Posted in Whathaveyou on September 8th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Cool to see some news about the upcoming Megacelestial album from Richmond, Virginia’s Book of Wyrms, who in March were announced as partnering with Argonauta Records for the release. I went back and looked and there wasn’t a date given in that PR for the arrival of what will be the band’s fourth long-player, but I’ll say that the fact that the latest news from them is that they’ve signed with Evil Noise Recordings to issue the album on tape doesn’t necessarily contradict the prior arrangement. Evil Noise, with a strong focus on cassettes, has partnered with any number of labels over the last however-many years, and nothing in the below conveys exclusivity.
Also still doesn’t convey a date, though. The single “Slime Fever” dropped in June as a herald for the upcoming record, and you’ll find that below, but that’s still the most that’s been revealed from Megacelestial — and certainly not nothing. I don’t know the status of the rest of the album, if it’s done or whathaveyou, if it’ll be out before the end of 2026 or not, but sometimes these things take time, and two weeks can turn into eight months in a friggin’ flash. You never quite know, but still, I count this as progress toward the release, so by all means, dig in:
⚡️BOOK OF WYRMS⚡️
Super stoked to present Book of Wyrms!
Their 4th album «Megacelestial» is coming soon on limited edition cassette on Evil Noise Recordings.
First single «Slime Fever» is out now!
Book of Wyrms is a four-piece heavy metal psych band from Richmond, Virginia with extensive experience jamming in outer space. In 2014 they came together over their mutual adoration of Hawkwind and ZZ Top. See less
Book of Wyrms Sarah Moore Lindsey vocals and synthesizers Kyle Lewis guitar Brian Wiltz drums Jay Jake Lindsey bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 27th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
With five albums to their credit in an increasing and bleak expanse of aesthetic, Richmond, Virginia’s Inter Arma are set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band with a stretch of East Coast touring this October. They’ll be at the new Saint Vitus Bar with Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, and that’s bound to be a hell of an evening, particularly as they’re looking to move beyond 2024’s see-what-we-can-make-death-metal-do New Heaven (review here) toward a new full-length to be realized. A thing to look forward to, like being chewed up and spat on a concrete sidewalk.
I don’t know why 20 years of Inter Arma makes me feel old, except maybe that I remember when they were coming out and 2010’s Sundown (review here) saw release on Forcefield Records ahead of their signing to Relapse, for whom one could easily argue they’ve become a staple act. But I’m middle-aged, so technically on any given day like 50 percent of what I engage with makes me feel old. I think that’s how the math works.
Either way, kudos to Inter Arma on the longevity and even more on the creative swath they’ve cut through extreme music. Dates and such follow, as per the PR wire:
Inter Arma announce 20th Anniversary Tour Dates
On the road in October with Antichrist Siege Machine, Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean on select dates…
Since their formation twenty years ago, Inter Arma have resisted generalization and categorization, but one thing that’s consistently true is that the Richmond quintet possess an unparalleled sense of scope. Few artists convey the complexity that Inter Arma do— they create hauntingly beautiful portraits of humanity through music that is deeply organic yet still mystical and modern. Over the course of six full length albums (most recently, the band’s heralded 2024 LP New Heaven) and a handful of splits and EP’s, Inter Arma have continued to broaden their dynamics by seesawing between piledriving momentum and swirling oblivion.
Now, Inter Arma once again come alive, this time to celebrate their twentieth year in existence. The band will be performing select songs from their massive catalog, both new and old, in select markets this October. Vocalist Mike Paparo comments: “Inter Arma played our first show in a grimy basement in Richmond, VA on October 12th, 2006. 20 years and exactly 900 shows later we’re proud to announce a 20th anniversary east coast run featuring stints from longtime Richmond comrades Antichrist Siege Machine and our new friends Chained to the Bottom of Ocean! We’ll be playing material from across our discography for this brief run, including dusting off some rockers that haven’t been heard in well over a decade. These will be our final shows for the foreseeable future before we retreat back to our dingy practice space to finish album number six. We hope to see you there!”
Tickets are on sale here. Look for more news from Inter Arma soon.
Inter Arma, on tour: Oct 08 Atlanta, GA – The Earl ^ Oct 09 Asheville, NC – Static Age ^ Oct 10 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 ^ Oct 11 Richmond, VA – Cobra Cabana ^ Oct 12 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery % Oct 13 Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place % Oct 14 Worcester, MA – Ralph’s Rock Diner % Oct 15 Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus % Oct 16 Philadelphia, PA – Nikki Lopez % ^ with Antichrist Siege Machine % with Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean
Inter Arma is: T.J. Childers – Drums, Percussion, guitars, lap steel, piano, noise Trey Dalton – Guitar, synthesizers, mellotron, vocals Joel Moore – Bass, synthesizers, tape loops, samples, and noise Mike Paparo – Vocals Steven Russell – Guitars
Posted in Reviews on August 14th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Well, I have just about a full week’s worth of news to catch up on, so we must be coming down to the end of the Quarterly Review. “Planets align. A king is born. Dodge Swinger.” Etc.
It’s been real, though. Again, I didn’t go one day without putting something in my notes for end-of-year list time, and that includes today as well. If you’ve come along for the ride on these 50 release, thank you. I hope you’ve found something new to listen to, or at least had your opinions of what you’ve already heard confirmed, which always feels good on some level. I will say it’s been a pleasure to dig into this stuff, and I don’t know who slates these things — that’s a joke, I do; there’s nobody else here; sometimes I feel like I need to say that even after 17 years because I’m both insecure and irrelevant — but they did alright on this one because at no point in this process was I like, “omg what is mah life,” and it’s always a relief to not get there.
Bottom line, as always, thanks for reading. I’ll be back with another of these in October, probably.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, The Disappearing Man
Word on the street — by that I mean their Linktree — is that Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol release their new single “Ca$h Grab” Aug. 18. That’s also the title-track of their next full-length, reportedly, but the low-string charmer Austin trio have been eeking out singles since Spring, and the resultant three-songer, The Disappearing Man, is a welcome keep-momentum interim outing for those who’ve been chasing the dragon of 2024’s Big Dumb Riffs (review here) and need something new for their reels-addled attention spans. All three tracks — “The Disappearing Man,” “Bough Down” and “Peaches” — are two minutes long but each gives a different look between the sneer of “Peaches,” the post-grunge heavy rock of “Bough Down” and the harder-hitting pummeling fuckery of the title cut. Is it a holdover? Yeah, probably. Will it even exist when the album comes out and likely features the same tracks? I don’t know. But it’s here now and the songs rule, so maybe get it while it’s there to get got and worry about the rest later, hmm?
The rock is by no means gone from Tidal Wave‘s sound on Volume Tree, but a shift has taken place as well since 2023’s The Lord Knows (review here) such that the first half of the new record seems to draw more from classic heavy metal than desert rock. On “The Orb,” “Hangman,” “Earth” and “Temple of Humanity,” that finds the Swedish foursome more in league with Dio-era Sabbath or Johan Langquist-fronted Candlemass, which is a compliment to vocalist Alexander “Sunkan” Sundqvist. The back half of the album, with “Sideburns,” “Shapeshifter,” “Manuscript 512” and “Skitliv,” complicates the narrative in the yachty experiment of the closer and the penultimate cut drawing the two sides together, but “Sideburns” and “Shapeshifter” have desert-style push, and the latter reminds particularly of late-1900s outfits like The Awesome Machine in its crunch and buzz. Either way they go, the songs hit their marks, so mark it a win for the complexity.
With six songs likewise furious and welcome, Richmond, Virginia’s Thunderchief are only right to name their latest EP after ways they might possibly kill you. The charred heavy thrash-doom of from the two-piece of guitarist/screamer Rik Surly and drum-pummeler Erik Larson does not shy away from the caustic, and whether it’s a roll like “Entrance of the Devil” or the gallop-over-your-head “Chintzy,” or the concluding noisefest in “Slurpee,” to which nine of the EP’s 23 minutes are dedicated, their penchant for aural slaughter shows itself in Surly‘s unflinching rasp, in Larson‘s corresponding pounding — looking at you, “Malaise” — and in the disaffected shove of “Lie Nation,” the band packing a full album’s worth of aggression into the abbreviated runtime. This is Thunderchief‘s wheelhouse, and hardly their first excursion into listener-abuse, but as impressive as the raw sustained ferocity is — not that the world doesn’t provide constant reasons to stay angry — it’s the fact that the material holds together and bears the weight they put to it that makes their approach so lethal. That’s on full and punishing display here.
A multinational collaboration between Peruvian psychheads Chino Burga and Pepe Abad (both veterans of La Ira de Dios) and Scott “Dr. Space” Heller (Øresund Space Collective and adjacent projects), Umma resonate psychedelic meditation across their four-song debut, Kosmovisionen, with layers of intersecting guitar drones, percussion, and synth. “Monts” sets the stage for the unfolding free/freak jazz of “Procesio,” and while “Aeparatio” feels grounded by comparison, its float of guitar remains transcendant ahead of the finale “Ogon,” which is a dream of experimentalist tone and cymbal wash. I don’t know how much of a band Umma are going to be, sending files back and forth between Peru and Portugal, but they tap into something spiritual here in just 35 minutes, and Kosmovisionen sounds more like the beginning of a broader exploration rather than a one-off collab. They create so much space, it’d be a shame if they didn’t grow and flesh out their arrangements accordingly.
Intended as a 7″ complement to the DHU Records vinyl pressing of Rifle‘s 2025 album, Beyond Paranoia, this two-songer plays out for 11 minutes across “Incarnation” and “Twisted Death,” vibing like rote jams with mellow vocals overtop like Endless Boogie or something like that, with an unpredictable edge and underlying tension. Apparently there were lineup issues? I’m not sure on the story, but the resultant vibe is off-kilter in a fascinating way — it’s not necessarily holding back the songs, I mean — and the low-key chaos they capture in the recordings, with mad swirls of guitar behind the mostly-whisper vocals, builds on what the album was doing in pieces like “Beyond Paranoia” and “Gipsy Spell” while feeling less tethered to a classic-heavy/vintage songwriting methodology. That may be indicative of a future direction, or these may just be leftovers from the album sessions, I don’t know, but it’s weird and dug in and sounds like it doesn’t care in the slightest how you classify it.
This year has brought new productivity from Boston experimentalists Brass Hearse, who’ve released three singles in 2026 in addition to this 17-track/51-minute ambient film soundtrack; their first new offerings in six years. The penultimate “Destroyer of the Breach” runs nearly nine minutes, but most of Can’t Get No — titled after the movie — is made up of shorter pieces one to three minutes long, with drones and guitar, keys and various washes of tone, some cogent progressions, some purposefully not, evoking a feeling of loneliness and foreboding. Presumably the title is a Rolling Stones reference — “Drifting Through the Void” might build on the song in question as well, though I might be imagining it — and I haven’t seen the movie, but from what I read it’s shorter than the soundtrack, so yes, that would be emblematic of the new creative delve on the part of the Boston band. On its own, the album makes for a meditative, atmospheric listen but don’t take that to mean Brass Hearse lack dynamic or are doing the same thing all the time. They just happen to be really effective in conjuring a world.
Tucked away in the northeast of Sweden, the Umeå-based three-piece Svindel strike an immediately classic impression on their Ripple-issued debut album, Drömfeber, channeling boogie rock’s sense of motion and, in the title-track and elsewhere, calling to mind psychedelic reach without actually veering too far from the underlying structures of their material. Somebody’s playing organ on opener “Jupiterbarn,” and I’d swear I hear keyboards elsewhere too, but none among guitarist/vocalist Jan Lindblad, bassist Daniel Forsberg and drummer/backing vocalist Johannes Braf is credited with the contribution, so maybe I’m the one in a fever dream. In any case, as “Tunga Ögon” hints toward blues and “Ta Mig Tillbaka Till Världen Nu” embarks in the direction of pastoralia, the stylistic book hardly seems closed in terms of how Svindel might progress, but the fact that they are able to cover this swath without sacrificing cohesive songwriting makes their debut impressive even for someone like me who speaks not a lick of Swedish.
The abrasive sludge excoriation of Dirtmother Live makes a fitting companion-piece for the Fayetteville, Arkansas, local-legend/cryptid outfit’s 19-years-later 2025 self-titled debut (review here), presenting five songs across a rasping, willfully confrontational half-hour set captured from the board at the American Legion Hall in their hometown in true punker fashion, and let’s say probably mixed thereafter. In this material — most of which comes from the record; “Reversal” seems to be “Reverse Cowgirl” under a different name and “Cult of Suzie Everett” does not appear on the studio LP — the nodding fuzz and the impact-density of their low end comes though in full-punch glory, stage banter is preserved, and “Trucker” is even nastier in its bite than it already was, which should be read as a high compliment to the achievement. If you don’t come out of this wanting to start a sludge band, consult a physician.
Italy’s Hijss return after 2024’s Stuck on Common Ground (review here) with a self-titled eight-song/39-minute LP that’s an even deeper dive into krautisms and cosmic heavy rock, volatile in “Vicious Cycle” and “Parasite,” daring to soothe before they walk into the wash of “S.W.A.N.” and getting full-on electro-dance-mode in the penultimate “Fatal Attraction” before the moody distortion swell of “Outro” rounds out. Opener and longest track (immediate points) “Drain of Thoughts” establishes precedent in the motorik-roll-turned-heavy-shove progression, but the ultimate product of the album is that Hijss have gotten weirder and more individualized in the last two years, they’re ready to tour with labelmates Giöbia like yesterday, and the experimentalism in bringing together acoustics and synthesized textures of “Underwater” and the throb/fuzz banger “Dopamine” present a fresher take than I’ve yet seen the band credited for honing.
Deley Sound System is the techno alter-ego of Budapesti psychedelic improvisationalist Deley, and if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, their earlier-2026 live recording Unsync 001 captures them bringing their spontaneity-fueled creative process to a style of music that, considering it’s programmed, is often classified as more staid. Psychedelia persists across genre here as the band weave together samples and different layers to carve an affect that’s all the more immersive and hypnotic not in spite of the steady beat that might underpin a track like “Sun 001” or the 18-minute “BBM 001” but rather because of it. The dub techno and synthesizer aspects, playing off influences from jams and generally more guitar-led (or -inclusive at all, for that matter) fare, are fascinating academically, but it’s satisfying as well to hear a band so willing to step beyond their comfort zone and a crucial reminder that the boundaries of creativity are far more imaginary than the sitar sounds on “Sun 002” and that the most dangerous thing to any status quo is a mind brave enough to look beyond it as these minds do here.
Posted in Reviews on August 13th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Some off-laptop bumps and unpleasantness yesterday, but nothing to actually derail this process, just to make it both less efficient and less pleasant. I’m grateful for that. Life happens, and what I’ve learned is that there are two ways to be a “lifer” in music or any kind of anything, and the easier and often more celebrated one is to not have a life. “Oh so and so is such a lifer they’ve toured for 30 years and never got famous.” Cool bro. Go coregulate an hour-long throw-furniture tantrum, still manage to handle your business on your own terms, and then call me. The harder-core lifer has a life beyond the work they’re doing, whatever that may be and whatever Gen-X ‘punk legends’ might tell you otherwise.
Today is the penultimate day of the Quarterly Review, bringing us — you, cool, serene, the picture of grace, and me, a sweaty cavetroll of middle age — closer to the stated goal of 50 releases covered by tomorrow. At this point, I like our chances, but you never know what’s coming until you get there. So let’s get there before declaring victory.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Child, Rebirth
I’m not sure there’s anybody out there right now who does heavy blues as bluesy as Melbourne, Australia’s Child, and even as their fourth full-length, Rebirth, shifts the balance the ‘rock’ end of blues rock, the emphasis on soul remains strong and central in their work. The album runs 35 minutes and six songs, and with no small task in following up 2023’s Soul Murder (review here), the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mathias Northway, bassist Rhys Kelly and drummer Michael Lowe bring clarity of purpose to material like “Forgot How to Love,” which takes a desert rock riff to the mud, or the catchy four-minute “Heavy Load.” Working in slow tempos isn’t new for Child — they cook, and good cooking takes time — but they’re still able to make “I Tried (Newy)” move under its fuzzy-as-hell solo, while opener/longest track (immediate points) “Woman Like You” sets the stage for tales of heartbreak, boozehounding and other vaguely self-destructive whathaveyou. Northway is an ace on guitar and carries the vocals well, but I’ll put this rhythm section up against just about anybody out there when it comes to sleek, gradual groove. Not a ton of surprises, but still satisfying.
Regular collaborator Martin Weaver (Wicked Lady, etc.) handles bass while Tom Ashurst (ex-Hawklords) steps in on guitar and Darren Butler takes up drum duties — all of a sudden, opening track “Shouldn’t You Do It?” (18:24) makes it seem like synthmaster and Øresund Space Collective bandleader/producer Scott “Dr. Space” Heller has a whole band together for Dr. Space’s Wicked Sonic Bulls, the four-song/70-miinute outing that isn’t even his latest at this point but is an immersive joy just the same. The drums bring flow to the float, and Heller‘s e’er-molten synthery is sit-and-take-it-all-in hypnotic, weaving drones behind the dream-tone of Ashurst‘s guitar as the band dynamic takes shape. Of course, the fades-in, goes-everywhere, comes-apart-at-the-end closer “The Underside of Your Tongue” (29:56) is a focal point, and feels daring in terms of tempo even with “Splasing, Lashing, Flashing” (10:43) as preface, but the mood across the almost-certainly-entirely-improvisational outing is, duh, exploratory, and nothing in the resultant material takes away from that. Comforting and rad in kind. Put headphones on and get yourself lost.
The largesse in “Bones” and the dudely swagger of “Rumblestrip” puts Bones squarely in the realm of modern capital-‘h’ Heavy, and Chicagoan four-piece Shadow of Jupiter revel in it accordingly. “Riot Dogs” is cavernous and crushing, while “Whatever God You Fear” moves faster like a beefed-up High Desert Queen but holds to the thickness overarching the seven-song entirety here as the band play to multiple sides here, and while I’m not sure what role faith actually plays in their craft, closer “For Heaven Above” feels duly downtrodden and tired of humanity and is Sabbath-rooted beneath all its tonal hugeness, through which the melodic vocals cut smoothly as they have all along. Burl is a factor, but the songwriting is there beneath the well-produced bluster, and though the prevailing impression is in its sheer heft, Shadow of Jupiter hone a sense of dynamic as they plunge into their own distortion and gravitational nod. Bones is their first album for Ripple Music and second overall, and it sure feels like they nailed it in terms of stepping up to the moment.
Three jams, each hovering on either side of 20 minutes, contemplative and following the stated narrative of casting off mundane woes — busted cars, jobs, etc. — to escape for a bit into the ether. Pseudopredestinated is day-in-the-life psychedelic improvisation, featuring familiar players from the Psychedelic Source Records stable in Bence Ambrus on guitar, Gergely Szabó and David Strausz splitting bass duties and Máte Varga on drums, coming together to headfirst-dive into the aural unknown and see where they end up. In “Protoplanetarian,” that’s a noisier and more active space to answer the graceful build of opener “Precambriality,” and closer “Postpurposes” builds on the low-key shred and pushes further into the far-out. It’s emblematic fare for the Psychedelic Source Records collective, thematically and musically — yes, that is a compliment — and if you find yourself looking also to indulge a bit of escapism from your own mind, immersion awaits. Part of the joy here is never knowing quite where you’ll end up but going, going, going.
Well, you’re a ’70s-sounding heavy rock band with a strong emphasis on Hammond organ, so yes, people are going to say you sound like Deep Purple. The good news is that swinging Montreal five-piece Fangus are too busy dug into their own might-pivot-to-the-next-boogie-at-any-moment, vibe-dense sound to show they care much at all, and a ripper like “Pyre of Love” stands as evidence of this. Keys are a big part of what they do — that Mellotron on the title-track, the organ taking the fore on “Psychoid Telepath,” and so on — but the crunching tone of the guitar and the gutted-out vocals are no less vintage in their mindset, and while I don’t know that it was all recorded live, the band-in-the-room feel is palpable, ditto the chemistry, and that suits them both in the shove of “Time Gambler” and the burgeoning progressivism of “Quest for Fire,” the album as a whole rarely diverting from its sense of movement. Once “Howling Hammer” picks up from establishing its riff, they’re on their way and show little interest in looking back, refusing to be beholden even to the reverence in their sound as they convey freedom and breakout.
With two full-lengths and numerous singles/two-songers to their credit since 2019, Amsterdam psychedelic progressive rockers Hollow Drifter sound duly comfortable dwelling somewhere between the two on Colours in Time, on which the first and last tracks — “Morning Fog” (2:27) and “Cradlesong” (1:48) — complement and enhance the atmosphere of the 14-minute centerpiece, “Seasons, Ages, Legends…,” which tinges toward alt rock momentarily but feels warm and organic in its acoustic-guitar foundations even as it grows more lush with the introduction of electrics. The extended piece ebbs and flows but remains purposeful for the duration, and after the first, willfully gorgeous build ends after six minutes, they remain in control in terms of the direction they’re headed, subtly building again toward repetitions of the EP’s title-lyric over nuanced noodling and steady, tense drums that give hints of the unfolding about to take place as they move into the solo. The harmonized folk of “Morning Fog” and acoustic strum/keys of “Cradlesong” fit and flesh out the atmosphere, and as this is my first experience with the band, the message of homework to do is almost as clear as the evocations of the music itself. Get pastoral.
Keyed for onslaught, Hellward is the fourth full-length from Indianapolis veteran heavymakers Veilcaste, who bring together doom, sludge and post-metallic atmospheres to create a style that’s almost universally oppressive, even in its moments of foreboding quiet, and able to harness an intensity that extends to the “You don’t belong here” lyrical reptitions of the title-track. How they transposed my inner monologue to fit the song, I don’t know, but kudos. The bellowing “Chains” and worldcrumbling “Worn in Stone” show some influence from ’90s metal, whether that’s Sepultura‘s slowdowns or Godflesh, but at this point Veilcaste have found their niche in consuming aggression, and from the outset-descent of “Embedded” to the oblivion-march into the subdued acoustic finish of “I Am the Guillotine,” they punish aurally and conjure depths of mix in which there’s still intricacy and humanity to be found. I’ve had days that sound exactly like “Anchored.” Maybe you have too, if you’re reading this.
Onto the Afterlife makes itself a journey, and maybe that’s not such a deep insight since the title itself does more than hint at it, but the way Sydney heavy rockers Robot God take their fifth album from its relatively straight-ahead beginnings to a gradually broader-reaching mindset across the longer final three tracks — the penultimate “I Am the Night” becoming both a celebration of Sabbathianism and an expansive psychedelic jaunt in its 11 minutes — feels purposeful on the part of the prolific trio, and the procession is all the more a joy to follow after the wakeup crashes of “Soldier of Love” and the semiprog chug of the title-track at the outset, atmosphere being the key to tying it all together. Centerpiece “Cerebral Annihilation” marks the turn, instrumental save for its sample, and the builds of “Long Goodbye” are suited to round out, but it’s the fluidity of the changes within and between the songs and the obvious care put into their craft that lets Onto the Afterlife carry the listener across its 41-minute duration. Without sounding morbid, it’s a trip very much worth taking.
The debut full-length from North Michigan atmospheric doom four-piece Mothertomb, Dying to Live, brims with purpose from the three-minute mood-setting intro “The Summoning” onward. And indeed, mood becomes integral throughout the five-track/39-minute stretch as “Cythraul” picks up from the intro with a 10-minute croon-doom build, unshy in its metal but not anymore beholden to the double-kick than it needs to be to get the point across. The four-piece of vocalist/cover artist Alice Gawlinski, guitarist Chance Gawlinski, bassist Alton Minor and drummer Mike Benitez remind atmospherically of dark-arts practicioners like Second Grave in their ambient take on doom metal — emphasis on both the doom and the metal — in “Beware,” but “Mountain Hag” is more stoned in its first-half roll before the operatics and screams and crush, so I’m not prepared to say the book is closed on what they’re going for sound-wise. Nonetheless, as they end with the also-hard-hitting title-track’s apex screams, the potential for forward growth is easy to hear. Won’t be for everyone, but will land hard with those who can get to its level.
With two members of Alabama Thunderpussy in the lineup — guitarist Ryan Lake and drummer Bryan Cox — and Fire Faithful‘s Jon Bone on bass, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Richmond, Virginia’s Producer have more than a tinge of Southern heavy to their sound, but the band completed by guitarist Mike Jarvis and vocalist Kenny Ball run that through a thread of classic heavy metal and find clarity in the slowdown of “The Climb” and the harder push of “The Upper East Side Sadists,” with the two-minute “A Natural Death” fostering swing to follow the AC/DC-ism of opening cut “Nailed to the Cross” before closer/still-under-five-minute longest track “Vengeful God Complex” seems to pull the various sides together. Three takes its title from the fact that it’s the band’s third EP, which I chalk up to a conscious choice because there’s no way they’re not ready for an album if they don’t want to be. I’ll take 18 minutes in the swamp though, to be sure.
Richmond, Virginia, sludge rockers Druglord release their new album, Hear it Breathe, tomorrow, July 3. It’s been eight years since the three-piece of bassist Julian Cook, drummer Bobby Hufnell and guitarist/vocalist Tommy Hamilton (the latter now also in Windhand) issued their second album, 2018’s New Day Dying (review here), through Sludgelord Records, and the new six-song/sub-half-hour collection shows the time in its procession. By that I mean Hear it Breathe takes a turn from New Day Dying, and for that matter the prior 2014 debut, Enter Venus (discussed here, review here), but still feels like it’s walking the path of the band’s established progression. Beginning with “All Gone,” they get underway with a low, noisy and distorted roll. A lead line of guitar emphasizes the downer direction they’re headed, but before the first minute is up, they shift suddenly into a faster, almost trad-metal chug. It’s not manic enough to be thrash, but if you played Overkill at three-quarters speed, you might be somewhere close. It’s not the first time Druglord have varied in terms of tempo, and Hamilton‘s cleaner vocal style was of course present on New Day Dying as well, but with how solidly these elements are presented, it’s enough to make the listener realize that a lot can happen in eight years.
Four of the six songs on Hear it Breathe are under five minutes long; New Day Dying had one. What that tells you is the approach has tightened up, and it’s true. With Hufnell‘s quick drum intro, “Unclean” (premiering below) is launched at a slower clip, but maintains its metallic feel in terms of tone, and the verse becomes almost like a taunt in following that melody, loosely horror-feeling, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. The 3:32 song encapsulates the strangeness of atmosphere that pervades throughout, and if you haven’t heard the rest of the record, the way it finishes with the solo should give a hint as to the sharpness with which the songs are executed throughout. The nod is still there, as “Boiled in Oil” assures with its massive, rolling, death-stench procession, but when they take off into a crunched take on ’80s hardcore with a harsher, throaty vocal sneer to accompany — and not only that, but then bring back the slower part to finish — it’s clear the context for these elements has shifted. That’s not a negative at all. Druglord have never been less classifiable in sound than they are on Hear it Breathe, and yet they remain true to from whence they come in terms of influence.
They’ve always been on the dirtier end of tonality, and that’s still the case as well, but they find a balance as they proceed, and if “Boiled in Oil” sets the two sides against each other to close side A, “Shadow” at the start of side B claims a middle-ground between them. A midtempo riff at its foundation, “Shadow” even goes so far as to dare some vocal harmonies, and its movement is grooved without slogging and boasts plenty of bite in the solo. The penultimate “Void Uncoiled” has a more gradual-feeling intro, but also a more angular rhythm that shortly before three minutes the trio smooth out to a roll ahead of the solo there before they turn back to the chug and let go into residual distortion ahead of closer “Forever After,” also the longest cut at 6:02 and a mirror to “Boiled in Oil” for being the longest inclusion on its respective side. It’s slower going into the finish, at least for most of it, but Hear it Breathe holds tension amid its moment of lurch and surgent wash of noise, capping with a ceremony of shred as several of the songs before it have done. Eight years later, it would seem Druglord have no time to waste.
About that: I had talked with the band about premiering “Unclean” like a month ago and we had rescheduled a couple times, as will happen, to get to this point. I’m stoked to host the song, even just a day before the album’s out. In the meantime, you’ll find the empty player for the record below, taken from their Bandcamp page. Well, it’s empty for now, but on the offchance that you’re reading this at some later point than, like, maybe 24 hours from when this post goes live, it will be/is there for your streaming enjoyment. Unless it’s already there, which it might be. And unless you’re far enough in the future that Bandcamp has collapsed like all on-the-internet music anythings eventually do. Can’t help you in that case. But the visualizer for “Unclean” follows here (unless it doesn’t; all things ephemeral, etc.), if you’d like to get yourself acclimated before you jump into the whole thing.
As always, I hope you enjoy:
Druglord, “Unclean” track premiere
Druglord is pleased to announce the release of our latest recording, ‘Hear It Breathe’. This album is the result of the past year and a half: a time where we found solidity and inspiration with a new practice space and a slight change in approach to songwriting which breathed new life into the band.
Hear It Breathe
1. All Gone 2. Unclean 3. Boiled In Oil 4. Shadow 5. Void Uncoiled 6. Forever After
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Tommy Hamilton at Room 13
Druglord: Tommy Hamilton: guitar/vocals/effects Julian Cook: bass Bobby Hufnell: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
You don’t have to strain your ear to hear the ’80s metal influence coming out in the galloping riff of Book of Wyrms‘ new single “Slime Fever.” They shout ’84-’86 Dio and Judas Priest as references, and fair enough, though tonally “Slime Fever” is warmer than that kind of metal was, not that that’s a disservice to the song, because it isn’t. Ditto that for the band’s working with Witch Mountain guitarist Rob Wrong on the mix. You’ll find the track streaming at the bottom of this post, should you need a jolt as all humans do from time to time.
When Book of Wyrms announced earlier this year that they’d signed to Argonauta Records, the title of their next album was given as Megacelestial. As I don’t see any mention of that name below, only “new album” and “forthcoming,” etc., I can’t help but wonder if the title hasn’t changed. No release date is given here, so I guess we probably have time to find out, even as the band give a taste with “Slime Fever” of things to come on said LP.
The PR wire has it like this:
Book Of Wyrms Release New Single “Slime Fever”, First Taste Of Upcoming Album
US heavy metal psych outfit Book of Wyrms return today with their new single “Slime Fever”, offering the first glimpse into their forthcoming new album, with further details to be revealed soon.
Formed in 2014 out of a shared devotion to Hawkwind and ZZ Top, Book of Wyrms describe themselves as a four piece heavy metal psych band with extensive experience jamming in outer space, steadily building a reputation in the US underground through their blend of heavy riffs, psychedelic textures and driving energy.
“Slime Fever” captures a clear shift in momentum for the band. The addition of drummer Brian Wiltz has injected a new level of intensity and directness into the songwriting, with a more aggressive and straightforward approach that still leaves space for dynamics, restraint and unexpected turns. Wiltz’s background outside of traditional heavy music also brings a broader rhythmic perspective, knowing when to support the song and when to push it into more explosive territory.
For the first time, the band also worked with a dedicated mixer. Rob Wrong (Wrong Way Recording, Witch Mountain) handled the mix, opening up a new sonic dimension for Book of Wyrms and helping shape a sound that feels both sharper and more expansive than ever before. His approach aligned naturally with the band’s vision, drawing on reference points such as Dio’s Last in Line and Judas Priest’s Turbo, while still allowing space for unexpected creative directions in the mix.
Stylistically, the band continues to evolve while staying rooted in their core influences. Alongside their enduring love for Rainbow, Hawkwind and Monster Magnet, Book of Wyrms found themselves drawing inspiration from 80s Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, Queen and Motörhead, aiming to create music built for movement and intensity. The result is a collection of songs shaped with a strict approach to composition, where anything that did not “hit” with full impact was left behind.
“Slime Fever” stands as the first transmission from this new era: faster, dirtier and more focused, setting the tone for what is to come from the forthcoming album.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 22nd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
If you read violent intent behind the title of Thunderchief‘s new album, With Hatchet, Pike or Morning Star…, or hell, right on the surfave of it, yes, I think that’s correct. The bludgeon-prone Richmond duo are about to launch a tour nearly a month long on July 6 and that’s in like two weeks but before they even do that, the record’s coming out. I take it as wholly emblematic of the band’s strident anti-bullshit stance that the announcement of their release date hits about a week and a half before the release itself. June went quick.
Curious on new elements in the sound, of course, but I don’t think Thunderchief are about to let up on the pummel. Frankly, the world needs more confrontational music, not less, and their aggression is central, whatever else might be happening around it. To date, they’ve had no time for fucking around. They’ll also be at Emissions From the Monolith X this Fall in Ohio.
From the PR wire:
THUNDERCHIEF Announces New Album With Hatchet, Pike or Morning Star… and Summer 2026 Tour
Virginia-based heavy metal/punk outfit THUNDERCHIEF will release its new full-length album, With Hatchet, Pike or Morning Star… , via ASR Records on CD and digital platforms on July 1, 2026. The band will follow the release with a four-week U.S. tour beginning July 6 in support of the album, with additional regional touring planned for October.
Continuing their signature fusion of aggressive metal, raw punk energy, and hard rock influence, With Hatchet, Pike or Morning Star… stands as THUNDERCHIEF’s most focused and direct release to date. Across its runtime, the album delivers a relentless collection of heavy riffs, frantic rhythms, and unsettling lyrical themes, touching on modern social tension, politics, humanity, and the ongoing frustration surrounding concert ticket pricing and music streaming economics.
The band comments: “We are really excited about this album. It hits on everything we like about making music. We pushed ourselves in a few new directions this time, adding elements that weren’t present on earlier records. We’re really stoked on how fans have responded to hearing these songs live.”
Formed in Richmond, Virginia, THUNDERCHIEF has built its identity on a raw and abrasive blend of metal and hardcore punk, balancing weight and urgency in equal measure. This new release expands on that foundation with a sharper focus on momentum, intensity, and groove, while avoiding overproduction or modern studio excess. The album also features a reinterpretation of the 1973 cult classic “Entrance of the Devil” by Zior.
With Hatchet, Pike or Morning Star… will be released July 1, 2026 via ASR Records, followed immediately by a four-week national tour beginning July 6.
THUNDERCHIEF With Hatchet, Pike or Morning Star… ASR Records Release Date: July 1, 2026 (CD/Digital)
Track Listing 1. Malaise 2. Chintzy 3. Catch My Fall 4. Entrance of the Devil (Zior) 5. Lie Nation 6. Slurpee
Summer Tour 2026 7/6 Alexandria, VA — Galactic Panther 7/7 New Hope, PA — John & Peters 7/8 Harrisonburg, VA — Coffee Hound 7/9 Pittsburgh, PA — Rock Room 7/10 Detroit, MI — Paris 7/11 Chicago, IL — Liars Club 7/12 Madison, WI — Gamma Ray (Matinee) 7/13 Minneapolis, MN — Underground 7/15 Columbus, OH — Dirty Dungarees 7/16 Wheeling, WV — Carins Pub 7/17 Akron, OH — The Matinee 7/18 Buffalo, NY — Ask a Punk 7/19 Reading, PA — Gnome Hutch 7/20 Saratoga Springs, NY — Desperate Annie’s 7/22 Manchester, NH — The Bungalow 7/23 Worcester, MA — Ralph’s Rock Diner 7/24 New London, CT — 33 Golden 7/25 Portland, ME — Madrids 7/26 Bangor, ME — Old Towne Theater 7/27 Henniker, NH — Henniker Brewing 7/29 Providence, RI — Alchemy 7/30 Medford, MA — Deep Cuts 7/31 Clifton, NJ — Dingbatz 8/1 Philadelphia, PA — O’Malley’s
Thunderchief are: Rik Surly – Guitar/vocals Erik Larson – Drums
Posted in audiObelisk on May 27th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Dually-umlauted Virginian heavy trio Üga Büga release their second album, Valley of the Wolf (review here), on June 5 through Louisville’s Third House Communications. Premiering on the Bandcamp player below is “The Sand Witch,” which bears out the record’s blend of metal and heavy rock, sharpened turns of riff toned like a fuller version of a Dio record with rocker-burl vocals over top. It’s a dudely affect, and they’re not the first to employ it, but neither is the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Calloway Jones, bassist Niko Cvetanovich, and drummer Jimmy Czywczynski (which I would pronounce “chiv-chinski,” and wonder if I’m right) wanting for self-awareness in their presentation, if the hairless cats in the photo above didn’t already make the point. “The Sand Witch” is the whopping fourth single from Valley of the Wolf, so if you haven’t gotten an idea of where they’re coming from as yet, the opportunity is certainly there, figuratively as well as literally on the same player.
And whether or not you caught wind of Üga Büga‘s 2024 debut, Year of the Hog (review here), Valley of the Wolf tells its story in clear and unmistakable terms, fusing genre elements across the chugging “Earthsuckers” and the more aggressive crunch of “Divination,” groove underlying all as they go, even the purposefully atmospheric “Ghost in the Diamond Cage” and the foreboding drum-thud and keyboard cycles of the penultimate intro/interlude “Descent” ahead of the extended and part-thrashy finale “Revolting Power.” It may be there’s a narrative at work lyrically, but when I say ‘story’ above, I mean the one about who the band are in terms of sound. Jones has a clear background in metal vocalizing — his harsher shouts and screams feel like not the first time he’s scoured his vocal cords for the cause — and the trio are able to thread between rock and metal all the more for their variety of purpose, each piece offering something to add to the entirety. Not a new idea for how to work an album, by any means, but put to effective use on the careening “Motorhog” and elsewhere. Is someone in this band a fan of At the Gates?
Having multiple songwriters, as they proport to in the PR wire below, having initially played Jones‘ compositions, accounts for some of that intent-diversity, but largely straightforward structures — and by that I mean straight to your likely-unsuspecting face — melody and rhythmic sweep keep the proceedings accessible, at least for the converted. That is to say, Valley of the Wolf isn’t without its challenging aspects, but it does successfully bridge its different sides together, sounding like a cohesive whole rather than ‘now-we-thrash-now-we-riff,’ not that that can’t also have an appeal. Like its righteous comic-style cover art, the album is busy and colorful in the details, but if you step back and take it in as an entirety, it forms a coherent, single thing. It just roughs you up a little bit in the process of doing so.
The preorder link and more info follows the song on the player below, courtesy of the PR wire.
Hailing from Virginia, Üga Büga fuses influences like Mastodon, Soundgarden, High on Fire, and The Mars Volta into a genre-bending force of rock and heavy metal. Their forceful sound is matched by fantastical lyrics of post-apocalyptic hog men, sinister wizards, and dual-wielding warriors tearing through landscapes on motorcycles—evoking scenes similar to the worlds of TMNT, Dragon Ball, and other classic comics and cartoons. Riding high after their 2024 debut album, Year of the Hog, ÜGA BÜGA is set to unleash their next chapter, Valley of the Wolf.
Formed in mid-2021, ÜGA BÜGA experimented with various lineups and styles before solidifying their current lineup in November 2022, featuring singer/guitarist Calloway Jones, bassist Niko Cvetanovich, and drummer Jimmy Czywczynski. This lineup infused their own diverse styles into a collection of songs written by Calloway Jones, reshaping them into a cohesive and undeniably heavier sound—one that would define their debut album, Year of the Hog. Now, the band writes collaboratively, with each member’s contributions playing a crucial role in shaping their evolving sound.
