Today, Vinnum Sabbathi release Live at Doom City Fest 2025 on vinyl through Interstellar Smoke Records, capturing their set last May at the Mexico City-based festival. A full set video premieres below.
That’s the story of it, largely. It’s a pro-shot, multi-cam, almost-41-minute set, presented in full with all three tracks from last year’s Intersatelital EP (review here) as well as “In Search of M-Theory” from 2020’s Of Dimensions and Theories (review here) and “Gravity Waves” from their 2017 debut, Gravity Works (review here). Looks and sounds killer. The generally-space-themed instrumentalists crush it — obviously, or it probably wouldn’t be coming out — and in closer “Rodolfo Neri Vela” (named for Mexico’s first astronaut), the atmosphere and the raw tonal impact come together in a righteous build, bass punching, drums crashing, guitars skronking out noise with samples overtop. There is rare depth and immersion for a live performance, and clearly in their element, the band bring that song and the show to a rousing payoff.
For somebody like me, who hasn’t had the pleasure of seeing the band live (I’ll add ‘yet’ because I’ve learned the fun way to never say never as regards seeing bands), Live at Doom City Fest 2025 marks their first official from-a-show live release. They’ve done studio sessions and such before, but as the intro “Centro de Control Espacial” brings them into the hypnotic unfolding of “Sistema de Satélites Morelos,” again with samples running where vocals might otherwise be, telling a story about themselves within and around the music, the buildup feels thoughtful, stately almost, and when the Big Riff lands, it does so with intent that speaks to Vinnum Sabbathi‘s 15-ish years developing and mastering their approach, expanding as though fueled by dark energy into a heavy cosmos that’s as open as you’re willing to let it be. The newer material is more dynamic, as will happen, but that only makes it rest well alongside a piece like “Gravity Waves,” which surely LIGO must have detected when they played it during the set. Possibly the only band I know of who should put a laser interferometer on their rider.
Vinnum Sabbathi are slated to appear at Candelabrum Metal Fest V in León, Guanajuato, this September, alongside a range of celebrants that includes Bloodbath, The Haunted, Warning, …And Oceans, and Solitude Aeturnus. Good bill. There’s recordings underway for a rad split still officially to be announced and more writing for a next LP. And presumably, more shows. They were in Europe in 2025, as noted, for the release of Intersatelital. A full-length follow-up to Of Dimensions and Theories will be welcome whenever it might arrive, but in the meantime, the argument here for catching Vinnum Sabbathi where and when you can is unignorable. May we all get the chance one of these days.
Enjoy the clip. A quick quote from the band and the video credits follow:
Vinnum Sabbathi, Live at Doom City Fest 2025 full set video premiere
Vinnum Sabbathi on Live at Doom City Fest 2025:
Right before going overseas for our 3rd European tour last year, we got to play one of our most memorable shows in Mexico at Doom City Festival, which is slowly becoming a staple of heavy music for our country.
We were very fortunate to be able to capture the raw essence of the band but also the huge energy of that packed room.
Now, in collaboration with Interstellar Smoke Records from Poland, we’re bringing this unique experience to a limited vinyl format and, as all our music, the digital version available as Name Your Price on Bandcamp.
Our deepest gratitude goes to all the people who support the underground with their work on photo, video, artwork, production, merch & more, and those who we’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with across 14 years as a band. Kudos to all the lovely people that attended the festival to support live music, you made this one for the books.
Tracklisting: 0:14 Centro de Control Espacial 02:00 Sistema de Satélites Morelos 08:23 In Search of M-Theory 18:30 Gravity Waves 28:05 Rodolfo Neri Vela
Live at Doom City. Recorded at Sangriento, Mexico City on May 24th 2025.
Credits: Recorded and mixed by Roberto de la Peña. Mastered by Victor “KB” Velazquez at Testa Estudio. Cover photo by Jaime Fernandez. Show photos by Paola Baltazar. Video by Fabian Rodriguez and Eduardo Sandoval.
Black Glow release their debut album, Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waves, on June 3. The Monterrey, Mexico, two-piece of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Gina Ríos (formerly of Spacegoat), and drummer Octavio Diliegros (also of post-black metallers Bry.ght, among others) issued their self-titled debut EP (review here) in 2023 and set forth on the moody, atmospheric course that the full-length sees to fruition. Over the eight songs and 43 minutes, the pair create a sound that’s kin to heavygaze but is more grounded and present in the moment. The heavy bottom-end of a cut like “Effortless,” lends gravity to the central strum and nod, hypnotizing through repetition of lyrics and dwelling in the riff in a way that feels ceremonial without cornball occult posturing.
Can you get to that? Here’s hoping. Below you’ll find “Soma” premiering as the second single extrapolated from Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waves, soulful, melancholy, gorgeous and rumbling. As anyone who heard Spacegoat can tell you, Ríos is a genuine singer, whose voice is able to convey emotion through word and melody, and on “Soma” and at points throughout the album, Ríos and Diliegros are joined by Christian Peters (Fuzz Sagrado, ex-Samsara Blues Experiment) on guitar, organ and other synthy-type textures. Peters also mixed the album, and was responsible for the 2020 vinyl release of Spacegoat‘s lone LP, 2016’s Superstition (review here) through his Electric Magic Records imprint, so his working with Black Glow isn’t the first collaboration with Ríos either.
As Peters notes below, Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waveshighlights Ríos‘ vocals in its mix, and the psychedelic-leaning initial single “Obsidian” bears that out, to say nothing of the voice-over mellotron interlude “Desert Ghost” that begins the second half of the tracklisting ahead of the relative crush of “W.M.M.W.,” correspondingly hypnotic, immersive and weighted. The procession of the album, from the hard-drummed stomp of opener “Red Dandelions” to the finale “Odd Mass,” which is mostly faster and more emotionally urgent for that, pushing into oblivion, is varied but engrossing and drawn together by the overarching ambience and generally methodical delivery. Even unto the layered arrangement in the penultimate “Child in the Mirror,” Ríos‘ voice remains central, and yet the record is more than a showcase for what comes through as a refined natural talent (that is, both gifted and trained).
I think you can (and should!) hear that in “Soma,” and it comes through elsewhere as well, whether it’s the crunch of “Effortless” and “Child in the Mirror” which seems to push further along the same lines of melancholy while stripping away some of the layering to convey a more fragile presence, or the rolling fluidity of “Odd Mass” at the finish. As songwriter, guitarist, bassist, vocalist and keyboardist, Ríos is at the core of a lot of what’s happening throughout Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waves, one way or the other — that’s not to downplay either Diliegros‘ drumming or Peters‘ work on guitar, etc., I’m just talking about the math and emotive crux of the thing — but Black Glow present a fullness of sound to dispel any notions of being a solo-project and give themselves a vibrant foundation on which to build as they move forward.
Obviously there’s a thread here, and the context of Ríos moving from Spacegoat to Black Glow is an important part of the story. What the two bands, former and current, share most in common is potential, and in that regard, Black Glow feels more open to a range of sounds and to adjusting the balance of elements in the songs, even on this first long-player. In some ways, it’s more mature in craft, but still feels — and, the EP notwithstanding, is — like the beginning of a journey rather than the arrival at a destination. I find myself hoping it’s precisely that as I write out the title in my notes among the best debut albums I’ve heard in 2026.
“Soma” premieres below and you can hear “Obsidian” on the same Bandcamp player if and when you want more. One more time, album’s out June 3, so not such a long wait.
Hope you enjoy:
Georgina Rios on “Soma”:
It all started with my acoustic guitar and singing, as usual. I dusted off some of my songs and combined them with my newer creations.
The first EP was a process of liberation for me and a return to music after Spacegoat; it was meant to embrace the past and strengthen the foundations of the present.
It has been months of hard work, composition, and rehearsing. The recording process was exhausting, as this time I also recorded the bass and some Hammond organ parts, but it was also so much fun! Chris Peters brought his amazing magic, and all the fused elements came together in this creation. So, judge for yourself, and let the music take you…
Chris Peters on “Soma”:
The first time I heard Gina sing, I knew she had a special gift. I then had the opportunity to release Spacegoat’s album on my Electric Magic label, and we also talked about a possible collaboration in the future. About eight years have passed since then, and of course I’d also heard Black Glow’s first EP, which left me a bit disappointed, because the vocals were mixed way too quietly — a fatal flaw! I hope that with the new album we’ve been able to align a bit more with the well-balanced Spacegoat sound again, and maybe even take it a step further by combining our strengths and talents.
Three years after their self-titled debut EP, Black Glow returns with their first full length album, Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waves. This release marks a significant evolution in the band’s sound, expanding their psych and doom foundations into more atmospheric and expansive territories.
The album features special guest Christian Peters (Fuzz Sagrado, founder of Samsara Blues Experiment), who contributes lead guitars and synthesizers on select tracks, adding a layer of cosmic depth to the recording.
Tracklisting: 1. Red Dandelions 2. Soma 3. Obsidian 4. Effortless 5. Desert Ghost 6. W. M. M. W. 7. Child in the Mirror 8. Odd Mass
Recorded by Víctor Velázquez “KB” at Testa Estudio Post-production, mix and master by Christian Peters
Album cover art: Alan Arriaga Produced by Gina Ríos
Special guest: Christian Peters – Additional lead guitars, mellotron, organ and synthesizer effects.
Black Glow are: Gina Ríos – Lyrics & Vocals / Guitars / Bass / Hammond organ Octavio Diliegros – Drums
Granted, most of the about-festivals posting that happens in this space happens before the event in question. This is after. The 2026 edition of Doom City Fest took place on Feb. 28 in Mexico City, headlined by YOB with sets from Pelican, Primitive Man, Mephistofeles, Ocultum, Jaspe, Terror Cósmico, Apocalipsis and Cotton Mouth filling out the all-dayer with what is now documented-on-video volume and heart.
The sets were filmed by KingBong Productions, which, fair enough, with audio mixing/mastering by Fernando G Esteve, which explains why they sound so darn good. There aren’t clips up yet from all of the bands (if everybody was even filmed; I don’t know either way), but the five posted below should give you some sense of what the day was like, to say the very least. Pelican doing songs from 2025’s Flickering Resonance (review here) is cool to watch as they get into it, and I’ve yet to live a day I wouldn’t be happy to watch YOB play “Prepare the Ground,” so that’s an automatic win as well. Checking out the clips for this post was also my first time hearing atmosludgers Apocalipsis as well, and the complexity and the immersion of their nonetheless crushing tones were a cool find for me.
I checked out their 2015 LP, Dimensión Maldita, on their Bandcamp and it bears out the post-metallic-but-still-int0-metal-too onstage presentation of the video — a dark mirror to Pelican‘s airier tonality, if you want to think of the context of the day — though there’s more to it than that with factors like Primitive Man‘s unstoppable noise onslaught and the cultistry of Mephistofeles, but you know how these things go. In any case, I’ve put all five videos that are out now below, so if you want to make a choose-your-own-adventure out of it, by all means, have at it.
So far as I’ve seen, Doom City Fest hasn’t announced its 2027 date yet, but there’s time. They’ll host a Mexico City appearance for Amenra (who also played the first Doom City in Feb. 2020) in June, however, at the infamous Fuckoffroom. More info is available on the fest’s socials, which are linked under the videos below.
Posted in Reviews on November 21st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Thus ends my favorite Quarterly Review since the last one. Yeah, some of my motivation was in bookkeeping, in wanting to cover this stuff before the year’s done, but trying to keep up is always part of the thing, so that’s nothing new. I am grateful to have spent so much time this listening to music. I get asked a lot to listen to stuff and I’m not sure I’ve ever had less time for hearing new music than I presently have. So take a week and do nothing but that has been fulfilling.
As always, I hope you’ve found something cool to check out, and I hope you tune in for the next one, maybe in December, maybe in January, maybe this is low-key evolving into a monthly thing and eventually I’m going to have to rename the feature — and so on.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Brant Bjork and the Bros., Live in the High Desert
The difference between Brant Bjork and the Bros. and prior Brant Bjork solo incarnations was that it was the first time the desert rock figurehead had stepped into the role of being a genuine live bandleader. He’d of course toured with solo bands, as he’s continued to, but The Bros. as a backing band gave him the space to shine in a different way onstage, and that comes through in classics like “Too Many Chiefs” and the medleys near the finish of the 78-minute set from 2009 captured on Live in the High Desert, recorded at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA. I saw this band, and they were hot shit. If you don’t believe me, “Low Desert Punk” here makes the point better than I could, while a piece from the era like “Freaks of Nature” emphasizes the chemistry Bjork and his Bros. fostered during their time. As a follow-up to recent studio LP reissues, as an archival fan-piece, and as nearly 80-minutes of blowout heavy dezzy grooves, this should be an absolute no-brainer for Bjork followers or aficionados.
Mexico City heavy rocking two-piece Dresden Wolves named their six-song EP Vol. IV presumably because by some count it’s their fourth release, but that’s not the same as being their fourth full-length album, if that’s what you were thinking. Here they offer 25 minutes of brash, cymbal-and-low-end-heavy crunch. “Tiempo” has some debut to psychedelia, but mostly in the echo, and the density of the prior “ECO” feels more representative, though with the movement of bassfuzz in “Wherter” I’m not sure one is more weighted than the other. They’re in the element stoner punking in “Robin,” and “Pesadilla” rounds out answering the Sabbathism of “Ketamina” with raw shouts and a swirling current of noise laced around a central shove. They’re not reinventing riffery, but they execute with both personality and a sense of craft while simultaneously bashing away in a manner that my silly lizard brain finds utterly delightful. They’ve been around a decade now. Album?
The obscuring-all-else drones of the nine-minute title-, opening and longest track (immediate points) are the major draw to Alignment, as “Alignment” is the only one of the seven inclusions not previously released in some form. Thus can it be said that Italian experimental psych post-rockers Sherpa remained experimental right up to the very end, as Alignment sees issue as a farewell release, comprised most of demos from Matteo Dossena of what would become Sherpa songs featured on their albums, which is fair enough. There’s sun reflecting on “River Nora” and “The Mother of Language,” from 2018’s second LP Tigris and Euphrates (review here), remains hypnotic even in this raw take, samples and/or field recordings seemingly a part of its skeleton. If you didn’t know Sherpa during their time, Alignment probably isn’t the place to start, since the material isn’t finished, but whatever if it gets you to hear the band.
Crushing. Far From is the third full-length from Chicagoan post-sludge tonebearers Barren Heir, and when “Patient” ends and you feel like you can finally breathe after that four-minute assault, know you’re not alone. Uniformly harsh in vocals, intense in impact and aggression alike, and weighed down by copious amounts of distorted concrete, one piece bleeds into the next as Far From builds momentum through the megariffed “Medicine” and the subsequent, slightly more angular “No Roses,” which seems to get eaten by its own chug before it’s done. The remnants fade into the more peaceful beginning of “Abcesstral,” which serves as a quiet interlude creating tension ahead of the start of “Way In,” which scorches. I guess, if you don’t know the band, what you need to take away is they’re very, very heavy, and they know just where on the upside of your head to hit you with it. There’s a thread of noise rock, but I think maybe it’s just the trio being pissed off, and the blasting away, successive slowdowns and residual noise in closer “Inside a Burning Vehicle” are as punishing an end as Far From justifies. You know I never mention Swarm of the Lotus lightly. Well, here we are.
There’s a moment about five minutes in, before the solo starts, where opening cut “Little Fingers” sort of settles into its groove, and the effect is an immediate chill on the listener. Néstor Ayala Cortés, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and the sole denizen of the project, has long specialized in the heavy and languid, and without lacking either activity or swing — lookin’ at you, “Black Rains” — as the melodies touch on a heavy psychedelia only bolstered by the abiding tonal warmth. Three tracks top eight minutes — “Little Fingers,” “Above and Below” and “Falling Down” — and while these are obvious focal points, both for how they dwell in parts and how they differentiate from the shorter pieces that space them out, a song like “Rise to the Surface” or experiments like “Regrets” and “Flying to Nowhere” use their relative brevity as a strength, and while one might as well hang a big old ‘you are here’ sign on Dystopia, the closing title-track, a subdued instrumental flesh-out into a quick fade and the only song under three minutes long, is arguably the most hopeful sounding of the bunch. Go figure. Cortés, like South American heavy as a whole, remains underappreciated, but his songwriting remains vibrant and forward-looking.
Cerebral French post-metallers Stonebirds offer their first new music in five years with Perpetual Wasteland, their fifth full-length. The album is comprised of six tracks that range from minimalist guitar standing alone to an explosive, big-the-way-modern-pop-is-big chorus like that of “Sea of Sorrow” (not a cover). Stonebirds might be aggressive, as on “Circles” at the outset, or they might even delve into a bit of post-black metal in “Croak,” but there’s never a point at which Perpetual Wasteland lacks purpose. Each side is three songs, two between five and six minutes and a closer circa eight; I’m telling you the symmetry is multi-tiered. And as destructive as “So Far Away” feels at its start, “The Last Time” mirrors with a more open-sounding approach, lush in melody in a way they’ve been before by then, and still tense in chug, but pulled back in the delivery. They’re dynamic, they have range, and they craft their material with clear consideration of how every second is going to unfold.
VI – Rippling Mirrors of the Other is indeed the sixth LP from Irish space rockers Yurt, as I remind myself that just because I’d never heard the band before doesn’t mean they haven’t been around over 16 years. So it goes. The keyboard-prone three-piece — Andrew Bushe and drums and then some, Steven Anderson on guitar/vocals and sax, and Boz Mugabe on bass, vocals, keys (plus visuals) — find a way to make a classic-style motorik push feel mellow on “From the Maggot’s Perspective,” where “Shop of the Most Auspicious Frog” is more of a freakout and “Seventh is the Skut” is more about the jazzprog instrumental chase. Those three songs are shorter, but the album has three more extended pieces as well in opener “The Cormorant Tree” (15:33), “Pagpag Variations” (16:28) and “Sun Roasted Rodent” (13:30), which unfurl across multiple movements, bringing heavy doomjazz skronk and more experimentalist space rock together in a way that makes me bummed to be late to the party, but also kind of feel like I’m right on time.
As the band are now past the 30-year mark, it is an honor to once again be drenched in Evoken‘s pouring, grey, cold, wretched visions. Mendacium brings eight songs themed, because obviously, around the slow decline and death of a 14th century Benedictine monk, running 62 dug-in minutes of beauty-in-darkness extremity. It is not universally crawling, as “Lauds” and “Sext” move with a poise that feels kin to modern Paradise Lost, but for sure is defined by and uses that sense of slow, grueling churn to bolster its atmosphere, which is duly wood-churchy for its subject matter. They’re not all-pummel, of course, and never were. The penultimate “Vesper” is a brief organ interlude before closer “Compline” lowers you down into the pit to face whatever it is that takes place in the song after the seven-and-a-half-minute mark, and there is a morose peace to be found in the quiet moments throughout, as with what might be their only album this decade, Evoken land that much harder for the emotional weight the songs carry, whatever metaphor might be applied to them.
Oh that’s nasty. You might think you’re ready for what Mourners and Yanomamo are bringing in gutter-dwelling death-doom and gnashing, crush-prone sludge roll, but that isn’t likely to save you as the two Sydney-based acts align for a three-song/20-minute split EP that wastes not a second in terms of efficiency of infliction. Mourners present “It Only Gets Worse,” with a raw punch in its bass chug, low-deathly growls and a sound that’s so down and dense across 11 minutes that it sounds slower than it actually is. It dies loud in a wash of noise to let Yanomamo‘s feedback-and-sample start “Lifefucker,” pointedly miserable in its unfolding. It and the growl-into-a-void-but-the-void-is-you diagnosing of mankind’s miseries in “Self-Inflicted” are shorter together than “It Only Gets Worse,” but more outwardly aggressive, as if to make sure you got spit out after being so thoroughly chewed up. I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s pretty heavy in that the-world-is-dying-and-nobody’s-coming-to-stop-it kind of way.
The craggy dark-wizard-giving-soon-to-be-unheeded-warnings vocals of Muttering Bog‘s first release, the sludgy Sword Axe Wizard Cult, become a defining aspect. The Winchester, Virginia, band’s lone member, credited only as Ben, hones a raw-throated rasp that, where parts of the album might otherwise be stoner metal, keep a tether to extremity that feels as much born of black metal as Bongzilla. It is a challenging but not unrewarding listen; a just-out-of-the-dirt basement doom that isn’t afraid of being caustic or harsh in its riffy, weedian homage. And yeah, it comes across as pretty rough. Some of the changes are choppy on the drums and such, but hell’s bells, it’s a fully DIY make-and-release-a-thing from one person that pushes limits, is certain to evoke an emotional response, and is absolutely uncompromising in the identity being carved. None of that makes it listenable, if you’re looking for listenability, but it does make it art.
Posted in Reviews on October 7th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It hasn’t exactly been graceful so far, this Quarterly Review, but it’s gotten to where it’s needed to go across a tumultuous first two days, and I’ll take that as a positive sign of things to come. We’re in the thick of it now, with day three, and it’s a good day to dig in, so I won’t delay further except to say I hope you find something in here that you enjoy.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Vinnum Sabbathi, Intersatelital
Mexico City instrumentalists Vinnum Sabbathi have been plenty busy in the five years since their 2020 split with Comacozer (review here), whether it was collaborating with Rezn, touring multiple times in Europe, putting out a live record, etc., but the three-song Intersatelital EP is a welcome standalone studio return for the band just the same. Issued to coincide with their Summer ’25 Euro run, the 19-minute outing basks in 20th Century-era space exploration, with Spanish-language samples recounting the launch of early communications satellites for a kind of positive-future manifestation as the intro “Centro de Control Especial” flows into “Sistema de Satelites Morelos” and the 11-minute finale “Rodolfo Neri Vela,” which is both heavy enough to pay off the entire procession of the release and intense enough to convey escape velocity. The short version: Vinnum Sabbathi deliver again.
Past the medically-noisy intro “Flatline,” Crop‘s S.S.R.I. — the Lexington, Kentucky, sludgers’ second LP, named for the class of antidepressants — builds a massive wall of harsh-shout-topped sludge metal with “Formaldehyde,” big tones and big riffs resulting in big impact. Nothing to complain about, and I’m not complaining, but neither is that all they have to offer. A midsection break with vocals that if you come back in a decade will probably be clean hints at complexity in the composition, and sure enough, even the lumbering largesse of “Godamn” or the closer “Break” give hints of melody somewhere (the latter also some double-kick), and by the time they get to “10-56,” they’ve established their context enough that the dynamic will be apparent for those willing to hear it. That makes “Alone” less of a surprise with a more progressive reachout in its second half, followed by the echoing guitar interlude “Breath,” after which “Break” buries itself and everything else in lurching distortion and takes just a quick breather before the last and most vicious onslaught. They sound like they’re on a path of growth, but to be sure they’re also flattening everything on that same path.
Bloodsports are no more beholden to the post-grunge melancholy of “Rosary” than the outright crush of “Rot” just before or the willfully choppy succession of “Trio 1” and “Trio 2” that open its respective sides or the penultimate strum and cello of “A River Runs Through,” and their first album, Anything Can Be a Hammer envisions an intimate volatility. “Come, Dog” and the daringly straight-ahead “Calvin” find the Brooklynite four-piece (maybe sometimes a trio?) casting their lot with individual perspective almost as a side-effect of the personal expression the nine component tracks seem to convey, but also rock, and while at full-bore, the six-minute closing title-track is a forceful push revealing a prog-hardcore metal (Converge, Oathbreaker) influence somewhere in the band that provides a roiling payoff. It gets chaotic and they let it, so bonus points for all that noise. A lot will depend on whether or not they tour, but there’s a take developing in Bloodsports‘ sound that isn’t like much else out there. If they can hit it hard and tour, the potential is there to be realized.
Swedish heavy progressive psychedelic rockers Eyes of the Oak follow 2024’s sophomore LP, Neolithic Flint Dagger (review here), with the three-tracker Tripping Through Neon Skies, which pairs two originals in “Temple of Hallucinations” (5:08) and “Hitchhiking From the Mescaline Moon” (11:49), the latter drifting into a cosmically declarative crescendo that calls to mind Samsara Blues Experiment in its sweep, with a duly spaced-out take on AC/DC‘s “Hell’s Bells” that admirably balances loyalty to the original (why else would you cover it?) with the band’s will to make it their own in melody and reach. “Hitchhiking From the Mescaline Moon” is more of a voyage, of course, but “Temple of Hallucinations” casts itself out in vivid colors with a proggy hook and swells of vocal melody that add a light, not-unwelcome touch of the grandiose. It’s a big sound, and a big universe, and with these songs, Eyes of the Oak continue to carve out their place in it.
So here’s my story. Not knowing much about Virginia’s Pygmy Lush beyond their being well recommended and sharing members with Pageninetynine, I showed up to their set at this year’s Roadburn Festival, and found their punk-rooted, sometimes-loud Americana engaging enough that I knew I wanted to check out their first album in 14 years, Totem. Year goes on, blah blah, summer, blah blah everything is terrible, and I finally get around to the album and Totem blindsides with a post-hardcore swing and angularity, somewhat thinky-thinky-smart-dude in pieces like “Algorithmic Mercy (Prayers Printed Directly Into a Shredder),” and unhinged in the general impression in that way that sounds like it’s about to trip over itself the whole time but never actually does. Kind of a surprise, but it’s done well and I ain’t mad about it. I’m sure there’s a narrative to the whole thing that’s been rephrased however many times over by critics more erudite than I could or would ever be, or maybe the band is just dynamic (gasp!). They quiet down for “Nonsensical Whisper” at the end, too, so it’s not all shove, even if that does define the record in large part.
The second album from Berlin’s Sheev, Ate’s Alchemist, purports a theme of dark emotions and their ethereal origins, and I’m not entirely sure how that translates into the odd-timed chuggery that bookends “Elephant Trunk,” but the progressive metal/rockers make a showcase of scope across the eight cuts/49 minutes of the album, veering into and out of various microgenres, whether it’s the doomly overtone of “Cul de Sac” or the imagine-thrash-but-soaring of “Martef” after the intro “The Alchemist.” Clearly a band who’ve worked on their sound, who believe in what they do, and who have paid attention in class when it comes to fostering a unified feel across disparate sounds. There’s nowhere the album goes that finds Sheev out of place, and while the level of engagement for a given listener will depend on their ability to meet the band where they’re at, the arguments for doing so are myriad. There are about eight of them, actually. Funny how that’s the same number of songs included, right? Stick around for the mathy wash at the end of “Sabress.”
I mean, you might think you’re ready for what’s coming on Lähdön Aika‘s fourth full-length, Mustalle Maalle, but you’re probably wrong about that. Just because they’ve been a band for over 20 years doesn’t mean the atmospheric post-sludge extremists can’t still bash your skull with the throatripper-topped jabs of “Et enää mitään” or the speedy crusher “Paina pääsi alas” later on, the rawness of the vocals only one example of the levels on which the Finnish outfit make their sound an assault. As they make their way toward the 10-minute capper “Ihmishaketta,” “Teuraaksi Kastettu” delves into a post-metal that makes Amenra sound like Oasis and the lumber of “Viilto” becomes a downward march only after it’s already lowered the whole quarry onto your person. Physical oppression through music, is what I’m talking about. A grim world awaits you if you think you can handle it, but again, these guys are experienced. They know what they’re doing as they bask in the wanton slaughter of “Ikeestä.” It’s not an accident. There’s method to it. That makes the album feel even more dangerous.
Some of the early vibes on “Beam” or “Stonewall Angel” on Fuzz Thrower‘s self-titled debut — on CD thanks to Off the Record Label imprint, PowerWax Records — remind of Sungrazer‘s mellow heavy psych circa 15 years ago, and certainly the drifty interlude “Waves” backs that up, but Netherlands-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tjeerd de Jong (also of Phantom Druid) grunges out in the march of “Nowhere,” gets more Sabbath-doomed for “Drooler” and the penultimate “Pictures of the Moon,” hints toward goth metal in “Ocean in the Sky,” and rounds out the nodder riffing of “Soon We Roam” with a sampled poetry reading, so no, things are not so easily accounted for in a single comparison point. So much the better. Across the album’s 29 minutes, de Jong presents a strong sense of trying out ideas — the way the vocals rest on top of “The End is Open,” for example — that might bring progression to subsequent releases, but there’s already depth to spare in the songwriting of this first outing. If/when he buys a keyboard, watch out.
It’s a secondary element, but don’t discount the synth work of drummer Daniel Figueroa on Moths‘ Septem EP, and if you’d like an example of why, check out “Pride.” The seven-track/26-minute offering takes each of its titles from the alleged seven deadly sins, with a full prog-metal brunt behind vocalist Mariel Viruet‘s noteworthy, growl-inclusive range as a singer. Guitarists Omar González (rhythm) and Jonathan Miranda (lead), bassist Weslie Negrón and Figueroa vary tempo and aggression to suit a given mood, and the keys are a bigger part of that than they might at first seem. Don’t tell the guitarists. The affect is definitely metal in pieces like “Gluttony” and “Greed,” while “Lust” lets the bass lead the groove, and “Wrath” — as good a place to end as any — pushes deeper into poised extremity with a blasting finish, the overarching density calling for nothing so much as repeat listens.
Pairing aggro, low-throat growl sludge with jammier takes, psychedelia, proggy riffing and a resolution in Iommic swing, the 28-minute “Subherbia” from Greenhead‘s debut album of the same name encapsulates on its own the kind of range one might expect (hope) for from a newcomer band, but the Washington D.C. trio don’t end there. Side B brings “Indigo,” “All Seeing Eye,” “Nature’s Pyramid” and “Purple God,” riding the blurred line between modern stoner largesse and classic doom riffing cohesively, letting “Nature’s Pyramid” punk up its chorus a bit as a precursor to the gang shouts of “Purple God.” I don’t know what genre you call it and I don’t care. I’m just happy to hear a new band mashing styles together to see what sticks and coming out it with a first LP that practically smacks you in the face with its ambition. What comes of it or doesn’t, whatever. I’ll take Subherbia as-is, thanks, and hope I’m lucky enough to see them do it live at some point.
This is day four of the Summer 2025 Quarterly Review, and though I might pay for it later, say right around late-September when I’m doing the Fall one, I think I’m going to keep it to five days. Mostly that’s about not pressing my luck. This has been an exceedingly easy QR to get through, a breeze compared to some — one downer day is all it takes and I feel like I never have my groove again, but that hasn’t happened here — and I’m content to take the win and move on, as opposed to pushing for an extra day or two next week.
So this is the penultimate day, and we’ll finish tomorrow. I hope you’ve enjoyed the Quarterly Review nearly as much as I have. Not one day has passed without me adding at least one release to my year-end list(s), which is a pretty killer thing to realize as I type it. Let’s see how today goes.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Muto Tapes, Side Effects
One of apparently five singles that Mexico City’s Muto Tapes will release over the course of 2025 — year’s half-over, they’d better hurry up — “Side Effects” runs four riffy minutes of thickened, aggressive chug-metal, calling to mind Sepultura in its spit-out guttural vocals, but creating a denser mass of distortion and leaving in trade the thrashy, sometimes bloody, roots. Past the halfway point in the song, circa 2:30 into the total 4:05, the tempo drops and the guitar/drum duo bask in some of the minimal spaces their configuration lets them occupy, saving a fair round of shove for the finish after setting it up with due foreboding guitar creep. Not sure if Muto Tapes are building toward an EP or LP or what, or just releasing singles because not everything needs to be a package to sell, but they bring a blend of heft and intensity that immediately distinguishes them in the heavy underground, and they look to be developing their sound on their own terms. Guitarist/vocalist/bassist Jorge S. and drummer Roy B. have been meting out punishment in this manner since 2023, so we’re just beginning to see where it’s all headed.
It hasn’t been that long since Turkey Vulture released their Oct. 2024 EP, On the List, or maybe I just blinked out for a few months. The Connecticut duo of Jessie May (guitar, bass, vocals) and Jim Clegg (drums, backing vocals) have long-enough since carved their niche in doom and punk rock, and “Dead to Me” and “Jill the Ripper (Heavy Take)” — the two of them running about four and a half minutes, combined — continues the thread. They don’t list the recording info, so I don’t know if these two songs were done at the same time as the EP or not, but “Jill the Ripper (Heavy Take),” as the title describes, is a louder and punkier take on the closing “Jill the Ripper” from that also-short release. “Dead to Me,” meanwhile, seems to be about not going to shows anymore, presumably because you have a kid, and the changing nature of friendships as a result of that. Turkey Vulture have a whole series of songs about these life-stages; just six years on from their debut, they’ve done a lot of growing.
Philippines heavy psych wanderers Polymerase are back two years after their two-part Dreams and Realities I & II full-length cycle with the mood-altering 78 minutes of Mindspace, seemingly named for the two things on which the material has the greatest effect. Pairing extended, jammier pieces with, well, shorter, jammier pieces, songs like “Divine Reefer” (12:08) can touch on Sleep while “Space Child” (7:10) is anything but grounded in its repetitions and evident outbound plotted trajectory. There’s more to Mindspace than mellow-out stoner idolatry, though, as the bassy rumble underwriting the harsher shouts of “Interplanetary Echoes” (13:08) demonstrates, taking some of the sludgier moments paired with heavygaze in “Crows and Doves” (11:57) and using them to call out to the expanse of the band’s own making. Closer “Downward Spiral” (12:22) functions similarly at the conclusion, calling to mind modern practitioners like Rezn while feeling empowered through their individual processes. I don’t know how much is actually improv, but Mindspace is way open, and that’s how it should be.
Something of a specialty item, perhaps. Fade Into You is a two-tracker split 12″ with London outfits Troy the Band and Cower taking its name from the Mazzy Star song, which both bands cover. Like, they do the same song. And much to their credit, they do it differently. Troy the Band, who early last year released their debut album, Cataclysm (review here), on Bonebag Records, take a heavygaze viewpoint on the 1993 single, fleshing out the moody atmosphere with echoing effects and hard-landing, immersive roll. Cower, whose second full-length, Celestial Devastation (review here), also came out last year, reimagine it as Nick Cave or latter-day Wovenhand, holding to the emotional crux of the original with ethereal drones and new age-y keyboard. A stopgap? Probably, but an interesting project just the same, and the song, of course, stands up to the manipulation.
What would seem to be the debut offering from Tijuana-based post-metal four-piece Jaspe, Grietas runs just 23 minutes at three songs, but carries a full-length’s sense of breadth in doing so. Shades of Amenra persist in the quiet/spoken stretch of “Rios de Polvo II” (11:52), where the lumber that begins opener “Litorales” (9:46) crushes as might a modern Isis before departing into the inevitable stretch of pretty guitar, Russian Circles-esque, but with more plunge in the low frequencies, and the arriving guttural growl of vocals is genre-transgressive in a way that satisfies wholly. Separating the larger pieces is the two-minute droner “Rios de Polvo I,” obviously aligned to the second part that follows, which adds to both the tension and atmosphere of this resoundingly impressive post-doom showcase and highlights the potential that’s so prevalent in Jaspe‘s sound. I’ll take an album of this for sure. Just say when.
Two songs, 20 minutes. Yung Druid, in continued collaboration with Totem Cat Records, offer Wooden Lungs, comprised of the 11-minute “Wooden Lung” and the nine-minute “Space Cowboy.” Both songs owe some debt in swagger to Led Zeppelin, but “Wooden Lung,” in the vocal arrangement and steady nod, reminds more of Iota‘s 2024 return, Pentasomnia, in its fluid progression and grunge-style harmonies. Not a complaint. Also not complaining about the uptick in fuzz for “Space Cowboy,” which still manages to move despite the primordial pool of tone in which it seems to soak. A riff for riffers, that one. Originally based in London around the time of their 2019 self-titled debut (discussed here), the band have moved between the Spain, Australia and New Zealand. It can be difficult for a band who were all together in the rehearsal space to transition to working remotely, but if Wooden Lungs is their proof of concept, they can make a go of it.
Issued through Rise Above Records imprint Popclaw (see also Bobbie Dazzle and Scott Hepple and the Sun Band), The Crystal Teardrop‘s debut long-player, …Is Forming, sounds remarkably ‘formed,’ if you want to think of it in those terms, as regards aesthetic. Taking a heaping dose of influence from ’60s garage and daring toward Beatlesism on the sweetly bouncing “Borrowed Time” or the Help-toned “Two Hearts,” the band present a retroist face but hold back from IYKYK-style gatekeeping via pop songwriting and the sweep of the later “Turn You Down,” which is a ruffled-hair rush ahead of the similarly shoving “Stealing Suggestions” and the perhaps inevitable psychedelic delve of the closing pair “Nine Times Nine.” and “…Is Forming,” the latter of which has enough backward guitar to meet whatever your quota might be before it unfurls darker instrumental heavy proto-prog like it’s something the band just invented. Rise Above is ready for the garage rock revolution, ready to foster a new generation of artists, but as ever, the question is whether or not the world at large can keep up. …Is Forming argues fervently in favor of trying.
The adventures of Alaska’s Leo Scheben and his Doom Lab continue, declaring a genre in Desert Caravan Doom and then immediately setting about defying its parameters with an encompassing, continually on-its-own-wavelength craft, increasingly clear production, and varied intent across the 12-song/43-minute long-player, with creeps like raw East Coast hardcore in “What’s Your Angle?” before the jazzy puns take further hold in “Feeling Minor and Diminished,” pieces like “Fives” and “Desert Hailstorm” tapping into some Stinking Lizaveta-type intensity while the sweetly alt-rocking “At Dusk” and the “Gimmie One Drop (Dub)” and “Desert Caravan Improvisation” — with a new live drummer, reportedly — add to the fabric of Doom Lab‘s ongoing explorations in style and expression. Desert Caravan Doom isn’t as dark, on average, as some of Doom Lab‘s output, and that comparative lightness of mood lets it swing all the more, but Scheben‘s never just been/done one thing, and Desert Caravan Doom holds to this dynamic as well.
The synth and keyboard elements play a significant role throughout Liquid Pennies‘ Fore, as “Tapered Scape” and “Ready Tide” demonstrate early on, never mind the 11-minute “Echolalia,” which also has plenty of time for its heavy breakout in the middle third and doomier-until-it-thrashes ending. “Sight Skewer” finds the adventurous Floridian unit evoking nostalgia with fuzz and melody, the drum machine patterning working in contrast to the heavier tones, but feeling by that point very much part of the thing. Presumed side B starter “Elliptic Triptych” brings a bit more functional aggression to the mix, while the three-minute droner “Further Ennui” gives transition to the terrestrial acoustic strum in the pastiche of “The Bone,” which grows broader while remaining melodically intricate, and the closing title-track runs the atmospherics backwards for, well, backwards atmospherics. There’s some influence from All Them Witches at work, but four albums in, Liquid Pennies are onto something special in sound, and one hopes the pursuit continues.
A fascinating debut three-song EP from Portland, Oregon’s Mordbear, released by Dipterid Records as a single-sided 12″ vinyl, comic book included. If that seems elaborate for what’s basically a demo, there’s the rub. “Like the Dead,” “A Mirror with a Sea of Flames” and “The Alchemist” are resoundingly cohesive and sure of their construction. The style is modern stoner with nascent hints of prog leaking through — again, modern — and in the seven minutes of “The Alchemist,” the scope feels broader as they methodically unfurl their riffing. Meanwhile, “Like the Dead” leads off with atmospheric semi-desert heavy, catchy and nodding and slow, and “A Mirror with a Sea of Flames” has more of a rhythmic tumble. When Mordbear lock into a bigger groove in the middle cut, there’s some hint of Monolord to their sound, but ‘their sound’ is hardly a settled issue, so the exploration is welcome even as they seem to have so much nailed down in terms of style.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 9th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Ripplefest Mexico coming in hot with an inaugural lineup or this Dec. 6 and a bitchin’ three-eyed axolotl on the poster that puts me in mind of classic Simpsons with the triocular fish, but, you know, is a little more this-century. The Well will make their way south to Mexico City to headline the first Ripplefest Mexico, and they’ll be joined by long-running Chilean groovers Demonauta, who I got to see last year (review here) and could only recommend as an experience, as well as Vinnum Sabbathi, Demons My Friends, SaturnoGrooves, Black Overdrive and King in Yellow, plus Lord Velvet from Colorado and Transit Method, also from Austin. Solid bill. Get there early. King in Yellow sound pretty cool.
I don’t know much about the Fuck Off Room, but I do enjoy a good bit of fucking off, so right on. You might recall the Doom City Fest that took place in Mexico City the last few years as well. It will be cool to see how both continue to grow.
Heavy rock festival Ripplefest México announce the full lineup for their first-ever edition taking place on December 6th, 2025 at Fuck Off Room in Mexico City. Tickets are on sale now!
Born from the success of Ripplefest Texas — the largest stoner and doom festival in the U.S., backed by legendary label Ripple Music — Ripplefest has expanded globally with celebrated editions in France (Nantes) and Germany. Now, México joins the movement, uniting local and international stoner rock and doom communities under one roof: Mexico City’s renowned FuckOff Room, located inside the popular Condesa neighborhood.
With a total of nine bands gracing the bill, Ripplefest México will showcase a powerful mix of established and emerging acts from the global heavy rock scene, delivering the raw energy and immersive experience that defines the Ripplefest brand.
About launching Ripplefest México, the promoters say: “We’re excited to embark on this new adventure to continue strengthening the Mexican stoner scene and bridge a connection with the US stoner community as well, by establishing a Mexican chapter to the largest stoner and doom festival in the United States, Ripplefest Texas. Ripplefest México will emulate the spirit and replicate the experience of all previous Ripplefests by presenting a lineup that is attractive and interesting to heavy music lovers in our city, and by being curated and organized by music lovers and musicians from our scene itself. We hope you can join us, and thank you in advance for your support. Everyone is invited.”
Lineup:
The Well (Austin, TX) Demonauta (Santiago, Chile) Demons My Friends (Austin, TX / Mexico City, Mexico) Lord Velvet (Denver, CO) Transit Method (Austin, TX) Vinnum Sabbathi (Mexico City) Saturno Grooves (Durango, MX) Black Overdrive (Mexico City, MX) King In Yellow (Tamaulipas, MX)
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
We — you and I; if ever homies was homies — already knew that Mexico City instrumentalist space-themed riffcrunchers Vinnum Sabbathi were headed back to Europe this coming summer. Not at all their first time doing the dance, and they’ll hit SonicBlast in Portugal and Hoflärm in Germany on their way, along with a week-plus of club shows. When the tour was announced, I’m pretty sure they said a new release was coming though, and Intersatelital is that.
A new EP following up on their 2023 collab LP with Rezn, Silent Future (discussed here), Intersatelital will be Vinnum Sabbathi‘s first standalone studio work since Of Dimensions and Theories (review here), which was released roughly concurrent to a split with Comacozer (review here) in 2020. Five years, but of course they’ve been plenty busy in the interim.
To wit, this past weekend was the Doom City Fest in Mexico City, which Vinnum Sabbathi played and in which members of the band are involved. They shared the stage with Conan, Dopethrone and Bongzilla, among others.
From social media (plus the tour dates from last time again):
“Intersatelital” is the new EP from Vinnum Sabbathi, a sonic testament of the intricate human-machine comradeship from the last century, featuring an incredible cover artwork by Indonesian artist Yasinviolet.
A collaboration between Stolen Body Records 🇬🇧 and Teschio Dischi 🇮🇹 for vinyl and cassette physical formats.
Official release date on June 17th 2025, to commemorate 40 years of missions STS-51-G as well as STS-61-B, launching the Morelos communications satellites in orbit and the first Mexican astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela 🇲🇽.
Pre orders coming soon.
EUROPA 2025 09 AUG SonicBlast Fest (ANCORA, PT) 11 AUG Wurlitzer Ballroom (MADRID, ES) 12 AUG De Tanker In Noord (AMST, NL) 13 AUG TBA (HAMBURG, DE) 14 AUG Neue Zukunft (BERLIN, DE) 15 AUG Chemiefabrik Dresden (Chemo) (DE) 16 AUG Heinzelmännchen Hofcafe & Hoflärm (DE) 17 AUG TBA (GHENT, BE)
