Of course, for a band who’ve been around for over four decades and have transcended genres a couple times over, one knows better to expect them to only do one thing across a 2LP, but the new C.O.C. track, titled “Gimme Some Moore” — lest we forget Stanton Moore (Galactic) is on drums — is a burner. And Pepper sounds pissed. 2018’s No Cross No Crown (review here) had its brash moments as well and operated in a four-sided structure, so it will be interesting to hear how the rest of Good God / Baad Man plays out upon its arrival April 3. The cover(s) art you’ll find below, and preorders are up, and there are tour dates with Clutch (I hope I get to go to that Jersey show) and the video’s at the bottom of this post. I’m not sure what else you’d need to know here.

Don’t let me keep you. The PR wire brought urgent news:

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY To Release Massive Double Album, Good God / Baad Man, On April 3rd Via Nuclear Blast; New Video/Single Now Playing + Preorders Available

American heavy metal legends CORROSION OF CONFORMITY will release their long-awaited new double album, Good God / Baad Man, on April 3rd via Nuclear Blast!

Much has gone down in the CORROSION OF CONFORMITY universe since their last album smacked us upside the head. Back in 2018, when No Cross No Crown dropped like a rock ‘n’ roll atom bomb, the tried-and-true CORROSION OF CONFORMITY lineup of Pepper Keenan (vocals, guitar), Woody Weatherman (guitar), Reed Mullin (drums), and Mike Dean (bass) was still going strong. Four brothers united in a decades-long history kicked off by a roving pack of teenage punks in Raleigh, North Carolina circa 1982.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY’s first four albums left a permanent mark on headbangers, longhairs, and street punks everywhere: Underground classics Eye For An Eye (1984) and Animosity (1985) followed by slightly more overground bangers Blind (1991) and Deliverance (1994). By the time CORROSION OF CONFORMITY carved off No Cross No Crown nearly a quarter century later, they were legends in their own time, revered by two generations of punk, metal, and rock fans.

Then tragedy struck: In January 2020, Reed Mullin left this earthly plane. It was a devastating blow, both personally and professionally. How do you replace a brother? You can’t. All you can do is soldier on in his memory. Which is what the rest of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY did – until COVID-19 shut down the globe. Then Mike Dean decided to go his own way. It was an amicable split, but it left Pepper and Woody to contemplate their next move. They hunkered down at Keenan’s place in Mississippi, listening to all the music they love. Discharge. ZZ Top. Motörhead. Neil Young. Black Sabbath. You know: The good stuff.

They started writing. They didn’t stop; not for a long time. In fact, they composed a massive double album. “As we went on, we had such a crazy plethora of songs, it was almost like two different directions,” Pepper says. “We knew we had to split it into two different albums. Then we came up with this concept.”

The concept happens to be the title of the record. It’s called Good God / Baad Man. “Our producer, Warren Riker, kept calling it Dark Side Of The Doom,” recalls Pepper. “In my head, it’s a weird love letter to all things rock ‘n’ roll. We used that for the freedom to go in different directions. Each album is its own tiny universe and has its own identity. Good God leans toward the heavier/pissed end of the spectrum. Baad Man is more on the throwdown rock scope. As we went along, it became clear which songs went on which album.”

They brought in drummer Stanton Moore, who played on CORROSION OF CONFORMITY’s 2005 album, In The Arms Of God. They brought in bassist Bobby “Rock” Landgraf, who did time with Pepper in New Orleans heavyweights Down when he wasn’t terrorizing the locals in his own band, Honky. “With a lot of these songs, we’re trying to make Reed Mullin proud,” Pepper says. “He was a badass, and a one-of-a-kind drummer. And the stakes were high.”

The band’s first preview of this mammoth offering comes in the form of lead single, “Gimme Some Moore.” The track features backing vocals from Ministry’s Al Jourgensen and Madonna guitarist Monte Pittman. The hook of the song is, “Struggle is worth the fight/Leather, chains and spikes.” “Me and Woody wanted to write a song as if we were 17 years old again,” Pepper explains. “We even made a seven-inch for it.” Said seven-inch, released during their Mexico/South American tour last month, is an early ‘80s punk throwback, complete with a black and white photo collage and a Fear cover on the flipside. It’s a ripper. The video for “Gimme Some Moore” was filmed by Mike Holderbeast and directed by Pepper Keenan.

Produced by Grammy award winner Warren Riker (Fugees, Down, Cathedral) and featuring cover art by famed New Orleans artist Scott Guion, Good God / Baad Man was recorded at Blak Shak Studios in Riffissippi, USA, Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, and Bee Gee Barry Gibb’s home studio in Miami, Florida.

Good God / Baad Man will be released on digipak CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:

Gatefold 2xLP w/ Belly Strip – Black Vinyl (Retail)

2 Separate Jacket LPs w/ Belly Strip – LP 1 Blue/LP 2 Red (Mail Order + Band Exclusive)

Find all preorders at THIS LOCATION: https://coccabal.bfan.link/ggbmlp

Additionally, limited quantities of the band’s “Gimme Some Moore” seven-inch are available at the band’s website HERE: https://coc.com/

Good God / Baad Man Track Listing:
Album 1
1. Good God? / Final Dawn
2. You Or Me
3. Gimme Some Moore
4. The Handler
5. Bedouin’s Hand
6. Run For Your Life

Album 2
7. Baad Man
8. Lose Yourself
9. Mandra Sonos
10. Asleep On The Killing Floor
11. Handcuff County
12. Swallowing The Anchor
13. Brickman
14. Forever Amplified

In support of Good God / Baad Man, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY will return to stages this Spring on a North American headlining tour with support provided by Whores and Crobot.

The journey begins with a pair of headlining shows on April 7th and April 8th in Atlanta and Greensboro respectively, with Whores. From there, the band will head to Sayreville on April 9th to join Clutch for a run of dates through May 3rd in Asheville (with additional support by JD Pinkus). CORROSION OF CONFORMITY reconvenes with Whores on May 5th in Toronto and May 6th in Montreal with Crobot joining the caravan for all remaining dates through May 16th in New Orleans.

Tickets are on sale now. See all confirmed dates below.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY Live:
4/07/2026 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA *
4/08/2026 The Pyrle – Greensboro, NC *
4/09/2026 Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ ^
4/11/2026 The Palladium – Worcester, MA ^
4/12/2026 Kodak Center Theater – Rochester, NY ^
4/14/2026 The Factory – Chesterfield, MO ^
4/15/2026 Manchester Music Hall – Lexington, KY ^
4/17/2026 VooDoo at Harrah’s Kansas City – North Kansas City, MO ^
4/18/2026 Anthem at Hard Rock Sioux City – Sioux City, IA **
4/19/2026 The District – Sioux Falls, SD ^
4/21/2026 Mesa Theater – Grand Junction, CO ^
4/22/2026 Metro Music Hall – Salt Lake City, UT (COC only)
4/23/2026 Treefort Music Hall – Boise, ID ^
4/24/2026 Cargo Concert Hall – Reno, NV ^
4/25/2026 Sick New World – Las Vegas, NV Festival Date
4/27/2026 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM ^
4/28/2026 The Horseshoe – Midland, TX ^
4/29/2026 The Aztec Theatre – San Antonio, TX ^
5/01/2026 Vinyl Music Hall – Pensacola, FL ^
5/02/2026 The Signal – Chattanooga, TN ^
5/03/2026 The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC ^
5/05/2026 Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, ON *
5/06/2026 Fairmount Theatre – Montreal, QC *
5/07/2026 Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY ***
5/08/2026 Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA ***
5/09/2026 Mr. Smalls Theatre – Millvale, PA ***
5/10/2026 The Roxy – Lakewood, OH ***
5/12/2026 The Machine Shop – Flint, MI ***
5/13/2026 The Pyramid Scheme – Grand Rapids, MI ***
5/14/2026 Outset – Chicago, IL ***
5/15/2026 Cannery Hall – Nashville, TN ***
5/16/2026 Tipitina’s – New Orleans, LA ***
* w/ Whores
^ w/ Clutch, JD Pinkus
*** w/ Whores, Crobot

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY:
Pepper Keenan – guitar, vocals
Woody Weatherman – guitar
Stanton Moore – drums
Bobby Landgraf – bass

http://www.coc.com
https://www.instagram.com/coccabal/
http://www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity

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Corrosion of Conformity, “Gimme Some More” official video

London’s Green Lung have finished recording what will be their fourth album. I don’t know if that means the mix is done or hasn’t started yet and the nine days they spent at Rockfield Studios in Wales was just for tracking, but it means at least that, and if you’ve ever made a record or maybe if you haven’t you know that recording the songs is, well, a big part of the process. Not necessarily all of it, but still.

If they have mixing, mastering, making the inevitable video or two and an at-least three-month promo period ahead of them — not to mention beginning to ramp up tour preparations, because Green Lung are about to enter a whole new cycle — they could probably have the record out by June, but Green Lung have a thing for October releases, so when they say they can’t wait for people to hear the album “later this year,” they might mean October.

Fun to speculate either way, and one looks forward to hearing how Green Lung follow the upped production scope of their Nuclear Blast debut, 2023’s This Heathen Land (review here) — which brought them to the US for their first tour, including the much-missed Desertfest NYC 2024 (review here). They’ve always been a songwriting-based band, but the grandiosity laid on top of that has grown ever broader-reaching. They’re not shy in pushing over-the-top, I guess is what I’m saying. It should be a fun one.

From social media over the weekend:

Another one in the bag! What a privilege to spend the last nine days recording Album IV at Rockfield Studios with producer Tom Dalgety and engineer Tim Lewis. So many of the bands that inspire us have haunted these hallowed halls, from Sabbath to Priest, Queen to Rush, Hawkwind, Budgie, Van Der Graaf Generator… the list goes on. Hopefully we haven’t tarnished the legacy. We can’t wait for you all to hear it later this year 💚 (📸: Andy Ford)

http://www.greenlung.co.uk/
https://greenlung.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/greenlungband/
https://www.facebook.com/greenlungband

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Green Lung, This Heathen Land (2023)

Today is Thursday, but it’s day five of the Fall 2025 Quarterly Review because I snuck in that first day last Friday. I cannot convey to you how much that has screwed me up. Turns out when you do one thing precisely one way for like 13 years and then all of a sudden flip it around another way it can be confusing. Stay tuned for more deep-impact life hacks and insights like this.

Or maybe riffs instead. It’s okay. That’s most of what keeps me coming back too.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Paradise Lost, Ascension

More than 35 years on from their outset, Paradise Lost are an institution. I know they’ve had their stylistic divergences, but since recommitting themselves to their morose take on doom metal more than 15 years ago, they’ve hit a rare echelon of reliability one can only call Kreator-esque. That’s not a sonic comparison, but like the German thrash stalwarts, Paradise Lost have their sound — dark and more malleable in tempo than the thickened tones make it feel across these 10 songs — and within that sphere are able to do basically what they want musically and make it work. Side A’s “Salvation,” the longest inclusion at seven minutes, is a tour de force of the appeal of modern Paradise Lost, and a fitting summary of how encompassing they’ve become while still remaining recognizable as themselves. They even get hooky on “Deceivers,” so yes, still growing, still pushing, still Paradise Lost. A once-a-generation band, even as part of a cohort as they were, and not to be taken for granted.

Paradise Lost website

Nuclear Blast Records store

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The Vintage Caravan, Portals

The sixth full-length from still-younger-than-some-bands-who-haven’t-been-around-as-long Icelandic heavy rockers The Vintage Caravan plays out across 17 tracks and 59 minutes, with groups of songs presumably corresponding to double-vinyl side splits separated by interludes each of which is named “Portal.” So, Portals. The first of them follows “Philosopher,” the lead single which features Mikael Åkerfeldt, who turns out to be one of several guests across the record, but the real headliner is the songwriting. In the big choruses of “Here You Come Again,” “Give and Take,” and others, the band recall a heyday when rock could be heavy and accessible outside its own sphere, while “Electrified” later on builds into a tense boogie hook before “Portal V” transitions to the acoustic-based “My Aurora” and the closer “This Road,” one more uptempo, shred-inclusive, exceptionally well-crafted piece of The Vintage Caravan‘s classic-heavy-informed style, efficient in getting its point across despite allowing itself time to dwell as it does throughout.

The Vintage Caravan website

Napalm Records website

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Spirit Mother, Songs From the Basin

It’s not really a huge surprise that Los Angeles dark heavy psych rockers Spirit Mother would ‘go acoustic’ at some point, given the dynamic they’ve showcased to-date on their definitely-plugged studio albums. The most recent of those, 2024’s righteous, Heavy Psych Sounds-issued Trails (review here), is the source for “Wolves” and “Below,” which feature on this short, stripped-down offering. “Wolves,” which capped the record in memorable fashion, leads off here with its foreboding feeling all the more realized given the state of the world, while “Below” finds violinist SJ pushing into a soft crescendo taking off from Armand Lance‘s guitar and vocals. Recorded live, Songs From the Basin sounds duly organic, and whenever Spirit Mother in any form — that is, the full band or just the duo as they are here — wants to drop a full acoustic set, I’m here for it. Once again, the lesson is once you have well-written songs, you can make them do and be just about whatever you want.

Spirit Mother website

Spirit Mother on Bandcamp

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Nadja, Cut

I’m pretty sure the now-Berlin-based experimentalist duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff are north of 30 full-lengths released since their first one in 2002, and that doesn’t count blurring the lines between one project and another with collaborations or Baker‘s solo work. Prolific as they are, they remain expressive in the hard-drum-machined “It’s Cold When You Cut Me” (15:09), one of the four extended inclusions of Cut, where the sinister undercurrent comes to fruition in the song’s second half of manipulated, noisy drone. “Dark, No Knowledge” (13:26) lays out a distorted landscape and rolls through it, Godflesh in a hand-cranked meat grinder, becoming a swell of apocalyptic noise, while “She Ate His Dreams From the Inside and Spat Out the Frozen Fucking Bones” (15:14) dares to be pretty as it leaves spaces open and fills out later with psychedelic processionmaking, leaving the immediate ritual of “Omenformation” to resonate high before piling on low end frequencies while also freakjazzing and riffing out. The noise swallows all but it turns out there’s salvation in that monster’s stomach, so I’ll take it. One Nadja album may be an inevitable precursor to the next one, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make it a world of its own.

Nadja website

Cruel Nature Recordings on Bandcamp

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Vibravoid, Remove the Ties

Düsseldorf-bred psych rockers Vibravoid belong in a class of undervalued all their own. As they mark their 35th anniversary, they begin their new studio album Remove the Ties with a mischievous redirect of krautrock-style electronics before the garage-wavey “Neustart” and pop-shimmerier “Power of Dreams” dig further into the heart of the record, letting side A round out with the longer, deeper-reverbed “Follow Me Follow You” and its effects barrage play out atop the steady kick drum tasked with holding it together. But nobody who’s been in a band for 35 years is about to actually be sloppy, and there’s no actual danger of off-the-rails on Remove the TiesBaby Woodrose roamed the earth. Vibravoid were there then too. It’s easy to get around when you’re from a different dimension.

Vibravoid on Bandcamp

Tonzonen website

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For Fuck’s Sake, 7-Minute Abs/Lobotomy

Do you have six minutes for a good pummeling? Of course you do. Brooklynite four-piece For Fuck’s Sake offer two tracks like a digital punker 7″ with 7-Minute Abs/Lobotomy, and they make no attempt to hide the fact of their sights being set on destruction. Their sound, rooted in hardcore and sludge in like measure, counting in with the snare on “7-Minute Abs” and daring to cross the three-minutes-long threshold with the fervent chug and bone-on-bone impact of “Lobotomy,” reminds of nothing so much as earlier 16, but with an unmistakable edge of Northeastern confrontationalism. That is, they’ll fuck you up and they know it, so that’s what they’re setting out to do. Barking, gnashing intensity set a harsh backdrop for what’s an engaging groove so long as you’re pissed off enough to process it (which you should be; look around), and the rawness of their delivery, the unabashed assault of it, comes through as genuine. Also punishing.

For Fuck’s Sake on Bandcamp

For Fuck’s Sake on Instagram

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Paralyzed, Rumble & Roar

Classic heavy rock and roll forms the core of Paralyzed‘s approach, with guitarist Michael Binder‘s low, gravelly vocals reminiscent of Jim Morrison at his least hinged, suited to the blues behind second cut “Railroad” and the subsequent march of “Rosie’s Town” on the band’s third LP, Rumble & Roar. To say they — that is, Binder, organist/rhythm guitarist Caterina Böhner, bassist Philipp Engelbrecht and drummer Florian Thiele — make it a party across the nine-song/41-minute outing is perhaps understating the case, but if you’d accuse “Heavy Blues” of being too on the nose, you’re missing the fact that on the nose is the point. There’s no irony here, no sneer to the boogie of “White Paper” or the slow organ-laced fluidity of “The Witch,” just heavy vibes and reaffirmation of the band’s growth as songwriters. I’m not even sure where one would start complaining about such a thing.

Paralyzed on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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Friendship Commanders, Bear

Delivered as their label-debut for Magnetic Eye Records, the 10-song/40-minute Bear is the fourth full-length from Nashville two-piece Friendship Commanders, with guitarist/vocalist Buick Audra and drummer/bassist/synthesist Jerry Roe having recorded with Kurt Ballou in addition to doing some at home for an affect accordingly tight in craft and heavy in impact. “Melt” pushes toward a ’90s-style reimagining of heavy rock as both commercially viable and empowering, while “X” pairs its tonal crunch with the keyboardy reach of its midsection, poppish but still heavy even unto the snare hits. Pop becomes another tool in their arsenal, whether it’s the layered ascent and push of “New” or the weighted culmination presented with closer “Dead and Discarded Girls,” and the band don’t seem to shy away from being able to compose at the level they are. At the same time, “Dripping Silver” feels fully cognizant of the radness in the riff it’s riding, so there’s a balance to it as well. They sound like professionals.

Friendship Commanders website

Magnetic Eye Records store

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Dee Calhoun, Angry Old Man

Former Iron Man and, as of recently, former Spiral Grave vocalist “Screaming Mad” Dee Calhoun is pissed. The Maryland-based acoustic metal troubadour sounds resolute on Angry Old Man, and while his past solo work could hardly be said to pull punches, he hits a different level of laying it all out there on “Kill a Motherfucker” late in the procession here. As ever, hollow-bodied-resonance is the foundation throughout, but other elements like the harmonica in “Voodoo Queen” and the tolling bell at the outset of “VVitch (A Chant)” (not really a chant) fill out the reaches when Calhoun‘s powerhouse voice — still his primary instrument, though the guitar work has gotten more complex with time as well — recedes to a softer delivery. But when he belts it out — looking at you, “Rise Up to March” — he can shake the ground, and if you have any prior familiarity with his work, you already know he’s unmistakable in that regard. That remains the case here, even as he positions himself the titular Angry Old Man. Ain’t none of us getting any younger, dude.

Dee Calhoun Linktr.ee

Black Doomba Records Linktr.ee

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Automatism, Sörmland

The narrative of the band getting together after a few years, enjoying each other’s company as they wrote and recorded Sörmland — named for where in Sweden they were — becomes real with the mellowprog delve of “Honey Trap” more than the shorter leadoff “Video,” as pastoralia takes centerstage with organic melodies and a casual groove. Unsurprisingly if you know Twin Peaks, “Laura Palmer’s Theme” is darker, but the real reference it’s making seems to be to “Moonlight Sonata” as regards the keys, but “Neon Lights” answers back by being in no hurry whatsoever with sweet intertwining guitar lines and a subtle build to later movement. At 11 minutes, the title-track that caps is the longest inclusion, but fair enough since they have to make room for that tenor sax and all. I wouldn’t know from experience, but Sörmland is what I imagine it would sound like to be emotionally regulated, ever, and anytime Automatism want to get together out in the woods or by some fields or a lake or whathaveyou, I hope someone has the presence of mind to hit record.

Automatism on Bandcamp

Tonzonen website

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If you’ve been keeping up, you already know this Quarterly Review goes through next Monday (because screw weekends anyhow) and will top out at 70 releases covered. Today, then, is when we hit the halfway mark en route to that number. Does it matter? Probably not unless you’re the guy on the other side of the laptop writing it, but maybe you just enjoy having the division done for you.

More of a range of styles today than yesterday, which I need to keep this going, so you’ll pardon me while I dig in in the hope that you do the same. Thanks for reading.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Mountain of Misery, Shades of the Ashes

Somewhat impressively, Mountain of Misery remains the solo-project of Kamil Ziółkowski, who perhaps if he wasn’t also the drummer/vocalist in Spaceslug might’ve put together a full band by now, but seems committed to keeping the band in-house. But it is a band, to be sure. Shades of the Ashes is Ziółkowski‘s third LP under the moniker, and it pushes deeper into a progression distinct from Spaceslug however familiar some of the vocals are, and offers depth of its own, whether that’s tonally in the thickened fuzz of “Follow the Sun” or the way he makes it boogie in “Speed King” (not a cover) while at the same time setting up the lush nod of “From Fall to Rise.” Between “Thornado” at the outset and the eight-minute finale “Blow,” Ziółkowski refines Mountain of Misery‘s sound with a freshness that is metal, grunge, heavy rock and psychedelic all at once, and stronger for that cohesion with his signature mellow vocals over top. It’s kind of surprising at this point he hasn’t been tempted to do it live, but clearly this is working, so I wouldn’t necessarily encourage messing with the process either.

Mountain of Misery on Bandcamp

Mountain of Misery on Facebook

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Dërro, Halcyon

A fresh take on the notion of Southern heavy from Asheville, North Carolina’s Dërro, who put a bit of twang into the post-Alice in Chains harmonies of “Brain Worm” (surely a song for our times) and a bit of emotive soar into “Echo Mountain” in complement to a guitar tone that feels kin to earlier Tool, all while retaining a ‘doing its own thing’ vibe. That is to say, the six-song Halcyon — which is the band’s first outing so far as I know — feels like the credited-as-composers duo of Neal Brewer and Corey Tossas, working with Pat Gerasia on drums, would seem to have come into this debut offering with a firm idea of what they wanted the band to be sound-wise, and unless they’ve secretly been working on it for a decade, the results of that shimmer with intention and feeling alike in the chuggy “Alone” and the drawl-into-power-nod opening title-track. One to watch? Maybe, but way more of a thing to hear now.

Dërro on Bandcamp

Dërro on Instagram

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Soporose, Soporose

The guitar/drum duo of Marco Bianciardi (The Somnambulist, ex-Arte, etc.) and Sara Neidorf (Mellowdeath, Sarattma, ex-Aptera, etc.) apparently recorded their six-track/36-minutes self-titled debut in a day. That implies much of it was done live, though it doesn’t account for the keyboards that show up in “Spectral Swell” and “Countershading,” or the lead layering in “Talking Moonshine,” but it’s not unlikely that after showing up and banging it out they had a little time for overdubs. Fair enough. The pieces are varied and prone to getting weirder toward their respective ends, rooted in doomjazz but groove-conscious just the same, and the garage-y strum in “Gruttling From Outer Space” bends and twists as it goes in a way that surely defines what ‘gruttling’ might be, while “Edge of Forthcoming Rain” hints at more peaceful ideas without giving up its restlessness and “The Cosmonaut’s Secret” turns out to be the shove into its own finish. They close with a saunter in “Talking Moonshine” and that feels as right as anything for a collection that’s so casually eclectic while minimizing the actual elements involved in its making.

Soporose Linktr.ee

Soporose on Bandcamp

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VVarp, Power Held in Stone

Melbourne three-piece VVarp — also stylized all-caps: VVARP — seem to imagine a universe wherein the thickened tones and keyboard flourish of Slomatics meets with more traditionalist doom riffing, but that’s still just half the story as bassist Claudia Sullivan and guitarist/keyboardist John Bollen share lead vocals in harmonized style over the voluminous roll of “Druid Warfare,” the cavernous and lumbering “A Path Through the Veil,” assuring there’s beauty to coincide with all the crush that surrounds. Running 34 minutes and five tracks, Power Held in Stone follows 2020’s First Levitations and is accordingly their second full-length, given ethereal, almost-chanting presence through the vocals on centerpiece “Equinox Portal” where “Iron Cloak” is more resolved to its own heads-down-all-go bombast fueled by drummer Scott McLatchie as the song shoves into the residual keys that carry to the rumble at the outset of 10-minute capper “Stone Silhouette,” likewise gorgeous, immersive and encompassing.

VVarp on Bandcamp

VVarp on Instagram

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Atom Juice, Atom Juice

Easily among the best debut albums I’ve heard in 2025 comes this modernized-classic psychedelia outreach from Poland’s Atom Juice, who would seem to have some relation to meloproggers Weedpecker through guitarist/vocalist Bartek Dobry, but who take a different path to get to bright and melodic fruition. The five-piece outfit’s self-titled debut (on Heavy Psych Sounds) runs shortest to longest on each of its component sides, with copious Beatles influence in “Gooboo” (circa ’70) and delves elsewhere into modern space rock (“Dead Hookers”), the most engaging funk-psych I’ve heard since Wight on “Sexi Frogs,” and an identity in the doing conjured through a blend of influences older and new. As closer “Honey” gives a bit of push in its first half, there’s nowhere Atom Juice wind up on the record that they don’t make themselves welcome, and with rare warmth, they give hopeful hints at the shape of heavy psychedelia to come. I haven’t seen a lot of hype for this one. If you’re reading this, don’t skip it.

Atom Juice on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Hooveriii, Manhunter

The 15 tracks of Hooveriii‘s Manhunter have a foundation in garage rock and an according off-the-cuff feel, but at the same time, interludes and exploratory instrumentals like “In the Rain,” “Night Walks in Montreaux,” the spacey title-track and the penultimate organ soundscaper “Awful Planet” assure that nothing actually comes across as haphazard in a way that undercuts the dynamic. “Melody” and “Tin Lips” open in rocking style, while the fuzz grows more fervent in “Westside Pavilion of Dreams” and “Heaven at the Gates” before “Cul-de-Sac” marks the transition to the next phase with the forceful shuffle of “The Fly,” answered a short while later by the heft of “Question.” It goes like this, flowing except where it doesn’t want to, and with the jazzy “Me King” and the aforementioned mellow-vocalized “Awful Planet” for setup, “Stage” reroutes into pastoralism and feels pointedly kind in so doing. Clearly a band for whom genre takes a secondary role to their own craft, and one whose appeal is broader for that.

Hooveriii on Bandcamp

The Reverb Appreciation Society store

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Gaupa, Fyr

Fluidity is part of the nature of what Sweden’s Gaupa do, as the Falun-based troupe have established over their two-to-date LPs and other sundry outings. The five-song/35-minute Fyr finds them working with producer Karl Daniel Lidén — which was a very good idea that somebody had — and is billed as a mini-album, which I think is to account for its being only one minute shorter than their most recent LP, 2022’s Myriad (review here). Vocalist Emma Näslund remains a focal point in the songs, but the balance of the mix is malleable as “Heavy Lord” demonstrates, and “Elastic Sheep” finds the entire band aligned around a fullness that one only hopes is emblematic of their third to come. Plus a big ol’ slowdown, and while we’re talking bonuses, the 11-minute live take on “Febersvan” from their first EP is a welcome glimpse at how far they’ve progressed to this point to complement the potential still so obvious in their sound. They’re the kind of band you hope never stop growing.

Gaupa Linktr.ee

Nuclear Blast Records store

Magnetic Eye Records store

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Foot, The Hammer

With multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Paul Holden still at the center of the project — Mathias Dowle is also credited with playing on and co-engineering the album with Holden and Ryan Fallis — Melbourne psych-grunge rockers Foot seem to pick up where they left off with 2022’s You Are Weightless, tapping into a style that’s grounded in terms of structure and committedly straightforward but that still lends a feeling of scope and space to the nine cuts on the 45-minute Copper Feast-issued LP. The fuzz is prevalent, perhaps nowhere more so than “Walking Into Walls All Week,” where “Intensify” is more of a vocal showcase until its later heavy sweep. Holden does a cover of Marcy Playground‘s “Sex and Candy”… for… some reason… and but for that, as one would both expect and hope for the band at this point, they remain a songwriting-based unit, able to present a diversity of ideas and moods without ever making it feel like a departure at all.

Foot on Bandcamp

Copper Feast Records website

—

Diagram, Short Circuit Control

Enter Diagram with a ready definition for ‘dug in’ on their second album, Short Circuit Control. The Berlin duo of founder Hákon Aðalsteinsson and Fred Sunesen offer heady listeners a heady listen with nine inclusions that commune with the history of electronics in krautrock while still keeping both a modern and a psychedelic affect. Is that neo-kraut? I honestly don’t know, but cuts like “This is How We Lead Our Lives” transcend their outward poppiness through repetition and exploration, and the abiding lesson seems to be that just because something is dancey doesn’t also mean it can’t be purposefully building an atmosphere — “Close Your Eyes” walks by and waves (not that you can see it with your eyes closed). The single “Dub Boy” answers the New Wave aspects of opener “Breath in Your Fire,” and a ’90s electro finale awaits in “Through the Wall of Sound” for anybody adventurous enough to take it on.

Diagram on Bandcamp

P.U.G. Records on Bandcamp

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The Phantom Eye, Cymatic Waves

Brookynite heavy progressive rockers The Phantom Eye offer blend across Cymatic Waves‘ four tracks that feels metallic at its root but has grown and redirected to more complex fare. Between the volume trades of “Circuit Rider,” the noise baked into the finish of “Palindrome,” the synth adding drama to “Black Hotel” and the intricate balancing of guitar layers in “Silent Symphony,” the focus is never purely on just being heavy, but ‘heavy,’ as a musical ideal, is a piece of the puzzle here, framing a broad melodic reach and giving shape to the structures underlying. I wouldn’t hazard a guess as to what they might sound like in five years, but as they’re following 2021’s Chromesthesia EP (review here) with this second short release, it’s even more difficult to pin them down as any one thing. This could hardly feel more intentional than it does in the songs. There’s a plan at work here. It’s just starting to pan out.

The Phantom Eye Linktr.ee

The Phantom Eye on Bandcamp

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I mean, it’s free to stream, but it’s also a cover of the band Free. Corrosion of Conformity — operating as the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan, guitarist/backing vocalist Woodroe Weatherman, bassist Bobby Landgraf and drummer Stanton Moore — have posted a take on Free‘s “Fire and Water” as a herald for something called ‘Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions.’ Keenan gives some of the preliminaries below, but the gist is that the cover is separate from the band’s awaited next album, which as of last month was a 2LP coming next year on Nuclear Blast, and is apparently one of a series. Note in the cover art/promotional image below the part where it says “Vol. 1.” Obviously the implication is there’s more.

So be it. If that becomes a pressed-to-CD covers EP or LP over the next however-many months either to precede or follow the actual record of original songs, what, I’m gonna complain? And if it’s just videos of the band jamming to keep content algorithms happy and their name in the forebrain of their fanbase for when said record starts its promo cycle? Not arguing with that either. Ain’t none of us getting any younger. The more the merrier.

Video’s at the bottom of the post. Here’s what Nuclear Blast had to say about it, plus the dates of the band’s current tour with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper from the PR wire:

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY – “Fire and Water”

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY are back with a special rendition of ‘Fire And Water’ by English rock band, Free! The classic track was originally released in 1970 on the album of the same name. CORROSION OF CONFORMITY’s version came spontaneously in the studio during some downtime while recording their forthcoming new full-length, set for release next year, and serves as the first of the Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions, a special collection of jammed out interpretations of songs by some of the band’s favorite artists.

https://coccabal.bfan.link/fire-and-water.ist

Comments guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan, “When we were tracking this record, we had a very cool space set up where we would essentially hang in the large room with everything mic’d and everything we needed, including a turntable and a bunch of our favorite records, which we would play and chill out between takes. We were hanging together, and I pulled out a Free album and ‘Fire And Water’ popped up. [Drummer] Stanton [Moore] jumped up immediately and said, ‘Who the fuck is that!?.’ He had never heard it before. We were baffled, but it was awesome to us that he had never heard it. He said, ‘let’s cut that!’ I said, ‘man, that’s friggin’ Free and kind of like holy ground that you don’t fuck with.’ But we started thinking about it and damn Stanton charted it out like the drum wizard he is. I said, ‘I can’t sing like that, man. He’s the king.’ Someone in the room said, ‘just sing it like you,’ so we went for it and had a blast doing it. It was a nice fun break from the recording. It’s nothing too serious, just a bunch of fellas leaning into it, loving the rock. It’s an exercise in restraint. Hope y’all dig it.”

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY w/ Judas Priest, Alice Cooper:
9/23/2025 Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater – Bridgeport, CT
9/24/2025 Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater – Virginia Beach, VA
9/25/2025 The Golden Pony – Harrisonburg, VA **
9/26/2025 PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ
9/27/2025 Broadview Stage at SPAC – Saratoga Springs, NY
9/29/2025 Budweiser Stage – Toronto, ON
9/30/2025 Stan’s Room at Piere’s – Ft. Wayne, IN **
10/01/2025 The Pavilion At Star Lake – Burgettstown, PA
10/02/2025 Pine Knob Music Theatre – Clarkston, MI
10/04/2025 Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH
10/05/2025 Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre – Tinley Park, IL
10/06/2025 Wooly’s – Des Moines, IA **
10/08/2025 Intrust Bank Arena – Wichita, KS
10/09/2025 Warehouse on Broadway – Kansas City, MO **
10/10/2025 Broadmoor World Arena – Colorado Springs, CO
10/12/2025 Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre – Salt Lake City, UT
10/14/2025 Shoreline Amphitheatre – Mountain View, CA
10/15/2025 Toyota Amphitheatre – Wheatland, CA
10/17/2025 The Usual Place – Las Vegas, NV **
10/18/2025 North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – Chula Vista, CA
10/19/2025 Kia Forum – Inglewood, CA
10/21/2025 Rockhouse Bar & Grill – El Paso, TX **
10/22/2025 Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre – Phoenix, AZ
10/23/2025 Isleta Amphitheater – Albuquerque, NM
10/25/2025 Germania Insurance Amphitheater – Austin, TX
10/26/2025 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, TX

End Tour
11/08-09/2025 Damnation Fest @ BEC Arena – Manchester, UK
1/10/2026 Foro Alicia – Mexico City, MX
1/12/2026 Sala Métronomo – Santiago, CL
1/14/2026 Club Paraguay – Córdoba, AR
** CORROSION OF CONFORMITY headlining date

http://www.coc.com
https://www.instagram.com/coccabal/
http://www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity

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https://www.instagram.com/nuclearblastrecords/
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Corrosion of Conformity, “Fire and Water” (Free cover) official video

The first Corrosion of Conformity album in 20 years to feature Stanton Moore on drums. The first C.O.C. album in 34 years, just one of two in their catalog, without bassist Mike Dean in the lineup. And, to boot, a double-LP following up on 2018’s No Cross No Crown (review here), which ran nearly an hour long and also took place over two 12″ platters.

I’m intrigued. A little worried about it, if we’re honest, but in my view C.O.C. don’t have a bad record. The early hardcore stuff isn’t my thing, but it’s not bad, and from there, well, they were one of the first rock bands I ever really took to. I was a little baby no-bloggy boy. The internet was barely in houses. So I’ve got nerd-fan’s certain amount of trust in how it’ll pan out, despite the oh-no-it’s-different situation 2025 finds the band in with Woodroe Weatherman as the lone remaining founding member and Pepper Keenan likely in the driver’s seat in terms of songwriting. Curiouser and curiouser.

They’re touring with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper this Fall. I don’t know that I could get a photo pass for that, but I want to badly. We’ll see.

On to mixing the record goes. I’m assuming it’s an early ’26 release, also assuming that it’s through Nuclear Blast. This was posted on socials:

For all the freethinkers and beer drinkers….

Woody and Pepper have just finished tracking one of the most meaningful and powerful records we have ever been a part of. This would not have been possible without the skills of all those that have joined this caravan, that is still in hot pursuit. Stanton Moore, Bobby Rock and Mr. Warren Riker between the speakers and never telling us to turn down…now he’s off to mixland..There’s many others that this would have not been possible without and whom will not be forgotten .This is what was in our head for three years and today we can say it is no longer ours.

Thank you all …see you on the horizon

oh yeah ..

It’s a double album.

FOREVER AMPLIFIED
COC

http://www.coc.com
https://www.instagram.com/coccabal/
http://www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity

Corrosion of Conformity, Live at Sonic Temple, Columbus, OH, May 11, 2025

New Paradise Lost sounds metal as hell. I thought I put on Testament for a second there when I fired up the video for “Silence Like the Grave,” which is the first single from the band’s upcoming 17th long-player, Ascension. Okay, exaggerating, but the tones are sharp and the mood is aggressive, so not exaggerating by as much as one might think. The legendary goth-metal progenitors last released an album in 2020’s Obsidian (review here), though they did Icon 30 in 2023 as a re-recording of their seminal Icon album for its 30th anniversary. I missed that one. So it goes.

In any case, the new record will be out Sept. 19 and the band will head out from their UK homebase for extensive European touring to support, summer fests prior to and autumn headlining shows after. Direct support from Messa, which is a hell of a one-two. There’s a ton of info before you get to the video, and I’ll note this announcement was made the other day… and went to my spam. I have a new email program I’m using instead of the webmail I had because my webmail changed and the new one was awful and the new program is awful too. Does Thunderbird still exist? I may have to find out.

Anyway, better late than something something here’s words in blue from the PR wire:

PARADISE LOST PREPARE FOR ASCENSION – NEW ALBUM OUT SEP 19TH

FIRST SINGLE/VIDEO, ‘SILENCE LIKE THE GRAVE,’ STREAMING NOW!

Icons of goth and doom, PARADISE LOST will release their long-awaited, 17th album Ascension on September 19th with Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s first album in 5 years, following 2020’s critically acclaimed Obsidian, was produced by guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory. Ascension is a testament to the band’s longevity and relevance over their 35+ year career, encompassing their signature styles of gothic, death and doom fans have cherished along the way.

Ascension’s album cover fittingly features the painting The Court of Death (1870-1902) by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts, which hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. The painting depicts Death as an enthroned angel flanked by allegorical figures of Silence and Mystery guarding sunrise and the star of hope, while a warrior surrenders his sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status offers no protection. The painting’s bleak, prophetic vision embodies Ascension’s dark, tormented soundscapes as mournful verses collide with dire, foreboding riffs.

Commenting on the record, vocalist Nick Holmes says: “Ascension is a cavalcade of molten misery, a vigorous sorrow filled stroll through a wicked world of glorious triumph and pitiful tragedy.”

Today, PARADISE LOST offer a glimpse into their melancholic masterpiece with the record’s first single and music video, ‘Silence Like The Grave.’

Stream ‘Silence Like The Grave’: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/sltg

Pre-order Ascension: https://paradiselost.bfan.link/ascension

Tracklisting:
1. Serpent On The Cross
2. Tyrants Serenade
3. Salvation
4. Silence Like The Grave
5. Lay A Wreath Upon The World
6. Diluvium
7. Savage Days
8. Sirens
9. Deceivers
10. The Precipice

Produced by Gregor Mackintosh at Black Planet Studios in East Yorkshire, UK & NBS and Wasteland Studios in Sweden. Mixed/Mastered by Lawrence Mackrory.

PARADISE LOST will be performing alongside KING DIAMOND and at festivals in Europe this summer before embarking on the first part their “Ascension of Europe” tour this fall. Tickets are available at https://paradiselost.co.uk/tour-dates/.

PARADISE LOST Tour Dates:
June 7 – Berlin, DE – Columbiahalle (w/King Diamond)
June 10 – Wiesbaden, DE – Schlachthof (w/King Diamond)
June 11 – Tilburg, NL – O13 (w/King Diamond)
June 13 – Oberhausen, DE – Turbinenhalle (w/King Diamond)
June 14 – Ludwigsburg, DE – MHP Arena (w/King Diamond)
June 16 – Milan, IT – Alcatraz (w/King Diamond)
June 17 – Zurich, CH – Komplex 457 (w/King Diamond)
June 18 – Dessel, BE – Graspop Metal Meeting
June 21 – Lublin, PL – Lublin 2025
June 28 – Vana-Vigala, EE – Hard Rock Laager 2025
June 30 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Academy
July 1 – London, UK – Roundhouse
July 4 – Joensuu, FI – Ilovaari Festival 2025
July 6 – Sariyer, TR – Headbangers’ Weekend 2025
July 10 – Malakasa, GR – Rockwave Festival 2025
July 17 – Málaga, ES – Sun and Thunder Festival 2025
July 31 – Bergen, NO – Beyond The Gates 2025
Aug 1 – Czaplinek, PL – Pol’and’Rock Festival
Aug 8 – Jaroměř, CZ – Brutal Assault 2025
Aug 15 – Eindhoven, NL – Dynamo Metal Fest 2025

Oct 9 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
Oct 10 – Wolverhampton, UK – KK’s Steel Mill
Oct 11 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK – Newcastle University
Oct 12 – Glasgow, UK – Glasgow Garage
Oct 14 – Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
Oct 15 – Bristol, UK – Electric
Oct 16 – Southampton, UK – The 1865
Oct 17 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall
Oct 19 – Oignies, FR – Tyrant Fest 2025
Oct 20 – Paris, FR – Élysée Montmartre
Oct 21 – Lyon, FR – La Rayonne
Oct 23 – Köln, DE – Live Music Hall
Oct 24 – Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU – Rockhal
Oct 25 – Dornbirn, AT – Conrad Sohm
Oct 26 – Padova, IT – Hall
Oct 28 – Munich, DE – Backstage Werk
Oct 29 – Prague, CZ – Palc Akropolis
Oct 30 – Zagreb, HR – Boogaloo Zagreb
Oct 31 – Vienna, AT – Simm City
Nov 1 – Budapest, HU – Dürer Kert
Nov 3 – Geneva, CH – PTR/L’Usine
Nov 4 – Nürnberg, DE – Z-Bau Biergarten
Nov 5 – Utrecht, NL – Pandora
Nov 6 – Antwerpen, BE – Trix Hall
Dec 13 – Bradford, UK – Bradford Live

Photo Credit: Ville Jurrikkala

http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/
https://paradiselostofficial.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/officialparadiselost/
https://www.facebook.com/paradiselostofficial/

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Paradise Lost, “Silence Like the Grave” official video

Cali psych-shred lords Earthless will spend the first half of August on tour in Europe for festivals and such — look up Palp if you haven’t; jaw-dropping — and as September brings in the Australian Springtime, they’ll head down under for a stretch of six shows wrapping at Blacken Festival on Sept. 20 in Alice Springs. They’ve got some off-days there, and one can’t help but be curious if guitarist Isaiah Mitchell might team up with Seedy Jeezus — whose Lex Wattereus handled the poster below — for another Tranquonauts jam, perhaps to be released sometime in the next few years to follow later-2024’s 2 (review here). Not holding my breath, not privy to insider info, just a thing that would be cool that could potentially happen next to another cool thing that already is happening — i.e. the tour.

Of course, Earthless have been hither and yon, back and forth to Europe since their 2022 album, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (review here), came out on Nuclear Blast. As the bulk of their impact has always been on-stage — no, I have nothing against Earthless records; calm down — this is only appropriate. The European run will see them celebrating the 20th anniversary of 2005’s Sonic Prayer, their first album. As good an occasion as any, but really, the point is once you see Earthless on stage, you understand the band in a different way, and I guess maybe I’m speaking to anybody who hasn’t and maybe doesn’t see the impact they’ve had and what they’re able to tap into musically, but in their own or any other generation of rockers you’d want to place them, they are something special.

From socials:

We are beyond stoked to be returning to the beautiful land of Australia this coming September 2025!! Australia is a home away from home for the band and any opportunity we get to play there is a massive honor. Thank you for all the love and support through the years!! We’re really looking forward to seeing you at the shows!! Tickets are on sale now: https://www.earthlessofficial.com/tour-dates OR https://davidroywilliams.com/

AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2025
10 Sept – Brisbane – Crowbar Brisbane
11 Sept – Sydney – Crowbar Sydney
12 Sept – Melbourne – Corner Hotel
13 Sept – Castlemaine – Theatre Royal Castlemaine
14 Sept – Geelong – The Barwon Club Hotel
20 Sept – Alice Springs – BLACKEN OPEN AIR
Poster by Lex Waterreus 🤯

EUROPE SUMMER 2025
TICKETS: www.earthlessofficial.com/tour-dates
2 August – Milan IT – MAGNOLIA STONE FESTIVAL
3 August – Bagnes CH – PALP festival
5 August – Barcelona ES – Sala Upload Barcelona *
6 August – Portugalete ES – Groove *
7 August – Ancora PT – SonicBlast Fest
8 August – Madrid ES – Nazca Madrid *
10 August – Kortrijk BE – ALCATRAZ MUSIC
11 August – Breda NL – MEZZ
12 August – Dortmund DE – Musiktheater Piano
13 August – Berlin DE – Neue Zukunft
14 August – Hamburg DE – Knust Hamburg
15 August – København DK – Spillestedet Stengade
*: Heavy Trip (Canada) supporting

EARTHLESS Lineup:
Isaiah Mitchell – Guitar & Vocals
Mike Eginton – Bass
Mario Rubalcaba – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/earthlessrips
www.instagram.com/earthlessrips
https://earthless.bandcamp.com/music
http://www.earthlessofficial.com/

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Earthless, Night Parade of 100 Demons (2022)