’t matter which one or denomination; any world-creating, all-powerful/wise/comforting/afterlife-bringing deity will do. Nero Kane‘s third (maybe fourth?) album, For the Love, the Death and the Poetry, hits like the moment you realized that god you were brought up to trust and put faith in isn’t real, and that out there in the void, there is neither guiding hand nor salvation. That is to say, it might make you feel empty and crushed, but it has the unmistakable ring of truth about it. The Italian songwriter makes use of empty space in the mix and darker neofolk mystique, working with producer Matt Bordin and collaborator Samantha Stella to craft a sound that is organic, mostly sad, indebted to Americana without being Americana, and encompassing in mood. The organ drones of “Land of Noting” are full and the strum and intertwining voices of “The World Heedless of Our Pain” feed into the melancholic ambience, and the closer “Until the Light of Heaven Comes” has the smack of ritual as it closes. That light is never coming.

Nero Kane website

Nero Kane on Bandcamp

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Giant Lungs, Praise the Laze

Can’t help but feel like Augsburg, Germany’s Giant Lungs are selling themselves short by calling their debut full-length Praise the Laze, particularly since there’s very little lazy about it in either craft or presentation. Taking influence from the likes of Lowrider, Truckfighters, and the shoegazier end of modern heavy melodymaking, in neither tempo nor tone are they lax, and, what, you’re gonna tell me that “Crab Riders” doesn’t move? The artwork is somewhat severe for the sound, which is fuzzier in its riffing than one might be led to believe and marked by the breathy vocal delivery, but the vibe is right on, and as they make their way toward the big-rolling 11-minute capper “Tourists,” they hone a depth and appeal that the finale effectively and purposefully encapsulates. I’m trying to figure out where “laze” comes in, unless they all quit their dayjobs to hang out and follow fuzzriffs, in which case, double kudos.

Giant Lungs on Bandcamp

Giant Lungs on Instagram

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Yeast Machine, Bad Milk

A creative and cohesive follow-up to the Tübingen-based five-piece’s debut, Sleaze, the 10-song/34-minute Bad Milk never stays in one place too long, but finds its path in thickened desert-style heavy songwriting, a strong current of Queens of the Stone Age present in the style of riffing early, though again, Yeast Machine find distinction in tone, as well as in their vocals. The acoustic-led (at least most of it) “Dust on the Radio” precedes the atmospheric heft of “Feeding Poison to the Spiders Was Never Really My Thing,” and the emotive wisp in the penultimate “Wobbly Wizard” puts me in mind of forgotten Eurodesert rockers Elvis Deluxe, and that’s a comparison I very much intend as a compliment to the song. They finish with largesse in “The Golden Cage,” but there too are mindful of the mood they’re fostering as they go. Bad Milk is my introduction to the band, and it is an intriguing one.

Yeast Machine website

Noisolution website

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I’m really glad Go For It… Live! exists. Don’t expect much more insight than that here. Fu Manchu‘s first live album, the 2CD Go For It… Live! was recorded over the course of 2002 as the San Clemente heavy rockers supported their sixth long-player, California Crossing (discussed here), and released in July 2003 as their first and only offering through SPV Records, and crucially, their first with drummer Scott Reeder (no, not the same Scott Reeder who was in Kyuss; yes, I know that Brant Bjork, whom this Scott Reeder replaced in Fu Manchu, was in Kyuss; it’s okay to get people with the same name mixed up) in the lineup. Heads up on that solo in “Anodizer.”

No easy task, that, but as Fu Manchu delved into the classic heavy tradition of the double-live album — see also Deep Purple, Foghat, Rush, Black Sabbath, Molly Hatchet, Judas Priest, on and on — they gave crucial representation to the punkish vitality at root in their sound, which by then had already grown fuller and fuzzier with age (who among us?). It runs 22 songs and is 96 minutes long and, more than two decades later, feels like an important documenting of who the band were at the time and how they played what the ensuing years would establish as some of their most revered work. How are you ever going to beat opening with “Hell on Wheels” from King of the Road (discussed here) or capping with the still-likely-to-close “Saturn III” from 1997’s The Action is Go (discussed here). These songs are iconic in the genre and certainly among Fu Manchu‘s catalog, and Go For It… Live! accordingly feels like it was years in the making.

Maybe even a little late. I’ll readily admit I’m a nerd for bootlegs, for documenting a band’s sound as it happens. Any live record, especially one that isn’t ‘Live in This Place on This Day’ but the more general ‘Live’ is going to have a filter. It’s been mixed, mastered. It’s not as raw as it would be right off the board and that’s fine, because there’s a balance between professional presentation and the rawer energy of the performance, which is still allowed to come through. Fu Manchu sound more like a punk band playing “Asphalt Risin'” here than they had since the band’s first EP (discussed here), and that’s an important part of where they come from. It’s also something of a greatest-hits collection from a band who probably would never put out that kind of thing since in their 35-plus years they never have. A Fu Manchu mixtape, with “Boogie Van” ready for a singalong and “Over the Edge” somehow even hookier than the studio version.

As noted, the band had six records out by the time they did this live record, so if you believe in due, they were that. It was also a fitting time, though, as they looked to continue hard-won momentum coming off a succession of killer albums, the prior four of which had been released through Mammoth Records. And I won’t minimize the Bjork-for-Reeder swap — that was a pivotal event in the history of the band; Reeder is the last piece of the current lineup — but a kind of stability had been found with Brad Davis on bass and Bob Balch on guitar alongside founding guitarist/vocalist Scott Hill, so it made sense in that context as well. These years later, it’s a nostalgic listen.

One could also, specifically now, see it as the keystone to Fu Manchu‘s 1990-2002 era. It summarizes their progression and the shape their sound took over that stretch by digging into what have in the years since become classics like “Ojo Rojo,” “Mongoose,” “Regal Begal” and their take on Blue Öyster Cult‘s “Godzilla,” among others. They execute like the band-on-fire that they were, and sound very much like emergent headliners in “Downtown in Dogtown” and the swagger of “Strato-Streak,” the former from California Crossing and the latter from 1996’s In Search Of… (discussed here), both adding to the feel of Go For It… Live! as a Fu Manchu mixtape.

But this was both a beginning and an end for Fu Manchu. The four-piece that makes their argument here — Hill, Balch, Davis, Reeder — is still the same band that’s touring this year, and even in their first year, i.e. 2002, they have it nailed down. This won’t always be the case, but right now, they did six LPs before this (plus singles, EPs, etc.), and they’ve done six records since, so Go For It…Live!, in addition to being like the mixtape the band spent a year making just for you to enjoy it more than two decades later, is a convenient landmark in the progression of their sound and songwriting.

The word I can’t get out of my head is “celebration,” but that also is hindsight speaking. One could hardly begrudge Fu Manchu a victory lap at this point in their career, but I don’t think that’s what Go For It… Live! was necessarily intended to be, but it’s part of what it does as a front-to-back listen anyhow. Maybe that impression can’t be helped since the songs they’re running through like it’s any given night on tour because, absolutely, that’s what it was, have become such in-genre classics, but I’ll tell you as well that having made my way through their catalog to this point, arriving at Go For It…Live! is a chance to look back on everything they’d accomplished in a way that another studio record couldn’t.

I suppose that’s part of how live albums happen in the first place, but as a fan, it gives you a chance to appreciate that moment whether you were there or not, and like I said at the outset, I’m really glad it exists, especially these years later because it’s a time that won’t come again. Even with the same lineup. To me, that makes Go For It…Live! all the more of a milestone for Fu Manchu as they continued to refine their style and craft. They let loose. For more than an hour and a half. What more could you want?

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

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Today, The Patient Mrs. is flying to Italy to lead students — like 27 of them, with one other professor chaperoning — on an eight-day trip. She’s excited, I think a bit nervous, and ready. The Pecan and I will muddle through as best we are able. It is going to be a low-demand weekend.

Kid’s got a birthday party tomorrow and an archery lesson on Sunday. Sunday’s bath day. Monday is OT after school. Tuesday night I’ve got Hungarian. Wednesday bath. Thursday OT after school. She’s off next Friday, so we’ll try to do something fun, and then Saturday we pick up The Patient Mrs. at JFK. I’m not worried about getting through the week — I mean, I am, but that’s more general than acute anxiety related to The Patient Mrs. not being around — but The Pecan misses her when she’s gone, and this is the longest trip The Patient Mrs. has taken since The Pecan was born, so yeah. Think I might end up spending $80 on some Battlebots thing at Barnes and Noble this afternoon.

Once I’m over the hump of the birthday party, I’ll be fine. I hate those things. The parents stand around, the kids run around like wildebeests and then everyone’s expected to go sit at the table and sing and all that. The Pecan never stops moving, and transitions are hard, the singing is overwhelming and it’s never fun. We’ll go for a bit — it’s at a climbing gym, so at least she’ll get some movement in — and I’ll sit in a corner and be weird while she plays for a while.

Next week is also a Quarterly Review. I’m behind on news as it is, but not as far behind as I’m going to be after next week.

Zelda update before I go: I put the ‘Shinobi no Satori’ mod on Tears of the Kingdom and it’s super-fun. You can jump in the air and I’ve been cheesing shrines and collecting items and korok seeds as I go and generally having a good time in caves and such. Best game I ever played, not that I’ve played them all or anything. I keep going back to it, even two and a half years later.

I was up at 2:30, then 3:30, then 4AM today, so we’ll see how the day progresses. It’s still early as I write this (coming on 7AM), but it’s nice to know whenever I crash that at least the day is done. I’m gonna wrap this up shortly and start putting the back end of the QR posts together.

Have a great and safe weekend. Fuck fascism, fuck war, fuck you if you support rapists, war criminals, pedophiles and the hatemongering oligarchs who’ve shaped the horrors of our day. Hydrate while you can before the data centers take all the water.

FRM.

The Obelisk Collective on Facebook

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

I didn’t think it had been so long since Book of Wyrms put out their “Storm Warning” single, but yeah that was Sept. 2023 and that was two and a half years ago. And it was a single, so news of their fourth LP, Megacelestial, is by no means early. It’s welcome, regardless. The Richmond, Viriginia, band — now with Brian Wiltz drumming — have signed with Argonauta Records for the release of the impending Megacelestial, and though there isn’t a date yet, the way they’re talking about the record tells you that it’s done.

I’ll be curious to hear Rob Wrong‘s mix, and just how deep into classic metal it goes. You can hear in “Storm Warning” that’s not anything new in their sound, but if they’re tipping the balance one way or the other, there’s a broad range of possibilities for where they end up on it.

Guess we’ll see when we see. The PR wire has some preliminaries about the album. No audio, but there’s time. Slow down:

US Heavy Psych Explorers Book of Wyrms Sign with Argonauta Records for New Album “Megacelestial”

Argonauta Records is proud to announce the signing of US heavy metal psych force Book of Wyrms for the release of their upcoming fourth full length album, Megacelestial.

A new chapter begins. With the arrival of drummer Brian Wiltz and a completely refreshed writing and production approach, Megacelestial marks a decisive evolution in the band’s sound. Faster, dirtier and sharper, the new material channels the urgency of 80s Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, Queen and Motörhead while retaining the band’s unmistakable cosmic DNA with references to Blood Ceremony, Earthless, The Black Angels, Castle Rat.

Book of Wyrms comment:

“Book of Wyrms is proud to be partnering with Argonauta Records to release our fourth LP, Megacelestial. This record reflects a totally different sound for us because of our new drummer, Brian Wiltz and different writing and production approaches. We’re stoked to be working with a label that’s put out a bunch of records we love and that appreciates what we’re trying here.”

Wiltz brings a more aggressive and straightforward attack behind the kit, balanced by an instinct for dynamics and song driven power. The result is a record built for motion, described by the band as music for driving across the country on no sleep. Every riff has been scrutinized. Anything that did not hit hard enough was cut.

For the first time, the band enlisted a dedicated mixer. Rob Wrong of Wrong Way Recording and Witch Mountain handled the mix, opening up an entirely new sonic dimension. Referencing albums like Last in Line by Dio and Turbo by Judas Priest, the band found in Wrong a collaborator who understood both the melodic heavy metal roots and the need to push forward into new territory.

Since forming in 2014 over a shared love of Hawkwind and ZZ Top, Book of Wyrms have steadily carved out a reputation in the US underground, selling out multiple vinyl pressings and evolving from psychedelic explorers into a driving heavy metal machine that balances melody, fuzz and razor sharp leads with spacey synth atmospheres and commanding female vocals.

With Megacelestial, Argonauta Records and Book of Wyrms join forces to deliver the band’s most focused, high energy and uncompromising statement to date.

Further details will be announced soon.

Book of Wyrms
Sarah Moore Lindsey vocals and synthesizers
Kyle Lewis guitar
Brian Wiltz drums
Jay Jake Lindsey bass

https://bookofwyrms.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/bookofwyrms
https://www.facebook.com/Bookofwyrms/

www.argonautarecords.com
https://argonautarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/
www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords

Book of Wyrms, “Storm Warning” (2023)

I’ll readily agree that neither the world nor the European heavy underground portion of it are short on instrumentalist heavy psychedelia. Jammers be jamming, in a variety of ways and all over the place. This is a good thing. Undulathund, from Malmö, Sweden, indeed slot themselves into the busy sphere of sans-vocals heavy psych, but their self-titled debut album on Urskog Records paints a different picture than much of whoever they might be lumped into the same category with, distinguished throughout by multiple facets of their approach, whether it’s the rampant classic progressivism of their flow across three extended tracks — “Den Gode” (11:54), “Den Onde” (16:14) and “Den Gonde” (9:18) — or arrangements with sax and keys/organ alongside guitar, bass and drums, or the very-definitely-plotted nature of their progressions, the way they dig in and time seems to stretch so that the 11-plus minutes of “Den Gode” are immersive and able to carry the listener from one end of the song to the other, generating both trust and engagement.

That’s a long-ass sentence, but take it to mean there’s plenty distinguishing Undulathund and their debut album, and more in terms of sound and the listening experience than on paper.

The band is comprised of guitarist Olle Wahlström, bassist Simon Ström, drummer Natanael Risenfors, saxophonist Anna Siri Jonsson and organist Simon Wallin, and they recorded Undulathund in one day, Jan. 13, 2024, which means that at least most of it was done live, if not all, and probably all given the band’s construction and the instrumentalist intent toward building and displaying chemistry that’s suited to a piece like “Den Gode,” which starts quietly enough but within the first three minutes has already shifted from mellow guitar to incorporate the keys and the sax, touching on classic progressive rock without commiting to copy its methods at the sacrifice of individuality.

That is to say, Undulathund as a unit aren’t just prog anymore than they’re just psychedelic, but they are expansive and mindful, and that helps form the core impression their first album together makes, whether it’s the syncronized ba, da-ba rounding measures in the chorus part in “Den Gode” about 4:45 in, or the takeoff into heavier and moodier vibes that unfolds over the opener’s back half. Chemistry isn’t in question, but they’re not just showing off instrumentalist dynamic. They’re working toward a unified purpose.

Any of the three tracks could be used to emphasize this point, since it is a core principle under which the band are operating throughout. Nobody is playing against each other. The guitar shares space in both the mix (Henrik Persson mixed, David Storm mastered) and the melody with the keys and the sax, and when the changes come around like “Den Onde” shifting from its comparatively intense chase-scene intro into a mellowed out procession that grows nigh on emotive, like an exploration earliest Crippled Black Phoenix might’ve undertaken, the movement feel natural in ways that speak to the confident execution of the band and the resonance of their collective groove, with Ström and Risenfors as the rhythm section never overplaying or getting lost in their own repetition.

“Den Onde” turns spacier after five minutes in, as in space rock, where “Den Gode” was more cinematic, Morricone-ism — you can hear crickets before the guitar-run intro starts — and throughout the record’s longest inclusion, the band offer a back and forth of loud/quiet trades that still feels organic and patient in the delivery. The warmth of low end in the midsection, right around eight minutes in, is noteworthy, and in some of the wistfulness circa two minutes later, they seem to have found a not dissimilar balance to beloved Belgian troupe Hypnos 69, which they use to craft a sweeping final movement to the record’s longest track, grounded in its expansive purpose right up to the sax that quietly finishes it.

Not to be overlooked either in terms of expressing intention is the amalgam happening in the three song titles, combining so that the final one, “Den Gonde,” is the other two combined. Translated, that’s the good, the evil, and I guess the goodevil, though it doesn’t come up that way when I check it on a major internet company’s translation algorithm. In any case, the play on/with words adds to the sense of mindfulness overarching throughout Undulathund, and while it jazzes out early — you knew somewhere along the line that was going to happen; to not would almost be a waste of sax, keys and chemistry; call it a light Causa Sui influence if you want, it’s part of the wider pastiche — the sax sings a chorus during the third minute and there’s a rhythm evocative of prior space shuffle as well, so they tie it together in terms of sound too.

The psych of the 1960s and the emergent heavy of the early ’70s is a touchstone, but that midpoint slowdown is pure riffy modernity, and the way they blend it with classic prog rock brought to a near wash by the later crash cymbal is likewise. The album finishes with standalone strum, the guitar playing a meander off the central progression of the song’s third and last movement, thoughtful to the last in where they’re putting the listener.

First released in the waning hours of 2025, it is not a revolution either in hearing or in concept, but Undulathund harnesses a freshness of perspective and a blend of its own, and especially as a debut album, holds promise for the places the band’s stylistic reach could take them. Even so, I’ll argue there’s some measure of comfort to be found in these three works and the front-to-back entirety they make up.

Part of the difference comes in knowing that Undulathund know where they’re going as you listen. It’s not a jam that’s going to get lost or that’s going to end up someplace that doesn’t make sense. They might pull off a stark turn, but they’re doing it in service to the song itself, and the material grows that much richer for that. The arrangements of organ sounds and sax are a big piece of what lends them so much flexibility, but never does it feel gimmicky or overblown as one imagines it easily could in less capable hands. Instead, it just feels rare, and is somewhat more precious for that.

Undulathund, Undulathund (2026)

Undulathund on Bandcamp

Undulathund on Instagram

Undulathund on Facebook

Urskog Records website

Urskog Records’ Linktr.ee

Urskog Records on Bandcamp

Urskog Records on Instagram

Urskog Records on Facebook

After back-to-back festival slots in Germany this April, Berlin-based heavy thrashers Aptera are set to take off on a round of touring in Eastern Europe, bringing them to new cities and stops like Prague, Ljubljana, Belgrade and others befoure they route back at the end of the run through Austria to wrap back in Germany for two more fests, again back-to-back.

If you find the symmetry curious, Aptera‘s sound is likewise declarative of its angles. The band’s latest full-length remains 2022’s You Can’t Bury What Still Burns (review here), for which they’ve made the rounds in more than dutiful fashion, hitting heavyfests and club dates in much the way they will here, fostering classic, aggressive metal with tonal weight behind it. I think they’ve had some lineup shifts since the LP, as one will, but no doubt they are resolute in their purpose.

The dates were posted on social media thusly:

APTERA – ⚡️⚡️⚡️ SPRING TOUR ⚡️⚡️⚡️

Hey there, we are getting ready for a busy spring! 🤩

In addition to the festivals we announced last week, we are stoked to tell you that we will be hitting the road for another round of European shows soon 🔥

For the very first time we’ll be playing in Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia 🥰 we couldn’t be more excited and are so ready to bring havoc straight to your hometown ☄️

Where are we gonna see you?!

10/4 Göppingen, @doominbloomfestival DE
11/4 Münster, Alterna Sound DE
02/5 Bremen, @hellseaticbremen DE
13/5 Prague, Modrá Vopice CZ
14/5 Budapest, Riff HU
15/5 Ljubljana, Channel Zero SI
16/5 Rijeka, Rock Pub HR
17/5 Belgrade, Klub UNDER RS
19/5 Abbazia Pisani, Ricky’s Pub IT
20/5 Graz, SUB AT
21/5 Vienna, Einbaumöbel AT with @tarlung_band
22/5 Bamberg, @Kontakt Festival DE
23/5 Dresden, Gockelscream DE

🎟️Tickets & info in the link in bio: https://linktr.ee/aptera

Special thanks 🫶🏼 to @chunamievsworld & @ougabooga_recordings , @eastsidedelta , @godownrecords and to everyone daring to have this bunch of blackened souls ripping their stages!

The poster is an original artwork by dearest @ta.la.fa 🖤

https://linktr.ee/aptera
https://apteraberlin.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/apteraberlin/
https://www.facebook.com/apteraberlin/

Aptera, “Hellbender” official video

Time for All Them Witches to release the album they’ve been heralding on tour since last year. Out May 29 I think as a self-release, House of Mirrors will be the Nashville four-piece’s first full-length since 2020’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here), and that’s probably long enough even with the Baker’s Dozen (discussed here) singles project they spent 2022 dug into. The new single “Starting Line” — as though to mark the beginning of the album cycle that, again, has already started — has a video filmed on tour that you’ll find near the bottom of this post.

It’s not actually the first single, though, as the prior-posted visualizer for the blues traditional “Red Rocking Chair” that they put out last month will lead off the record. Curious if “Culling Line” and “Starting Line” will have any interaction, and how the crunch in this current single and the prior will play out across the entirety of House of Mirrors, what shape the psychedelic lean of their sound might take this time around. I guess I just want to hear the record, is the bottom line. It’s nice to feel excited about a thing.

They did a whole thing with tarot cards on their socials and at shows, but when I try to put a gallery in it screws up the post, so I might add it later. Putting a note to myself here to remember, which I probably won’t anyhow because I suck at this.

Preorder links, the album tracklisting and announcement, and dates for the European tour that will follow the release in June are below. Dig it:

ALL THEM WITCHES – House of Mirrors

Starting Line is out now and we’re stoked to announce that our new album House of Mirrors will be coming out May 29th! Pre-save / pre-order now.

Pre-save: https://on.allthemwitches.org/tb_app/542821

Pre-order: https://store.allthemwitches.org

Tracklist:
1) Red Rocking Chair
2) Culling Line
3) Aethernet
4) Hold Up, Say What?
5) Go-getter
6) Starting Line
7) Turn On The Light
8) Angel On The Wayside
9) The Welterweight
10) Saturn Song

ALL THEM WITCHES – House of Mirrors European Tour
14.06 Nickeldorf AT Nova Rock 
17.06 Edinburgh UK La Belle Angele
18.06 Notthingham UK The Palais
19.06 Birmingham UK 02 Institute
20.06 Bristol UK 02 Academy
21.06 Brighton UK Chalk
23.06 Hamburg DE Markthalle
25.06 Stockholm SE Nalen
26.06 Copenhagen DK Copenhell
27.06 St. Gallen CH Openair St. Gallen
28.06 Lausanne CH Docks
29.06 Paris FR Olympia
30.06 Stuttgart DE LKA Longhorn
02.07 Werchter BE Rock Werchter
03.07 Leipzig DE Parkbühne
04.07 Beuningen NL Down the Rabbit Hole

All Them Witches are:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr. – bass/vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes/violin
Ben McLeod – guitar
Christian Powers – drums

http://www.allthemwitches.org/
http://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/allthemwitchesband/
http://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches

All Them Witches, “Starting Line” official video

All Them Witches, “Red Rocking Chair” visualizer

According to my ancient sea charts, the last time Melbourne, Australia’s Child were in Europe was the second half of 2024. So it won’t have been an eternity as they make their return in May for a run of festivals that includes Freak Valley, Go Down Fest, Esbjerg Fuzztival and Blackdoor in Germany, among a slew of club shows, but probably long enough. They’ll still technically be heralding 2023’s Soul Murder (review here), and there are reissues of their other two LPs currently in print through Heavy Psych Sounds, but honestly, just the thought of hearing any of those songs live is kind of its own draw in my mind at least. I haven’t been so fortunate as to see Child play, but the records carry a live spirit for sure as part of their classic, deeply-blues-informed sound, so I imagine it’s not too far off unless they’re secretly death metal and you have to go to the shows to find out. That might be fun too.

Before I get sidetracked, here are the dates. The tour is set to run from May 20 to June 28, as per the PR wire:

*** CHILD – European Tour 2026 ***

– The Australian psychedelic wizards will smash Europe in Summer –

We are stoked to announce that the Australian hard rockers CHILD will tour Europe in May/June 2026.

!! STILL FEW OPEN SLOTS !!

*** CHILD – European Tour 2026 ***

Wed 20 May 26 IT PESCARA – Scumm
Thu 21 May 26 IT BOLZANO – Zoona
Fri 22 May 26 IT ZEROBRANCO – Go Down Fest
Sat 23 May 26 CH ALTDORF – Vogelsang
Sun 24 May 26 AT FELDKIRCH – Rauch Club
Mon 25 May 26 DE MANNHEIM – 7er Club
Tue 26 May 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Wed 27 May 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Thu 28 May 26 DK COPENHAGEN – Lygtens Kro
Fri 29 May 26 DK ESBJERG – Fuzztival
Sat 30 May 26 DE HAMBURG – Stellwerk
Sun 31 May 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Mon 1 Jun 26 DE BIELEFELD – Extra Blues Bar
Tue 2 Jun 26 DE MARBURG – Trauma
Thu 4 Jun 26 DE NETPHEN – Freak Valley Fest
Mon 8 Jun 26 FR PARIS – Le Klub
Tue 9 Jun 26 UK HUDDERSFIELD – Parish
Wed 10 Jun 26 UK NOTTHINGHAM – Ye Olde Salutation Inn
Thu 11 Jun 26 UK EDINBURGH – Bannermans
Fri 12 Jun 26 UK BRISTOL – The Gryphon
Sat 13 Jun 26 UK LONDON – Blondies Brewery
Wed 17 Jun 26 DE BERLIN – Neue Zukunft
Thu 18 Jun 26 DE DRESDEN – Chemiefabrik
Fri 19 Jun 26 DE JENA – Kufa
Sat 20 Jun 26 DE MUNSTER – Rare Guitar
Mon 22 Jun 26 NL AMSTERDAM – Tanker
Tue 23 Jun 26 FR REIMS – 1001Bieres
Wed 24 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Thu 25 Jun 26 IT SEZZADIO – Cascina Bellaria
Fri 26 Jun 26 IT PORTO FERRAIO – Never Ending
Sat 27 Jun 26 DE THYMAU – Black Door Fest
Sun 28 Jun 26 FR MANIGOD – Namass Pamouss

Combine the heavy emotion of the blues, the tone and raw power of hard rock, the finesse of soul and a twist of 60’s psychedelia. It will give you a visceral musical experience that plays directly to your being. That is CHILD. Living for their art, the pubs, the booze, the endless highways and the blues is what makes this band who they are. Child are a must see for those who are worshippers at “the electric church”. The freedom and power of a live performance is important to CHILD in their approach to music, endeavouring to never perform the same way twice. They look forward to once again bringing this to the world on their continued search for sonic paradise.

Since the release of their runaway self-titled debut in 2014, Child have continued to develop their unique brand of heavy blues through constant writing and extensive national/international touring. The band released the follow-up ‘Blueside’ in December 2016, which builds on this foundation to deliver a disc of pure sonic expression whilst following in the long tradition of the blues. 2018 saw the release of Child’s first EP, simply titled ‘I’. Recorded live to tape, ‘I’ is a glimpse into the boundless directions that could be taken on upcoming releases.

CHILD is
Mathias Northway – guitar/vocals
Michael Lowe – drums
Rhys Kelly – bass

http://www.childtheband.com
https://linktr.ee/childtheband
https://childtheband.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/childtheband
https://www.instagram.com/childtheband/
https://www.facebook.com/childtheband

www.heavypsychsounds.com
heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Child, Soul Murder (2023)

Long-running sludge punk/rock/metallers -(16)- are set to release their first covers collection, Forgeries Vol. 1 (1972-1984) — just to do some quick math, if they go in eight-year increments, they’ll be up to five more volumes before they get to Taylor Swift‘s current single “Opalite” — on May 1 through Heavy Psych Sounds. Previously announced for Desertfest Oslo and Desertfest London as well as Heavy Psych Sounds Fests hither and yon, and others besides, the band have now made known the course of the tour that will draw it all together.

And because it’s how things are done, the tour announcement comes coupled with the unveiling of a new single, which is the band’s take on Scorpions‘ “Can’t Get Enough” from 1979’s Lovedrive, delivered with characteristically pummeling intent. You’ll find it at the bottom of this post.

As to why I’m a week late on this news? I’m not sure. Sometimes I just get backed up on stuff. I’m doing my best though, and it’s not like the tour’s started, so I’ll ask you to cut me some slack and hope you understand that a big part of me is talking to myself there.

Anyway, from the PR wire:

Californian sludge veterans -(16)- release noisy Scorpions cover off upcoming “Forgeries Vol 1, (1972-1984)” album on Heavy Psych Sounds; European & UK tour announced!

Santa Ana, California sludge metal veterans -(16)- drag the anthemic metal of Scorpions through the mud with their raucous cover of “Can’t Get Enough”, premiering now on Metalsucks. Their upcoming 11th album “Forgeries Vol 1, 1972-1984” will be released on May 1st via Heavy Psych Sounds, followed by an extensive European and UK tour.

There comes a point in every band’s life when originality stops being a virtue and honesty takes the wheel. On their 11th long-playing record: Forgeries 1972-1984, -(16)- return to the impulse that first dragged them into loud rooms and bad ideas: the urge to steal what we love and make it semi-unrecognizable through devotion. “We have partnered with Heavy Psych Sounds Records to release a collection of covers that function less as homage and more as a possession to be given away,” says the band. The artwork, rendered by the ever-amazing Marald van Haasteren, completes the ritual, iconic, unsettling, and unafraid.

“We’ve always believed that a great cover is not mimicry but revelation. It’s finding a song that’s already lived inside you since youth and letting it crawl out, bruised and changed.” From the early ’90s onward, -(16)- have treated covers as translations rather than as replicas, acts of tribute and emulation, filtered through distortion, fatigue, and lived experience. “These are songs that taught us how to stand, how to fall, and how to keep going,” they add. “In our collective head, this album exists because these songs demanded it. Because they screamed copy me, and we listened. In the end, Forgeries 1972-1984 stands as both a thank you note and a theft, a reminder that all music worth a damn is borrowed, broken, and passed on between friends.”

The selections on Forgeries 1972-1984 span eras and attitudes, unified not by genre but by necessity. Each track is a document of obsession, of influence absorbed and re-expressed without permission. The first volume will be issued on LP, CD and digital on May 1st, with preorders available via Heavy Psych Sounds.

*** -(16)- – European Tour 2026 ***
01.05 PT Barroselas – SWR Metalfest
02.05 IT Torino – HPS Fest
03.05 IT Bologna – HPS Fest
04.05 IT Genova – Trinità Live Club
05.05 IT Milano – Legend Club
06.05 IT Pescara – Scumm
07.05 IT Roma – Traffic Live Club
08.05 NO Oslo – Deserfest
09.05 ***OPEN SLOT***
10.05 FR Marseille – Le Molotov
12.05 ***OPEN SLOT***
13.05 DE Göppingen – Gaststätte Zille
14.05 ***OPEN SLOT***
15.05 CH Winterthur – HPS FEST
16.05 UK London – Desertfest
17.05 ***OPEN SLOT***
18.05 ***OPEN SLOT***
19.05 NL Amsterdam – Toekomst muziek
20.05 DE Bielefeld – Forum
21.05 ***OPEN SLOT***
22.05 DE Dürrröhrsdorf – GockelScream
23.05 CZ Brno – Kabinet Muz
24.05 ***OPEN SLOT***

-(16)- is
Bobby Ferry – Guitars / Vocals
Alex Shuster – Lead Guitar
Barney Firks – Bass
Dion Thurman – Drums / Percussion

http://www.16theband.bandcamp.com
http://www.instagram.com/16theband
http://www.facebook.com/16theband

https://www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

-(16)-, “Can’t Get Enough” (Scorpions cover)