Off… To catch a Mountain…
After that wild December month on Stoner HiVe; with the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2021; came those personal lists month on the Doom Charts… So; we’re in bad need of some R&R… We’re off to the mountains to see if there’s still some snow to enjoy…
Will be back after February 7th!
Keep checking all them albums!
Cause all that’s good and heavy is being released on a daily basis!
Mahalo! See ya’ll in a week!
Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday
Perhaps you noticed the lack of updates on the HiVe… Well, we’ve been doing a lot for the Doom Charts the past weeks. And with another little trip coming up; everything else had to take a backseat. But the Doom Charts schedule will soon return to normal and after we return around the 7th of February; so will the HiVe. Si senor, after that, Stoner HiVe will commence the normal show as well… But before we head out on another little trip, we leave you with yet another Quick Fire Friday about 2021 releases… Cause there is still so much out there that we love to mention! So, why not do loads at once during a Quick Fire Friday session?! Why not indeed! And we know, we know, the albums and bands deserve more than the few words we will jot down here. More attention and more of our time! But there is so much out there and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. So here it is. The Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday! And it burns hot like molten lava!
Heidrún – Heidrún
It came out during the European summer this Mexican stoner and sludge gold; six tracks that steamroll you like the supermassive mother sludgers that they are! Indeed, I stole the Komatsu line to explain what Heidrún sounds like. No that they sound like Komatsu; but they do have that barreling attitude! Massive sludge, dark stoner and some prog and psych touches to keep things exciting. Damn good stuff! I should ask my buddy in Mexico to do an interview with these cats!
Dark Ocean Circle – Bottom Of The Ocean
The four from Stockholm, Sweden that are Dark Ocean Circle delivered their four track Bottom Of The Ocean EP in November of 2021. Hardrock, metal, with overtones of all that’s heavy. Stoner and a seventies approach give Dark Ocean Circle enough cool energy to power through the four tracks like a meteor. And down there on the Bottom Of The Ocean the stoner metal sound gritty, raw and majestically bluesy!
Grey Moth – Love & Hatred
A first single from a new doom metal duo called Grey Moth. They hail from LA and embrace the natural balance of power between good and evil, dark and light, ugliness and beauty, life and death. Love & Hatred is the lead single for the album, recorded with Jack Shirley (Deafheaven) that will arrive somewhere in March. It’s doom. It’s dark. It’s grey and it’s mothy…
The Soul of Salem – From The Hands of Witches
The Soul Of Salem consists of four Italians that hail from Bari, way down south, where the heel of the boot begins. They released their From The Hands Of Witches EP when the first lockdown started. Back in 2020 and therefor never took the time to really promote it. Which is a shame, for the bluesy doom, the swaggering psych is enticing, it has soul and it deserves to be heard. So, go ahead and click that bandcamp link.
Old Sea and Mother Serpent – Plutonian
That Addicted Label keeps releasing wicked underground doom acts from the East side of the globe. Old Sea and Mother Serpent is one of those duo’s that melts doom, sludge, stoner and drone into one noisy melting pot. Four tracks give you an intense almost eighty minute ride through the dark and twisted landscape. A slow ride…
Deep Valley Blues – III
What’s in a name right? The blues! The Deep Valley Blues! Well, the four from Catanzaro, Italy definitely play the blues, but a gritty, hardrocking, stoner infusing version that has some sludgy moments and some metal thunder. The eleven tracks on III will have no trouble luring you in; in fact once the bluesharp hits in that first song, you shall definitely be hooked! Hey, they did not make the December Doom Charts of 2021 for nothing! As Madman Tony Maim already remarked: “The blueprint is rock but Deep Valley Blues have stomped their own brand of riffage, producing a slew of meaty, heavy stomp monsters!”
Earl Redd Trucking – Paradise Road
Remember Atomic Thrillride? Well, one of those cats started a new powertrio named Earl Redd Trucking. Hailing straight from the southern gentlemen town Louisville, Kentucky the two tracks on the Paradise Road single give you hardrock, blues trucking and a whole lot of southern energy! And guess what, it’s on the 666MRDoom channel!
The Magic Bus - Το Κάστρο
Self released – 2021
Rock, Hardrock
Rated: ***
We will need to contact our Greek friends from the Doom Charts Contributors to ask if the Greek lyrics on the Το Κάστρο album make any sense. Although; with the short English explanations of every track that comes with the press package, we can make some sense of it. It’s The Magic Bus and their Το Κάστρο album, which means The Castle. The four from The Magic Bus now delivers a full-sized album filled with Greek language hardrock. Hardrock, with metal and grandiose almost operatic gestures. It fills the room your in without any problem, and you will indeed have no issue imagining this album performed in full on some majestic and ancient theater stage somewhere in Greece. And those sudden moments where they make their sound small; give the album even more an accomplished work of art feeling. Big stories, translated into huge gestures, massive sounds; but also fragile and tiny. It will have no trouble taking hold of you; thanks to the imposing and dramatic performance of each and every section.
(Written by JK)
Ritual Earth – MMXX
Self released / Deathwish Inc / Iodine Recordings – 2020/2022
Metal, Rock, Doom, Space
Rated: *****
Ritual Earth is about to release their MMXX album from 2020 on vinyl through the Deathwish Inc / Iodine Recordings machine. But before we go and order one of those gorgeous splatter vinyl releases; why not revisit the mention we wrote back in August of 2020 to see if we still feel the same about that, at the time, Five Star release. And the little thing we wrote back then surely holds up; there’s something special about their spacious doom metal approach. Doom-haze, slow-prog, and all that’s metal with a little psychedelic dust sprinkled over it. Indeed, the four from Philly have something special going on; a certain way to gradually deliver the stomp and punch; not at all gentle, but with a different kind of energy and vaporous intention. So, let’s end with the final sentence of the August 2020 mention: “And it is, for in the way Ritual Earth makes this perfect amalgam of doom, rock, metal, space and prog, turning soundscapes into wonderous vistas and whole galaxies of sound, you know you will reach your auditory climax. Come again? Yes indeed! Please.”
(Written by JK)
Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Weekend
And here it is! The second day of the second ever Quick Fire Weekend! Just because we got so much back catalogue of singles, ep’s, news and weird stuff that we just want to mention. And we know, we know, the albums and bands deserve more than the few words we will jot down here. More attention and more of our time! But there is so much out there and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. So here it is. The second ever Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Weekend! And it burns even hotter... Hot like molten lava!
Moonworshipper – 13 Fullmoon Nights of Doubt
The beginning of the 21 minutes long 13 Fullmoon Nights of Doubt track definitely grabbed me. That voice, the guitar, the atmosphere painted… And they immediately lose me when the black metal guttural screaming begins… Moonworshipper has everything going for them; and I love everything about it… Except from the pitch of the guttural screams… But everything else; damn fucking interesting!
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Hypnotic Dirge Records
Pharm – Acolyte
Pharm from Canada released their first single Acolyte somewhere around the third week of December 2021. Prog, stoner and psych all rond into one nice and constantly tempo shifting hardrock. The trio will definitely turn your head or possible break it! More to come soon, cause they’re working on a full length debut… Wild!
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Roadkillsoda – Loud & Proud
Loud & Proud premiered on the 666MRDoom Channel on my birthday back in 2021. And it’s the new single of the upcoming EP by the Rumanian quartet Roadkillsoda. Still that good old Roadkillsoda sound, heavy metal, hardrock with punk, grunge and stoner edges. Loud & Proud indeed!
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Spotify
Her Highness – Visions of a Lower Life
I love Hungary and I love Budapest. And I can definitely feel something for the instrumental doom/sludge project Her Highness and their newest release on the Addicted Label called Visions of A Lower Life. Six tracks of doom metal that slowly but surely will beat the crap out of you; or at least makes you drift off into a state of weary unconsciousness. A duo of full on doom!
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Addicted Label
Cavem3n - The Stalefield incident
The Stalefield Incident is a highly enjoyable diesel blues album. Indeed, the band is called Cavem3n, they hail from Lysekil, Sweden and produce some fine hardrocking blues, touches of stoner, a bit of a grunge and a whole lot of attitude. The quartet knows how to riff, wail and retro rock ‘n roll the shit out of you! Damn fine incident!
The Paladin – Demo
They hail from that lovely town of Helsinki, Finland. They’re three honorable warriors - seekers, questers, and crusaders of mad chivalry. They’re The Paladin. And this is their first two-track demo and delivers heavy rock, heavy metal, stoner, doom and everything in between. Two tracks, sixteen minutes and all of it damn interesting! Let’s hear more o’ honorable Paladin!
Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Weekend
We did it before! And now we’re doing it again! A Quick Fire Weekend! We just got so much back catalogue of singles, ep’s, news and weird stuff that we just want to mention. Need to mention! It keeps us awake at night. And it gives us sweaty palms when we’re working on other articles. So, here it is, the second ever Quick Fire Weekend! And we know, we know, the albums and bands deserve more than the few words we will jot down here. More attention and more of our time! But there is so much out there and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. So here it is. The second ever Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Weekend! And it burns even hotter... Hot like molten lava!
Slugg – Yonder
A doom metal trio from Rome, Italy called Slugg released their official first single Yonder a few weeks ago. Element of stoner, prog and proto seep through during the ten minutes of Yonder and makes you wonder what these cats can do once their full-sized album is released. Cause there is much to discover here and those slower more atmospheric moments are executed as well as the fast paced thundering!
Tigers On Opium – The Perfect Cocktail
We did this little chat with LáGoon’s Anthony Gaglia somewhere in April and when he listed all those awesome bands from Portland the list went on and on. Tigers On Opium were of course one of the first mentioned and rightfully so; just listen to their new hard rocking garage stoner track The Perfect Cocktail. The perfect propellant for a wild night out! Put this on and it will turn into one of those nights you will never remember. Punk, pulp, stoner and sleaze! The Tigers have it all!
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King Black Acid and The Rainbow Lodge – One Of My Favorite Things
Mazinga Records and Cavity Search Records released quite a few singles by King Black Acid and the Rainbow Lodge during 2021. One would imagine all of them together would make quite a hefty spacey, stoner pop and acid freak out grunge album. Latest single One Of My Favorite Things combines all that with some indie rock and neo psych; and even some tiny americana tones. It’s good, it’s fun and it’s One Of My Favorite Things…
The Universe Is An Ocean – The Universe Is An Ocean
The self-titled debut album by The Universe Is An Ocean came out on the Addicted Label and The Swamp Records somewhere around Christmas 2021. The forty-two minutes long one-track album is indeed a ‘soundtrack for psychonauts’ as the press release states. The Universe Is An Ocean is a one-man operation by Balázs Söptei from Budapest, Hungary. You might know him from Vanta or Kajgun. This project delivers psychedelic drone metal and ambient rock destined for the outer reaches of the universe or the inner reaches of the human mind. Whichever route you prefer; but it will make you dream, that much is sure! And yes, the forty-minutes length is intentional…
Da Beumb Project – Fairly Consistent
Bass and drum duo Da Beumb Project hails from Montréal, Québec, Canada and gives us eleven fast paced punk, grunge, metal and sludge tracks on their fairly consistent new Fairly Consistent album. Started in 2011 they manage to have every track on this album stand out due to the fact that there is something different about it. As if they suddenly had a little snippet of an idea and immediately modelled a track around it. And that makes it all Fairly Consistent…
Oddplay – Heritage
Bulgarian duo (or trio) Oddplay delivered the amazing Bluff record early 2021 and at the very end they then came out with yet another smasher called Heritage. Eleven instrumental tracks that pay homage to all that stoner once brought to the table; and then they mix that up with some heavy prog elements, some psychedelic touches and a whole lot of style!
Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday
Are we done with 2021? In many ways, yes, you can bet your ass we are! But musically, never! Cause thanks to all the lists that the HiVe team sent, and that massive amount of lists from the Doom Chart Contributors; we are still discovering new gems. And we wonder why we never got around to listening it when it was released; or why it never clicked with us as it does now. So much good and heavy stuff released throughout the year! Amazing… So, for the rest of January a lot of mentions might be from 2021… December or even earlier… And why not do loads at once during a Quick Fire Friday session?! Why not indeed! And we know, we know, the albums and bands deserve more than the few words we will jot down here. More attention and more of our time! But there is so much out there and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. So here it is. The Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday! And it burns hot like molten lava!
The Warp/The Weft – It May Not Always Be So
I could have sworn we already mentioned an earlier release by Poughkeepsie, New York quartet The Warp/The Weft, but apparently not. So, this here is their new single It May Not Always Be So. Indeed, the poem by EE Cummings, put to indie rock, psych folk and avant-garde touches. Intro and outro weaving itself into an ouroboros…
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Acid Spit – Grave Scum
We’re listening to a lo-fi garage punk metal foursome from Hanover, Germany and they’re called Acid Spit! The seven tracks on their new Grave Scum release have this speedy or trashy doom edge and all of them will do something for ya! Some or all of the members were also active in bands called Mazur and This Is Ghost Country. And Acid Spit is a definitely a loogy in the right direction! In fact they might just turn into a righteous Captain Loogie at a certain Island's Spitting Contest! I would cheer them on!
The Ghost Of Fu Kang Walker – Out of Body Experience
Early December we mentioned that crazy outfit The Ghost Of Fu Kang Walker and their first single Where Wolves And Wiccans Roam. They now wish to take us with them on a 360Degrees tour of their rehearsal room where they perform a new track called Out Of Body Experience. Metal, hardrock and apparently no ear protection… Crazy! Take the tour!
Dunwich – Dunwich
Self released – 2021
Metal, Stoner, Sludge, Doom, Punk
Rated: ****
Today we mention the French five-piece formation Dunwich. Not to be confused with the Italian gothic metal formation with the same name or the Russian doom metal, post punk trio. No, this long lived project was born around the Calais region in France all the way back in 2013 and featured, features and might feature in the future a truckload of artists that are all active in other bands but wanted to explore more sludge doom-oriented music that pays homage to the HP Lovecraft landscape. Indeed, it’s heavy metal, with overtones of doom, sludge and horror. But before we list the merits of this release, let’s list the bands that were involved at one point or are still among the Dunwich crew. Bandlist: Bézukry, Guest, Putridity Pleasure Party, Crime Scene, Destroy Your Enemy, In Hell, Hanky-Panky, Dee N Dee, Zoë, Death Control, 12,7 and Deicyfer. See, a veritable who’s who of the French heavy underground. Good people that make good music. And even though the mix might feel a bit thin here and there; the punk attitude and the grunge tones to all this sludge and doom is refreshing and energizing. There’s enough propelling power and lots of gnarly vocals; and just when you think you’ve got this Dunwich pinned, they offer some finesse and a melodic spotlight… But don’t fear, soon the light goes out and the darkness becomes heavy lead and as moving as black treacle. Dunwich, has seen the dark universe yawning, where the black planets roll without aim. And they roll in their horror unheeded…
(Written by JK)
King Buffalo – Acheron
Stickman Records – 2021
Rock, Prog, Stoner, Psych
Rated: *****
We were fast, on time and prompt, if you will, for the Burden of Restlessness album release and wrote a little mention about it in May of 2021. But when their second installment of the trilogy arrived it turned into a totally different affair. Cause the promo, back in October 2021, for that second album had the master volume all mixed up; which made the entire record a muddled and barely audible experience. It took me a while to get over that experience and it in fact took me till December, when the official release had come and gone, all the year-end lists floated in and the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2021 absorbed all of my time. Indeed, it was then that I had to get back into my beloved King Buffalo. A band that has been growing in my heart ever since they started; but which came to fill it completely with Dead Star and then make it burst wide open with the, in my opinion, best album of 2021, Burden of Restlessness. And now, there’s Acheron. An album that is even more atmospheric, meandering and of looser composition than the one that came before. That looseness does not make it sloppy, but just adds to the vistas it creates and the room it inhabits. It all floats, it flows, it feels entirely free and it fills your being completely. The compositions like a free-flowing river; opening up into a wider and a lighter sound, offering you as much solace as possible while escape still feels impossible. Not from yourself, the universal state of everything or the fact that you are listening to pure instrumental virtuosity. The way they make the guitars bounce, the sound reverb around you like a never-ending whirlpool and their approach to contemplative rock, psychedelic prog and disorientating stoner. Masters of their craft, the King Buffalo three have delivered yet another brilliant or even ‘best of’ album in 2021. And the completion of the trilogy in 2022 will surely be the highlight of the year… And surely another best of album for that year…
(Written by JK)
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Stoner HiVe’s
Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…
Mamvth
Oculto
Celladoor
Seven Nines and Tens
Estrojet
Crop
Yo No Se
A Borrowing Kid Generation
Mutha Trucka
Wilderun
Spidergawd – VI
Crispin Glover Records – 2021
Rock
Rated: ****
Spidergawd crashed into the Doom Charts with their new album VI. With a new guitar player in their midst the Spidergawd sound on the new album VI has propelled toward more guitar orientated compositions and textural coloring. That ever present soulful sax from earlier albums has been pushed back and is used more like a framework in between which the band uses every other aspect of their new sound to paint colorful, seventies inspired pictures. Also new; and definitely an improvement is the adding of more vocal lines and polyphonic parts. The way the vocals now bounce across the Spidergawd groove makes it all definitely more attractive and compelling. It’s their sixth album; a different one, yet when listening, it quickly becomes trusted, familiar and loved. It’s still Spidergawd, in all its glory!
(Written by JK)
Stoner HiVe’s
Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…
Tyler Kamen
Yo No Se
Volcanova
Volbeat
Chevelle
Stone Cadaver
Valid Blu
Deaf Club
New Candys
The Awesome Machine
Speck – Unkraut
Self released / The Swamp Records – 2021
Rock, Stoner
Rated: *****
Speck hails from Vienna, Austria and delivers Unkraut in a tasty portion of almost forty minutes. If consumed accidentally it might make your head nod, your hip swing and your feet tap for at least those 37 minutes. Handle with care! This Austrian kraut is highly addictive! During the summer the power trio released The Metz Sessions and earned some well-deserved attention. Now their debut album came out right in time to enter your best-of-2021-lists – in mine it’s top3. Speck Speck Speck ! Kraut- Spacerock on its best.
(Written by Doktor420)
Doom Charts
"It’s a new dawn… It’s a new day… It’s a new life, for me… And I’m feeling good…"
~ Cy Grant / Nina Simone
This is not a year-end post. This is not a glance back at what the year brought. This is the regular December 2021 edition of the Doom Charts. Posted; as usual, on the first of the month. In the near future a lot of our contributors will be sending their Personal Top XX lists and they will all go up on the site. Followed by a Top 100 of all the albums that got voted on. And then we close the book on 2021. We won’t stop listening to those albums though, cause they will forever be with us. There have been so many great releases once again; that we cannot do much more but keep promoting all that heavy stuff we love, tip our hats, applaud and give them all the universal nod. But for now; here’s December. 254 albums got voted for this month and that resulted in 22 spanking new albums that got blurbed! Let it blurb, let it blurb… Let it doom, let it doom!
On January 1, 2022, the December Doom Charts of that month went live. That’s only 8 days ago. But since then we’ve been posting all the personal lists of favorite albums, and now it feels like a lifetime. We wanted to do a straight run of Top 20 Countdown and then all the Personal Favorites, hence we never promoted the December Doom Charts of 2021. So, we do that now! Did you visit the site? Did you get wild with all them bands? We hope you did! And hey, the good Doktor420 wrote a blurb again. That Speck one. Nice huh!? Anyway, personal votes went out to: Kanaan, Nekromant, Low Orbit, Spidergawd, Stargo & King Buffalo… And next month, we surely will vote for Speck! What an album! Check it out! Check’m all out!
Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and reviewers from the heavy underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge, metal, stoner, psychedelic and heavy rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…
Top 30 Most Scrobbled Albums of 2021
And finally, the list of Most Scrobbled albums of 2021... Cause yes, we still scrobble, we scrobble the shit out of a lot of stuff. And this list of scrobbles, is a list of scrobbles that does not include Youtube, Spotify or Bandcamp. All of which we also use. Spotify very very little. Youtube a bit… And Bandcamp quite a lot. But this is a list of most scrobbled albums as scrobbled by a media player. This isn’t the amount of vinyl listened or cd’s played. Nor is it the amount of listening sessions while on the road to nowhere in particular or something very particular. Nope; this is a list of albums scrobbled while sitting fully clothed or stark naked behind a computer screen typing away and reaching auditory climax by all that heavy goodness scrobbled… So, here’s once again, the 30 Most Scrobbled Albums of the total number of 1,705 albums scrobbled this way in that foul year we call 2021…
1. Komatsu – Rose Of Jericho
2. Greenleaf – Echoes From A Mass
3. Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows – The Magnetic Ridge
4. Mojave Lords – Expensive Feelings
5. Stone Cadaver – Memento Mori, Motherfucker
6. Delco Detention – It Came From The Basement
7. Green Lung – Black Harvest
8. Motorpsycho – Kingdom of Oblivion
9. Soothsayer Orchestra – Soothsayer Orchestra
10. Spelljammer – Abyssal Trip
11. Redscale – The Old Colossus
12. King Buffalo – The Burden of Restlessness
13. Miss Lava – Doom Machine
14. Stone Deaf – Killers
15. Red Fang – Arrows
16. Terminus – The Silent Bell Toll
17. A Pale Horse Named Death – Infernum In Terra
18. Kal-El – Dark Majesty
19. Acid Mammoth – Caravan
20. LáGoon – Skullactic Visions
21. The Ragged Kin – Before Spring
22. Robots of The Ancient World – Mystic Goddess
23. Here Lies Man – Ritual Divination
24. Vokonis – Odyssey
25. Starified – Fat Hits
26. Hvalross – Cold Dark Rain
27. Heavy Feather – Mountain of Sugar
28. Holy Monitor – Southern Lights
29. Maragda – Maragda
30. Vintage Caravan – Monuments
