While it’s true that Sealess‘ Aura is the first full-length from the project, it would be difficult to dive into its atmospheric sprawl and separate it from the overarching creative progression of which it’s part. Wrocław, Poland-based Kamil Ziółkowski is the sole denizen of the band, apart from Maha Sohona‘s Johan Bernhardtson sitting in on vocals and the last guitar solo in opener “Days of Gone” and Sandra Rutka adding vocals to “The Last Breath of Winter Glow,” and Ziółkowski handled the recording as well at Electric Witch Mountain Recordings while Haldor Grunberg mixed and mastered.

One might recognize Ziółkowski‘s name and style of composition from either Spaceslug or his other solo-project, Mountain of Misery, as well as bands like Palm Desert, O.D.R.A., Solar Trip, running the Electric Witch Mountain label, and so on, but for the stylistic diversity of the outfits in which he’s been involved, Sealess belongs specifically to a thread from Spaceslug to Mountain of Misery to it as the embodiment of a creative pursuit — and I mean that in the sense of chasing something, not just an endeavor — that brings together heavy ideologies with broader atmospherics, a stated love for The Cure shown in some of the brighter keyboards and airy guitar, and post-heavy rollout.

The band appeared on the Ziółkowski-led compilation, Deep Seven Vol. 1 (review here), in 2024, but Aura is the most substantial outing from the project to-date. It is comprised of seven songs and runs an immersive 44 minutes, beginning with the meditative keyboardery of “Days of Gone,” finding ground between the grunge-tinged heavy tones of Mountain of Misery and the vague Eastern lean of Om.

The latter aspect makes it a standout compared to most of what follows, but the effect that has is mostly to make Aura a less predictable listen, which is a strength as Ziółkowski moves between longer pieces and shorter-ish ones, “Days of Gone,” at 7:40 rolling into a fadeout ahead of the due cascade of “When the Water Breaks,” where the resonance comes into deeper focus as intentional and more of the aural purpose is revealed. “Days of Gone” is hookier, in its patient way, and the combination of Ziółkowski and Bernhardtson on vocals should be enough to please even the most discerning of nerds for Northern European heavy, but “When the Water Breaks” finds a place between texture and groove that seems at this point to be the heart of the project.

Ziółkowski isn’t a stranger to serving as an entire band on a release, and as a multi-instrumentalist and engineer, he’s practiced at creating a vibe, or a mood, or ambience, whatever you want to call it. The guitar rings out on Aura in a way that is familiar, but a step further on the path Ziółkowski has been walking from band to band, and particularly as Mountain of Misery grew out of Spaceslug‘s lush atmospheres, so too does Sealess feel extended from Mountain of Misery‘s style, or maybe extrapolated from it in-part.

Whatever the phrasing, Ziółkowski is recognizable as a composer and performer in this material, and while he’s working with and under influences outside the heavy underground norm, he brings everything into a cohesive, overarching sound that is Sealess‘ own and speaks to intentions toward taking the ‘band’ forward, developing a sound as he has with Mountain of Misery and as he’s been a part of with Spaceslug. I refuse to predict the future, but listening to Aura, part of what distinguishes Sealess from Ziółkowski‘s other ongoing projects is this sense of having branched off, and while I don’t know the origin of Sealess as distinct from Mountain of Misery, the songs present enough of a departure to justify starting another project, however they might’ve come about in the first place, in a very similar way that, when starting out, Mountain of Misery felt distinct enough from Spaceslug to warrant being a different band.

Does any of that make sense? It might in the future if Ziółkowski keeps Sealess going, and the tonal flourish on intertwining layers at the end of “The Last Breath of Winter Glow” — let alone the combined-vocal/duet aspect — continues to expand, or the daring-toward-positive-sounding “Interiors,” which wouldn’t seem to be accidentally placed as the centerpiece, becomes a blueprint, though of course that’s impossible to know now. The sweetness of melody in “Interiors” feels telling, however, as to the end goals of the project, and in just four minutes, it doesn’t capture the same kind of expanse as the penultimate “The Road is Promising,” which is twice as long, but it does come across as more straightforward in its verse and arrangement, and it demonstrates both the familiar elements Ziółkowski is using and the less familiar expression he’s building from them.

The forward drumming in “In Mortality” provides a strong foundation for the float in the vocals and guitar alike, and while the slower pacing makes it feel broad, “The Road is Promising” provides contrast with a double-time hi-hat amid its sprawl of keys and guitar. But here too, Ziółkowski holds to patience, and if you’re waiting for the breakout moment that so many records might shoehorn into a contemplative or emotive procession — you know, like when the post-rock band starts playing blackthrash to release the tension — closer “Endless Clouds” goes the other way entiretly, cutting the drums out of the picture for most of its four and a half minutes and wrapping Aura instead with its most ethereal stretch.

It’s easy to read defiance in that, but I don’t know that Ziółkowski is thinking in those terms rather than looking to finish with a priority on ambience over movement, though it’s a question of balance between them anyhow. The greatest impression Aura makes, from “Days of Gone” onward, is of being intentional. Of that pursuit referenced earlier. Of Ziółkowski chasing something, maybe the sound he’s hearing in his head, and working to manifest that in the audio. That’s a personal consideration, and so it’s not up to me to say whether he got there or not — most often, one tends to think of ‘creative goals’ as moving targets anyway — but Aura brings that chase to somewhere new, and hopefully Sealess becomes a vehicle for continuing the exploration portrayed here.

Sealess, Aura (2026)

Sealess on Bandcamp

Sealess on Facebook

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Bandcamp

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Instagram

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Facebook

At least two years ago, when Sealess appeared on Electric Witch Mountain Recordings‘ compilation, Deep Seven Vol. 1 (review here), alongside outfits like Spaceslug, Palm Desert, Mountains of Misery, and Solar Trip, the band was the two-piece of Kamil Ziółkowski (who is or has been in all of the acts listed in this sentence and runs the label) and Palm Desert vocalist Wojciech Gałuszka. On that release, Sealess were the somewhat formative, understated closer, and though their inclusion, “Fading Away” doesn’t feature on their impending debut album, Aura, out May 28, the mood across the two singles feels progressed from that same intent.

Ziółkowski specifically cites The Cure as an influence, and fair enough as a source of that floaty guitar, but this is a thread Ziółkowski has been chasing for years through heavy and post-heavy songcraft — a place where substance can meet air. Think of how Spaceslug can flatten you and make it sound gentle. Sealess are more open tonally, and as opening track/new single “Days of Gone” unfolds with Johan Bernhardtson (Maha Sohona) adding meditative vocals and guitar, the aesthetic grows even more complex and progressive.

But Sealess sound like a logical next step on Ziółkowski‘s creative path, finding a mode of expression that on “Days of Gone” can sound like Om instrumentally and on “The Road is Promising” can nonetheless drop hints through suncoated ethereal guitar and vocals of New Wave and proto-industrial impressions. Just how broad can Sealess get? Stick around to find out. Like, maybe for the next few years or however long it takes.

The this-exists informative email came in from Bandcamp:

The album will be released on May 28th, and two tracks are already available for listening (as a pre-order).

While this isn’t Spaceslug (for now, material here is also in the works), it’s its next offshoot, with its members involved.

SEALESS (you might recognize one track from the DEEP SEVEN Vol. 1 compilation) has prepared a dark, melancholic journey, perhaps not as heavy with distortion, but with darkness and a heavy emotional weight. It’s more of a cold wave vibe, with strong inspiration from the amazing The Cure, for example.

Check out this material. As a curiosity, we’ll add that the first track (“Days Of Gone”) features Johan from Maha Sohona, so you can hear the combined voices of Spaceslug and Maha Sohona.

Enough of these introductions :) Check out this material; some of you might like it :)

https://sealessband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589048701258

https://electricwitchmountain.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/electric_witch_mountain/
https://www.facebook.com/p/Electric-Witch-Mountain-Recordings-61552988139323/

Sealess, Aura (2026)

Well, we made it to the final day of the Spring 2026 Quarterly Review, and as ever, I hope somewhere in the mass of 70 releases written up that you were able to find something you hadn’t heard before that spoke to you. If not, first, are you okay? I mean, if you’ve been through all now-70 offerings discussed over the last week-plus and found absolutely nothing, that seems pretty bleak. Granted that’s the state of the world, but I know that when things seem at their lowest, it’s music and art that gives me any hope for humanity whatsoever. If I didn’t have it, I’d be in trouble. Anyway, hope there was something cool for you, and as always, thanks for reading.

Let’s wrap this up. Back maybe mid-June with the next QR.

Quarterly Review #61-70:

Black Lung, Forever Beyond

Bringing together ethereal sounds and feet-on-the-ground, real-world themes can be tough. Are Baltimorean heavy psych-blues veterans Black Lung providing escape or confronting the times we live in head-on? A bit of both on the seven-song/35-minute Forever Beyond, which brings melodic textural flourish to “Savior” as the lyrics remain unconvinced. The later “Border Horder” and closer “Scum” say it more clearly, and that’s an asset in the album’s favor, not that one would call the progressive and expansive, Mellotron-and-cello-laced centerpiece “Follow” subtle, exactly. I can’t tell if I’m just hearing an acoustic layer in the second half of “Forever Beyond Me” or if it’s really there, but I like that about it, and it’s worth noting that along with the pointed direction Forever Beyond takes — which is to be commended in a heavy rock underground where far too many have buried their heads — the band continue to refine their songwriting. I do wish the ending of “Border Hoarder” went on for another three minutes riding that riff, but maybe live.

Black Lung on Bandcamp

Magnetic Eye Records store

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Die Spitz, Something to Consume

Pardon me for playing catchup to Austin fury-punk heavy shovers Die Spitz, whose Third Man-delivered debut LP, Something to Consume, was released in Sept. 2025. The 11-song grunge-informed album is a ripper, giving a much-needed generational refresh to punkish heavy noise, like Chat Pile but not for podcast bros. The heft of “Sound to No One” reveals a depth of mix that despondent/sludgy-but-moving opener “Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay)” hinted toward in its later solo, and cuts like “Red40” and “Riding With My Girls” gallop with a fresh-feeling glee, while the lumber of “Punishers,” the big-riff slam of “Throw Yourself to the Sword” and the almost unfortunately catchy “American Porn” seethe with intensity aggressive purpose. The recording sounds close enough to live to convey the genuine energy of the execution, and the blend of immediacy and atmospherics speaks to a nascent creative growth to take shape in the years to come. One of last year’s best debuts, easily. The kids are pissed off, and rightly and righteously so.

Die Spitz website

Third Man Records website

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Borracho, Eternos

Borracho‘s cover of Spirit Caravan‘s “Fang” might be the heaviest thing the Washington D.C. trio have ever done. It’s one of five cover songs on Eternos, a sweet-but-somewhat-bittersweet homage to lost friends from among the heavy underground. “Fang” pays homage to Dave Sherman (also Earthride), who always said “Fang” was special to him because he wrote it. Foghound‘s “Keep on Shoveling” follows, for Rev. Jim Forrester, with Karma to Burn‘s “Twenty-Nine” after for Will Mecum, The Hidden Hand‘s “Damyata” for Bruce Falkinburg and “A Heart Without a Home,” by The Hellacopters, for Robert “Strings” Dahlqvist. Can’t argue with the concept, the choices of songs or the resulting EP. I swear to you I almost didn’t review it because all there is to say is, “well yeah, it’s kind of sad, but duh it rules anyway.” But they do really dig in while handling the material with care, and you can feel the intent of the release accordingly.

Borracho website

Borracho on Bandcamp

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Avon, Black on Sunshine

If you’re new to them, the key to understanding Avon is knowing that guitarist/vocalist James Childs — joined in the band by bassist June Kato and drummer Alfredo Hernández (Across the River, Yawning Man, Kyuss, etc.) — has his roots in the history of English rock and roll, so while tonally Avon draw a lot from desert-heavy, they’re also pulling from decades of UK rock, from garage rock to early progressive blues rock to early punk to artsy ’90s whathaveyou, and those influences come out in their material as well. Songs are short and the benefit of this stylistic blend is that it’s the songwriting that draws the album together, as well as the band-in-a-room sensibility of the recording, however it was actually made. “Bandits” and “Nineteen Bruises” make a particularly effective back and forth before the piano/stomp of “Super Furry Antidotes,” and the hook of the leadoff title-track assures you never forget which record you’re hearing, not that you would.

Avon website

Go Down Records website

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Sons of Gulliver, Tetrahedric Hellscape Cannon

A brash and gritty sound permeates the geometric charm of Tetrahedric Hellscape Cannon, and even with bassist Justin Potter‘s rough vocal delivery, the verse of the title-track reveals earlier Clutch as a source of some of the patterning, which the penultimate “Ohio” affirms. Potter and drummer Dolphin Riot comprise the entirety of Dallas’ Sons of Gulliver, and nobody who’s heard “Vagabonds” or the ’90s-bouncing “Headcleaner” is going to say they’re lacking anything as regards heft for not having guitar. But for being a duo, the songs have variety baked into their purpose, as the acoustic/hand-percussion centerpiece “Earthbound” — think instrumental “Planet Caravan” — demonstrates, if not the shift from the punk/metal of “Death or Distortion” and the strutting, self-aware desert riffery of “Dunes,” and at nine-songs/31-minutes, Tetrahedric Hellscape Cannon can count efficiency among its strengths. It’s definitely a first record, but there’s character here.

Sons of Gulliver website

Sons of Gulliver on Instagram

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Gozd, Trees Are Silent

Instrumentalist save for side B’s “Rusalka,” wherein Paulinia Przychodzień-Witek Damroca adds voice and lyrics to their post-metallic push, Trees Are Silent finds Wrocław’s Gozd mindful of the atmosphere being created by each of the album’s eight inclusions, and yes, trees are a theme for some of it. The keys and lead guitar of “Birch” place them somewhere in the Russian Circles/Pelican school, but whether it’s the trumpet in the quiet moments and subsequent payoff of “Linden” or the outright gorgeousness and serenity on offer in “Axis Mundi,” or the crush wrought in “Om,” they bring an individual edge to their creative pursuit, the post-rock drifter finale “Ekoton” as fitting a conclusion as one could find to a release of intentional sprawl. The going isn’t quite meditative, but they obviously set these songs up for a whole album fluidity, and in that they are successful.

Gozd on Bandcamp

Gozd on Instagram

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From Yuggoth, And Ever Since My Paths Were Crooked and Forsaken

Somewhere between stoner metal riff idolatry, post-metallic shout-into-the-void atmospherics, and Conan-esque tonal wallbuilding, Dresden’s From Yuggoth loose the expanses of their four-song second EP, And Ever Since My Paths Were Crooked and Forsaken, staving off hypercerebrality on “A Crimson Dawn” with an emotive crescendo marked by vast lead guitar and ace basslines. This blend of the raw and progressive one might trace to Neurosis (especially this week), but there’s pure doom in the band’s veins as well, as the semi-title-track shows in its early lumbering. You should note that “My Paths Were Crooked and Forsaken” gets very, very heavy™, but neither are From Yuggoth entirely reliant on tone to make their impact, as the snare-led slog of “Thy Serpent Eyes” makes plain, despite the assault, crush and burn of “Deathlike Living (We Are Alpha),” which closes. There’s enough Electric Wizard in the structure of the riffs to keep the songs doomed, and that serves them well and makes From Yuggoth‘s approach more their own. And, again, the bass.

From Yuggoth on Bandcamp

From Yuggoth on Instagram

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Desert Colossus, Apparatus

Netherlands four-piece Desert Colossus present their fourth album in the nine-song/46-minute Apparatus, rife with moody melody and riffed with its whole heart. Desert rock at its foundation, their sound is able to expand around that to various degrees when called to do so, as in the closer “Come Forth” with its Middle Eastern guitar inflection and ensuing multi-stage nod. Largesse is a tool at their disposal — hello “Vanity” — but they know a classic push and swing too, diving in with a hungry Sabbathism on “Sweet Cherries Hang Low” and opener “Hermit,” and while “Prixie House on the Wax” and the partially-acoustic “Black Out” are more complex, they still groove. It all comes together in “Three Eyed Fox,” which makes that a highlight, but it’s not alone as Desert Colossus find new paths through familiar ground, distinctive in melody and consistent though dynamic changes in tempo, volume and purpose. This was my first exposure to them, and no regrets in starting from Apparatus whatsoever.

Desert Colossus on Bandcamp

Desert Colossus on Instagram

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Axe Dragger, Axe Dragger

It’s heavy metal or no metal at all on Axe Dragger‘s Ripple-released self-titled debut full-length. The multinational project brings together guitarist Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Big Scenic Nowhere, Slower, etc.), drummer “Minnesota Pete” Campbell (ex-Pentagram, The Mighty Nimbus, etc.), vocalist Terry Glaze (ex-Pantera) and bassist Fredrik Isaksson (Dark Funeral, ex-Grave), and together they run through 10 songs of mostly-classic-styled metal, with some thrash and groove elements finding balance in songs like “Fight Another Day,” “Death is Calling My Name,” and “Fire in the Madhouse,” while all-out rippers like “Axe Dragger,” “Give You Rope’ and “El Toro” revel in speedy twists and shove. Their apparent aim is to be the kind of metal band you’d draw the logo of on your math notebook instead of doing your homework, and as aspirations go, I can think of few so admirable. Everybody here is definitely an adult, but it’s fun pretend.

Axe Dragger on Instagram

Ripple Music store

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Den Der Hale, Larking About

Consuming waves of drone intertwine, change and move around a dynamic mix to create the sense of dread and, sometimes, oppression in Den Der Hale‘s Larking About, as the Swedish troupe bring heavy ambience to fruition across four tracks and 42 minutes of swelling, ethereal tones, sporadic vocals for a likewise sporadic human presence, and a level of worldbuilding that veers into the cinematic as regards evocation. The piano lines in “Where My Flesh Cannot Be Torn” and distinguishable vocal lines make it more grounded perhaps than “Silphium” just before it, which somehow ends up in black metal in its second half though don’t ask me how they got there, and each post-everything unfurling adds another aspect to the entirety, right through to “Under Jord” fostering a single swell of drone and letting it hold sway for most of its 11 minutes, building on the foundation laid out in the opening title-track. As an album it is vivid and affecting, and though it’s something of a shift in direction for Den Der Hale, perhaps it’s more of an extrapolation from their past work, taking the weight conjured through past outings and finding this amorphous, occasionally terrifying thing in it. You won’t hear something else like it today.

Den Der Hale on Instagram

Sound Effect Records website

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Last year, Palm Desert took part in Electric Witch Mountain Recordings‘ compilation of Polish acts, Deep Seven Vol. 1 (review here), with the nine-minute “Elegy of the Past,” which had room in its expanse to harness a hard-driving desert-derived heavy rock and roll up front and still trip out a bit in the second half with a procession more laid back and psychedelic. Rays of the Gold and Grays, the follow-up LP from the long-running outfit, is either their sixth or third full-length, depending on how you want to count offerings like 2013’s Rotten Village Sessions or the jam-based 2016 LP, Songs From the Dead Seas, but what matters more than the numbers involved — which is something one might feel compelled to say when the numbers are murky — is the presence in the music.

Recorded by drummer Kamil Ziółkowski (also Spaceslug and Mountain of Misery) with a mix/master by Haldor Grunberg at Satanic Audio, the four-piece of Ziółkowski, bassist Jan Rutka (Spaceslug), vocalist Wojciech Gałuszka (who also recorded some vocals in Kettering, UK), and guitarist Piotr Łacny — plus Wojciech Kuczwalski on additional guitar — harness rich desert fuzz with a sense of largesse that should by this point be recognizable in Ziółkowski‘s recordings. The eight-song/43-minute outing has its foundation in rolling, warm distortion, as “In the Breeze” opens by drawing an immediate line to classic European underground heavy rock, whether that’s manifest in the inexplicable airy hugeness of Dozer or the riffy sway of modern practitioners like Kal-El.

In terms of ‘desert,’ you could extrapolate the charge of “Black Hurricane” from the likes of Kyuss, and of course the band are named after the town Kyuss came from, but it’s an effort to hear them with everything else Palm Desert have going on in their sound, and the dynamic that unfurls throughout Rays of the Gold and Grays draws more from the pointed focus on massive tonality than it does from the warm distortion that typifies desert rock. That is to say, Palm Desert bring more to the proceedings than one might anticipate at some 11 years’ remove from their last album-proper, and Rays of the Gold and Grays benefits greatly from that in aesthetic and realization.

As noted, “In the Breeze” launches the album, and it’s quickly dug into the roll that defines it. Gałuszka as a singer is prone to burl, but his voice is well in balance with the guitars, pushed down a bit in the mix so as not to compete with the riffs, and treated with a bit of reverb for good measure. This lets Gałuszka reside a bit more in the nascent swirl that caps “In the Breeze” and which the eight-and-a-half-minute “Lightriders” and the subsequent wah-burner “At the Edge of Time” build upon, and demonstrates a malleability of the mix to highlight various moments throughout. In “Black Hurricane,” which is the shortest track on Rays of the Gold and Grays at 3:33, it’s not all about the fuzzblast, but it’s pretty close, and as the guitar solo pushes over into the crescendo of song, the vocals are very much a part of that cacophony, but the voice doesn’t distract from what’s happening atmospherically there in terms of noise, and that’s a strength Palm Desert show throughout; not something that’s making or breaking your LP, necessarily, but an attention to detail satisfyingly reaffirmed by a mature band.

Paired perhaps for ‘black and blue’ purposes, “Black Hurricane” gives over fluidly to “Blue of the Sky,” with a layered vocal in the verse and a raw, forward trajectory that reminds a bit of Sasquatch in its smoothing out of stark turns before the solo finishes it out. Unsurprisingly, “Lightriders” as the not-quite-centerpiece intentionally has a broader scope — that is, “Blue of the Sky, “Black Hurricane,” etc. aren’t lacking, but different pieces here are written to different expressive ends — and starts quieter with a bit of swagger in the far off lead echoing behind the verse as it builds up before the explosion of tone that shoves it all on the listener, crushing and immersive, then stops, takes a breath, and does it again like 15 seconds later. Fans of London’s Steak will find themselves at home in the midst of all the ensuing big-tone nod, and Palm Desert give due ride to that very, very heavy riff that they’ve stuck in the middle-ish of their record, but diverge in the second half of the song to revisit the intro’s more subdued flow before thickening up the fuzz once more to roll to the end with residual lead echoing before the dreamier start of “At the Edge of Time” tells us the flip has been made to side B. An engine starts.

Hear a purring motor, and sure enough, Palm Desert are ‘burnin’ fuel,’ as the fellow says, in the groovy, wah-drenched crunch of “At the Edge of Time,” a steady, momentum-keeping lead-in for the title-track, which has another softer intro but hits plenty hard from there on, the riff like it’s trying to climb over itself to pull you in. Lower-register vocals in the chorus bring variety at a good moment for it, but there’s plenty of outreach in “Rays of the Gold and Grays,” backed by the immediacy with which “Son of a Wind and Dust” starts and deceptively establishes the riff before the verse actually begins, the band taking their time and staying in-pocket on the groove while it still sounds more straightforward than the title-track because it’s faster. I’d say it’s the little things, but for the fact that it comes across so enormous. The closer, “In My Eyes,” continues that thread while harkening back to some of the softer-landing moments with jammier tradeoff stretches, extra punch seeming to come through the bass even as the layers of guitar drive the album’s apex, finishing with leftover guitar keeping the energy with which it paid off the finale.

And ‘energy’ is a key component here, to be sure, but Rays of the Gold and Grays doesn’t rely simply on fervor to make its point in sound. Though it can feel monolithic at points, and I think it’s supposed to, the movement within and between songs is always there, and Palm Desert steer that momentum with craft and confidence in what they’re doing. In some ways, that’s emblematic of the band’s years, but no question it’s also what lets them bring a feeling of freshness to this material. I won’t predict when Palm Desert might be heard from again, but Rays of the Gold and Grays feels primed to greet new listeners.

Palm Desert on Bandcamp

Palm Desert on Instagram

Palm Desert on Facebook

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Bandcamp

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Facebook

With the double-guitar attack of classic doom metal and their sights set on more spacious heavy rocking fare, Wrocław, Poland’s Octotanker make their full-length debut with Voidhopper. The five-piece have their roots in the band Prąd, who released two albums, an EP and a split between 2016-2021. Prąd‘s apparent last outing was 2021’s Octotanker LP, which came out through Galactic Smokehouse, and I don’t know if there was a lineup change or if it’s just a moniker refresh, but if Voidhopper comes across sounding like the work of a band who’ve been together for a decade, that’s probably why.

And with the clarity of intention touching on a range of styles from grunge to spacey stoner pseudo-meander and psychedelia to post-punk, the nine-song/49-minute collection is both poised and expressive, with an approach based on craft that in cuts like “Aghori” puts the vocals of Marcin Gałkowski (who also mixed/mastered) in a forward position alongside the guitars of Rafał Bielski and Wojciech Szelwicki, Tomasz Krymski‘s bass and Piotr Krawczyk‘s drums, complementing the tonal grit of the opening title-track and adding melody to the crunch of the later “The Source and the River Are One.” Those familiar with bands like Iota or earlier Dwellers will find the post-grunge aspects recognizable, but while Octotanker don’t shy from the ethereality in a song like “Starships,” the material throughout Voidhopper remains firmly grounded in terms of structure.

Doing so lets Octotanker hold onto an impression based on their songwriting as a whole while the tracks showcase different facets of their already-complex stylistic persona. It’s not quite ‘no-two-songs-sound-alike’ because tones are consistent and the mellower groove in the first half of “All Suffer” feels like a preface to the midsection break of “The Source and the River Are One,” however heavy the surroundings of the latter get, and as the band demonstrates quickly in “Voidhopper,” part of their intent across the span here is to bring a sense of doom to underscore the proceedings.

The slowdown in the title-track is part of that, but by no means the only example, as even “Starships” finds its way into a lumbering movement eventually within its five-minute run. “All Suffer” sounds grim from the name but isn’t actually darker than either of the two songs before it, but instead weaves through open and, in the middle third, quieter verses to let its final burst carry over with a pointed sense of depth. Almost sneakily, at the same time, Octotanker have already established the flow that lets “All Suffer” shift so easily into “Aghori,” which is the longest inclusion at 7:03 and the presumed capper for side A. Reinforcing some of the dark-metal atmospherics, “Aghori” manifests fluidity in its procession as well, with an effective false ending of guitar before the whole band comes back around to smack you in the face with the song’s actual finish.

A bassy intro to “I Am Sun” begins (again, assuming) side B, soon joined by a jabby riff and echoing vocals. It and “Decomposed and Rotten” are the two shortest pieces on Voidhopper, but certainly Octotanker don’t sound any less dug-into “I Am Sun” than “Aghori” or the title-track, and “Decomposed and Rotten” highlights a post-punk sway that’s just as likely to be taken at this point as coming from black metal, but is individual in its execution either way, and less aggressive in its roll than, say, the ending of “Starships” or some of what’s to come. The point, I suppose, is there’s dynamic unfolding across Voidhopper, and while they sound like they know what they’re doing and these songs have clearly been ironed out, worked on — however you want to say it — over some period of time, they are not at all set in terms of aesthetic.

In any of these nine songs, there seems to be more than one thing happening in a given measure, yet they don’t derail and don’t lose sight of their overarching goals, which, again, vary according to which song you’re hearing but are brought together well through the two-sided structure of the whole album. Gałkowski brings a croon to top off “Decomposed and Rotten,” which drops to silence ahead of the all-go metalogrunge riff that commences with “The Source and the River Are One.” And that seems to be the course of it until it’s dropped about halfway in and they rebuild to the finish, as noted, echoing the resonance of the quieter moments in “All Suffer,” a clever misdirect that could easily have taken momentum away but doesn’t, instead making for a highlight.

Dramatic chug typifies the payoff of “Burning Bodies,” but the penultimate track is no less about keeping the lighter-floating tonality intact, emphasizing the dynamic they’ve laid out all the while and lending it an engaging summary, capping with a crash and residual amp hum on the way to the grounded drum-and-guitar start of “Space Outlaw,” which feels less about mood than some of the material before it but inherently carries that as part of its purpose as well. As to what earned it the closer spot — since it’s not like Octotanker are short on payoffs besides — my guess is the shove and adrenaline-charged solo that begins circa 3:35. Some of the nuance of the lead is lost due to effects on first blush, but repeat listens reveal a richer character in that moment, and the alignment around a more straightforward heavy rock push is satisfying after the band have spent so much time balancing one aspect of their aesthetic off another.

It is not without ambition, and it is not a minor undertaking with a runtime that pushes the limits of what a 12″ vinyl platter will hold, but Voidhopper feels declarative on the part of Octotanker, whose redirect from their days as Prąd would seem to have resulted in the adoption of this sound so divergently evocative and yet based around ultimately familiar genre elements. It’s a hard one to pin down, and given how much intention there is behind that, the potential for growth becomes a central part of the album’s appeal to the listener.

Octotanker, Voidhopper (2025)

Octotanker, “Voidhopper” official video

Octotanker on Bandcamp

Octotanker on Instagram

Octotanker on Facebook

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

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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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Continuing the project’s thread pulling together elements of grunge, metal, heavy psychedelia and atmospheric doom, Mountain of Misery — the solo outfit helmed by Kamil Ziółkowski, also known for his drum and vocal work in Spaceslug, Palm Desert and O.D.R.A., let alone running the label Electric Witch Mountain Recordings or recording at his studio of the same name — today presents Shades of the Ashes as its latest immersive full-length. The tonal richness of what the band has wrought to-date is in the new album’s material as well, but there’s a stripping-down happening as well in pieces like “Speed King” and the roller “Lightness at the End” that bring new character and momentum to what surrounds. Clearly, Ziółkowski is still adventuring, is the point I’m trying to make.

So much the better. You can stream the album in full, and it’s Friday and everybody’s busy, so why don’t you just go ahead and do that and then blow off the rest of whatever the hell you had on today because screw it anyhow and go enjoy a thing for a while. If your boss, or teacher, or partner, or mom has words about it, send them my way. The contact form is in the sidebar. I’m happy to explain the situation.

No real press release or announcement here, but the recording info and the player follow. Again, enjoy:

MOUNTAIN OF MISERY – 🌗”Shades Of The Ashes” out now!🌓

On Bandcamp: https://mountainofmisery.bandcamp.com/album/shades-of-the-ashes

Recorded at Electric Witch Mountain Recordings by Kamil Ziółkowski (January/February 2025)
MIxed and Mastered by Haldor Grunberg (Satanic Audio)
Produced by Kamil Ziółkowski & Haldor Grunberg
All music and lyrics by Mountain Of Misery
Cover artwork by Łukasz Puzdrowski
LP Layout by Artur Rolik
No. EWMR006LP

Tracklisting:
1. Thornado
2. Follow the Sun
3. Mystify
4. Speed Kig
5. From Fall to Rise
6. Interlude
7. Lightness at the End
8. Blow

https://www.facebook.com/p/Mountain-Of-Misery-61553104355582/
https://mountainofmisery.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552988139323

Mountain of Misery, Shades of the Ashes (2025)

The title Deep Seven Vol. 1 is a stated reference/homage to Deep Six, which came out in 1986 and is regarded as a starting point for grunge for its early assembling the likes of Soundgarden, Green River, Skin Yard and The Melvins, among others. At the time, these were mostly noisy bands trying to feel their way from being punk to something harder, and what came out of it was a generational declaration of themselves in rock and roll and to-date, the only underground rock scene ever to have been picked up by a major label en masse.

A once-in-a-forever happening, and no, I don’t think producers Haldor Grunberg of Satanic Audio and Kamil Ziółkowski of Electric Witch Mountain Recordings, which is the label behind the release and the studio where he seems to have recorded the bulk if not all of it, and features in five of the seven bands included (plus one as a guest), are trying to position Wrocław, Poland, as “the next Seattle.” But, there are parallels to be drawn. The two compilations share an underlying ethic in representing the work of groups and a collective of like-minded artists, working toward their own purposes as individuals, bands, etc., but united in some cases by stylistic similarities (or shared personnel) and in some cases drawn together simply by virtue of making outside-mainstream art in the same city — again, in this case, Wrocław and Poland’s greater Silesian region around it.

These are admirable goals, and with exclusive, new tracks from Palm Desert, Ziółkowski‘s solo-project Mountain of Misery, Solar Trip, Spaceslug, Gozd, O.D.R.A. and Sealess, the 45-minute collection has much to say about the city these bands call home and the sonic elements they share. Perhaps unsurprisingly, among the latter is a strong thread of grunge. This is certainly emphasized in Mountain of Misery‘s “Hollow Water” (5:436 and Spaceslug‘s “Lost in the Tide” (7:36), the latter of which is the centerpiece of the collection and the leadoff of the vinyl edition’s side B, but certainly in the punkier-at-its-root noise rock chug and shout-topped bite of O.D.R.A.‘s “Breslau Babilon” (5:15) — Breslau being an older name for Wrocław — and the despondent atmosphere that begins the subsequent closer “Fading Away” (4:30) by Sealess, there are hints of grunge to be actively or passively heard.

More importantly, that’s not all there is. Spaceslug, who aren’t the longest-tenured here — Palm Desert, whose “Elegy of the Past” (9:22) is both the leadoff and longest track (immediate points), formed in 2008, and O.D.R.A. may go back farther (both bands have Ziółkowski on drums) — are arguably the most known outside of Poland. Their textured, rich interpretation of heavy psychedelia is characteristically fluid in melody and groove on “Lost in the Tide,” which may or may not have some relation to their 2018 LP, Eye the Tide (review here), and comes across as languid but not at all still. The riff is sharper than it seems on first listen, metal-born but heavy-raised. It feels purposeful in its position, not the least for the hypnosis.

“Lost in the Tide” is surrounded on either side by Solar Trip‘s “Blueshift” (6:18) and Gozd‘s “Disguise the Emptiness” (6:22). These are the only two bands in which Ziółkowski isn’t a member, though he contributes recognizable guest backing vocals to the latter, for another aural tie-in, feeling like a linear progression from the psychedelic redirect of Solar Trip — instrumental save for samples and nodding toward modern space-prog in a nonetheless driving movement — through the hypnotic nod of “Lost in the Tide,” and into Gozd, who push even further into open air.

No doubt the fact that these songs were all recorded in the same studio with the same producers between August of this year and last month has something to do with Deep Seven Vol. 1‘s ability to creative this kind of overarching flow; the tracklisting is able to put the listener where it wants them from the moment Palm Desert takeoff from the relatively straight-ahead first half of “Elegy of the Past” to the jammier, trippier second. Mountain of Misery serve as a transition ahead of Solar Trip, Spaceslug and Gozd, and just when you feel like you’re as far out as you can go without the music falling apart around you, O.D.R.A. bring a sudden regrounding and a suckerpunch at the same time. And Sealess not only make sense to finish because they move from the mellow, almost post-heavy fluidity of the early going in “Fading Away” to a more solidified payoff, but the return of vocalist Wojciech Gałuszka from Palm Desert alongside guitar, drums and synth from Ziółkowski and Grunberg‘s production, feels like a bookend to the release as a whole.

And that Ziółkowski and Spaceslug bassist/vocalist Jan Rutka also play in Palm Desert shouldn’t be discounted. Granted, it’s a lot of Ziółkowski front to back as he moves between drumming, singing, keys and guitar in different bands, but his approach seems to be an essential piece of what these same groups are sharing. It’s part of the point, not a thing to hide, is what I’m saying. These bands are supposed to be connected, and they are. That happens in terms of their aesthetic purpose — the blend of psychedelic, heavy, and various niches of rock music — their respective memberships, and of course their geography.

Deep Seven affirms the validity of all of these, and within the broadly varied Polish underground, which is just as likely to produce a Behemoth or a Batushka (or two) as a Dopelord or a Major Kong, casts the included acts as offering something distinct from the rest. They’re not prideful or arrogant about it — at least not in the songs, though O.D.R.A. want nothing for brashness with their Church of Misery-style swing and hardcore-meets-Sabbath overtones — but the message that these groups and this region have something to offer listeners is resonant in the material itself. For that alone, one hopes a Vol. 2 or a Deep Eight or whatever it ends up being called surfaces at some point in the future.

Of course, a crucial difference between this comp and Deep Six is that scene was just beginning to take shape where this one is more established — but again, at no point does it feel like Deep Seven is trying to pitch itself to a commercial music infrastructure that simply no longer exists to support it even if it wanted to. Instead, in a context where these sounds can be heard by anyone, anywhere, anytime, on demand, Deep Seven Vol. 1 reaches out and speaks of people and place in stylistic terms, and in so doing captures something special. If you want to call it the ‘Silesian sound’ from here on out, this offers a glimpse at some of what that means.

Various Artists, Deep Seven Vol. 1 (2024)

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Facebook

Electric Witch Mountain Recordings on Bandcamp