Oxford, UK, heavy rockers Indica Blues release their new album, Universal Heat Death, through Majestic Mountain Records this weekend, on Jan. 31. The title, which also applies to the rolling opening track that reinvents Electric Wizard “The Chosen Few”-esque riffing with a bounce few would dare to put to it, corresponds to the hypothesized end of everything. That is, if the universe is going to keep expanding, eventually — trillions of years, if I remember rightly from that PBS Nova (fund public media) — entropy will hit a maximum level and no thermodynamic processes will be able to happen because everything is so spread out from itself. So it just kind of dissipates in universe-sized voids. Like smoke, but impossible for humans to fathom in scale of both size and time.

Universal Heat Death, the record, is seven songs and 37 minutes, so very much within the realms of the fathomable. And the first impression the four-piece give, of genre-aware, gritty, stoner-nodding heavy rock, holds. It is the third full-length from Indica Blues, following behind 2020’s We Are Doomed (discussed here) and 2018’s Hymns for a Dying Realm, and their first for Majestic Mountain after working with APF on the second LP. And given its proliferation of endtimes vibes through weighted riffing and desert-bluesy groove, the Universal Heat Death sees the four-piece of guitarist/vocalits Tom Pilsworth, guitarist Lewis Batten, bassist Andrew Haines-Villalta and drummer Rich Walker balancing inward expression and outward reach in pieces like “The Raven” or the later “Debt Ridden Blues,” which manage to say something about existing right now through catchy hooks and a casually immersive roll.

It helps that the band are flexible enough in sound to give a sense of atmosphere amid the proggy bassline at the outset of “Bloodsands Pt. I” — yes, ‘Pt. II’ comes later — with guitar lines floating around before the drums start to really the tension build. When they reveal the full pust of “Bloodsands Pt. I,” they give a glimpse of progressive melodicism in the guitar, and looking at the penultimate counterpart, “Bloodsands Pt. II,” the more open-feeling second piece highlights the deceptively taut nature of the first. Ebbs and flows are common enough across Universal Heat Death, and it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that the shortest song, the desert rocking centerpiece “The Slow Descent Into Hell” (2:30), directly proceeds the longest, which is “Debt Ridden Blues” (7:42). Indeed, the band seem to have plunge as their central priority of side B, which pushes out through the jam in “Debt Ridden Blues” and the revisit-from-a-different-angle of “Bloodsands Pt. II” such that the shuffle at the beginning of finale “So Low” gives over to shred that comes across like the moment of arrival it’s intended to be.

Malleable tempos and tones, awareness of self and place in the material, and classic fuzz — there’s not much to argue with for the genre-converted. I count myself in that number. I don’t think you’ll find Indica Blues claiming to revolutionize fuzz, but they execute their material with a sense of persona and purpose, and that’s how genres ultimately evolve. As the PR wire notes, there’s a bit of melancholy underscoring the mood here, but it comes through in balance with the momentum of their own making, and Indica Blues find a position between being able to say the world’s ending and not making it sound like such a drag.

The album streams in full below, followed by more background from the PR wire:

Indica Blues, Universal Heat Death album premiere

Born in the shadow of Oxford’s dreaming spires and forged in a haze of down-tuned amplifiers, UK heavyweights Indica Blues return in 2026 with their most ambitious and apocalyptic work yet. Their new album, Universal Heat Death, arrives January 31 on digital platforms and CD, marking the band’s first full-length release since their critically acclaimed second album We Are Doomed.

Since forming in 2014, Indica Blues have crafted a reputation as one of the UK’s most compelling psychedelic, doom-stoner hybrids, once described as “bong-filling rock that is platinum heavy, but blessed with a melodic sensibility underneath it all.” Their blend of fuzz-drenched blues, doom, sludge, and psychedelic melancholy has earned them fans across continents and glowing press from underground tastemakers and major publications alike.

Their previous album, We Are Doomed, became eerily prophetic, with its apocalypse-themed release coinciding with the first wave of the global pandemic. “We’re looking forward to touring Universal Heat Death, and hope no cataclysmic world events stop us this time,” laughs bassist Andy Haines.

Recorded once again with the engineering team behind We Are Doomed, the new album sees Indica Blues doubling down on what they do best: bluesy, fuzz-forward doom, towering riff worship, and dual-guitar chemistry stretched across dynamic, free-flowing percussion.

Across seven tracks, Universal Heat Death explores themes of war, revenge and teenage destruction, culminating in its breathtaking title track, a three-minute descent into the dying gasp of the universe itself.

“After the end of humanity comes the end of the universe,” says guitarist/vocalist Tom Pilsworth. “We hope you enjoy it!”

Tracklisting:
1. Universal Heat Death
2. The Raven
3. Bloodsands Pt. I
4. The Slow Descent Into Hell
5. Debt Ridden Blues
6. Bloodsands Pt. II
7. So Low

Indica Blues are:
Tom Pilsworth – Guitar, Vocals
Lewis Batten – Guitar
Andrew Haines-Villalta – Bass
Rich Walker – Drums

Indica Blues on Bandcamp

Indica Blues on Instagram

Indica Blues on Facebook

Majestic Mountain Records webstore

Majestic Mountain Records on Bandcamp

Majestic Mountain Records on Instagram

Majestic Mountain Records on Facebook

I think the advent of Desertfest in London and Berlin, subsequently in Belgium, once in Athens (and of course New York as well), is arguable as the best thing to happen to European heavy underground rock and roll in the 2010s. Set up with its two flagship editions each Spring, complemented by what was an outright stunning bill in Antwerpen this past Fall, Desertfest has helped shape the European touring circuit in ways that make shows possible that couldn’t otherwise happen, and Desertfest has become an epicenter around which releases and bands’ promotional plans are executed. It’s a place for new artists to emerge and headliners to reign. If you asked as much as Desertfest London 2025 is giving, you’d be overdoing it.

I haven’t been to Desertfest London since 2013 and I don’t expect the invite presumably because I’m a jerk and no one wants me around, but it’s been an honor to watch at a distance as this festival has become a landmark in each year of heavy. The full poster with day and venue splits follows here, and from Kind and Josiah at The Black Heart to Dopelord closing out the Underworld, to that entire Friday bill at Electric Ballroom eating your whole night, it’s a thing of beauty, I’m sure you’ll agree.

From the PR wire:

DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCES STAGE SPLITS AND 14 FINAL ARTISTS FOR 2025

Friday 16th May – Sunday 18th May 2025

Weekend and Day Tickets on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk

Desertfest London have released stage splits and announced a final round of artists, completing its diverse line up for the festival’s 2025 edition.

As Desertfest continues to celebrate all killer no filler independent heavy music, the festival has completed its 2025 line up with some formidable final additions that honour the current landscape of this subterranean scene.

Melbourne, Aus based distortion artist Divide & Dissolve will bring their ceiling-shaking soundscapes to Sunday’s Electric Ballroom, while Danish deathdoom quintet Konvent will open up affairs at Saturday’s Roundhouse.

Friday at The Underworld will see genre expansive Italian duo OvO bring their sinister sounds to London, before blackened sludge heroes Hexis celebrate their 15th anniversary alongside co-headliners, Norwegian noise-rock outlanders Årabrot.

Brighton doom beasts Sea Bastard make their long-overdue return to the Desertfest stage after 10 years. Elsewhere, The Black Heart will be buzzing with punk rock rebellion courtesy of Brazilian duo Yur Mum, while Canterbury doom devotees Famyne will close it out with their crushing riffs.

Desertfest London welcomes:
↠ DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE
↠ KONVENT
↠ HEXIS
↠ ARABROT
↠ FAMYNE
↠ CALLIGRAM
↠ OvO
↠ SEA BASTARD
↠ WALLOWING
↠ YUR MUM
↠ BILE CASTER
↠ OUTBACK
↠ OLD BLOOD
↠ INDICA BLUES

Weekend and Day Tickets can be found at: www.desertfest.co.uk

Desertfest London ↠ 16th -18th May 2025
Camden Town, London

http://www.desertscene.co.uk/support
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Kind, Close Encounters (2023)

Oxford, UK, heavy rockers Indica Blues will issue their second album, We Are Doomed, on Feb. 12, 2021, through APF Records. And amid the righteous rumble of its prominent bassline, the core message of the title-track could hardly come through clearer? That message? We’re fucking doomed — duh. A fitting product of the year it was written and recorded, one can only wonder what kind of universe will greet We Are Doomed upon its release, the four-piece not exactly needing to look far for relevant subject matter, be it global political instability — that Brexit deadline looms and will be past by the time the record’s out, unless it gets pushed back again — environmental collapse, economic collapse, global pandemic, etc.

Hey, did you see that the second person who got the COVID-19 vaccine in Britain was named William Shakespeare? That was fun right? No dipshit, the world’s ending. Nothing is fun.

Well, not exactly nothing. To wit, the slow-motion-Nebula rolling groove of “We Are Doomed” is a darn good time, and if you’re going to mark the coming of the apocalypse, you might as well make it catchy, which Indica Blues — guitarists Tom Pilsworth (also vocals) and John Slaymaker, bassist Andrew Haines-Villalta and drummer Rich Walker — do in fine fashion. Beginning with an air-raid siren of feedback the chunky-style riff-led plod of the verse stomps its way into the first chorus with little time to waste, a full mix only bolstering the feeling of the inexorable march forward into who the hell knows what — at least what after the next chorus and the echoing solo, anyhow.

I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing the full album yet — we’re still more than two months from the release, so fair enough — but it’s worth noting that the video below is for the “single edit” of the track in question, and given the teaser Indica Blues posted on their social media, it seems the LP version starts with what seems to be a sample of an English warning about the coming blitz. It’s not in the clip below, so I’m working off the assumption that that’s the difference between the single and album versions, but either way, that teaser is a stirring reminder that this feeling that things have never been quite as dire as they are now is nothing new, and as regards apocalypses, each generation seems to make its own, just as Indica Blues here channel the anxieties of our age into a World War III plot thread.

Comforting if not exactly optimistic, but hell’s bells, the record’s called We Are Doomed, so what do you want?

Enjoy the video:

Indica Blues, “We Are Doomed” official video premiere

Tom Pilsworth on “We Are Doomed”:

“This song is our vision of near future nuclear annihilation, written in response to the chaotic world events of the last four years. We spent six hours in pouring rain at an abandoned cold war missile facility with director Josh Horwood and his team, and he couldn’t have done a better job. We hope people enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it.”

Video by Josh Horwood
Recorded and mixed by Steve “Geezer” Watkins at Wormwood Studios
Mastered by Tim Turan at Turan Audio

As the world reels from a deadly pandemic and the U.S veers towards civil war, 13,890 nuclear weapons lie dormant. In their first single since signing to APF records, Indica Blues’ imagine a catastrophic very-near-future scenario in which current world events lead to all-out war and nuclear annihilation: We Are Doomed.

Indica Blues began life with the four track EP ‘Towers Rising,’ released by guitarist and vocalist Tom Pilsworth. Tom joined forces with John Slaymaker (previously of U.K stoner underground legends Caravan of Whores) and the pair recruited Andrew Haines-Vilalta and Ed Glenn on drums, releasing the ‘Ruins on the Shore’ EP in 2016, featuring eye popping art work from Brazilian graphic artist Cristiano Suarez.

Rich Walker replaced Ed Glenn on drums, and a debut album ‘Hymns for a Dying Realm,’ was released in 2018 to further underground acclaim. In 2020 the band announced they had signed to APF records and will release a second album, ‘We Are Doomed’ in 2021, with Cristiano Suarez once again lending his unique artwork.

We Are Doomed is released on 12th February (APF Records).

Indica Blues are:
Andrew Haines-Villalta – Bass
Tom Pilsworth – Guitar, Vocals
John Slaymaker – Guitar
Rich Walker – Drums

Indica Blues on Thee Facebooks

Indica Blues on Instagram

Indica Blues on Bandcamp

APF Records on Thee Facebooks

APF Records on Instagram

APF Records BigCartel store

APF Records on Bandcamp

APF Records website

The first Indica Blues full-length, Hymns for a Dying Realm, bleeds its affinity for doom through riff after riff, whether it’s the classic charge of “Knight’s Return” or the lumbering of “Scum River” or the searing at the end of “Psychedelic Haze,” and to expect anything less of We Are Doomed, which will be the Oxford, UK, four-piece’s follow-up to that debut, just seems silly. Particularly as the new record is being issued through APF Records, whose presence in the well-populated underground of the United Kingdom has only grown in recent years, with a consistency of quality maintained across a swath of styles. I could go on here, but you know the story. And if you don’t, the record’s streaming down below.

We Are Doomed — a sentiment it’s getting increasingly difficult to argue against — will be out this winter with APF‘s stamp of approval behind it.

The label’s announcement follows here:

** Indica Blues sign to APF Records **

We’re no stranger to the heaviest and grooviest tones Oxford has to offer at APF Records – see Desert Storm and The Grand Mal – which is why we’re all the more eager to get better acquainted as we welcome the city’s heavy-psych doomsters Indica Blues to the APF family.

Formed in Oxford in 2014, Indica Blues are a monolithic trip. On their previous releases – 2016’s Ruins On The Shore EP and debut full-length, 2018’s Hymns for a Dying Realm – a real love for the entire stoner-doom pantheon, from Kyuss to Electric Wizard, shines through, along with, unsurprisingly, a healthy respect for the blues. Deservedly, those early releases earned both praise from respected outlets of the scene as well as tasty support slots with some of our favourite acts around; notably Elder, Samsara Blues Experiment and Mars Red Sky.

But that is just the beginning.

APF are beyond stoked to be releasing Indica Blues’ upcoming sophomore full-length, currently expected to drop around the winter of 2020/21 – and let us tell you now, it’s huge. Recorded by Steve “Geezer” Watkins at Woodworm Studios and mastered by Tim Turan at Turan Audio, it delivers on the promise of being their most massive sounding release to date, with chunkier riffs, groovier hooks, wider ranging vocal stylings and more ethereal melodic deviations than have come before. So be sure to check out yet another member of the growing “Roxford” revolution and get the Indica Blues today.

Indica Blues are:
Andrew Haines-Villata – Bass
Tom Pilsworth – Vocals, Guitar
John Slaymaker – Guitar
Rich Walker – Drums

http://www.facebook.com/Indicabluesuk
https://indicablues.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/apfrecords
https://www.instagram.com/apfrecords/
https://apfrecords.bigcartel.com/
https://apfrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.apfrecords.co.uk/

Indica Blues, Hymns for a Dying Realm (2018)