Seeing Deathchant live is always a pleasure, and I’m sure the Los Angeles four-piece will be out again in celebration of their upcoming fourth full-length, Kova. The newly-announced album is titled in honor of a friend of the band who passed away, and is heralded by the single/opening track “Enemy,” which is out today, while the album has a Sept. 25 release through RidingEasy Records.

Below, the PR wire tells a tale of purpose and sonic expansion that’s intriguing around a band who’ve always been more about impact in my mind, bridging thrashing aggression and heavy rock groove and tonal presence, but they’ve been at it for at least the better part of a decade by now, so branching out in sound makes sense as well. I haven’t heard the record yet or I’d probably have some opinion or other, but presumably I’ll get there.

Here’s hoping I remember to embed the single before this post goes live. Anyone wanna take a bet on that? I sure don’t:

DEATHCHANT – Kova – Sept. 25

Stream/pre-save: https://ridingeasy.ffm.to/kova

We are all at the unforgiving whim of life’s extremes. For every moment of overwhelming sorrow, there’s another of indescribable bliss. For every death, there’s a birth. For all of the darkness, there’s just as much light.

Deathchant have never shied away from extremes. Their sound seamlessly oscillates from high-octane rubber-burning riffs and gravelly chants to purring feedback and melodies as expansive as the desert at night. After gathering millions of streams, earning enthusiastic acclaim, and an endless string of packed shows, the Los Angeles, CA quartet—Thomas J Lemieux a.k.a. TJ [guitar, vocals, keys, bass], Doug Stuckey [guitar, vocals], Quinn-George Camacho [bass], and Nick “Joose” Mcdonnell [drums]—explore life’s highs, lows, and everything in between on their fourth full-length LP, KOVA [RidingEasy Records].

Named after their late friend Davey Kova, it’s simultaneously a raucous send-off worthy of a Viking, an introspective look at manhood, and a dyed-in-the-wool badass barnstorming hard rock record.

“To me, Deathchant means very intense brotherhood and friendship,” observes TJ. “I have a truly safe place to express every facet of myself. Even though we’re really heavy, this is also a vehicle for me to explore softer sides of music and wear my heart on my sleeve. For the last nine years, it’s allowed me to be a raw nerve. It was often brutal, because we lived our lives in the world of motorcycle culture, drugs, and partying. At the same time, I always had space for reflection. We implicitly trust one another. It’s rare for a friendship—let alone a four-way working relationship. I recently became a new dad, went through a divorce, and experienced serious loss. All of these massive shifts fed into the music, making it angrier, but more revealing and intimate.”

Back in 2018, Deathchant began to make noise on the West Coast. The group captivated a cult-like audience with the self-titled Deathchant [2019], Waste [2021], and Thrones [2023]. They canvased the globe on tour, playing at festivals such as Psycho Las Vegas, Desertfest Belgium, Keep It Low Festival, and SonicBlast Festival.

While writing KOVA, they said goodbye to its namesake. “My best friend Davey Kova was a dude who white-knuckled life, treated each day like it was his last, took chances, rode fast, and partied hard, but he was the sweetest guy you could ever meet,” sighs TJ. “It’s a weird way to live, yet it’s beautiful. He passed away during the writing process. The record seemed to finish itself after that. The album is a eulogy to not just Davey, but countless friends we’ve lost in the last couple of years.”

TJ helmed the album as producer and sent it off to Kurt Ballou’s legendary God City Studio in Salem, MA where Zach Weeks mixed it. Sonically, it maintained the edge that fans have come to know and expect with some slight tweaks.

“KOVA is different,” affirms the frontman. “I expounded on the lyrics more than I usually would’ve, because the subject matter is so personal. The vocals are also bit dryer and more intentional. You really feel it.”

The opener and first single “Enemy” definitely sets the tone. Feedback groans until a melodic lick pushes the song into overdrive. It culminates on an ominous refrain, “You’re the enemy…Keep the enemy close.” Fret-burning leads entwine at a breakneck pace, bleeding into a screeching solo drenched in wah and echo.

“It’s lyrically related to ‘Mirror’ from Thrones,” he reveals. “You’re ultimately realizing that you are your own worst enemy. So, you’re drowning the ego and being real with yourself about who you are. It’s aligned with the overall concept.”

Then, there’s the two-part title track “Kova (Crawl) Intro” and “Kova (Crawl).” On “Crawl,” acoustic strumming creaks beneath a soulful tear-soaked verse as he laments, “I heard that little boy go quiet, with heavy hearts we said goodbye.” Its heavier companion stomps forward on a swinging rhythm and chugging groove. Offering up a coronation over power chords, the hook booms with bravado, “Call him the king of wild hearts.”

“I was initially writing the song with a vague character in mind,” TJ goes on. “Davey died, and it became clear that the song was fully about him. That’s really when the chorus came to fruition. You’re watching someone slowly kill themselves in a tragic way. The acoustic and heavy versions are equally important. The two parts resemble the ripple effect Davey’s two sides had on people—the dark and the light sides.”

Then, there’s “Worshipper.” A fiery riff smolders in the foreground, giving way to a sample of Shannon Lay above distant gothic strings. “It’s dark as fuck,” he sighs. “I was dwelling in a really pessimistic place with a negative world view. I was depressed and drinking a lot. I had a few people around me who were leaning into Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, religion, and therapy. All of those things may be wonderful. However, they can also give a narcissist an artillery of weapons to use against others. ‘Worshipper’ embodies the weaponization of spirituality by a fake person on a soapbox. You’re worshipping a false prophet.”

“Forgiveness” hinges on bluesy guitar transmissions and a dusty vocal. TJ muses, “Truth is a chamber of bullets and echoes of friends.” Flanked by wailing six-string cries, he accepts, “The curtain keeps closing, but it’s too late to leave now. Goddamn.”

“The lyrics lined up with everything else,” he says. “It’s the human existence of battling addiction and living life to the fullest.”

Ultimately, this is the soundtrack for waking up and going full throttle in pursuit of whatever drives you.

“We’re lucky to be able to tell stories of a legend who’s not with us anymore,” TJ leaves off. “When you have good friends and bandmates around you though, the phoenix rises, and something beautiful comes out of that loss. Life is tough, incredible, and gnarly. Go ahead, embrace who you are, and keep going.”

KOVA is out WorldWide September 25, 2026 on RidingEasy Records

01-Enemy
02-Red Sun
03-Funeral Pyre
04-Reverie
05-Worshipper
06-Ruin
07-Kova
08-Forgiveness
09-Requiem

https://deathchantnoise.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/deathchantnoise/

http://www.ridingeasyrecords.com/
https://www.instagram.com/easyriderrecord/
https://www.facebook.com/ridingeasyrecords/

Deathchant, “Enemy” official video

This was announced on socials last week or the week before, I’m pretty sure, but I wanted to document it here as well, because it’s cool and not something you see every day as Patrick Brink of Volume brings in Ohio’s Black Moon Cult essentially as his backing band for a touring lineup. Alain Johannes has done this a couple times, or you might recall when Chris Goss hit Europe with Josh and Nick from Queens of the Stone Age. It’s not unheard of, but again, it doesn’t happen all the time. Black Moon Cult are still an upstart act, especially having recently shifted their lineup with a new bassist, so this will be valuable experience for them, and having now seen them live, I’ve no doubt they’ll bring a vitality of their own to Volume‘s classic material.

The tour starts Sept. 18, so one imagines guitarist Kaleb Riser (also vocals in BMC), bassist Bronson Gamble and drummer Jeff Vandebussche are neck deep in the process of learning Volume‘s set, and it’s killer to think of how doing this might inform their own work as they head inexorably toward their second full-length.

Oh, and they’ll be playing Ripplefest Texas and out with Kal-El and Goya, and that’s pretty rad. From the PR wire:

Black Moon Cult Members Join VOLUME (ft. Patrick Brink) for an Upcoming U.S. Tour with Kal-El & Goya

Toledo, Ohio heavy psych trio Black Moon Cult is stepping into a new role this Fall, as all three members—Kaleb Riser (guitar), Jeff Vandebussche (drums), and Bronson Gamble (bass)—will serve as the live lineup for VOLUME on its upcoming U.S. tour alongside Kal-El and Goya.

The collaboration brings together musicians who share a deep appreciation for crushing riffs, expansive psychedelia, and powerful high energy live performances. With Black Moon Cult handling the instrumental backbone, fans can expect VOLUME’s material to be delivered with the intensity and chemistry of a road-tested touring band while Patrick Brink fronts the group throughout the run.

While joining VOLUME for this tour, Black Moon Cult continues building momentum following a string of successful performances and growing recognition within the Heavy Psych underground. The experience marks another milestone for the trio as they expand their reach and further establish themselves as one of the Midwest’s rising heavy rock acts.

Fans can catch VOLUME—featuring Patrick Brink, Kaleb Riser, Jeff Vandebussche, and Bronson Gamble of Black Moon Cult—on tour with Kal-El and Goya at select dates across the United States & Canada. Stay tuned to the bands’ official social media channels for tour dates, ticket information, and additional announcements.

VOLUME tour:
9/18 Haltom City, TX – Haltom Theatre
9/19 Austin, TX – Ripple Fest (Far Out Lounge)
9/20 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
9/22 Santa Fe, NM – Desert Dogs
9/23 Phoenix, AZ – Last Exit Live
9/24 Las Vegas, NV – Dive Bar
9/25 Landers, CA – The Annex
9/26 Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing
9/27 Los Angeles, CA – Redwood Bar & Grill
9/29 San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
9/30 Sacramento, CA – Café Colonial
10/1 Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
10/2 Portland, OR – High Water Mark
10/3 Seattle, WA – The Funhouse
10/4 Vancouver, BC – Astoria
10/5 Victoria, BC – Pheonix Bar & Grill
10/7 Boise, ID – The Olympic
10/8 Salt Lake City, UT – Aces High
10/9 Denver, CO – Black Sky Brewing
10/10 Colorado Springs, CO – What’s Left Records

VOLUME:
Patrick Brink – Vocals/ Guitar
Kaleb Riser- Lead Guitar
Bronson Gamble- Bass
Jeff Vandebussche- Drums

https://volume-rocks.bandcamp.com/
https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCSG1_Fr1lJvqGxsb-2QUyuA
https://www.instagram.com/volume_rocks/
https://www.facebook.com/volumerocksofficial

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

Volume, “Joy of Navigation”

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

Two more killer acts for the Mojave Experience 2027 lineup, which is the same story it’s been for the last however many weeks. But with Deathchant, next year’s edition of the Joshua Tree-based festival (it’s the second one) hits a new level of aggression in sound, as the Los Angeles outfit are wont to thrash and a force onstage. This while Baltimore’s Magick Potion highlight a vintage ’70s-heavy style to bring no less of an individualized perspective to the lineup. This is how it’s gone the whole time. You can see the full lineup below.

I looked at the calendar with The Patient Mrs. for next March and she was like, “well as long as it’s not the weekend that it is, you’re fine to go,” which means that, unless her thing doesn’t come together — a trip taking students to Greece over her Spring Break; I can’t even begrudge something so rad — I won’t be able to be there for this. That’s a huge bummer, regardless of the validity of the circumstances. I’m keeping my fingers crossed something changes between now and then, not the lead as the bill gets radder and radder.

From socials:

Mojave Experience – March 19–21, 2027
Joshua Tree Lake, California

Deathchant

Somewhere between the endless highways, worn amplifiers, and the wide-open spaces of the Southwest, Deathchant found its voice. Their music carries the swagger of classic heavy rock, the hypnotic pull of psychedelia, and the weight of doom without leaning too far into any one corner.

Since forming in Southern California, the band has earned a reputation for live shows that feel as loose as they are precise. Twin guitars weave together over driving rhythms, stretching songs into something that feels alive from one night to the next. Albums like Deathchant, Waste, and Thrones have made them a favorite among listeners who appreciate heavy music with depth and atmosphere.

Deathchant joins the Mojave Experience lineup with the kind of set that was made for the desert. Expect towering riffs, winding solos, and the feeling that, for a little while, the outside world has fallen away.

Magick Potion

The road from Maryland to the Mojave isn’t a short one, but some music seems destined to find its way to the desert.

From the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland, Magick Potion channels the raw spirit of late ‘60s and early ‘70s heavy rock into something unmistakably their own. Inspired by bands like Blue Cheer, Budgie, and The Amboy Dukes, the trio leans into towering riffs, thick grooves, and flashes of psychedelia without sounding like a nostalgia act. Their self-titled debut, released through RidingEasy Records, put that approach on full display and introduced the band to a much wider audience.

On stage, the songs stretch out and breathe, fueled by roaring guitars, relentless rhythm, and the kind of chemistry that only comes from a three-piece locked into the same current. It’s heavy rock with dirt under its fingernails and enough swing to keep the whole thing moving.

From Baltimore to the Mojave, Magick Potion adds another layer to the landscape at Mojave Experience 2027. When those first notes roll across the desert, the distance between the two won’t seem very far.

March 19–21, 2027
Joshua Tree Lake, California

Dust Rider tickets on sale now!
Mojaveexperience.net

Artists Playing:
Red Fang
Fatso Jetson
Sasquatch
Brant Bjork Trio
Big Scenic Nowhere
Mondo Generator
High Desert Queen
Heavy Temple
Deathchant
Yawning Balch
Unida
Sons of Arrakis
Magick Potion
20 Watt Tombstone

https://www.mojaveexperience.net
https://instagram.com/mojave_experience_festival
https://www.facebook.com/mojave.experience.festival/

Deathchant, Thrones (2023)

Magick Potion, Magick Potion (2024)

Monarch had two LPs out in the Beforetimes, and both were cool, but the San Diego three-piece pretty clearly aren’t looking to retread the past as they blend analog and electronic instrumentation across MA3, their third full-length released through PFR Records. The band yesterday hosted a listening party on Bandcamp for the record and that’s where I heard it, so if you’re thinking I’m on some cool blogger inside track, rest assured, such a thing doesn’t exist. To wit, the album’s already out.

That’s right. Not in two months, not in two weeks, but like three days ago. Still, the listening party was good fun, and the keyboardy focus of the album speaks for itself in the songs way better than I could by saying something like “keyboardy focus,” and if you find you can’t get down with the yacht heavyprog of “Firebird,” take a couple minutes and adjust your mindset before you try again. It’s good fun, just a hyperspecific kind of it. A vibe, in the parlance of five years ago.

The info below comes from their Bandcamp:

San Diego’s Monarch have long been known for explosive live sets and harmony-drenched psych rock. Their third studio album, MA3, marks a significant leap forward. Where Two Isles (2016) and Beyond the Blue Sky (2019) drew from classic and modern psych rock, space rock, and progressive rock, MA3 finds the band threading electronics through the bones of their heavy psych sound — big, layered synths and tighter arrangements that hold the weight of their earlier records while reaching toward something sleeker and more luminous. Think Pond’s sun-baked psych rock fused with Daft Punk’s heavyweight synth production, but distinctly Monarch.

Monarch has toured extensively in the US and Europe, including a 2023 run with Earthless, whose guitarist Isaiah Mitchell contributes a scorching guest solo on “Face to Face.” The album’s visual identity was created by San Diego photographer and creative director Dana Trippe, known for her work with Tame Impala, Angel Olsen, Automatic, and Pond’s Nick Allbrook.

The album arrives as Monarch returns to the stage for a run of 2026 live dates, with synth textures and vocal harmonies that reward both headphone listening and a live audience.

MA3 is released on PFR Records as a limited pressing of 200 on vinyl with full-color sleeve.

Links to listen everywhere here:
ffm.to/wouldve-happened-by-now

Tracklisting:
1. Chitta 02:12
2. Stranger 05:19
3. Rumor 04:07
4. Would’ve Happened by Now 06:40
5. Ejecta 1& 2 02:50
6. Moving Through a Dream 03:41
7. Which is it to Blame? 03:59
8. Hard to Know 04:49
9. Face to Face 05:22

Monarch are:
Dominic Fanghella
Sonny Yates
Andrew Ware

https://monarch4.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/__mon__arch__
https://www.facebook.com/Monarch-band-1465052633727017/

https://www.pfr-records.com/
https://pfr-records.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pfr_nyc
https://www.facebook.com/pfr.records

Monarch, MA3 (2026)

The story has been the same pretty much every week for the last four or five that I’ve been posting these updates from next March’s Mojave Experience Festival 2027: good lineup gets better. Mondo Generator brings the Desert’s Nick Oliveri to the proceedings, which is only reasonable given his past tenure in Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, collaborating with Brant Bjork (whose band is also playing as you can see below) in Stöner, and so on, in addition to the likes of The Dwarves and Bl’ast, building not at all quietly the broadest-reaching pedigree of the Kyuss family tree.

Mondo Generator are joined in the announcement round by Austin’s High Desert Queen, who’ve quickly positioned themselves among the best times you can have watching a US heavy rock band onstage. Fronted by Ryan Garney, who doubles as the honcho/curator of Ripplefest Texas, the band deliver, period. Their songs are hooky and memorable, the performances nail it, and of the several times I’ve had the pleasure, I’ve never seen them that they looked like they wanted to be anywhere other than the stage they were on.

The festival posted the confirmations accordingly:

Mojave Experience – March 19–21, 2027
Joshua Tree Lake, California

Mondo Generator

If you’ve spent any time around desert rock, you already know what Mondo Generator brings.

Nick Oliveri formed the band in 1997, and it has remained a relentless force ever since. Records like Cocaine Rodeo, A Drug Problem That Never Existed, Dead Planet, Hell Comes to Your Heart, and We Stand Against You have earned Mondo Generator a loyal following by doing things the only way they know how: loud, raw, and without compromise. While Oliveri’s work with Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age is part of rock history, Mondo Generator has written a history of its own.

Out here, music has a way of taking on a different shape. It echoes off the rocks, disappears into the darkness, then comes back sounding even bigger. Maybe that’s why bands like this have always felt right in the Mojave. There is no separation between the landscape and the music. One feeds the other.

We’re excited to have Mondo Generator play next year. This will be one of those sets where the volume comes up, the desert settles in around you, and everything else can wait.

High Desert Queen

Some bands arrive with noise. Others seem to rise out of the horizon like heat shimmering across the desert floor. High Desert Queen has that kind of presence.

Formed in Austin, Texas, the band has become one of the strongest names in today’s heavy rock underground. Their debut full-length Secrets of the Black Moon turned heads with its massive riffs, soaring vocals, and songs that carried as much feeling as weight. They followed it with Palm Reader, a record that pushed their sound even further while keeping the heart of the band intact. Along the way they’ve shared stages with artists across the heavy rock and stoner scene, building a reputation one show at a time.

If you’ve seen High Desert Queen live, you already know. The songs grow larger once they leave the studio. There’s a quiet confidence to what they do. Nothing feels forced. The room settles into the groove and before long everyone is moving with it. It’s the kind of performance that stays with you long after the last note fades into the night.

The desert has always had a way of drawing together wandering souls. This March, another path leads to Mojave Experience.

Dust Rider tickets on sale now!
Mojaveexperience.net

Artists Playing:
Red Fang
Fatso Jetson
Sasquatch
Brant Bjork Trio
Big Scenic Nowhere
Mondo Generator
High Desert Queen
Heavy Temple
Yawning Balch
Unida
Sons of Arrakis
20 Watt Tombstone

https://www.mojaveexperience.net
https://instagram.com/mojave_experience_festival
https://www.facebook.com/mojave.experience.festival/

Mondo Generator, Live at Freak Valley 2022

High Desert Queen, “Time Waster” official video

I had a friend tell me this week she was thinking about driving to Asheville to see Neurosis there with Acid Bath, Kylesa and the Melvins. Indeed, that’s a hell of a show, and probably worth the nine hours in the car or whatever it is from New Jersey. Before that, Neurosis feature this week at Fire in the Mountains, alongside the reunited SubRosa and an enviable slew of others, and they’ve also got two shows in October that one assumes will be joined by more. I don’t think Neurosis are going to spend a month on the road as they herald An Undying Love for a Burning World (review here), their decade-later, marquee-whether-they-like-it-or-not return with Aaron Turner on guitar/vocals alongside Steve Von Till, so when you can see them, consider doing so.

This news came in last week, so you’ll see I bracketed a couple changes in tense on when tickets are available. They’re available now, is the bottom line.

From the PR wire:

NEUROSIS Announces Upcoming Performances + Band To Play Fire In The Mountains Next Week; Celebrated First New Album In A Decade, An Undying Love For A Burning World, Out Now On Neurot Recordings

NEUROSIS has confirmed several new live performances for the months ahead, in support of their new album, An Undying Love For A Burning World.

The return of NEUROSIS and surprise release of their first new album in a decade, An Undying Love For A Burning World, tore a hole in the sky in March. The album immediately became fan favorite in the band’s groundbreaking discography, heralded as one of the year’s best immediately upon its release. With the album’s unexpected release, the band also declared their return to the stage, announcing their first show in seven years at Fire In The Mountains, which takes place next week on the traditional lands of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana by special invitation of Firekeeper Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to reducing youth suicide in Indian Country. And today, the next several performances have been announced.

NEUROSIS has been invited to play at Hellbender by The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina on September 5th, joining Acid Bath, Melvins, and Kylesa that night.

And then, NEUROSIS will perform two very special homecoming shows at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco on October 16th and 17th, celebrating their return to the Bay Area where the band was formed. Tickets for these shows [went] on sale [last] Friday at 10am PDT.

NEUROSIS Live:
7/25/2026 Fire In The Mountains @ Red Eagle Campground – Blackfeet Nation, MT
9/05/2026 Hellbender by The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC w/ Acid Bath, Melvins, Kylesa
10/16/2026 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
10/17/2026 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA

Expect to see additional NEUROSIS live announcements over the weeks ahead.

https://www.neurosis.com
https://neurosis.bandcamp.com/
http://instagram.com/neurosisoakland
https://www.facebook.com/officialneurosis

https://www.neurotrecordings.com
https://neurotrecordings.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/neurotrecordings
https://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings

Neurosis, An Undying Love for a Burning World (2026)

Disaffection be thy name. Saint Vitus were too gnarly to be punks and about as far away from thrash as you could get and still be birthed under a Sabbathian umbrella, and their 1984 SST Records self-titled debut is a middle finger raised to all expectation and provenance. It is high among the greatest doom albums ever made, and these 42 years later, it remains ahead of its time.

But what a time. As I write this, the skies are less yellow from wildfire smoke than they were, say, last night, but the forecast says there’s more coming as the world burns. You can smell it. It’s a sad one to recognize. My government hates and murders its citizens without consequence. We’re so dulled to war that we’re sponsoring and actively engaging in committing at least one genocide. Everything seems to get worse every day, and it’S like that’s accountability or speaking truth to power as rapist men with private space programs strip down the world for parts and sell it to each other.

This is a summer of old trees coming down in thunderstorms. Extreme weather events. There’s debris everywhere where I live, as new condo developments and warehouses loom like the box-shaped future fascism has such a boner for. That’s before you get to the rampant corruption, the dissolving of civil liberties, the hate that drives my country like all of these bigoted adult children in their bigboy trucks. The World Cup final is in New Jersey this weekend. I keep thinking about them playing in the smoke. Did you know trees make oxygen? Does anyone remember?

Saint Vitus‘ Saint Vitus was made for days like these. Its five-song/35-minute run is nigh on untouchable, from the initial splurge of caustic noise from Dave Chandler‘s guitar to the thickened tonal gruel that takes hold even in a relatively speedy cut like that opening eponymous title-track. Saint Vitus‘ “Saint Vitus” is an anthem and a clarion. For doomers, it is indelible. But it’s also among the most disillusioned sounds in all of heavy metal, in no small part because Saint Vitus were bringing together the anti-everything attitude of punk with metal’s aggression, playing a style of music that was never and likely will never be cool and still refusing to compromise on what it is or wants to be. It is a call to ‘drop out of life,’ as another band would put it years later. As an album, it doesn’t see a point to anything because to almost everything there’s none to see. No meme or very-correct take, it is righteously drunk on both cheap alcohol and its own disaffection. It will never take itself, or you, seriously. It is uppers and downers, musically and in terms of pills.

If that sounds like hyperbole, good. Frontman Charles Reagers, Chandler, bassist Mark Adams (R.I.P. 2023) and drummer Armando Acosta (R.I.P. 2010) deserve no less for the grime they conveyed, casting “White Magic/Black Magic” as a dramatic cultish violence in the thud of the latter’s drums and the ritualization of post-Iommi riffing following on from the story of Saint Vitus who in the lyrics dies “for his beliefs.” In the prescient crawl of “Zombie Hunger,” they tie doom to horror, which is a connection that underground subculture continues to make on the daily, and embody it in the stunted tempo of the track itself; the riff inspiring the narrative being conveyed; the riff as central; the riff as The Riff.

You could spend four-plus decades debating what the greatest achievement on Saint Vitus is, and that might honestly be a better way to live through the next 40 years than the actual-world is going to offer, but that’s the point. The sound Saint Vitus made could not have come from anyone else and become what it became. It was a sound from what the squares would call losers. The druggies. The drunks in the ditch, as the band itself would soon enough portray on the Thirsty and Miserable EP as they both trolled and reached out to punkers by covering (their label boss’ band) Black Flag. As Black Sabbath once took downtrodden, working-class tribulations and made them into dark art, so too did Saint Vitus embody their experience of place and time in their music, resulting in an even grimmer sound.

I’ll float the nine-minute “The Psychopath” as the most integral piece of Saint Vitus. The slow-motion threat of violence as the vocals meter themselves to the crawling nod of the guitar. Acosta keeping march on the ride. Adams somewhere in the mix but almost indistinguishable from the all-low-end of Chandler‘s guitar. Reagers gutting out the chorus: “Watch out/Beware/The psychopath is loose.” No, I don’t think he was talking about Ronald Reagan, but “The Psychopath” channels the been-fucked-over sensibilities of somebody steamrolled by the choices of those in power. As a record, it sounds like it’s had its ass beat by cops. “The Psychopath” might have been escapism for those making it, but it embodies that reality just the same, and is accordingly unflinching in its noisy shred near the finish.

They finish with the march and invocation of old gods on “Burial at Sea,” which like the song before it manages to be catch in spite of its tempo, but takes off at a sprint in its midsection, only to crash back into that same nod on the other side of it. The message isn’t of hope. There are no platitudes offered. Saint Vitus looks around, sees life getting worse and says “fuck it” on multiple fronts. It’s only a comforting listen in the way of making you feel less alone as you do the same.

The legacy of this record and the sheer didn’t-know-how-good-or-dynamic-they-were, unprogressive, unpretentious assault of doom it provides continues to spread, and 10 years from now if the internet hasn’t been completely consumed by bots, I might still be here talking about how it meets that particular moment as well. But right now, with particulate matter in the air and microplastics in the water being stolen to cool AI processors, Saint Vitus‘ Saint Vitus exposes and reaffirms the cesspool that lies beneath the veneer of capitalist normiehood, and the album’s omnidirectional disenchantment has never felt so vital.

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

—

The house smells good. Chicken went in the crock pot around eight this morning, after I finished the above, and it’s 11 now. The Patient Mrs. took The Pecan to the Guggenheim I guess about an hour ago. Actually, they left about an hour ago, after leaving once (we call that ‘take one’ around here) and needing to come back for The Patient Mrs.’ phone, which of course I had no way to tell her she’d left charging on the couch. In the meantime, I’d gone to BJ’s and Wegman’s because I’m white as fuck to procure apples and parmesan cheese and whatever else was on the list, so I missed them. If I get lonely, I can text.

That leaves me with the dogs, yes, plural, as The Patient Mrs.’ mother’s now-one-year-old corgi is still with us. This will be I think the second weekend? I don’t know how long it’s actually been. She’s been better this time than last, but is still a lot of work and even more fur on the good portion of the downstairs of the house. We bought a new rug for the living room and we’re waiting to put it out. We only realized after we made the decision that we’d done the same thing last time.

But we lived at her mom’s house rent-free for like eight years. Can’t say shit, and wouldn’t if I could. Hell yes I’ll take care of your pain-in-the-ass dog for however long.

To get back on track, The Patient Mrs. taking The Pecan to the Guggenheim came about basically to give me a break. That was the plan for today even before I got ditched (for a work meeting, to be fair; I wasn’t forgotten like the phone or anything) at UrbanAir yesterday afternoon. I’d had a couple intensive days though and The Pecan needed mom-time, so it made sense I’d stay here with the dogs — …and we’re back; my understanding is that neurotypical people don’t talk like this; how do you get/give context? — get stoned and play Nintendo all day and appreciate the hell out of my life and she’d take the kid out for some mommy-daughter time. Win-win. And they’ll be inside, which is better for breathing and air conditioning.

If you’re keeping up with the school saga, we still haven’t heard. I went swimming Wednesday and like swimming. That’s the update.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. If you’re in Asheville, be safe and have fun at Doomed and Stoned. That is a killer bill, Duel and Howling Giant and all.

Thanks again for reading. Back Monday. Fuck fascism forever.

FRM.

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I haven’t seen a tracklisting yet, so I’m not sure whether or not the single “Virginia Werewolf” that Pegzilla premiered here in February will be on their debut album, Disobedience, when it comes out through Ripple Music on Oct. 3, but I guess there’s time between now and then to find out. The Los Angeles trio have a run of Northeastern shows in September around their appearance at RPM Fest in Massachusetts on Sept. 4, and they’ll probably see some nice foliage as a part of that in Vermont and Maine, which is always cool, and they’ll finish in Brooklyn before making their way back to the West Coast. There isn’t a single yet, so you’ll find “Virginia Werewolf” below if you missed it a couple months back, and when I see more I’ll say more about their impending first record.

The PR wire brought the following:

L.A. heavy rock rebels PEGZILLA sign to Ripple Music for debut album release; summer US shows announced!

PEGZILLA “Disobedience” Out October 9th on Ripple Music (CD/digital)

Los Angeles heavy rock trio PEGZILLA have signed with Ripple Music for the release of their debut album “Disobedience” this October 3rd, and announce their East Coast Disobedience tour to kick off in early September!

If Sabbath got hexed by a riot grrrl and dragged through the desert at midnight, you would get PEGZILLA. The heavy rock three-piece out of Los Angeles, California, features Olivia Saperstein on vocals and guitars, Juan Barsse on bass, and Ryan Swain on drums. With hints of doom metal, psych and even punk rock, it’s hard to fit this rowdy trio into a tidy box. Instead, label them one thing: LOUD.

The raucous trio has just inked a worldwide deal with Californian powerhouse Ripple Music for the impending release of their debut full-length Disobedience, due out this fall. With a new single set to drop in the summer, PEGZILLA is gearing up to prove that raw rock fury isn’t dead, as shown by their latest singles Virginia Werewolf and Bootlicker!

As a rowdy warm-up to their upcoming sonic delivery, the band just announced a string of East Coast shows, starting on September 2nd.

Pegzilla upcoming shows
9/2 – Portland, ME – Madrid’s
9/3 – Salem, MA – The Satanic Temple
9/4 – Montague, MA – RPM Fest
9/6 – St. Albans, VT – 14th Star
9/7 – Binghamton, NY – The Bundy Museum
9/8 – Buffalo, NY – The Mohawk
9/9 – Asbury Park, NJ – TBA
9/10 – Philly, PA – Funhouse Gallery
9/11 – Brooklyn, NY – Alphaville

Pegzilla is
Guitar/Vox – Olivia Saperstein
Bass – Juan Barsse
Drums – Ryan Swain

https://linktr.ee/fearpegzilla
https://pegzilla.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/fearpegzilla/
https://www.facebook.com/fearpegzilla

http://www.ripple-music.com/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/

Pegzilla, “Virginia Werewolf”