Posted in Whathaveyou on September 24th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Just wanted to take a minute to wish the members (current and former) of Geezer all the best going forward. For over 10 years, the groove kings of Kingston heavy blues and heavy psych rocked their way into the hearts of the underground, led by founding riffer/vocalist Pat Harrington, who offered the by-the-numbers summary of their run below. Their most recent outing was 2024’s split with Italian heavy rockers Isaak (review here), and no question things had slowed down for the trio since the release of their 2022 full-length, Stoned Blues Machine (review here), but with the hiatus made official on social media, obviously the picture has changed.
I covered Geezer a fair amount during their time — which may be over for now, but I’ve learned again and again to never say never in this regard — seen them live and was even in the studio with them as they were laying down the tracks for what’s now to be considered their swansong. Aside from being lovely people to be around, they were a killer band who only got better and farther reaching each time out. I feel lucky to have seen them play and to revel along with them in the joy of fuzz and nod that was always so palpable when they took the stage. It’s a bummer to think there might not be another Geezer, that they’re really done and moving on to other projects, lives and whatnot, but they had a good run and you could do far worse than the amicable parting of ways that this seems to be. Again, much love to all.
Here’s what Harrington had to say:
It all started 15 years ago with these handmade demos we created in my basement.
15 years…
6 albums…
2 splits…
1 ep…
1 live album…
1 live cassette…
Multiple digital releases/singles…
More shows than we can count…
2 European Tours…
And tons of fun!
We also got to work with these AMAZING record labels: STB Records, Ripple Music, Kozmik Artifactz and the MIGHTY Heavy Psych Sounds Records, among others! We thank these folks and all of you for all the support over the years. But now it’s time to try something else for a while…. Not so much a goodbye, more like… we’ll catch you on the flip. Until then, PEACE!
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 22nd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Rochester, New York’s King Buffalo have been teasing their studio return for a few months now, and today brings confirmation that their new album, Doomsayer, will be out Dec. 4, self-released in North America and on Stickman Records in Europe. The forerunner heavy psych three-piece have spent the last few years on the road, and that informs the sound of the record — I wrote the bio for it, so I’m not going to pretend I haven’t heard it — and it’s also the first album they’ll have made in the studio built for that express purpose, so yes, you would call it dug-in. They’ll of course be supporting the release with tours foreign and domestic, and you’ll find those dates below as well.
If this post seems short considering the occasion — and this announcement is one, mind you — it’s only because I don’t want to keep you from the first single “The Slick and the Dead,” streaming now at the bottom of the post, both from Bandcamp and YouTube. Have at it, enjoy, and be glad this is coming to round out a year of killer releases. Hold a spot on your best-of list.
Also, I don’t usually include press quotes, most especially from myself, but I stand by the encapsulation below and if you put it in the context of what they do live, it actually tells you something about the record, so I decided to let it ride this time. Exception to the rule.
Also also, you might notice a name change here: Sean Roa. That’s it. That’s the sentence. I don’t know his reasons, but it’s his name, so he can do with it as he will. It’s the same person.
From the PR wire and socials:
ANNOUNCING our 7th Full-Length ‘Doomsayer’ and European Tour Dates! Preorders start THIS FRIDAY atkingbuffalo.bigcartel.com.
Listen to the track ‘The Slick and the Dead’ NOW.
Doomsayer Tracklist: 1. Battling The Mystagogues 2. The Slick and the Dead 3. Vagabond 4. Hell or High Water 5. Into the Foundry 6. Ether on the Dark Side 7. Doomsayer
“Doomsayer finds that which is most essential in King Buffalo’s sound, in songs that capture the dynamic chemistry between the three of them at its most vibrant, breathtaking and viscerally heavy.” – JJ Koczan
North America 2026 10/29 Boulder, CO 10/30 Denver, CO – LOW TIX 10/31 Salt Lake City, UT 11/2 Portland, OR – LOW TIX 11/3 Vancouver, BC – LOW TIX 11/4 Seattle, WA 11/6 San Francisco, CA – LOW TIX 11/7 Los Angeles, CA 11/9 Solana Beach, CA 11/10 Phoenix, AZ 11/11 Albuquerque, NM 11/13 Dallas, TX 11/14 Austin, TX 11/17 Houston, TX 11/19 Nashville, TN 11/20 Asheville, NC – LOW TIX 11/21 Cincinnati, OH 12/3 Detroit, MI 12/4 Chicago, IL 12/5 Cleveland, OH 12/8 Toronto, ON – LOW TIX 12/9 Montreal, QC – LOW TIX 12/10 Boston, MA – LOW TIX 12/11 New York, NY – LOW TIX 12/12 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts 12/15 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry 12/16 Durham, NC – Motorco 12/17 Washington, DC – Black Cat 12/18 Columbus, OH – Skully’s
10/29 – 11/21 w/ L.A. WITCH 12/3-12/5 & 12/18 w/ DOOM GONG 12/8-12/12 w/ Handsome Jack
European Tour 2027 02.03 Hamburg, DE – Grunspan 03.03 Antwerp, BE – Trix 04.03 Haarlem, NL – Patronaat 06.03 London, UK – Scala 07.03 Manchester, UK – Gorilla 09.03 Bristol, UK – Electric Bristol 11.03 Paris, FR – Petit Bain 12.03 Essen, DE – Zeche Carl 13.03 Cologne, DE – Kantine 14.03 Stuttgart, DE – Wizeman 15.03 Munich, DE – Backstage Halle 17.03 Berlin, DE – Festsaal 19.03 Copenhagen, DK – Pumpehuset 20.03 Gothenburg, SE – Monument 21.03 Oslo, NO – John Dee 21.03 – Stockholm, SE Debaser Nova w/ Spirit Mother
Artwork by See Machine
King Buffalo is: Sean Roa – Guitar, Synth & Vocals Dan Reynolds – Bass & Synth Scott Donaldson – Drums & Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 21st, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Albany, New York’s Gozer have signed with Argonauta Records imprint Octpus Rising to release their second album, Twilight Fortress. The burl-bringing heavy rock shovers are streaming the new single “Morningstar” now, bringing all due ceremony of crush and marauding energy, like High on Fire going to war in alliance with Alabama Thunderpussy. The band’s self-titled debut came out in 2023, but the new LP will mark the studio debut of Jackson Tollerton on vocals, who apparently is the band’s source of a fantasy thematic as well.
I don’t see an exact release date below, just “later 2026,” and as we move into mid-September, there’s less and less “later” for that to mean. Could be a December outing, or later in November, certainly, or they could drop it the first week of October, for all I know. Whenever it’s due, the single’s a ripper, so have at it.
The PR wire sent the following:
US Heavy Rockers GOZER sign to Octopus Rising
Upstate New York’s genre-bending heavy rockers unveil new single “Morningstar”
US Heavy Rockers GOZER sign to Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records, joining the label’s ever-growing roster of heavy, adventurous and uncompromising new acts. To mark the signing, the Upstate New York four-piece today unveils their brand new single “Morningstar”, available nowhttps://tidal.com/track/560208620/u
GOZER have spent the past several years building a strong reputation within the US heavy music underground, developing a distinctive sound that moves freely between stoner rock, doom, desert rock and heavy metal. Driven by massive riffs, crushing grooves and a cinematic atmosphere, their music refuses to settle into a single genre.
With Sean Murphy on bass, Nick Kossor on guitar, Nick Massucci on drums and Jackson Tollerton on vocals, GOZER have entered a new creative chapter following Tollerton’s arrival in 2025. His powerful vocal presence and passion for fantasy-driven storytelling have further expanded the band’s sonic and thematic universe, adding a new dimension to their already unpredictable approach.
“Morningstar” marks the beginning of this new era and offers the first taste of GOZER’s forthcoming second full-length album, Twilight Fortress, due for release later this year via Octopus Rising.
Produced and engineered by Tim Lynch at The Recording Company in Sloansville, New York, Twilight Fortress sees GOZER pushing their sound further, combining their trademark riff-heavy approach with atmospheric arrangements and fantasy-inspired themes.
With “Morningstar”, GOZER officially open the next chapter of their journey, bringing their particular brand of fantasy-infused heavy rock to the international stage alongside Octopus Rising.
GOZER – Twilight Fortress Coming later in 2026 via Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records
Next show Oct 10 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Joint Jam
GOZER are: Sean Murphy – Bass Nick Kossor – Guitar Nick Masucci – Drums Jackson Tollerton – Vocals
Posted in Reviews on August 11th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
I don’t know how many Quarterly Reviews I’ve done at this point, but aside making my wife avoid me for a week, they’re always their own, probably-doesn’t-make-sense-to-anyone-else kind of fun, and it’s an engagement with music that I don’t get in any other way, even doing this site. Some of it feels like the old days in print, with the pile of CDs on my desk waiting to be reviewed for that week’s column, maybe 100 words per (I try to keep it to 150-200 here), with half the challenge going from one thing to the next and not repeating myself. But I don’t really expect anyone to get that. It’s work, but I enjoy it.
Yesterday was killer like Phyllis Diller. If nothing hit you, I hope today’s more your speed. If not, check back tomorrow. I’ll still be here, doing the thing.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Edena Gardens, Quintessence
The fifth album from the instrumentalist amalgam of Causa Sui and Papir, Edena Gardens‘ Quintessence not only references the ordinal relevance but embodies the title’s implication of getting to the very root purpose of the project. Spread across four sides of a 2LP, the 80-minute six-songer is the band’s most open and rawest-feeling outing to-date, and for a project that was ‘supposed’ to produce a trilogy and then everybody goes home, they continue to bring a sense of vibrancy and exploration to their jams. The difference is that here, the songs are longer, there’s less editing involved, and the production, while clear enough to convey the spirit of what they’re doing, feels pointedly straightforward in doing so. And from the willfully, surprisingly Sabbathian “Nigredo” onward, the titles give hints toward their evocations of ground and color, be it “Earth Blemish” or the 22-minute finale “The Vermillion Quintessence.” Maybe not the best place to start with the band, but on the other hand, maybe it absolutely is.
“You Already Know” is the fourth studio single from New Zealand four-piece Stone Clones, founded in 2021 by the brotherly pair of guitarists Seager and Calum Ray, the former of whom also serves as lead vocalist in harmony with bassist Juan Los B while Dylan Byrne holds the alt-rock-informed-desert push through the chorus toward the particularly post-Homme solo that follows. The lyrics are something of an assessment of modernity and the “you” in question becomes a stand-in for the greed that exploits and ruins the polis of our day. The song runs 6:20 and captures a mood without giving entirely over to it even in that final verse where some of the purported Radiohead influence comes out, and as they continue to grow and work toward a somewhat inevitable debut album, the place they’re making for themselves between styles will continue to hone its own identity through the songcraft they demonstrate here, making heavy sounds and ideas feel light and able to sway the balance in whatever direction they want.
Comprised of just the two songs “Lever” (7:49) and “Capra” (5:42), this second EP offering from psychedelic depthmakers Os Solair doesn’t shy away from heft just because it’s also creating a sense of space or wash of effects. “Lever” grows more fervent as it goes and “Capra” picks up where it left off, but the Darmstadt, Germany, four-piece are mindful of dynamic and melodicism as well, and apparently recording live in their rehearsal space with vocal overdubs after, they come across as atmospheric and bit noisy but not really chaotic in the sense of not knowing where they’re headed. That is to say there’s a plan at work on Lever/Capra, and that can be heard as the latter cut moves into its more subdued, psych-adventuring midsection, tense enough in the drums to convey the explosion that’s coming but nonetheless a turn from the lower-end weight of the song’s beginning. Molten in its use of effects on guitar and vocals, it’s almost subversively grounded in the rhythm section, but the two sides work together with a fluidity that’s where the band’s real potential lies. I will look forward to what they do next.
The Nothing is the first solo album from former Midnight Whiskey Massacre guitarist Darren Ironside, and perhaps unsurprisingly the guitar leads the way for most of the nine-song offering. Based in the UK, Ironside blends throaty vocals that at times cross over to the metallic over a succession of riffs informed by doom rock, thrash, classic heavy, etc., over what I’m fairly sure are programmed drum progression, and though the mix is raw and pushes the vocals forward, songs like “To the Gallows” carry across a sense of brooding as the shred pervades, complementing the lyrical disaffection of “Forgotten Dream” — a familiar Charlie Chaplin sample there as well — and, on the other side of the noisy interlude “Nebula Rising,” “Overwatch and Control.” The bottom line is Ironside, who also self-produced, is figuring out where he wants his songs to go — or where they want to go, if you’d rather personify — and beginning to shape his own sound separate from his prior outfit and has something to say about the world around him. It’s raw and will come off abrasive at first to the unacclimated, but there’s groove to be had.
The ad astra per aspera narrative of New York’s Sun Voyager continues with their latest standalone single, “Coming Down,” which arrives scorching as if they knew the summer would be too damn hot and required something duly humid to coincide. No surprise though it’s a burner, and in the ascendance of guitarist Christian “Shaman Smoke” Lopez as a lead vocalist joined by bassist Stefan Mersch — the band is completed by drummer Kyle Beach, reliable and not to be discounted in holding their songs together — here manifests a sense of breakout that is wrought in the reptitions of the title line, sneering with attitude and righteously cosmic. It’s been nearly four years since Lopez joined Sun Voyager after they lost their prior guitarist/vocalist, and the time the band spent woodshedding and nailing down their chemistry is audible on “Coming Down” as well as the prior serve-notice single “Running Hot” (premiered here). I don’t know what it’s leading toward beyond probably an LP sooner or later, but Sun Voyager sound increasingly ready for whatever’s coming. East Coast psych gnarl. Get it.
Cultish and telegraphing their Iommi worship in their presentation — they’re certainly not hiding it in the music either — Athenian trio Oath reportedly recorded their first full-length Unteach live, and while I don’t know how that accounts for the doubled solos, with one foot in the Hammer Horror of “Alucarda ’77,” and the other in the pastoral “Orchid”ness of “Through the Evergreen Fields,” the band carve a place for themselves in “My Second Life” with a sound that’s as much proto-doom as it is punk as it is metal, and the place it winds up is crushingly heavy in “Soviet Invasion” and the penultimate “Dies Capri” and still plenty heavy but more playful in “Fur, Claws and Leather,” taking influence maybe from earliest Electric Wizard, is satisfyingly individual. That is to say, while you can pinpoint the roots of where they’re coming from, the actual material of the album, raw as it is, is not at all without stylistic nuance. They let the slower tempos manifest foreboding rather than occult theatrics, and that suits the buzz-tone riffs as well. It’s a weird one, but full of purpose in that, and so appreciable.
Somewhere in the gray ether that exists between post- and black metals, Greek unit Automaton harness a grim spaciousness as their Sound Effect Records-delivered third album Labyrinth, retelling the titular mythology in impressionist lyrics throughout as the six-song/46-minute sprawl varies from ripping to crushing and back again. “Ariadne” and the prior “Minotaur” hone a thickened viciousness, while the 12-minute “Black Sails” is a more ambient delve, building in its second half to a march ahead of the cavernous interlude “Your Bull Nature Clouds Your Human Self” — perhaps a thesis for the record — before the blastbeats resume in closer “Battle in the Labyrinth.” The story is allegorical (duh) and the telling is relevant in theme as well as aesthetic, but the gnash stands on its own as well in its fury and satisfies in terms of the plot as well as in execution. Much to its credit, even as it follows a linear narrative, at no point does Labyrinth feel like it’s subsumed songwriting to that, and each piece fleshes out with a patience correspondant to mastery.
Ultimately, it’s the poise here that makes Witch Ripper‘s third album so lethal, and if you’ve seen the band likened to Mastodon somewhere along the way, the Matt Bayles production probably has something to do with that, but the Seattle progressive riff metallers conjure their own feeling of space across the seven included songs. I’ve said on multiple occasions that part of what’s kept me from being a fan of this band is the kind of unthinking misogynist implication of their moniker, but there’s no denying either the growth they’ve undertake between albums or the sense of accomplishment overarching Through the Hourglass as a manifestation of their approach that they’ve been working toward all the while. Alternating between shorter and longer songs highlights the structural variety on display, and the shifts between clean-sung and harsher vocal styles gives purpose and drama to the procession from one piece to the next, with closer “The Spiral Eye” seeming to take cues from the likes of Blood Incantation in its leads while providing due culmination to the encompassing entirety prior. They’ve always meant business and they still do.
Self-releasing UK apparent-newcomers Hostile Tides offer their first EP in the five-song/17-minute Dead Man Talking, taking a double-guitar approach to heavy instrumentalism that’s pretty clearly in the process of shaking out where they’re headed in terms of style but that just the same conveys their setting forth on that progression. Chunky-style riffing in the centerpiece “Adrift” feels like it’s got some ’90s crunch, but it’s kind of hard to tell if that’s the rougher edges of the recording showing through an initial outing or something purposeful on the part of the band, or both, considering the way the song turns to a dreamier midsection with the bass holding to ground while the guitars branch out into atmospherics. Tonally more Karma to Burn than Russian Circles, they make the divergences a strength and a distinguishing factor, and the five-minute capper (the EP works shortest to longest) “Peaks” hints toward a burgeoning patience of craft. They could go just about anywhere from here.
Johnny Tirade and The Circle of Futures Past, What is at the Beginning of Eternity, the End of Time, the Beginning of Every End, and the End of Every Place
When Dublin’s Johnny Tirade and The Circle of Futures Past labels themselves as “stoner industrial-tinged,” I think they’re talking about the Ministry-esque push of opener “Hey Man” and the overarching tonal crunch (maybe also the drum machine) more than the acoustic guitar in near-17-minute centerpiece “Memory Hole” (also sax) and the concluding “Improv,” but one way or the other, that self-applied tag hardly encapsulates the weirdo gamut of the band’s cumbersomely-named 31-minute debut album, What is at the Beginning of Eternity, the End of Time, the Beginning of Every End, and the End of Every Place. But it’s part of it. There’s an earnest experimentalism at play in the songs as each of the five tracks wants to and does head to its own destination, but the more you hear “Lizard Johnny” or the samples and spoken verses of “American Dream” (prececed by “Fuck the…” in the chorus; fair enough), the more they make their own kind of linear sense, and as a showcase for what the band/project might become, the plunge undertaken in these tracks is an encouragingly odd fit for any number of square-hole genres in which one might try to shove them.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 17th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Well, Heavy Psych Sounds did Spirit Caravan reissues (doing the world a favor, putting those records back in print) this year, and I guess it went well enough that The Obsessed are shifting from Ripple Music to release their next album via the Italy-based label, which is arguably the world’s foremost imprint for underground heavy (Ripple having that title in the States). I don’t have timing on the impending full-length beyond the ‘2027’ it says in the PR wire info below, so it’s not like it’s showing up this week or anything, but I’ve seen The Obsessed twice so far this year, and they did nothing but deliver both times. Being a classic band suits them.
That said, being a classic band hasn’t stopped them from moving forward either, as 2024’s Gilded Sorrow (review here) and various reconfigurations during their time have shown. Speaking of, Bob Pantella (also Monster Magnet and The Atomic Bitchwax) will make his studio debut with the four-piece on their next record, and if that’s not enough to pique your interest, I can only advise you to do whatever you need to in order to adjust your perspective on the issue. For me it was a hammer to the skull. Yeah, like in Hellraiser.
Once again, the PR wire sent the following:
THE OBSESSED sign to Heavy Psych Sounds Records
American doom metal icons THE OBSESSED have inked a worldwide deal with Heavy Psych Sounds Records for the release of their new studio album in 2027.
The Obsessed is a rock band. A fucking HARD rock band. Since their formation in 1978, they have become known around the world for their influential contribution to the origins and continued legacy of the doom metal and underground hard rock genres. The distinctive vocals and guitar wizardry of founder and driving force Scott “Wino” Weinrich has left a mark on the world of heavy music that continues to inspire.
The Obsessed gained momentum in the Baltimore/DC area of the USA in the early to mid 1980’s during the height of the hardcore punk movement. Often cited as the band that bridged heavy metal and punk together, the band gained the respect of punk heavyweight contemporaries Black Flag, The Bad Brains, and Minor Threat, to name a few. The attitude and spirit of The Obsessed have led many to regard them as “America’s Motorhead”.
Wino went on to join the doom metal giants Saint Vitus as lead singer on seminal albums including 1986’s Born Too Late. In 1990, The Obsessed came back with their eponymous debut album, The Obsessed. This album was quickly followed by 1991’s Lunar Womb and 1994’s The Church Within. All three of these albums shaped and paved the way for future heavy rock bands and the doom scene as it’s known today. Wino’s gift for prose and his never-ending search for truth and meaning allow his words to hit as heavy as the riffs he plays.
Although The Obsessed went on a hiatus after The Church Within’s release on Columbia Records, Wino’s sheer passion and prolific nature led him to pursue many other critically acclaimed projects such as Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, Shrinebuilder and various acoustic releases. Long-time fan Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) specifically asked Wino to perform on his all-star Probot album, released in 2004.
In 2012, Wino rejoined Saint Vitus until the worldwide cry for The Obsessed could no longer be denied, and in 2016, he reunited the band once and for all and has been kicking ass and taking names ever since. Drummer Brian “Dawg” Costantino joined the band at this time. The band signed to Relapse Records and recorded 2017’s Sacred, an album showing The Obsessed back with pure vengeance, bringing the band back to venues and festival stages around the world.
In 2022, the band became a four-piece with the addition of Chris Angleberger on bass and Jason Taylor on guitar. They have been touring heavily since and have been seen on USA and European festival stages such as Hellfest, Freak Valley Festival, Snowblind Festival and Desertfest. The band’s latest record, Gilded Sorrow, was released in early 2024 on Ripple Music.
The Obsessed welcomed heavy rock titan Bob Pantella (also Monster Magnet) to the lineup as their new drummer in 2025, marking a new chapter in their legacy. Now, in 2026, the band has signed to Heavy Psych Sounds and is working on their new album, which release date is yet to be announced. The Obsessed are here to stay. “IF IT AIN’T HEAVY… IT AIN’T SHIT!!!”
Frontman Scott “Wino” Weinrich declares: “We are very happy to announce The Obsessed signing with the premier hard rock label Heavy Psych Sounds! The Obsessed is currently finishing the next full-length record, which will be released with HPS. Stay tuned, and thanks to all who believe.”
THE OBSESSED is Scott “Wino” Weinrich — Guitar, Vocals Jason Taylor — Guitar Chris Angleberger — Bass Bob Pantella — Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 14th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
I pieced together the below from a Bandcamp update, from the Bandcamp page for the song and from the YouTube page where the video is posted, so if it’s a bit of a mash, yes, it is. The point is there’s a new Sun Voyager single out today, and the fullthrottleness and willful repetition of the three-minute “Coming Down” feel like a suitably rousing follow-up to their last one, “Running Hot” (posted here), which came out this past February. The New York three-piece took footage from multiple regional shows — including that one in my hometown that I missed last year because I was away that I still regret not seeing — and the video is colorblasted accordingly, but if that’s too much on your senses, the audio is below as well and you’ll find it’s a burner all the way.
I won’t call it “no-nonsense,” because chincanery is part of what Sun Voyager do — it’s fun and it’s supposed to be — but it does feel direct-to-the-brain in a way that they’ve grown into being over the last couple years since they added guitarist/sometimes-vocalist Christian “Shaman Smoke” Lopez (also Heavy Temple) to the lineup with bassist/vocalist Stefan Mersch and drummer Kyle Beach. The fadeout feels like it’s hitting early, but the song still has plenty of time to establish its hook and pummel you with it. So yes, enjoy that.
If you’re reading that Sun Voyager have two singles this year so far and thinking new album, slow down. They basically had to go back to ground zero before they brought in Lopez, so while they might or might not have a bunch of new songs in the tank, I think it’s still going to be some time before it all surfaces as an LP. In the meantime, the rush of this one feels just right, and they’re correct when they tell you to turn it up:
Our new song “Coming Down” is out now.
It captures the vision we’ve been building over the last couple years. It’s heavy, psychedelic, loud, and the riff is pummeling.
Built around a massive riff, soaring guitar leads, and a relentless groove, Coming Down captures the band at full volume. This official music video was assembled from live footage shot across multiple performances, documenting the energy and chaos of the band and bringing the song to life the way it was meant to be experienced.
Visuals by Hydrosonic Light Show (@hydrosoniclightshow )
We’d love to know what you think after you’ve had a chance to listen.
Performed by Sun Voyager Recorded at Artfarm Recording, Accord, NY Mixed and engineered by Dave Andersen Mastered by Alan Douches, West West Side Music Logo design by John Scarperia Original photo by Pictureman Bob Artwork by Kim Zangrando
Sun Voyager is: Christian “Shaman Smoke” Lopez – Guitar, Vocals Stefan Mersch – Bass, Vocals Kyle Beach – Drums
New York heavy rockers Thinning the Herd issue their fifth album, Unsettled Debt, on July 24. It is a striking turnaround for the group led by founding guitarist/vocalist Gavin Spielman, whose third full-length, Cull (review here), came out last year, especially considering the 12-year stretch between their second LP and that one, but Spielman, returning drummer Rob Sefcik (Begotten, Kings Destroy, etc.) and newcomer bassist Laurie Safdie hit the studio with Scott “Wino” Weinrich (The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, et al) at the helm and the 11-song/42-minute Unsettled Debt seems to be the payback its title is promising.
As with Cull and the band’s work more broadly, Spielman‘s guitar is central. Riffs, shred, and no time for bullshit. On the opening title-track (premiering below as the second single from the album) the vocals cut through a wash of cymbals and the riffs crunch and chug through the sub-four-minute run, and the solo at the outset of “First Frost of Fall” feels like it’s preparing the ground for “Squatchfield,” for which Weinrich sits in on vocals and lead guitar, though it’s not like the rest of the record is wanting for solos. But the material across the board feels fresh, like it was jammed out in a barn, and raucous in a purposeful way. “The Lebanese” emerges into a sleek groove, and I’m not sure what’s going on with the lyrics, but there’s a story there, almost certainly. A quick fade brings the acoustic-inclusive “Deathfunk,” which starts out as an instrumental jam and finds its way, tambourine and maybe-organ-unless-I’m-hearing-things and all, into a rolling riff just before it too fades out into the immediate start of “Invisible.”
With underpinnings of working class heavy blues, “Invisble” continues the thread of brash shove, with bass punching through in more than just that few seconds of break in the second half where the guitar drops out before returning for the song’s apex. If it wasn’t recorded live, it sure sounds like it was. “Frozen Coke” follows, and yes, it’s about drugs. An initial strutter of a riff opens to a stretch of acoustic-led guitar with maybe a violin, but snaps back to its hard-hitting reality soon enough. They jam on it, bring back what in rehearsal would almost certainly have been called the ‘pretty part,’ and clear away some of the noise as they move into the nod of “Toothless Skull.” There’s a little more doom to the riff initially, but it’s all part of the melting pot of heavy, and with another quick fade ahead of them, Thinning the Herd make the most of their moment of clarity before the tempo kick of “I See Sky” picks up with more gruff elbows thrown, Spielman‘s vocals closer to the front of the mix with plenty of room left for the dual-layered solo in the second half’s nod.
The penultimate “Sigh!” is another low-end showcase, tucked away near the finish to feel like a march outward, especially as the instrumental closer “Won’t Sing for You” is an acoustic/electric exploration rather than a last banger riff before they’re gone. Its midtempo feel and buried shouts aren’t so far removed from “The Lebanese” earlier, a classic and doomed roll that’s as much about landing heavy in your ears as anything else. I don’t know how old these songs are or aren’t, but Unsettled Debt sounds like it’s new material, moving forward from where the band were on Cull, with Spielman, Sefcik and Safdie tearing it up as they go. The balance of noise in the mix for some parts will be too much for some listeners, but that’s all part of the thing and not there by accident. Taken as a whole, the album sounds like a celebration of the process of its own making, and it satisfies accordingly.
“Unsettled Debt” premieres below, followed by more from the PR wire. Please enjoy:
Thinning the Herd, “Unsettled Debt” track premiere
New York heavy rock veterans THINNING THE HERD will release their fifth full-length album, Unsettled Debt, packed with 11 new songs on July 24, marking the band’s 20th anniversary. The album was co-produced by legendary doom-rock icon Wino (THE OBSESSED, SAINT VITUS, SPIRIT CARAVAN), whose distinctive vocals and signature moody lead guitar can be heard on the new release.
Over two decades, TTH has earned its reputation for combining crushing doom, blues-soaked heavy rock, and authentic songwriting into a sound uniquely their own. Unsettled Debt represents the band’s most accomplished statement yet – an album forged from years of experience, personal reflection, and a relentless commitment to heavy music.
Ahead of its release, TTH will unveil two singles, giving listeners an early earful of the record’s depth and power. The first single, “Squatchfield,” featuring Wino on vocals and lead guitar, will be out everywhere on June 19, followed by the title track, “Unsettled Debt,” July 4.
Thinning the Herd are also playing July 24th for a a record release, and Wino and Gavin Spielman will be performing an acoustic set July 4th for the release of Unsettled Debt the single, at Van Dusens in Lexington, NY.
For fans of THE OBSESSED, SAINT VITUS, CLUTCH, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, and classic American heavy rock, Unsettled Debt will not disappoint.
Thinning the Herd: Gavin Spielman – guitar/vocals Laurie Safdie – bass Rob Sefcik – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 23rd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
One would not accuse King Buffalo of not taking care of their fans. Maybe you’ve seen the band in the last year and a half in the US or Canada? Then there’s a good chance that show is included in the band’s reignited Bootleg Series. Below you’ll find the full tracklisting with dates and runtimes from Bandcamp. I was listening to the Brooklyn show from last December (review here) where I got to see them with All Them Witches, and that’s always fun, but I’m sure you could find something special each night to dig into here. As someone who remembers buying silver-back CD boots in the ’90s, I can’t help but smile at all this.
The Rochester trio have three shows this week and a Fall tour lined up around the stated Halloween release of “new music.” New music. They haven’t said “new album.” They’ve said “new music,” specifically, which makes me think either it’s an EP or something else that isn’t a full-length, because otherwise why wouldn’t you just say that? Unless they’re just trying to make me crazy, which I suppose is possible.
But that’s all later-stuff and for now-stuff there’s hours and hours and hours among the 58 live gigs they’ve made available, all name-your-price, so have at it:
“Bootlegs are back friends! We’re still combing through some older shows and we’ll have those up in the coming weeks.”
1. 2026 – 02.13 – Birmingham, AL 44:20 2. 2026 – 02.14 – Baton Rouge, LA 44:17 3. 2026 – 02.15 – Houston, TX 44:16 4. 2026 – 02.18 – Phoenix, AZ 47:19 5. 2026 – 02.19 – San Diego, CA 43:56 6. 2026 – 02.20 – Los Angeles, CA 45:12 7. 2026 – 02.21 – Berkeley, CA 48:09 8. 2026 – 02.23 – Vancouver, BC 43:25 9. 2026 – 02.24 – Portland, OR 55:06 10. 2026 – 02.25 – Seattle, WA 49:18 11. 2026 – 02.26 – Boise, ID 44:42 12. 2026 – 02.28 – Boulder, CO 48:31 13. 2026 – 03.01 – Denver, CO 45:05 14. 2026 – 03.03 – Omaha, NB 46:03 15. 2026 – 03.05 – Oklahoma City, OK 44:39 16. 2026 – 03.06 – Austin, TX 45:37 17. 2026 – 03.07 – Dallas, TX 45:59 18. 2025 – 01.16 – Brooklyn, NY 01:15:56 19. 2025 – 01.17 – Brooklyn, NY 01:21:01 20. 2025 – 01.24 – Columbus, OH 01:19:52 21. 2025 – 01.25 – Chicago, IL 01:16:16 22. 2025 – 01.26 – Chicago, IL 01:29:53 23. 2025 – 01.28 – St. Paul, MN 01:19:35 24. 2025 – 01.29 – Madison, WI 01:14:00 25. 2025 – 01.30 – Milwaukee, WI 01:33:25 26. 2025 – 01.31 – Indianapolis, IN 01:17:11 27. 2025 – 02.01 – Toledo, OH 01:16:57 28. 2025 – 12.02 – Asheville, NC 40:29 29. 2025 – 12.03 – Columbus, OH 41:14 30. 2025 – 12.04 – Cleveland, OH 43:49 31. 2025 – 12.05 – Chicago, IL 42:18 32. 2025 – 12.06 – Chicago, IL 40:52 33. 2025 – 12.08 – Detroit, MI 39:05 34. 2025 – 12.09 – Toronto, ON 44:14 35. 2025 – 12.10 – Montreal, QC 41:06 36. 2025 – 12.12 – Philadelphia, PA 43:55 37. 2025 – 12.13 – Brooklyn, NY 44:17 38. 2025 – 12.14 – Washington, DC 44:01 39. 2025 – 12.16 – Nashville, TN 43:37 40. 2025 – 12.17 – Nashville, TN 43:02 41. 2024 – 01.13 – Detroit, MI 01:34:09 42. 2024 – 01.14 – Grand Rapids, MI 01:36:44 43. 2024 – 01.16 – Davenport, IA 01:31:57 44. 2024 – 01.17 – Bloomington, IN 01:20:00 45. 2024 – 01.18 – Louisville, KY 01:19:19 46. 2024 – 03.13 – Cleveland, OH 01:40:04 47. 2024 – 08.29 – Lexington, KY 01:04:06 48. 2024 – 08.30 – Cincinnati, OH 55:36 49. 2024 – 11.08 – Washington, DC 01:24:41 50. 2024 – 12.04 – Omaha, NB 01:13:07 51. 2024 – 12.06 – Colorado Springs, CO 01:25:47 52. 2024 – 12.07 – Boulder, CO 01:28:11 53. 2024 – 12.28 – Buffalo, NY 01:23:53 54. 2018 – 03.25 – Los Angeles, CA 38:12 55. 2018 – 04.12 – Houston, TX 41:05 56. 2017 – 05.20 – Syracuse, NY 34:37 57. 2017 – 05.27 – Rochester, NY 39:09 58. 2017 – 06.21 – Ottawa, ON 29:46
King Buffalo Fall 2026 US Tour: 10/29 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre 10/30 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre 10/31 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge 11/2 Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre 11/3 Vancouver, BC – The Pearl 11/4 Seattle, WA – Neumos 11/6 San Francisco, CA – The Independent 11/7 Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room 11/9 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up 11/10 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom 11/11 Albuquerque, NM – Sister 11/13 Dallas, TX – AM/FM 11/14 Austin, TX – Mohawk 11/17 Houston, TX – Bad Astronaut 11/19 Nashville, TN – Basement East 11/20 Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle 11/21 Cincinnati, OH – Woodward Theatre 12/3 Detroit, MI – El Club 12/4 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall 12/5 Cleveland, OH – The Roxy 12/8 Toronto, ON – The Mod Club 12/9 Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount 12/10 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall 12/11 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge 12/12 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts 12/15 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry 12/16 Durham, NC – Motorco 12/17 Washington, DC – Black Cat 12/18 Columbus, OH – Skully’s
15 years…
