Sleep : Hempispheres

Sleep are absolute legends. Not only did the trio -which included Al Cisneros on bass, Matt Pike on guitar, and Chris Hakius(later Jason Roeder) on drums- help define stoner and doom metal in one fell toke…I mean, swoop, but they showed how heavy and loud a three-piece can be. After their game-changing album Dopesmoker, the […]

Edena Gardens : Dispossessed

Denmark’s Edena Gardens rolled onto the scene back in 2022 with their self-titled debut. A monolithic sound of doom-laced blues and post-rock expansiveness, it was like hearing Black Sabbath taking a cue from Ry Cooder; chugging rhythms, desolated guitar tones, and the feeling of some dystopian, post-apocalyptic western taking place on a distant, sun-dried planet. […]

Unknown Mortal Orchestra : CURSE EP

Ruban Nielson’s music project Unknown Mortal Orchestra has seen its share of sonic evolution. From the scuzzy, psychedelic funk freakouts of their debut to the shinier production moments of albums like Multi-Love and Sex and Food to the almost mainstream sound of 2023s V, Nielson has proven a musician that embraces change and looking forward. […]

Pale Endless : Pale Endless

Pale Endless, which consists of Jason(drums) and Lea(bass/keys) Bledsoe, were formally the heavy and atmospheric duo Noise-A-Tron. Distorted bass lines coalesced with feedback walls and drums that would have sounded at home on a Godflesh album. With their evolution from Noise-A-Tron to Pale Endless the band takes on a far more ambient and sinister atmosphere. […]

The Crooked Whispers : Funeral Blues

On a random “new releases” search I came acrosss this L.A. psych/doom band The Crooked Whispers. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, but the skull with the sword through it, demonic stone cross, and sepia-toned feel of the album cover won me over. They had just released a new album called Funeral […]

Pike Vs The Automaton : Pike Vs The Automaton

Matt Pike is the king of the Heshers. Shirtless, long-haired Midwestern punk who relocated to Oakland, CA as a teen, if Pike hadn’t found his purpose in a Gibson Les Paul and a Marshall stack he probably would’ve ended up in jail. He took his teenage Black Sabbath worship and love of mind-altering substances and […]

“Lost inside my sick head”…

Alice In Chains’ Facelift was unlike any album I’d heard when I first put it in my ears of December 1990. They were a Seattle band, but they were not like Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Screaming Trees, or Mudhoney. They were darker and much more metal than their Pacific Northwest peers. With Jerry Cantrell’s guitar […]

Electric Moon : Stardust Rituals

Occasionally a band will pop up on my radar that I missed. Sure, it happens. When there’s a whole world filled with amazing artists the odds you’re going to miss one or two first time around are pretty great. Fortunately what that means is that you’ve got plenty of opportunities to find them somewhere down […]

Mythic Sunship : Another Shape of Psychedelic Music

I’ve had those nights. Those nights where you head down into that darkened basement studio with a pal, and a few too many beers, and decide to hit record and see what happens. Amps buzzing, basses bruising, and drums beaten to within an inch of their lives. Everything in that recording space is electric, man. […]

Sleep : The Sciences

For the longest time Sleep were more legend than reality. A trio of young California stoners in the late 80s/early 90s that worshiped at the alter of Black Sabbath, fueled by massive amounts of the best bud little money could buy, started a whole new genre of music: stoner metal. Matt Pike, Al Cisneros, and […]