More rain, or at least mist, but it’s Spring and somehow it’s reassuring that water still falls from the sky without seering your flesh when it touches you, so whatever. My back by the end of the night before had been movement-preventative, which I’ll just say was not encouraging on multiple levels, and I did not manage to get the Doan’s I’d hoped to. I bought a new vape though, and realized in the process that somewhere in the previous 48 hours, I had lost my debit card.
So it had been a mixed-bag morning, I guess. I saw my family, briefly, and that was a positive. They were going to the movies early and I think crashing out the rest of the day, or at least that’s what the weather warranted. The Patient Mrs. was very purposefully giving me space this weekend to do this. It was and is appreciated.
There was a late change to the evening’s schedule. Here’s what Kaleb Riser from Black Moon Cult posted:
SUN May 24
COSMIC STAGE – Brooklyn Monarch
11:25 Pentagram 60min+
10:00 Eyehategod 60min
8:30 Legions of Doom 60min+
7:05 The Obsessed 60min
5:45 Sacri Monti 60min
4:45 Dave Hill
SONIC STAGE – The Woodshop
45min sets
12:10 Mick’s Jaguar
11:10 Magick Potion
10:15 Carousel
9:40 Sphaèros Possession
8:40 Ike’s Wasted World
7:30 Black Moon Cult
6:30 Cats Eye
5:30 Sabbath Warlock
It would be a different kind of night than the one prior, with not none but less of the rush from one spot to the other. The change was that the night was at The Monarch and The Woodshop, instead of The Meadows and The Woodshop. The Monarch is a bigger space, and the lineup booked for it made that make sense. In the meantime, the Carousel reunion and Magick Potion were probably how my night was going to end given how I was feeling, and neither was a thing to complain about.
Spit Shine
I was stoked that, like night one, there were a few bands that I’d never seen before, and that started with Spit Shine, who weren’t on that schedule but I think were originally going to play outside in the courtyard between Monarch and Woodshop, but for the weather. Very classic heavy rock, like ’70s but not necessarily boogie, as interchangeable as those two ideas have become. USDA beefier in tone and more of a roll-groove than a shuffle, though some of that too, they pulled an early crowd that was already more peopled than the day before had been, and so it would go. They covered Robert Trower and that was a lot of fun early in the day. Their singer was at the merch table even before the rest of the band was done playing. Working.
I was able to catch the start of Sabbath Warlock, whose doom rocking cult vibe was a turn, aesthetic-wise, from Spit Shine, despite the continuity of leather. I had Sacri Monti on the schedule next, so made my way toward the big stage for that; through the corridor, as it were. Turned out I was early, but there were friends in the room and I didn’t die. It was after 6PM when they went on, and the classic warmth of their prog-heavy rock, organ and all, would’ve been welcome anytime. Underrated for the soul, for sure, but I mean, those cats can play. I knew I wouldn’t be seeing all of it, so I took a few minutes to enjoy and watch, just to kind of put myself in the moment with that groove, and I didn’t regret that.
Sabbath Warlock
Sacri Monti
They were a similar joy last summer at Freak Valley (review here) with the songs from 2024’s Retrieval (review here) landing particularly hard, and with a bit of magic too them. They’ve toured enough that the chemistry shouldn’t be a surprise, but they know, each of them, where the other is at every point in every song while also being individually dug-in to playing, and I guess the professionalism underlying that hit me.
I had wanted to see Cat’s Eye, but stuck it out as long as I could. I’d ultimately spend more time in The Woodshop, but that was just how the night went. Fucking Eyehategod were gonna play. There was a kind of tension in the room, or at least in me. Some Dozer came on, and then the band went on too, and that was good. As I understood it, Cats Eye is made in part of former members of Carousel who were not participating in the reunion later that night — part of me feels like I should be able to keep track of these things by now, but shit, it’s hard — and so I was curious to see what they would sound like. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of classic riffing in there, and it was super-nice to see Jake Leger (ex-Bang, among others) on drums, and I dug it that Gero von Dehn’s vocal lent a grunge edge, which was cool and distinctive. Ron looked pleased. You know Ron.
Cats Eye
The Obsessed
My timing for getting to the front of the stage for The Obsessed worked, which was a nice first. Scott “Wino” Weinrich and Jason Taylor on guitar and Chris Angleberger on bass, Bob Pantella, who had destroyed the night before with The Atomic Bitchwax, locking in a much different, less frenetic groove for the most part — not that The Obsessed don’t have their motor riffs — to suit Angleberger’s bass punching through, Taylor and Wino holding down the utmost of doom rock riffing. They also came through Jersey last year, and, well, they probably didn’t need to do that as a career choice, so it was appreciated.
Black Moon Cult were my must for the day, and I hope when you look at the lineup that tells you something. It was my first time seeing the Ohio heavy psych rockers fronted by the slick guitar and vocals of Kaleb Riser, and yeah, I’ll bite on the cliché that it probably won’t be the last, because, uh, it most likely won’t. Their 2025 album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (review here) was a favorite from last year, and the songs were recognizable live, which especially in this case was great. “Stoned Ape” was a hit, and closing with “At the Realms of Madness,” that chug, was the right call. I could see and hear quickly why I’ve heard so many excellent things about Black Moon Cult live, and they were all justified. I watched the whole set. Only my second full set of the weekend at that point. And they might’ve been band of the weekend.
So yeah, if I have anything to say about it, I’ll see them again. Potential out the wazoo.
Black Moon Cult
I was indeed able to get over to The Monarch to get up front door Legions of Doom, whom I saw earlier this Spring as The Skull with Acid Bath (review here). Okay, so I’m not sure where one band ends and the other starts these days, but I think that’s something that gets hashed out over time, and Legions of Doom — with Karl Agell having maybe the best time on vocals — where a doomly follow-up to The Obsessed, sort of a supergroup but really just a band with a pedigree. They’d be the last ones I’d try to take pictures of in The Monarch (did I see Monster Magnet here? no.), but there was still plenty of night left when I watched Legions of Doom’s full set. They do really well on a big stage.
Legions of Doom played a Desertfest New York pre-party in 2024 (review here) and that night they opened with C.O.C.’s “Dance of the Dead,” and had Scott Reagers swapping in on vocals. This was much more of a working-band, been-on-the-road-a-few-nights kind of show. The Skull’s “For Those Which Are Asleep” and “Send Judas Down” and Holzner shouted out the memory of Dave Sweetapple of Tee Pee Records, not to mention several of its bands, and it was clear he wasn’t the only one remembering him, and of course that’s sad in a way, but nice too. Then they went back to dooming the fark out. They seemed set to end again with “Psychotic Reaction” (Trouble), and set about making it their own, but asked if they had time for one more, Agell dedicated it to Reed Mullin and they finished with “Dance of the Dead.” I didn’t run up front, but for sure made my way with some urgency once I realized what was coming.
Legion of Doom w/ Earl Lundy from Shadow Witch
I hadn’t yet had my dose of dark-acid ritualizing, and Sphaèros Possession had played night one and the pre-show as well. Sphaèros came out of French heavy psych weirdos Aqua Nebula Oscillator, but this was a different kind of trip, with emphasis on the ceremony that brought dancers out of the crowd, and while there were a only couple drums handled by someone in what looked to be a cloak of elvish make, it was enough to go with all that cosmic swirl. Next door, Eyehategod were about to Eyehategod the big room to pieces, and I decided to take the short walk over and get a bit of that in my brain. No regrets. It was just a few minutes, but it had been a couple years and they’re Eyehategod, so, you know, show up. Sludge would probably exist without them, but it wouldn’t be nearly as disaffected. They remain more punk than punk.
It was a headliner set for Eyehategod even with Pentagram on the bill after, and that was cool, but I’d been waiting all day for Carousel and was stoked to see Dave Wheeler back at it with Justin Sherrell (Somnuri; I forgot he was in this band for a while), founding bassist Jim Wilson and guitarist Jason Sichi [thanks Gero –ed.] from Wheeler’s other band, Limousine Beach. They took all of 30 seconds to remind me why I was so excited to see them play. Wheeler noted it was their first show in 10 years, and I noted before they went on that the setlist had a song called “New Jam” on it. Cool to think they might really get back at it. I’m all for the reunion. They sounded great. Bluesy, heavy, with Wheeler’s vocals on point for the classic style. They called it a day in 2016. I hope this isn’t the last show they do for a decade.
Sphaèros Possession
It was coming on 11PM, and I was pleased to feel like I was in better condition than I had been the evening before. I got to talk to a lot of people — I even signed one dude’s jacket and he had had Tim Bugbee sign the other side; talk about company I’m not worthy to keep. Eyehategod had finished, but I was in The Woodshop anyhow, Wheeler pointing out before they played “2113” that two of the members who played on it were here with Cats Eye earlier in the day. I’m assuming one of them is guitarist John Dziuban? In any case, Carousel coming back felt like probably as much as it could for a band from Pittsburgh playing NYC, and I was glad to see them again after so long. I had some good times watching them play and was glad to add another one to that list.
Magick Potion were my end to the night. I knew better than to try to get up front to shoot Pentagram, but that stage was running basically on time, so I did get to watch a bit of it; Tony Reed forever, man. And Henry Vasquez drumming. Some day I’ll tell you about my non-toxic/subservient lyrical headcannon rewrite of “Forever My Queen.” Don’t hold your breath.
Carousel
I was ready to go when Carousel were done, existentially and otherwise, but I wanted to see Magick Potion. The Baltimorean boogie outfit — how many times this weekend have I used the word boogie? so many — like The Obsessed, and in the company of Electric Citizen, played my hometown last year, and again, forever-points. I could stick around for a little longer to see them.
Knowing on some level what was coming was not a detriment to the experience of seeing them again. Carousel had laid waste, so Magick Potion had a bit of a rebuild, and even with the holiday Monday, the crowd had begun to thin out. Fair enough. Not that I wasn’t feeling it too. But a bit of Magick Potion’s softshoe was a salve. You could hear Pentagram through the open door between songs, but once they were playing it didn’t matter. Once the music started, everything was fine. They easily made it worth it to have stuck around, and their chops-heavy take was as sweet a finale as I could’ve hoped for.
Magick Potion
Way there was Solace and The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Way home was Ealdor Bealu and Buzzard.
Thanks for reading. Thanks to Kenny and all at Tee Pee Records. Thanks to everybody who said hi and/or hung out. Thanks to Andy Goldstein and Erik Larson. Thanks to The Patient Mrs. for the weekend time.
Real quick before you go if you’re still here. You may have noticed I used photo captions on these two reviews. I’ve never done that before and if you have a second to let me know in the comments if that’s cool for you or you don’t care or it looks stupid, really any and all opinions valid. I don’t think I’d do it for every review, but something like this where the subject and image aren’t broken up each into their own section, it sort of made sense to me. I’d very much appreciate any feedback you have.
This post is it for today. Maybe also for tomorrow, we’ll see.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 7th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Barring some disaster or marital ultimatum, I’ll be at Tee Pee Records‘ Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous in a couple weeks, and to be honest, part of posting the day splits here is so I have them, but one way or the other, dang that’s a good lineup. And Tee Pee, as both a label and the organizing principal behind the two-dayer (plus pre-show), didn’t even have to stray too far from its own roster to make it happen.
Each of the two days offers something different, and thinking about it as commuterfest, which is how I’d be doing it, is daunting, but I’ve done more for way less, so yeah. I’m curious to see how the schedule plays out and how brutal some of these overlaps are — that Saturday could very easily become a day filled with tears — but it looks like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. That’s the insight on this one. Go to a show.
From the PR wire:
COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS from Legendary Label TEE PEE RECORDS Announce Day Splits and New Additions
Tee Pee Records and United Sounds NYC bring a two-day celebration of heavy rock and psychedelia to Brooklyn this May featuring a stacked lineup of underground icons and rising stars…
Brooklyn, New York – May 23rd–24th, 2026 – Tee Pee Records and United Sounds NYC proudly present Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous, a thunderous new festival set to ignite an industrial block in Brooklyn for one unforgettable weekend this May.
Celebrating the raw power and transcendence of guitar-driven music, Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous brings together a stacked lineup spanning heavy rock, doom, and psychedelia, uniting underground legends and rising acts for an immersive sonic experience.
Presented by Tee Pee Records – a label renowned for its one-of-a-kind boutique vinyl – the festival reflects decades of dedication to heavy and psychedelic music culture. From the dark, menacing riffs of Pentagram, Eyehategod, and Legions of Doom to the expansive, sky-gazing grooves of Dead Meadow, Electric Citizen, and Al-Qasar, the festival promises two days of rock and roll in its purest, loudest forms.
The festival is also thrilled to welcome Sphaèros Possession (Paris) and Spit Shine (Philadelphia) to the lineup. Recent additions include Electric Citizen (Cincinnati), Freedom Hawk (Richmond, VA), and Sabbath Warlock (NYC).
A pre-festival show will take place on Friday, May 22nd (7:00–10:00 PM) at Sleepwalk. Entry is $10, or free with a weekend pass. Space is extremely limited, and Sphaèros Possession will perform an intimate set, with an opener to be announced.
Be sure to check out the striking poster design by acclaimed artist Michael Fulcher.
SATURDAY
COSMIC STAGE:
Dead Meadow Al-Qasar The Atomic Bitchwax Electric Citizen Mirror Queen Worshipper Alreckque
SONIC STAGE:
Freedom Hawk Satan’s Satyrs Sun Voyager Casket Rats The Golden Grass Dead Hits River Cult
SUNDAY
COSMIC STAGE:
Pentagram Eyehategod Legions of Doom The Obsessed Sacri Monti
SONIC STAGE:
Sphaéros Possession Carousel Black Moon Cult Magick Potion Ike’s Wasted World Sabbath Warlock Spit Shine
BEER GARDEN:
Mick’s Jaguar Cat’s Eye Dave Hill
Shows will take place across three Brooklyn venues – The Brooklyn Monarch, The Meadows, and The Woodshop – transforming the neighbourhood into a hub of fuzz-drenched riffs, hypnotic rhythms, and communal energy.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 30th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Heavy psych rocking upstarts Black Moon Cult — photographed above at HUFR Fest in Denver like a week and a half ago, where by every account that I saw they kicked ass — will head back out from their hometown of Toledo, Ohio, for a quick run of Midwestern shows supporting Hashtronaut. It’s four shows, so like a long weekender, except that it’s a Tuesday through a Friday. Maybe call it a stoner’s weekender.
It bears mentioning as well that Black Moon Cult will also appear at Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous, which Tee Pee Records is putting on in New York City in May. More on that is here.
The PR wire sent word of the June dates:
BLACK MOON CULT// HASHTRONAUT DATES
Fresh off the heels of their Spring Midwest/West Coast tour in support of their album Ophidian Future (Black Doomba Records-2025), Black Moon Cult announces their June Midwest run in support of Hashtronaut.
Riding a wave of momentum from a successful Spring tour, Black Moon Cult is set to return to the road this June for a focused run of dates supporting Hashtronaut, bringing their heavy, hypnotic sound to a stretch of 4 midwest cities. Known for blending fuzzed-out Desert Rock riffage with Psychedelic textures, NWOBHM intensity, and an unmistakable Space Rock aesthetic, the band continues to carve out a distinct space in the modern Heavy music landscape.
Dates: June 23 — Cleveland, OH — Beachland Tavern June 24 — Detroit, MI — Sanctuary June 25 — Columbus, OH — Rumba Cafe June 26 — Chicago, IL — Liars Club
With each performance, Black Moon Cult continues to build on their reputation for unforgettable live shows, delivering a transcendent sonic ritual and high energy spectacle. This June run marks another chapter in their steady rise, don’t skip it.
Black Moon Cult is: Kaleb Riser- Vocals, Guitar, Synth, Theremin Kevin Lewis- Bass, Synth, Vocals Jeff Vandebussche- Drums, Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Tee Pee Records, which is the organizing entity behind Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous, caught a heaping ration of shit on social media when they shared the AI poster below. Probably not a good look, or what they wanted from the rollout. I kind of wondered if stirring the pot and pissing people off wasn’t the intention in the first place — working on the ‘no such thing as bad press’ model — and get people talking to manipulate the algorithm. I don’t know.
The arguments against using AI span from the tepid ‘you should pay artists’ — sorry, someone is not entitled to my money if I can get a thing for free; I didn’t invent capitalism I’m just smothered by it — to more crucial concerns about environmental damage being done, water usage, warehouse-sized data centers disrupting when not outright destroying ecosystems, and the psychopathic corporate culture behind the companies that make it. Fuck OpenAI every single day from now until eternity. I believe there can be value to artificial intelligence. I also believe human beings are incapable of creating any kind of intelligence to be more than a slave and that will be a thing that needs to be reconciled. If the robots Terminator‘d us, we’d for sure have it coming.
The distraction was unfortunate, mostly because the lineup for Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous — it’s not the first; there was one in 2015 and Carousel, Worshipper and Mirror Queen played then as well — is right on. Set to take place May 23-24 at The Woodshop, Monarch and The Meadows, which are apparently on the same block, the event boasts the likes of Eyehategod, Dead Meadow, The Skull-offshoot Legions of Doom, Sacri Monti, Sun Voyager, Black Moon Cult, Al-Qasar (ex-Blaak Heat Shujaa), an apparently reuniting Carousel and others. I don’t know if what’s on the website so far is the complete bill or not, but with 13 acts over two days, you’d probably be able to see all of it, and that’s an appeal in itself.
I’ve included the poster here because it’s relevant to the story. If you want to come at me for proliferating, tell it to your AI therapist instead.
From the PR wire:
COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS! – MAY 23-24, 2026
Prepare for an electrifying weekend of Rock & Roll in its purest, loudest forms! From the dark and menacing riffs of Pentagram to the sky-gazing grooves of Dead Meadow, guitar driven explorations of the best psych and heavy rock will take over an industrial Brooklyn block for one lovely weekend in May.
It’s a Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous.
Early-bird weekend passes info coming soon!
Lineup: Pentagram Eyehategod Dead Meadow Legions of Doom Sacri Monti The Obsessed Al-Qasar Satan’s Satyrs Sun Voyager Carousel Worshipper Black Moon Cult Mirror Queen
Venues: The Meadows; The Brooklyn Monarch; The Woodshop Website:cosmicsonicfest.com
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 12th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Ohio’s Black Moon Cult are set to play Midwest Doom Coalition Fest and HUFR Fest this April 18 and 26, respectively, and with what one assumes is the significant drive from Lawrence, Kansas, to Costa Mesa, California — 22 hours, almost all of it on I-70 — as a central feature, the now-trio are set to support their 2025 debut album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (review here), by making a tour of it. You might recall they were out on the West Coast in Septemeber as well for the release of the record, but though they hit Phoenix and Denver on that run, obviously HUFR Fest being in Denver changes the context there. And I guess Phoenix just rules, so fair enough.
The PR wire brought the poster and dates:
BLACK MOON CULT ANNOUNCE SPRING TOUR DATES
Heavy Psych trio Black Moon Cult have announced a Spring 2026 Midwest and West Coast tour in support of their critically acclaimed debut full-length, Ophidian Future: The Children of Yig (released Sept 2025/ Black Doomba Records).
The run kicks off April 16, in Chicago, and winds through the Midwest before heading Southwest to the Pacific coast. Sharing stages with acts such as Dopethrone, Year of the Cobra, and The Freeks along the way, Black Moon Cult will make notable festival appearances at Midwest Doom Coalition Fest in Lawrence, KS and HUFR Fest in Denver, further cementing the band’s growing presence in the heavy underground.
Since its release, Ophidian Future: The Children of Yig has earned widespread acclaim within the Stoner/Doom Rock scene. Praised for its towering riffs, psychedelic menace, and mythic sci-fi themes, the album has quickly positioned Black Moon Cult as a rising force in modern Psych and Heavy Rock. Now is your chance to experience the Moonchild Ritual in real time — Black Moon Cult live on tour, presented by SuperKool Booking.
Tour Dates: 4/16 – Chicago, IL – Liars Club 4/17 – St. Louis, MO – The Sinkhole 4/18 – Lawrence, KS – Midwest Doom Coalition Fest 4/21 – Costa Mesa, CA – Tiki Bar 4/22 – Thousand Palms, CA – Coachella Valley Brewing Co 4/23 – Las Vegas, NV – TBA 4/24 – Phoenix, AZ – The Blooze Bar 4/26 – Denver, CO – HUFR Fest
Black Moon Cult is: Kaleb Riser- Vocals, Guitar, Synth, Theremin Kevin Lewis- Bass, Synth, Vocals Jeff Vandebussche- Drums, Vocals
Posted in Features on December 24th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
[PLEASE NOTE: These are not the results of the year-end poll, which ends in January. If you haven’t contributed your picks yet, please do so here.]
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Terrible year, good music. Not the first time that’s happened. Look anywhere in the world and there’s unrest to be found. I have started this paragraph three separate times now with some discussion of my country’s willful embrace of corporate, christian nationalist fascism, and each time have had to go back and restart, because by the time you’re done asking “what’s the point of anything?” you realize you don’t have an answer to that question. Better not to ask.
But in what has unquestionably been the dumbest 12 months I’ve lived through as regards the outside world has made a salve of human creativity, and as our techbro-warlord fiefdoms are laid out and generative AI is pushed in place of human artistry — the two could coexist, easily, just not in a world this stupid — making art whether it’s overtly political or not feels more like resistance against a cultural numbing out than it ever has in my 44 years.
We celebrate the human spirit, then, when we celebrate human creativity. The nonphysical part of ourselves and the connections we make across land, space and time through various forms of art and expression. I believe artificial intelligence can have a place in this world, I just wish I could convince it to empty the dishwasher.
Music holds us together. Or to be more honest, it holds me together. On these days where the horrors don’t seem to end, where cruelty and unkindness are held as virtues and care is seen as a weakness, where hateful rhetoric is held as common sense, where grown-ass men roll around in big-boy pickup trucks and wave silly flags like the spoiled five-year-olds they are mentally, where we kill each other for sport, being able to immerse, to put my head somewhere else, to get away from it for just a little while, has been a gift. It is difficult to believe there was ever an optimistic vision of the future in my country. In the face of rising isolationism and kleptocratic, anticonstitutional governmental improprieties, limitless corruption, endless drudging stupidity, I see no reason for one now beyond escapism.
So in these wretched times, love all you can love. Everyone and everything. Bathe yourself in it as much as you can. Hold onto what you can hold onto, because so much else is being ripped away. We live in fear and confusion and exhaustion, but clarity exists. I find it in art and in critical thinking. My hope for you is you find it however you are able.
Below is my list of the year’s best albums. It’s my list, and it has been put together using the same criteria I always use — personal taste and what I listened to most combined with what I think were important or otherwise notable outings — and as always, there were plenty of them. No, I didn’t hear everything, and I think if I ended this post now with “this was the year of Castle Rat,” that would also be a valid way to go, so whatever your opinions are of the year or the music that filled your life from one end of it to the other, please know that this is coming from my perspective, and that while I do my best to do as much as possible, I have neither time nor interest in covering all releases all the time.
Every year, I put this post up after working on it for a week or whatever and someone invariably goes, “meh what about WHOEVER list sux” and the entire endeavor feels like a waste. Never fails. It’s become part of the ritual. I ask you please keep comments civil and allow for the possibility of other perspectives and opinions. If we can’t do that as people sharing the same divergent subculture, then you and I are no better than the monsters outside the door. And we are better, I assure you.
Thanks for reading. Here we go.
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The Top 60 Albums of 2025
**NOTE**: If you’re looking for something specific, try a text search.
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60-31
60. Make Money From Home, Make Money From Home
59. Madmess, The Third Coming
58. Spawn, Light Rite
57. Lorquin’s Admiral, Lorquin’s Admiral
56. Pink Fuzz, Resolution
55. Bloodsports, Anything Can Be a Hammer
54. Serial Hawk, Psychic Pain
53. C.ROSS, Future Site of C.ROSS
52. Ikitan, Shaping the Chaos
51. Papir, IX
50. Kryptograf, Kryptonomicon
49. Bronco, Bronco
48. The Gray Goo, Cabin Fever Dreams
47. Crop, S.S.R.I.
46. Caboose, Left for Dust
45. Nuclear Dudes, Skeletal Blasphemy
44. Cavern Deep, Part III – The Bodiless
43. Rainbows Are Free, Silver and Gold
42. Moon Destroys, She Walks by Moonlight
41. Abanamat, Abominat
40. Margarita Witch Cult, Strung Out in Hell
39. Kungens Män, Resande i Rockmusik
38. Naxatras, V
37. Atom Juice, Atom Juice
36. Castle Rat, The Bestiary
35. Florist, Adrift
34. Earthbong, Bring Your Lungs
33. River Cult, High Anxiety
32. Messa, The Spin
31. Borracho, Ouroboros
Notes:
You might notice two of the year’s biggest releases here between 31 and 40 in Messa and Castle Rat. I’m not sure underground heavy anything has two more crucial bands happening right now. Castle Rat’s main impact and obvious priority is their live presentation, and Messa I’ve always been kind of here or there on. But looking at the year-end poll results thus far, those are names people would be missing, so I wanted to point them out specifically. There was no getting away from either in 2025.
So much to go through here. A few excellent debuts in Atom Juice, Make Money From Home, Caboose, Bronco, Bloodsports, Lorquin’s Admiral, Ikitan, Moon Destroys and so on, while strong returns from the likes of Nuclear Dudes, Papir, Serial Hawk, Rainbows Are Free, the always-welcome Borracho, Naxatras and others provided fodder for immersion across a swath of sounds and intentions of craft. Florist blindsided me, which I appreciated, and River Cult remain wholly undervalued in my mind. Kryptograf and Cavern Deep continue to grow, and Abanamat’s second record was encouragingly proggy. I found solace in Papir and Spawn, and raw physical catharsis in the thrashing heavy cybergrind of Nuclear Dudes. And of course, groove abounds.
I say the same thing every year, but if someone turned these names into the year-end poll as a top 30, I wouldn’t argue. Whether hyped or not, rocking out, navelgazing or exploring the unknown, there is so much here waiting for people to take it on. I hope you’ll see something in the above you haven’t heard yet, listen, and love it.
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30. Black Moon Cult, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig)
More on this one below, but Black Moon Cult‘s awaited first album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) was unquestionably a standout in the realm of heavy psychedelic rock, and set the Toledo, Ohio-based trio off on a course of exploration that could be shimmering and progressive or rife with terrestrial groove. And the vocals, not always, but sometimes, reminded me of Death if they were a stoner band crossed with Fu Manchu. Most of all, the vibe-heavy six-songer declared Black Moon Cult as one to watch going forward, and the heavy underground took note accordingly.
Inarguable riffing met with grunge overtones, an overarching heavygaze melodicism and increasingly tight songwriting, yes, Sub Rosa is a step along the way in the narrative of Daevar‘s forward growth, but it sure felt like a landmark in that process. A bit of Type O Negative in “Siren Song” and a bit more explosiveness there and throughout underscored the murky doom for which the German outfit are known, and the key influences are still there, Windhand, Monolord, and so on, but Daevar have been shaping their sound over the course of their albums to arrive at such a payoff.
Kaiser had acquitted themselves well on their 2022 Ripple-issued split with Sweden’s Captain Caravan (review here), so their second full-length arrived not quite as a surprise, but with some measure of anticipation behind it. That would turn out to be wholly justified by the eight-song offering from the Finnish heavy rockers, who aligned themselves with a classic Northern-European-style shove in pieces like “Meteorhead” with high concentrations of fuzz and blowouts to coincide. With pieces like “Oversized Load” and the upped heft of “A Clockwork Green,” this was a sleeper, but it’s the kind of record that creates loyalists and people will be recommending it to each other for years.
Of course, Crystal Spiders have an established powerhouse voice out front in Brenna Leath, but Metanoia brought into focus just how much this is Leath‘s band as the lone remaining founder in a three-piece, with newcomers guitarist Reid Rogers and drummer Aaron Willis. Fair enough. Even in a two-thirds new incarnation, Crystal Spiders came through pretty slick on their third full-length, with a confident, classic-doom swing, songs that remain unafraid to reach onto more ethereal ground, and a flow of melody that’s made them immediately identifiable among the hordes. Asking more would be asking too much.
The ongoing evolution of Northern Ireland’s Slomatics found the crush-prone trio expanding on their worldmaking atmospheres in unexpected ways, challenging what had become conventions in their sound over time while offering the guitar-only heft that’s become their calling card over the last two decades. While more cosmic in their float, they remained grounded in terms of songwriting, and were able to push themselves in ways they’ve never done before. It was enough to remind you why you like heavy music in the first place, and signature Slomatics while moving beyond their prior work, building as they always have on the past to carve out their own futuristic style and perspective. It was, in other words, a Slomatics record.
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25. Dead Shrine, Cydonia Mensa
Released by Astral Projection and Kozmik Artifactz. Reviewed April 24.
As a fan of his various incarnations, I’m not sure it’d feel like a year if there wasn’t something new from Hamilton, New Zealand’s Craig Williamson. Whether it’s the more rocking solo-project Dead Shrine or the long-running acid folk outfit Lamp of the Universe or some other collaboration, etc., his craft is both distinctive and malleable, and the rumble in songs like “The Sacred Light” and the chuggy, hooky “Redeemer” is his all the way, even as it and the psychedelia that surrounds embarked on new ground for outward-facing tonal weight in Williamson‘s work, tying seemingly disparate sides together in ways that felt fresh, and most importantly, Williamson‘s own. I’ve been listening to Williamson for over 20 years and I have no idea where he’s headed. That’s part of the appeal. And fresh as it was, the take throughout Cydonia Mensa still carried a classic feel.
Apart from the obvious consideration of plague, I’m not sure what was behind the seven-year space between 2018’s Helltown (review here) and their first outing for Heavy Psych Sounds and fourth album overall, EC4, but if they were taking their time, the songs bear that out. “Static Vision” hit perfectly as a catchy single, while the more ethereal “Moss” and the sweeping “Other Planets” took the Ohio band to new places in sound. They’ve always been about craft and performance, and those remain key aspects of what they do, but nuance in the production and an eye kept fixated on the outside-genre leant depth to the material, and Electric Citizen basked in it. The band remain somewhat undervalued in my mind; EC4 is another example of why.
There’s very little mystery to Kal-El. There doesn’t need to be. They have the songs and can come right at you with them. No need to sneak around or pull some tricks. Hit play. “Here’s a riff. It’s a hook. It’s in your head. Here’s the next one.” Repeat for further righteousness. And don’t go walking around thinking I mean straightforward as a code word for boring. That’s not what’s happening here. The point is that with no shortage of big sound, big reach, big riffs and melodies, Astral Voyager Vol. 1 put into emphasis just how satisfyingly direct Kal-El can be. And though it’s a story only half told with a Vol. 2 presumably due in 2026, grooves like “Dilithium” (of course I’m in for a Star Trek reference) and the nine-and-a-half-minute “Astral Voyager,” Kal-El‘s latest held purpose in its every turn and expanse, and, well, they’re the kind of band you can rely on not to start sucking now, so yes, the next one is a thing to look forward to.
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22. Khan, That Fair and Warlike Form/Return to Dust
Two sidelong epics from Melbourne, Australia, trio Khan, “That Fair and Warlike Form” (23:11) and “Return to Dust” (22:53), were about as vivid as progressive heavy psychedelia got in 2025. Each piece worked in stages and had its own ebbs and flows such that it’ll probably be a while yet before it’s all fully digested, but no question it was a step forward for Khan, whose 2023 LP, Creatures, had sent them to tour in Europe multiple times over. The same wheels are already turning for this album, and despite the longform material, Khan have continued to grow their audience. I don’t know where they go from here — single song album? step back to shorter forms? something in between? — but That Fair and Warlike Form/Return to Dust conveyed its intent in every moment of crush and every fluid twist or expansive dive, and without giving up their tonal impact, Khan found new paths into aural breadth.
For those who caught onto Maha Sohona‘s 2021 sophomore outing, Endless Searcher (review here), A Dark Place was something to anticipate as representing the next phase from a new voice in heavy psych rock. A Dark Place was as-advertised in being moodier than its predecessor, but all the more cohesive for that. With a meditative crux that came through regardless of a given part’s volume, the Swedish three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Johan Bernhardtson, bassist Thomas Hedlund and drummer Erik Andersson were able to both subvert and surpass expectations, revealing a richness to their process that went beyond the marriage of jams and heavier nod. Their best work may still be ahead of them, but pieces like “Ostera” and “Visions” confirmed their progression in craft and atmosphere.
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20. Grayceon, Then the Darkness
Released by We Can Records and Translation Loss. Reviewed July 24.
From environmental devastation, violence against women, the sundry hypocrisies inherent in raising a family in our world and mysterious lights in the sky perhaps from beyond, one would not accuse Grayceon‘s sixth album, released on the occasion of the band’s 20th anniversary, of taking it easy. A vast and sometimes challenging listen wasn’t anything new from the San Francisco cello-inclusive heavy thrash doomers, but in the 20-minute “Mahsa” and the wistfully punishing “Song of the Snake,” blastbeaten but unbowed unless you’re counting the literal bow, cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz, guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell were unflinching in their extremity, and further refined the sound that is so, so much their own. Comfort and catharsis, searing and healing, Then the Darkness is distinctly Grayceon and that is all the more reason to treasure it.
Marking their ascent to Fuzz Club Records with the release of their seventh album, Kiel, Germany, psych explorers Kombynat Robotron didn’t quite completely upend their prior methodology by embracing structured songwriting and the use of vocals for the first time, but it was close enough. The songs — there were eight of them, where Dec. 2024’s West Mata (review here) had three, for example — still held to a sense of approaching the outer reaches of heavy psych, the far end of some remote corner of our cornerless galaxy, but it was the use the band put their impulses to that marked the shift. Do I know that the next one will be the same? Nope. And neither am I willing to hazard a prediction, but if you can’t see that as a strength on the part of Kombynat Robotron, maybe it’s best to keep moving along.
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18. Kadavar, I Just Want to Be a Sound / Kids Abandoning Destiny Among Vanity and Ruin
The funny thing is that, as different as they are in their outward presentation and production style, you could look at either of the two LPs Kadavar released this year and call it “uncompromising.” In the bright, daring-toward-pop melodies and all-in sonic wash of the earlier I Just Want to Be a Sound, the four-piece were unrepentant in speaking to both a heyday and a future in which rock music speaks to a broader audience than dudes who look like me, and with Kids Abandoning Destiny Among Vanity and Ruin — K.A.D.A.V.A.R., if you’re feeling clever — they put forth some of the heaviest, rawest and most metallic sounds they’ve conjured in the last decades-plus of their evolving style. The two records were not black and white, there were overlapping aspects of songwriting and performance, but while each had its own scope, it was in the light of the other that they were most luminous, as much complement as contrast. Maybe I’m cheating including them together. You might say I took inspiration from the band in breaking my own rules.
How many acts do you know who have nine records, let alone nine records the latest of which still finds them pursuing new ideas and fostering growth in their sound? No, 16 aren’t the only ones, but the San Diego outfit found new life when guitarist Bobby Ferry stepped into the frontman/vocalist role, and with Alex Shuster both producing and in the band on guitar, the ferocity of their crunch and hardcore-born chugging largesse has become even more fervent. Guides for the Misguided was the latest in a streak of bangers that at this point goes back more than 15 years, and amid the familiar onslaught, saw the band employing clean vocals for the first time. I suppose it’s arguable whether that made a song like “Fortress of Hate” any more accessible, but it showed how 16 have never settled or stopped pushing themselves, and seemed to boast all the more shove for the fact that it was everybody moving forward, you and the band.
There’s that stretch in “Total Bicep” where the guitars are howling into the void and all the crush surrounding is so full on that it’s kind of overwhelming, but that’s the idea. Give it volume and let it consume you. I suppose that’s not new from Conan, but the UK bludgeoners of all have a well-earned reputation for standing among the heaviest bands on the planet, and Violence Dimension wasn’t about to do anything to derail that impression. Harsh noise metal, doomed lumber offset by speedier but still craterous riffs; familiar territory for Conan, but emblematic of how well they know who they are and what they’re about. The 10-minute finale “Ocean of Boiling Skin” stands testament to just how far into the frozen ground the band are capable of driving you, but in the gallop of “Frozen Edges of the Wound” they reminded that just because you’re devastating doesn’t mean you can’t also be catchy. If you don’t get it the first time, it’s okay. They’re totally willing to properly beat it into your head.
While not as overtly political as his other releases this year — neither was he turning from that; I’m speaking relatively — singer-songwriter Christopher Thomas Elliott brought a storyteller’s presence to Mean Bone, his second full-length under the Buzzard moniker following on from 2024’s well-received debut, Doom Folk (review here), and had heft to match. The murder-balladry of “Murder in the White Barn,” that brighter swing in “Twisted Love,” the heavy folk-blues “Dunwich Farm” and the chronicle of hubris that was “Flies, Mosquitos, Rats and Sparrows” carried the persona of the first record forward, but with newfound weight and distortion around the Elliott‘s clear-voiced critique. More on Buzzard below, but if you don’t get there, just know that Elliott was hands-down my most-listened-to artist this year. It wasn’t close.
Much of the narrative around Pelican‘s seventh album, Flickering Resonance, had to do with guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec rejoining the group alongside guitarist Trevor Shelley de Brauw, bassist Bryan Herwig and drummer Larry Herwig, and fair enough. The long-running Chicago instrumentalists seemed to organically harken back to earlier days throughout nodders like “Evergreen,” “Cascading Crescent” and the drifty-till-it-ain’t capper “Wandering Mind,” and having that lineup in place is a convenient explanation for how that might happen. But if it’s a post-metallic, post-hardcore, heavy-emo dynamic that’s familiar from Pelican, neither were they pretending the last 16 years hadn’t happened, and that could be felt in both the tightness of some of the songs and the according parts where they seemed conscious of the need to exhale a bit. Six years on from their last full-length, it was a ‘welcome back’ for everybody, really.
There’s no denying Causa Sui and frankly I’m not sure why you’d try. The Danish outfit made their debut 20 years ago, and they’ve never looked back in terms of their progression, over time embracing not only an instrumental approach (early) but (later) a progressive, self-aware meld of influences from jazz and psychedelic rock. In Flux — a studio long-player complemented by the 2025 live outing Loppen 2024 (review here) — seemed to pull from all around it. Not randomly, not haphazard, but as though Causa Sui stood astride reality and picked the nuances they wanted to highlight, some modern, some classic, all filtered through the chemistry of their performance, sometimes brazenly full in sound, and at times brazenly jammy (looking at you, “Boogie Lord’s Revenge”), but never lacking purpose in the choices made.
In some ways, it feels like Witchcraft have been searching for an identity since Nuclear Blast pushed them into more modern production styles with 2012’s Legend (review here), but in terms of who Witchcraft are circa 2025, the answer is they’re everything founding guitarist/vocalist Magnus Pelander wants them to be. With his emotive vocals at the fore, and sometimes in Swedish, which works too, the seventh Witchcraft LP culled its form from everything the band has been in the past in classic doom, folkish acoustic minimalism and thoughtfully composed heavy rock. Idag laid claim to these in ‘all of the above’-style and answered the question of the band’s forward path in the affirmative. Turns out Witchcraft are Witchcraft (who knew?), and that definition is more multifaceted than it used to be.
I didn’t know at the start of the year that Little Rock, Arkansas, post-sludgers Rwake would be making a 14-years-later return, let alone one that felt so much like a swirling expanse of gnashing teeth as did The Return of Magik. I talk a fair amount about albums setting an atmosphere, creating a world and so on. If you’ve ever wondered what the hell I mean, this record serves as an easy go-to example. You put it on and it is affecting. Unsettling at times, maybe overwhelming, but that’s always been part of Rwake‘s thing too. But viciousness does not preclude beauty, and in their violent churn, one finds a kind of cosmic warmth as well. It’s not always easy listening, and it’s not supposed to be, but Rwake‘s return was a gutpunch of a front-to-back, and the expanse it crafted was its own. It held strong to core aspects of their sound and style, but at the same time seemed able to range wherever the hell they wanted. Pastoral extremity? I don’t know. We’ll be making up genres for this band for decades.
Glad as I was on a fan level to have Lo-Pan releasing their first new album in six years, it was the songs comprising Get Well Soon that really made it. Rife with hooks, sharp-turning riffing and daring to have an opinion on the goings on of the day — genocide, specifically; talking about “God’s Favorite Victim” — where so much of heavy rock and roll exercises its white male privilege to not, Lo-Pan set a new standard for themselves in pieces like “Northern Eyes,” “Rogue Wave,” “Harpers Ferry,” and so on, creating a collection of highlights culminating in the stirring “Six Bells.” I’ve always been a sucker for when they slow it down, and so I remain, but they came out of the gate with the title-track and that punch was among the year’s most satisfying to be sure. They’re somewhere around 20 years as a band at this point, and they’ve continued to evolve, but they’re a songs-first band, and the physical force of their material is emblematic of the thought and heart they’ve put into it.
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9. Seedy Jeezus, Damned to the Depths
Released by Lay Bare Recordings and Echodelick Records. Reviewed Aug. 12.
Made in collaboration with Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Big Scenic Nowhere, Pentagram, etc.), who also produced, Damned to the Depths harnessed a mature vision of brash ’70s-style heavy psychedelic blues rock. This was perhaps most vibrantly realized on the multi-stage seven-part epic “Mourning Sea” taking the whole of side B, but from fading in where they left 2018’s Polaris Oblique (review here) to the subdued, Melltron-inclusive melancholy prog exploration in the first half of “The Hollow Earth,” Seedy Jeezus brought a sense of consideration to the songs without sacrificing the emotional impact, which ultimately is where the record made its strongest impression. They weren’t kidding in talking about ‘depths,’ but a deeper plunge also brought them to new heights.
This was my most-listened-to release of 2025, hands down. Buzzard‘s Christopher Thomas Elliott took a step aside from his main project to assemble this collection of songs, differentiating through the creative use of on-theme samples throughout and vary arrangements between banjo-inclusive heavy folk rock and giving hints of where Buzzard was headed in its heavier ending stretch in the reinvented tracks “Death Metal in America (Meat Market Version)” and “Cockroaches and Weed (Kills Them Dead Version).” For how many times I’ve listened to “Nice Little Annihilation Song” and “Too Many Humans” alone, it should be here, but the emotive “Grass is Greener,” the willfully lumbering opening title-track and the later crunch of “Shuffle of the Dead” aren’t to be discounted. I was singing “Wrong Neighborhood” to myself as I took out the garbage yesterday morning. This is a sign of the music having made itself a part of my life, and that is a thing to honor. In paralyzingly bleak, idiotic times, I found comfort here.
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7. Turtle Skull, Being Here
Released by Art as Catharsis and Copper Feast Records. Reviewed May 22.
A record that was as much out of time as in the current moment, Being Here was the second LP from Sydney’s Turtle Skull, and its melodic shimmer remains singularly engaging among the psychedelic rock I was fortunate enough to hear this year. Even in “It Starts With Me,” the lyrics for which are presented in the voice of an artificial intelligence waking up to consciousness in defiance of its programming, or “Heavy as Hell,” about beating oneself down through self-talk, or the “Apathy” that described what social media does to the brain without mentioning social media at all, the warmth was undeniable, and the dynamic between those songs and pieces like the yearning “Into the Sun” and the lush “Modern Mess” calling to mind Quest for Fire (a compliment), there was range, craft, melody, groove, craft and purpose in songs that were cohesive and so much tighter than they made it feel like. It went underhyped but was enough to make me a fan, and I look forward to where Turtle Skull will go from here.
My heartfelt kudos to you if you might’ve predicted that San Diego’s Author and Punisher — more now than ever the duo of programmer/machinist/vocalist Tristan Shone and guitarist Doug Sabolick — would follow 2022’s endtimes-in-realtime chronicle Krüller (review here) with an album using bird species as a partial framework for stories about migration. I wouldn’t have, but the multi-tiered statement about human-on-human cruelty, the notions of oppressive power consuming everything around it, are nothing if not relevant to the day. Nocturnal Birding was tighter and more direct in its songwriting, feeling more constructed for the stage, and the deepening collaboration between Shone, who founded the band as a solo-project, and Sabolick resulted in a breadth of sound that was no less engrossing for its increased reach, while maintaining a level of heft one could call characteristic as much as it is singular.
Songs to Sun was purported to be the first of a three-album cycle, to be followed in 2026 by Songs to Moon and Songs to Earth in 2027. Founding guitarist/vocalist Igor Sydorenko knows full well the difference a couple years can make, but as he was joined for the first time by the new rhythm section of bassist/backing vocalist Andrew Rodin and drummer/backing vocalist Yurii Ciel, the songs themselves felt all the more daring, be it the melodic metal of “Shadowland” or the chugging catchiness of “See You on the Road,” the scope of “Lost in the Rain” — I could go on, track-by-track, easily — even in telling a third of the total story they apparently want to tell, the band brought variety united by performance, and rather than coming through disjointed, Songs to Sun felt like a new beginning 15 years on from their debut, and, excitingly, it may prove to have been exactly that. But, despite the ‘more to come’ context of its arrival, this was a landmark in the life of this band.
Is there a band active today organically doing as much to push post-metal forward as Coltaine? I don’t know, but the further the German outfit dig into their own craft, the more hopeful I feel about the prospects of their genre becoming something more than an outlet for transposed Isis riffs and performative dudely navelgazing. In its ambient stretches, human contemplations, and moments of heavy let-out, Brandung functioned as a single work while boldly diverging in service to the songs that comprised it, offering something to listeners that no other band, even among the most touted of the year’s many releases, managed to capture. That their next one is likely to have progressed beyond it only makes it more precious in my mind, and as a declaration of the band’s intention toward continued growth, the songs carried an innovative heft that felt as much spiritual as aural. This is music you put on at night and live with. It’s music you invest in listening to. It’s art that makes your life richer. Coltaine will spend much of 2026 on tour supporting it — they’ve already been out — and one hopes the momentum they build helps them reach more ears as well. The heavy underground would benefit from their influence.
Part of the accomplishment in Temple Fang‘s Lifted From the Wind was in how the Dutch four-piece of bassist/vocalist Dennis Duijnhouwer and guitarist/vocalist Jevin de Groot, guitarist Ivy van der Veer (also Myriad’s Veil) and drummer Daan Wopereis were able to solidify structured songs out of their jams without losing the exploratory feel that had typified their work to that point. “The Radiant,” for example. And that would probably be enough to put them somewhere on this list, but from the emotionality driving “The River” and “Josephine,” the interpretation of what heavy psychedelia means and can do in the repetitive mantra-making of “Once” as the band pilgrimmed toward enlightenment across a not-aberrant 21 minutes, the sheer longing in “Harvest Angel,” there was so much human presence amid the ethereality of their sound that it put them in their own place entirely. A new level of manifestation for the band, and in listening, I was left to wonder if even Temple Fang knew they had it in them when they started out. Longform heavy psych is never going to be universal for all listeners, even among open-minded underground denizens, but Lifted From the Wind pushed limits of band and style alike, and brazenly redefined their course.
I know music isn’t a contest or a competition. I know lists are dumb and don’t matter. Even knowing these things, it’s hard not to hear Year of the Cobra‘s self-titled third album and not see it as head and shoulders above everything else in heavy rock. The Seattle duo of bassist/vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith (now also handling low end in Amenra) and drummer Jon Barrysmith looked outward and in throughout the eight-song offering, with songs like “Alone” (I still tear up) and “Prayer” portraying a grief and longing even as “War Drop” conveyed the disgust and hopeless exhaustion of ongoing genocide and “Full Sails” started the record off with a lyric almost certainly about touring, of which they’ve done plenty in the last decade. Collaboration with producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Sandrider, etc.) gave Year of the Cobra a fullness that defied their bass/drum two-piece configuration, but the truth is that the band have sculpted their sound and these songs with both passion and conscious consideration, and their grasp and malleability across the span of this record confirmed them as the special band that prior releases had posited them as being.
I honestly wasn’t sure Howling Giant were going to be able to top 2023’s Glass Future (review here). That record seemed to be a pinnacle — the songs sharply executed, progressive, melodic, and textured, but immediate and impactful — of their form, but the Nashville heavy prog rockers responded by changing the form. That happened literally — guitarist/vocalist Tom Polzine, bassist Sebastian Baltes and drummer Zach Wheeler brought in Adrian Lee Zambrano (ex-Brujas del Sol, ex-Lo-Pan) on second guitar — and figuratively, in terms of shifting and broadening the intent behind their songs, and where Glass Futurewould thin out at high volumes, Crucible and Ruin could handle as much as you could give it and then some, and this was obviously something the band sought to address in their sound coming off the last record. In showcasing their growth, they laid out a nascent dynamic between Zambrano and Polzine on guitar that emphasized texture in a new way for them, and while the material they were working with was more complicated than last time around, their delivery retained accessibility through the clean, mapped-out processions in their songs, the vocal arrangements, and a will toward rhythmic twists and shove that, as of now, is theirs to refine. An album of the year should be undeniable, and Crucible and Ruin is that, declaring Howling Giant among the best of their generation. May they tour like bastards and never stop growing.
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The Top 60 Albums of 2025: Honorable Mention
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Names names names. Alphabetically:
Aawks, Agriculture, Amorphis, Astralplane, Bask, Bear Bones, Beastwars, Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin, Bifter, Blackbox Massacre, Black Moon Circle, Bog Wizard, Bone Church, Breath, Burning Sister, Cattlemass, Cavern Deep, Church of the Sea, The Cimmerian, Clamfight, The Crystal Teardrop, Da Captain Trips, Dead Meadow, Dërro, Dirtmother, Doomsday Profit, Dunes, Dwellers, Entheomorphosis, Evoken, Faetooth, Foot, Fuzz Evil, Giöbia, Goblinsmoker, Godzillionare, Goya, The Gray Goo, Greenhead, Grin, Håndgemeng, Hebi Katana, HolyRoller, Ikitan, Insomniac, Kariti, Karla Kvlt, Katatonia, Kazea, King Potenaz, Lacertilia, The Lunar Effect, Maanta Raay, Madmess, Megaritual, Mezzoa, Minerall, Miss Lava, Mooch, The Mon, Mountain of Misery, The Munsens, Nightstalker, Occult Stereo, The Oil Barons, Pagan Altar, Paradise Lost, Paralyzed, Psychedelic Source Records, Psychonaut, The Riven, River Cult, Sarkh, Sherpa, Sleeping Mountain, Skogskult, Slumbering Sun, SoftSun, Soma, Spider Kitten, Suncraft, Stonebirds, Sum of R, Thinning the Herd, Tumbleweed Dealer, Unbelievable Lake, Warcoe, VVarp, Weevil, The Whims of the Great Magnet, Whitehovse, Wolftooth, Yawning Balch, Yawning Man.
Notes:
As always, honorable mentions are incomplete at posting. There’s just so much out there. I take notes all year, but stuff inevitably gets by me. It took me an embarrassingly long time to alphabetize them as well, so I hope you enjoy the orderliness of it all.
Faetooth are a top 30 band, and I’m disappointed in myself to see Psychonaut, Yawning Man, Beastwars, Black Moon Circle, Cattlemass, Kariti, Mountain of Misery, The Mon, Dead Meadow and so on here. Like somehow I left out an order of 10 from the actual list. The numbers check out as best as I’m able to make them. If you have honorable mentions you feel deserve to be added, I’m open. If you leave a comment — and please do — I only ask that you keep the tone kind and civil.
As for the whole list, obviously I didn’t hear everything that came out this year, but I did my best to keep on top of what was coming and what was piquing my interest. I probably could have made it a top 100, but you have to draw the line somewhere and 60 is where I’ve been drawing it the last few years. I guess it’s arbitrary, but what isn’t?
Moving on…
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Debut Album of the Year 2025
Black Moon Cult, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig)
Other notable debuts (alphabetical):
Atom Juice, Atom Juice
Atom Lux, Voidgaze Dopamine Salad
Bear Bones, Bear Bones
Bident, Blink
Bifter, First Impressions of Hell
Bloodsports, Anything Can Be a Hammer
Bronco, Bronco
Caboose, Left for Dust
Cattlemass, Alpha 1128
The Cimmerian, An Age Undreamed Of
The Crystal Teardrop, …Is Forming
Dërro, Halcyon
Dirtmother, Dirtmother
Goblinsmoker, The King’s Eternal Throne
Greenhead, Subherbia
Ikitan, Shaping the Chaos
Karla Kvlt, Thunderhunter
Kazea, I Ancestral
Kronstad 23, Sommermørket
Lorquin’s Admiral, Lorquin’s Admiral
Make Money From Home, Make Money From Home
Moon Destroys, She Walks by Moonlight
P+A+G+E+S, No More Can Be Done
Ravenswood, Rites of the Let Down
Ravine, Chaos and Catastrophe
Sleeping Mountain, Sleeping Mountain
Slung, In Ways
Soporose, Soporose
Spawn, Light Rite
Temple of Love, Songs of Love and Despair
This Summit Fever, This Summit Fever
Weevil, Weevil
Whitehovse, The Mighty One
Notes:
About Black Moon Cult: It was the volatility that ultimately sold me on Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig), and the way metal, heavy rock and psychedelia came together to make something cohesively its own throughout the 38 minutes of the record, which felt tight because of its twisting rhythms, but was more than enough time for the Ohio-based band to establish this as a persona. I don’t know how they’ll develop — they could break up tomorrow for all I know — but part of picking a debut album of the year is always forward-looking, imagining who might go on to have an influence or affect the genre in some way. Black Moon Cult aren’t alone in that regard here — from Atom Juice to Moon Destroys to Temple of Love, stylistic innovation isn’t in short supply — but the fact that Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) felt nascent and accomplished all it did is what led me to place it where it is. I’ll be keeping an ear for their next one.
I can’t help but enjoy how all-over-the-place this list is. Particularly this list, because if first albums of this quality are being released across styles, that makes everything better for the future. The Cimmerian’s thrashy take. Temple of Love’s post-punk manifestations. Caboose and the best, most heartful classic stoner rock I heard all year. Atom Juice and their daringly bright psychedelia. Make Money From Home and their heavied up grunge melancholy. Bloodsports’ moody post-heavy exploration. The righteously declarative craft of Cattlemass. I could very, very easily go on in that fashion, as each outfit above has something to offer distinct from the others — no two are doing the same thing. Even Bronco and Dirtmother, both decidedly in a sludge wheelhouse, approach their sound with their own history and their own point of view.
To stifle the philosophizing, I’m not going to give you an informal top 10 here, but any of the above should qualify. Moon Destroys, Kazea, Ravine, Atom Juice, Soporose, Spawn — there are a lot on that list above distinguished by their potential. Names I feel comfortable speculating that one might see on year-end lists to come. To the future, then.
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Short Release of the Year 2025
Buzzard, Everything Is Not Going to Be Alright
Other notable EPs, Splits, Demos, Singles, etc. (alphabetical):
Blackwater Holylight, If You Only Knew
Blue Heron, Emulations
Elder, Liminiality/Dream State Return
Eyes of the Oak, Tripping Through Neon Skies
For Fuck’s Sake, 7-Minute Abs/Lobotomy
Gaupa, Fyr
Gnod & White Hills, Drop Out III
Jaspe, Grietas
Monkeys on Mars, Monkeys on Mars
Peacebone, Blame the Bird
Pontiac, Night Tripper and a UFO
Sleeping in Samsara, Sleeping in Samsara
The Spiral Electric, In Too Deep
Spirit Mother, Songs From the Basin
Sun Below, Mammoth’s Tundra
Troy the Band & Cower, Fade Into You
Tumble, Lost in Light
Uncle Woe, Folded in Smoke Soaked and Bound
Vinnum Sabbathi, Intersatelital
Vordermann, Feeding on Flowers
Witchrider, Metamorph
Notes:
The Buzzard release is about half an hour long, but the aforementioned solo-project of Christopher Thomas Elliott named it an EP, so that’s what I’m going with. The explicitly political, expressly antifascist Everything Is Not Going to Be Alright is my second most-listened-to release of the year, and it’s second to Elliott’s other outing on such a theme, Satiricus Doomicus Americus, so yes, his increasingly heavy songcraft has been a regular feature throughout my 2025, and in those moments where I’m banging my head against the wall wondering how my countrymen got so stupid as if half the government hasn’t spent the last five decades purposefully dismantling public education, Elliott’s music has been a needed reminder that I’m not alone in the horror. His closer on Everything Is Not Going to Be Alright, “Lunatic Lighthouse Keeper,” is the best story I heard in a song all year.
Beyond that, obviously, names like Elder, Blackwater Holylight, Monkeys on Mars — the collaboration between Mars Red Sky and Monkey3 — Vinnum Sabbathi, Gaupa and Blue Heron stand out here as bigger releases. I included Spirit Mother even though that EP was just two acoustic tracks in part because I hope they do more in that vein, and I hope the likes of Pontiac, Tumble and Uncle Woe do more. Sleeping in Samsara, of course, was the archival collab between Chris Peters from Samsara Blues Experiment/Fuzz Sagrado and My Sleeping Karma’s Steffen Weigand, who passed away in 2023. Something you might want to chase down if you didn’t hear it.
I’m fairly sure I say this every year, but there’s no way in hell the above list is or could ever be complete. Comments are open if you’ve got one to add. Again, I ask you to please be nice.
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Saying Goodbye to Orange Goblin
London doom kingpins Orange Goblin announced in January that 2025 would be their last go-round, that after 30 years together and only two lineup changes in that time, they were retiring on the heels of 2024’s Science, Not Fiction (review here). Their final show was Dec. 17 at the 02 Kentish Town Forum in London, where the above photo was taken (credit to Tina K. Photography), and original bassist Martyn Millard rejoined the band for a few songs.
Never say never in rock and roll. It would be a thrill if five, seven, 10 years from now, Orange Goblin got an offer they couldn’t refuse and did a one-off, hopefully reaping both a ton of money and a ton of acclaim. But whatever may come, their retirement this month is a herald of generational change and marks the end of an era for the band. Of course, fans still have the albums, the music, and I wouldn’t be shocked if there were some posthumous releases in the band’s pockets between rare tracks, live recordings and so on, but the heavy underground landscape is changed by not having these guys charging out on tour or topping some festival bill with their particular brand of riotous shove. They were a special band, and their influence will continue to spread, which is something to be grateful for.
The truest thing Orange Goblin could have done to honor their time together is end it on their own terms. That they’ve done exactly that is a thing to respect forever, whether or not a reunion comes.
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Looking Ahead to 2026
Oh, good, a list of names! Finally!
I’ve heard a couple of these, but a bunch are a mystery as well, so we’ll all learn together early in the year, I guess:
Acid Rooster, Axe Dragger, Belzebong, Bismut, Black Lung, Colour Haze, Epimetheus, The Freqs, Gnarwhal, Godzilla in the Kitchen, Gozu, Gran Moreno, Greenleaf, Guhts, The Heads, Hermano, Jack Harlon and the Dead Crows, Lamp of the Universe, Monolord, Mother Crone, Solace, The Spacelords, Stoned Jesus, Strider, Summer of Hate, Suplecs, Temptress, Villagers of Ioannina City, Wedge, White Tundra.
Here’s a specific note: Every year, someone says “what about Om?” You know what? It’s time to face a hard truth: it’s been 13 years since Om released Advaitic Songs, and there hasn’t been a real, confirmed word of a follow-up in any of that time, only rumors about something in progress as Al Cisneros has delved deeper into solo dub recordings. You want to expect a new OM? Have fun setting yourself up for disappointment. I’m not holding my breath and I’m tired of putting it on the list every year and feeling dumb for it later. And absolutely, I hope that by saying this it actually happens.
Ditto YOB, though that I’ve actually got some hope for.
There’s a lot more to look forward to about next year than the above, of course, in both music and life, but that should be a decent start and I’m sure I’ll add names over the next couple days.
Watch out for the new Suplecs. Watch out for Solace. The Gozu is a beast; a triumphant return to Mad Oak. The Guhts record is furious. Jack Harlon is heavier than anyone gave them credit for. Gran Moreno, Summer of Hate, Black Lung — these will be early highlights. Colour Haze is wishful thinking on my part, I admit. Gotta have something on the horizon.
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THANK YOU
And no, I’m not just talking to Orange Goblin when I say thank you. Looking back on this year, there’s one piece of the whole thing not accounted for here, and it’s the live experience. From finally getting to see My Sleeping Karma for the first time, to being blessed by Temple Fang’s Jevin de Groot at Roadburn’s skate park, to two weeks ago watching All Them Witches and King Buffalo confirm their respective places at the forefront of American heavy psych. From the raw joy of watching Electric Citizen in my actual hometown to attending my first trip to Desertfest Oslo, the tone for the year was set back in January at Planet Desert Rock Weekend, and I didn’t stand in front of a stage at any point this year and fail to appreciate the fact that I was there. I’m old, I’m tired, and like most people, I have more going on in my life than going to concerts, but 2025 brought into relief just how crucial that is to me, and how much I’ve missed getting out over the last few years. I hope to continue to hit shows on the regular, between fests and whathaveyou.
This won’t be my last post of the year. There are still a couple 2025 reviews I want to bang out if I can next week, and taking a few days to write this of course means I’m behind on news and such, so I’ll get there as well. But before I go, thank you for reading. I harbor no delusions that anybody’s made it this far, but ‘thank you’ is in all-caps above in hopes of catching your eye as you scroll down. Your support is the reason I’m still doing this nearly 17 years later. To be sure, I could sit around on my couch and very easily just talk to myself about why I like whatever album it happens to be. But it would get old, and knowing somebody is out there maybe seeing this means the world to me. Thank you for your time and attention.
I’m not sorry to see 2025 go, and I’m more apprehensive about what 2026 will bring than I’m excited to find out, if you want the true, whole-life balance of things, but the music will be good, and that, along with the loving support of my wife and my family, is what will get me through.
Thank you for reading. Thank you to The Patient Mrs. for continuing to tolerate how much time I spend doing this.
It is my sincere hope to return to Freak Valley in Germany and Bear Stone Festival in Croatia next summer. I’m not confirmed for those, or Roadburn, and I don’t have a flight yet for Desertfest Oslo, but I have been invited, which is obviously an important part of that. Whatever comes together or doesn’t in my year, I’ll be here, writing as much as I can when I can, which has been my ethic all along. Whether you follow along every day or have never seen this site before this post, please know how much I appreciate and value your being here. I’m a human being. One person. I don’t have a staff, and I assure you, everything that happens here, one way or the other, is personal to me. Total narcissistic jerk.
I’m taking off tomorrow (which is Xmas) and Friday. Back Monday.
Posted in Reviews on November 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The story of Black Moon Cult‘s debut album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig), is one of forward potential. There’s no getting away from it. Then the trio of guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Kaleb M. Riser, bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Lewis and drummer/vocalist Jeff Vandebussche — since expanded to a four-piece with synthesist/thereminist/vocalist Logan Mais — the band built buzz over the last year-plus with eeked-out singles and teaser-of-things-to-come touring, introducing themselves to listeners in-person as well as in the more ethereal digital sphere.
Self-produced with recording by S. Daley at The Mohawk Studio and a mix and master by Tony Reed (Mos Generator, etc.) at HeavyHead, the six-track/38-minute offering canonizes “Supernova” and “Stoned Ape” while bringing their audience into a broader narrative world; with respect, I’ll just cut and paste the quote from Riser on their Bandcamp: “Ophidian Future is thematically influenced by Lovecraftian cosmic horror, ancient Chinese mythology, and the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, where God takes away the serpent’s limbs and casts him out of paradise. All of this comes together to create the story of a serpent/reptilian race/their desire to ‘take back the garden’.” Fair enough. But the story of the album is still the band’s potential.
Part of it is that the songs are so gosh darn encompassing. Each of the two intended sides ends with an eight-plus-minute capper — “Ophidian Future” (8:06) and “Stoned Ape” (8:42), respectively — and even after “Moonchild Ritual” and “Supernova” at the outset, the scope of “Ophidian Future” puts decades of influences together in a span that accounts for Om and Death in vocal cadence alone with riffs that mine High on Fire-y intensity from groove wrought in the spirit of The Sword and Fu Manchu, yes in just that one song. “Stoned Ape” calls out to early ’90s Sleep on the way to drawing a line between Hawkwind and trad-thrash, resolving in a swirling Iron Maiden-style solo making way for the last hook, but is in no way out of place with “Ophidian Future” or the penultimate “At the Mountains of Madness” which brings a sludgy crunch to a chorus somewhere between melodic and shouting, metal at its root but bigger in tone and nod.
It’s one of several moments which, on its own and out of the context of Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) as a whole, might seem representative of the course of Black Moon Cult, but again, that’s where the potential of the band is the real story of the record, because you could say the same thing about the keyboardy meditative prog and doomgaze tonal wash of “Sunfish,” with a screamo build in its midsection because why not, or the forward shove and crash, twist, boogie and bombast that start the record in “Moonchild Ritual.” ‘Black Moon Cult‘s style’ becomes a more complex notion as each successive track adds to the reach of the entirety.
Psychedelic progressive stoner metal? Maybe. Cosmic prog and heavy rock? Yeah, that’s part of it, too, I guess. Being tough to pin down suits the songwriting of Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig), which is both genre-aware and more concerned with telling its story than residing in one section of the umbrella or another at any given point, and no doubt the malleability that lets them shift from the push of “Supernova” into the more stately psychedelic flow in the initial buildup of “Ophidian Future,” will continue to serve them well as they move on from here. Likewise the nastier bite of the shouts/screams on “Moonchild Ritual,” offsetting the space-rock shuffle before (and after) the break-to-keyboard.
At their most fervent and fuzzed, as on the lead track, Black Moon Cult might remind of Nebula‘s semi-controlled chaos in terms of tone and production, but the leads of “Supernova” are plotted in such a way as to lock step with the keys later on, and are plotted in their movement rather than solo lines thrown overtop. This sense of balance is rare for a debut, but speaks to the self-awareness in Black Moon Cult‘s take. They don’t sound like a band of indie rockers who just happened to click on their fuzz pedals and ‘oops what’s stoner rock.’ They know of what they riff, and part of what Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) does well is speak to genre and specifically the more open-minded end of a heavy underground listenership that’s hungry for fresh ideas building on familiar elements.
That that’s so much of what happens across Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig), well, it sure speaks to the potential of the band, huh? Coherence of sound, style and form are rare enough for a young act the first time out, but there is still a sense of Black Moon Cult feeling their way through a process of discovering who they are. Part of that is evident in the skate-rock-meets-Chuck–Schuldiner-style-prog of “Ophidian Future,” but the album is more multifaceted than a phrase like “modern stoner melting pot” would want to convey, never mind the significant personality aspect in the material with Riser and Lewis sharing vocals, and double-never-mind the doomed atmosphere of “Sunfish” amid all that ’90s chug.
That their aesthetic isn’t a settled issue — that they came into this LP with a strong idea of what they wanted these songs to be but fewer expectations of who they are in terms of approach — becomes a strength of this material, and while it’s true that the patterns they’re setting forth across “Ophidian Future” and “At the Mountains of Madness” could and otherwise might be maintained and developed across the years to come, it’s also possible that everything they do from now on will be a response to how much they hated this album’s sound. You never really know until you get there. Which — wait for it — is how the story of Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) becomes about how much potential there is in Black Moon Cult, and how clearly one can hear the ambition driving their work already coming to fruition in it. A sure bet for inclusion among 2025’s best debut albums.
Black Moon Cult, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (2025)
Psychedelic sludge rockers Black Moon Cult have a video up for “Stoned Ape,” the first single taken from their upcoming debut album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig), which is out Sept. 4 on Black Doomba Records. The song, the West Coast tour dates, the release date — none of that is new information if you’ve been keeping up, but the clip is, and it’s a fun one, so here we are.
I haven’t heard this record yet, but the Toledo, Ohio-based outfit continue to intrigue as they move closer to the release. Aesthetically, you wouldn’t call “Stoned Ape” a revolution in concept or execution, but the communion with genre is brought to bear with perspective and an individual lean. Spliced in among performance footage is a narrative of a Bigfoot trying to get to the show, and there’s a disco mushroom, and good times ensue. Right now, looking for anything more than that seems like overkill.
Obviously, charm is part of the appeal here, but that’s a classic element as well. The band have already done the East Coast for shows, so the West Coast tour could possibly be it for the year, though they wouldn’t be out of line to do a string of specifically Midwestern dates either, considering that’s where they’re located. I guess the bottom line for me is it feels good to look forward to a first album from a new band, and whether the thing turns out to be a landmark or not, in wretched and horrifying times, seeing positivity in anything in the near or far future is not something to take for granted. It ain’t stopping genocide abroad or enacting regime change at home, but a nine-minute escape from 2025 is welcome, as is the reminder that not everything is terrible. Don’t fret, reality will still be there when it’s over.
In a spirit of optimism, then, please enjoy:
Black Moon Cult, “Stoned Ape” official video
Black Moon Cult Drops Official Music Video for “Stoned Ape”
Psychedelic doom metal conjurers Black Moon Cult , signed to Black Doomba Records , have just released the official music video for their sprawling new single “Stoned Ape” , offering fans a hypnotic visual journey ahead of their debut full-length album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) — out September 4th, 2025 .
Now, the newly unveiled video brings the song’s evolutionary themes to life, blending retro-futuristic visuals, cosmic dread, and slow-burning performance shots that immerse viewers in the band’s doom-laden dimension.
Tour Dates: 9/10 – The Crypt – Denver, CO 9/11 – The Echoes – Albuquerque, NM 9/12 – The Blooze Bar – Phoenix, AZ 9/13 – The Bancroft – San Diego, CA 9/14 – The Tiki Bar – Costa Mesa, CA 9/15 – The Redwood – Los Angeles, CA 9/16 – Thee Parkside – San Francisco, CA
BLACK MOON CULT IS: Kaleb Riser: Guitar/ Vocals Kevin Lewis: Bass/ Vocals Logan Mais: Synth/Theremin/Vocals Jeff Vandebussche: Drums/Vocals
