King Potenaz – Arcane Desert Rituals Vol.1

 

King Potenaz – Arcane Desert Rituals Vol.1
Majestic Mountain Records – 2025
Rock, Doom, Stoner 
Rated: ****

The Italian trio going by the name of King Potenaz has gone through a ferocious development in just three years. Delivering their first two track demo back in January 2022, following that up with two singles and then turning those tracks and four more into the wonderful debut full-sized album that is Goat Riders which was released in April 2023. And then, back in March we already got the news that a new one was on the horizon and that Rivers Of Death would be the lead single. A doom march rife with the occult and slithering with creepiness. As warm as a freshly dug grave, the fuzz is ever present and so is the feeling of death, lurking around the corner. And that feeling and that atmosphere is ever present on the new album called Arcane Desert Rituals Vol.1. Out on Majestic Mountain Records it contains four tracks filled with mysterious doom and ritualistic proto rocking. There’s a sludgy touch, something wicked and something wild. Most tuned down low, slow and morose. And then sometimes, when the moon is full and the energy feels especially right, they speed up or turn a corner that leads into a heavy metal Cul De Sac. Psychedelic middle parts of a swing and groove to sway to and let fly your thoughts, it’s all there and more. Although Arcane Desert Rituals Vol.1 might not be the immediate power grab, it soon starts to take hold and slowly strangle you until you fold and submit to King Potenaz. And once you do, you start to hear those minutely infused weird drum parts, that bass that goes into a different direction and those vocals that sound like Satan storming into heaven. Final track Ariadne, The Serpent Witch adds the wonderful voice of Jana Maista to make it an even grander ritual, an arcane and ancient sounding opening, only slowly turning away from that atmospheric glow to become this harsher thunderstorm and then letting the voice radiate again with all her elven and angelic beauty. But of course, she’s a witch. So, the darkness and the wickedness does return. Before it all dissipates into the shimmering ritualistic fantasy it all might have been… 

(Written by JK)

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Review for King Potenaz - Goat Riders

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Whenever we do a Quick Fire Friday, we just want to continue doing them. Shoot from the hip! Write a sentence or two and let you lovely freaks out there, take it from there… So, because it’s Friday once again, we are here once again. No six shooter! But an eight speedy rock salvo! And we know, we should do more… For there is so much great music out there, and we cannot ever do it all justice. So we came up with a way to shoot out a quick blurb and hope it will entice you to listen to the single or the entire discography! So here it is… Another Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday! And it burns hot like molten lava!

 

Lammping – Never Never

To start this Quick Fire Friday off we have something different for ya. Off center! Weird in a  not very heavy kind of way. Which means: Lammping! We said it before, we will continue to say it, the Lammping boys have this Beta Band thing going on that’s just lovely. Never Never, with its hiphop streak, its head wobble and that bop and bounce psych will surely make you smile. And long for those warm crate digging days…

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 Garbage - Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty

To follow that weird start,  we go with something heavy, but not needing any smidge of help of a little blog like Stoner HiVe cause they are a freaking big name! But hey, I got a soft spot for Garbage! And I hope you do too! Check out the new Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty, damn good stuff!

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Pemod – Meduza

And now for your regular broadcasting Stoner HiVe service! PEMOD! Gritty stoner doom straight out of Myslenice, Poland. And Meduza does not just sport that gritty and smokey stoner doom, it also sport cello and a whole lot of ominous undertones. Recorded live in Prague, the video shows them giving themselves wholly to that serpentine under current…

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King Potenaz – Rivers of Death

Goat Riders came out in 2023! A wild and truly amazing album. And soon, the Italian three named King Potenaz will be releasing a new four track called Arcane Desert Rituals Vol.1 through Majestic Mountain Records. Lead single, Rivers Of Death is a doom march rife with the occult and slithering with creepiness. As warm as a freshly dug grave, the fuzz is ever present and so is the feeling of death, lurking around the corner…

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Midnight Whiskey Massacre – Satan’s Grin

Did you hear? The Midnight toker is back! And with a devious grin! A Satan’s Grin! That’s right Midnight Whiskey Massacre released another three track EP, back in March! Filled with that dirty motoring doom sound, that that man behind this project has quickly become known for. Proto touched, punk spirited and with a whole lot of filthy fuzz! Grab a bottle and get drunk with this Midnight madman!

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Vape Warlök - And His Skull Shall Make My Bong

Out on Pillars of Creation since April 20th, ofcourse… It’s Vape Warlök and their And His Skull Shall Make My Bong release. A full five track album, demonic and infernal, vocals that make you shiver and doom sludge to make you shake. Inhaling all those bong fumes and exhaling nothing but nastiness and atmospheric ditties as extremely low hanging clouds of green florescent evil becomes the pervasive tone… All through…

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Demons My Friends - The Isolate

Demons My Friends are back! And signed to Ripple Music! And out today is their new single and video The Isolate. When a full album will appear is unclear at this point, but the grungy and doom touched, yet hauntingly melodic The Isolate makes you hope it will arrive soon! And if you need more Demons My Friends after hearing The Isolate you can always grab back to their Demons Seem To Gather album… And hey, if you go HERE, there might still be a code or two alive! 

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Scott Evil – Pizzazz

More light hearted now… Pizzazz is the second single of Scott Evil’s debut album Big Dipper which will be out on 5th June 2025 via Spinda Records and Backpack Records. Garage indie, pop punk, danceable, a bit of emo, glittering and wholesome. The kind of music that makes you want to go out and smile at the world passing by, knowing its still there. The good people, the good vibes and the sun. And yes, I wouldn’t mind a pizza right about now… O’ and go check out Circles on their bandcamp site…

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Joop Konraad’s – Personal Top 20 - 2023

 

 

Joop Konraad’s – Personal Top 20

of 2023!

This is my Personal Top 20 for 2023. It keeps amazing me the amount of great music released every year. And every day! Ever since Stoner HiVe started in 2009 the amount of great releases in our little Heavy Underground niche is stunning. For even though you can peruse my Personal Top 20 here… There are many more albums that I thoroughly loved! So, below that Top 20, there's a massive list of albums that all deserve to be heard in my opinion... And I am sure, dead sure, I'm forgetting to mention a few! As well as that I'm sure of the fact I will be discovering more amazing albums from 2023 in the weeks to come...

Soon, a lot of Personal Top 20 lists of all the Doom Charts Contributors will appear on the Doom Charts Page. And I will share mine there as well. Here, it’s just the list. And on the Doom Charts I will add some blurbs for all those amazing albums in my Top 20… Let's hope we are treated to as much good and heavy stuff in 2024 as well! 

 

1.      Ruff Majik – Elektrik Ram

2.       Acid King – Beyond Vision

3.       REZN & Vinnum Sabbathi – Silent Future

4.       Fire Down Below - Low Desert SurfClub

5.       Domkraft – Sonic Moons

6.       Santo Rostro - Después No Habrá Nada

7.       Dozer – Drifting In The Endless Void

8.       Omega Sun – Roadkill

9.       King Potenaz – Goat Riders

10.   Black Rainbows – Superskull

11.   Royal Thunder – Rebuilding TheMountain

12.   Apex Ten – Aashray

13.   Earth Altar / Sun Below - InterTerra Solis

14.   Iron Jinn – Iron Jinn

15.   The Silver Linings – Pink Fish

16.   Howling Giant – Glass Future

17.   Phe – Nothing Else Is Real

18.   Hibernaut – Ingress

19.   Acid Magus – Hope Is Heavy

20.   Queens of The Stone Age – In TimesNew Roman…

 

All links, link to reviews or blurbs on Stoner HiVe..
The alphabetical list of all those other amazing albums:


7 Weeks - Fade Into Blurred Lines

10% Reptile- Holographic Fuzz

20 Watt Tombstone – The Chosen Few

AATHMA - Dust from a Dark Sun

AAWKS –Luna

AAWKS –AIWASS - The Eastern Scrolls

Abel Blood - Arrival Of The Waves

Ajeeb –Refractions

Ananda Mida– Reconciler

An EveningWith Knives – FNR Sessions

Are We Ape? & Ridge Split: "Magick Tongue" / "The Hidden Entities:The Cayuga Session"

Astronomie - Interstellar Nomad

Auralayer – Thousand Petals

Bahboon - Thunder Ape

Band In ThePit – Goda

Baroness –Stone

Birds ofNazca - Héliolite

Bismut –Ausdauer

Black Air –Impending Bloom

Black Helium - Um

Blackwülf - Thieves And Liars

BlessedBlack - Seasons Vol.1

Blood Lightning - Blood Lightning

Cannabus – The Maple Spliff Sessions

Child – Soul Murder

Cleõphüzz - Mystic Vulture

CloudsTaste Satanic – Tales Of Demonic Possession

Colour – Colour

Dark Shaman- Dark Shaman

Dead Feathers - Full Circle

Dead Shrine - The Eightfold Path

Deathchant –Thrones

Ded Elk –Conquistador

Demons MyFriends – Demons Seem To Gather

Der ManchaRed – Der Mancha Red

DeWolff - Love, Death & In Between

Doomherre –Bonegoat

Dopelord –Songs For Satan

Dryland –Weekend In The Swamp

Dune Pilot – Magnetic

DUSK - Wheels of Twilight

Duskwood - The Last Voyage

Earthbong –Proceed As One

Ego Planet – Ego Planet

Eight FootManchild - Shrine Of The Orange Sunn

Eye ofAquila - Diviniis Requiem

Faerie Ring– Weary Traveler

Familiars - Keep The Good Times Rolling

FatsoJetson / Dali’s Llama – Legends Of The Desert Vol.3

Formation Ritual - Doors to the Dead

Formula 400 – Divination

From The Ages – II

Fuzz Evil - New Blood

Giöbia – Acid Disorder

Gozu – Remedy

GrandeRoyale – Grime Town

Green Lung –This Heathen Land

Hail TheVoid - Memento Mori

Håndgemeng - Ultraritual

Hästspark –Ostiarius Inferni

Hauch - Lehmasche

HippieDeath Cult – Helichrysum

Humulus - Flowers of Death

Hypnosaur –Doomsday

I Am Low –Úma

IROH – TheyRide

ISAAK – HEY

JAAW – Supercluster

Kanaan – Downpour

KarmaVulture - Something Better

Khan –Creatures

Kilmore – FromThe Inside

Kind – Close Encounters

King In Yellow - King In Yellow

King Sapo - Sexo en Marte

King Solomon – Heights

KRPL – Blei

La Chinga - Primal Forces

Lamassu –Made of Dust

Le Scimmie- Adriatic Desert

LordMountain – The Oath

Lord Velvet– Astral Lady

Lucid Sins - Dancing In The Dark

Maragda -The Reckless / Evil Seed

MargaritaWitch Cult - Margarita Witch Cult

Masheena - West Coast Hard Rock

Massa –Psyche

Milana – Milvus

Mondo Drag – Through The Hourglass

Mooch – Wherever It Goes

Moon Coven - Sun King

Moonstone – Growth

Morag Tong –Grieve

Morass of Molasses - End All We Know

MüuT – MakeMe Do It

Narbo Dacal- Elysium Now

Nepaal -Protoaeolianism

Occult HandOrder – Silence By The Raging Sea

Oceanlord - Kingdom Cold

Okktli –Okktli

Oopsy Dazey- Oopsy Dazey

Ordo Anguis- Life Goddess | Death Goddess

Pääkallo – Pääkallo

Pilot the Dune - Pilot The Dune

Ping Machines– Baby

Purification– Elphinstone

Queen Marsa– I Am The Land

Radeloos///Ziedend - Doodsverachting

Ray Temple – II

Ricochets – Closer to the Light

Ritual King- The Infinite Mirror

Rival Sons– Lightbringer

Rival Sons– Darkfighter

Remuda Dust– The Speedball Years 99-01

REZN – Solace

Rotor – Sieben

RRRags – Mundi

SaintKarloff - Paleolithic War Crimes

Sandrider - Enveletration

Saturna –The Reset

Siena Root – Revelation

Signo Rojo - There Was A Hole Here

Smoke The Light - The Great Never Ending

Solothurn –Servitude

Sonic Demon - Veterans Of The Psychic War

Sonic Moon- Return Without Any Memory

Soothsayer Orchestra - The Last Black Flower

Speck - Eine Gute Reise

Spidergawd – VII

Stepmother – Planet Brutalicon

Stoned Jesus – Father of Light

Stone of Duna - Moonsplitter

Strider - Midnight Zen

Sun Q –Myth

Super American Eagle – Super American Eagle

TankZilla – TankZilla

TFNRSH - Tiefenrausch

The Big Rip– Order Of The Goatlord

The CrookedWhispers – Funeral Blues

The FizzFuzz - Deserts, Mountains, Oceans

The HeavyMinds – Beyond Gloom

The Machine– Wave Cannon

The Soundof Origin - Man in the Arena

The ThirdMind – The Third Mind 2

The Very Very Danger - Submarine Chase In Outer Space

They Watch Us From the Moon - Cosmic Chronicles- Act I- The Ascension

This Summit Fever - Distraction Rituals

Thunder Horse - After The Fall

Tidal Wave –The Lord Knows

Tier –Dawner

Travo -Astromorph God

Tropic Santos - Caccia Grossa

Tusoc - Éter

Van Groover– Back From The Shop

Warcoe – A PlaceFor Demons

Warp –Bound by Gravity

Wasteland Haze- Welcome To Wasteland Haze

WIJ - Przestwór

Witch Ripper– The Flight After The Fall

Wodorost – FromThe Depths

Wolfnaut - Return of the Asteroid

WyndRider - WyndRider

Yawning Man - Long Walk of the Navajo

ZQKMGDZ - 10.000 km² gegen die Zeit - Zeitmachine People