Stoner Hive’s Quick Fire Friday

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday 

This is a very special day! A very special Friday... And a very special Quick Fire Friday! For it dilligently delivered by our very own heavy rock poet: Ronny Dijksterhuis. That's right! Below you will find eight of his tips, hits and addictions. A handful of words to entice you to listen to that single, EP or Album! So here it is… Ronny's Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday ! And it burns hot like molten lava!

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Because we like to stay busy here at Stoner HiVe and want to give you as much directions as possible to the unholiest of the unholy from the deepest pits of hell, we've cooked you up another edition of Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday. Packed to the brim with goodies that you might not have heard yet or aren't highlighted enough according to our weird and twisted brains that have been dipped in drums, bass and guitars for much, much longer than even we can remember. So, without further ado, let's fire on all cylinders and prolong our quest of adding stuff to an ever expanding ritual of trying to landscape those things that don't want to be defined in this godforsaken world.

 

Bunga Rampai - Aaaakhhh Mamfuzz!

There must be something lurking in the Indonesian sewers as the heavy underground over there seems to be growing as fast as a pack of rats on the hunt for freshly rotten food. Bunga Rampai is one of those new bands and their latest single 'Aaaakhhh Mamfuzz!' is a rampant, fuzzed-out tune of rawk and rage, drenched in some of the sleaziest fuzz around.

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Rūdus - Rūdus

Thriving on a mix of doom, sludge metal and postrock this Houston band comes with a collection of sledgehammers, chainsaws and guttural stench wafting from their instruments to lure you into their world of mind-bending and skull-crushing darkness. Their self-titled debut album is a trip so heavy you'll risk stumbling over the air you're trying to breathe. The injuries sustained are welcome additions to your battle scars and will be worn with pride.

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Railhazer - Trashtronaut

Titel track 'Trashtronaut' is a first appetiser for Railhazer's third album that'll be released on October 31st. Its sludgy presence, undeniable stoner/doom groove, haunting atmosphere and raw attitude are bound to lure you in, suck you dry, spit you out and leave you lying on the ground thirsty for more.

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The Lunar Effect - Feed the Hand

British stoner and alternative rock stalwarts The Lunar Effect are shaping up to release yet another album. 'Fortune's Always Hiding' is scheduled to hit the streets on October 24th through Svart Records. First single 'Feed the Hand' mixes heavy stoner grooves with grunge elements that'll shoot the stars from the sky to make all your dreams come true. A true belter that would've fitted perfectly on Audioslave's first album.

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 Lenivetz - Ленивец

This appears to be the second single by Russian band Lenivetz. As the fantastic cover art already suggests, this is traditional doom of mythical proportions with a touch of Eastern mysticism to boot. We here at Stoner HiVe hope that this and the equally gripping first single Белая мразь (that incorporates some heavy stoner) are an indication of a full album in the making. It could well be an instant classic. Truly stunning.

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Conifer Beard - С Зарей (acoustic)

If you're familiar with the ep Conifer Beard released back in February, you'll know the song 'С Зарей'. Now the band has released an acoustic rendition that arguably has even more swagger than the original and won't have the neighbours banging on the door telling you to turn the volume down. A win/win situation if you ask me. On the digital single you'll also find an instrumental version of the acoustic track, as well as a full power, amped-up live recording.

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VK

 

 

Bugnog - American Dreamed

With pounding drums, grooves rising straight from the swamps and a dual vocal attack with dirty growls and raunchy singing, Bugnog makes an immediate impact on the stoner rock and metal scene with their debut ep 'American Dreamed'. Soaring and filthy with lots of punch. Exactly how we like it over here at the HiVe.

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Ҡарға - Панк-рок для красного солнца 

Ҡарға's new EP 'Панк-рок для красного солнца' begins a bit weird. Something that shapes up to be a song getting cut short to function as an intro and the next track starting out as a turbocharged punk hymn before switching to mid-paced doom. But from there on they settle for a nice stoner/doom vibe that's worth checking out, especially album closer 'Звук ума'. That's 10 and a half minutes of pure instrumental space jam delight, pushed forward by a simple, but effective doom-style bass line.

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Electric Stardust - Roger

And we'll finish with something a bit off the beaten track. Three Australian high school kids called Electric Stardust with their first single is a song about a Kangaroo called Roger. Fiery punk with a rock & roll edge, kinda like their fellow countrymen The Chats. Very catchy and pretty good. The youth obviously has the future in the palm of their hand.

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Helldorado Festival

 

 

Helldorado Festival

Just about 63 days to go before we are off to that yearly shindig in the South of the Netherlands… That wild festival where anything goes and everything happens! Indeed… Only 63 days to go until that legendary Helldorado! 

And they’ve just completed their line-up by adding the mighty SACRED REICH (USA), SILLY GOOSE (USA), MY DILIGENCE (BE), MODDER (BE) and SAVAGE BEAT (NL)! 

And they already had Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats and Stoned Jesus coming to blow us all away. And lets not forget about Turbonegro, Hatebreed, Life of Agony and of course Peter Pan Speedrock! And that’s just to name a few… Check out  the full line-up below and get them tickets… 

​Turbonegro - Peter Pan Speedrock - Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
Hatebreed (perseverance / the rise of brutality + hits) - Life of Agony (30 YEARS OF UGLY)
Sacred Reich - Asphyx - Mantar - Ramones Alive - Stoned Jesus
The Turbo A.C.’s - Dikke Dennis & de Rockers - DJ Fleddy Melculy
Tarmac - Silly Goose - My Diligence - Modder
Reach - Bug - Bildtstar - Savage Beat 

 

TICKETS

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Rise Of The Wood – Discharge

 

 

Rise Of The Wood – Discharge
Self-released / Hard Life Promotion – 2025 
Metal, Stoner, Groove
Rated: ****

Almost ten years ago we mentioned the self-titled album by Dutch five piece Rise Of The Wood. Two years later they followed it with the excellent First Seed and then it wasn’t till 2023 before the Sleep EP was released. That turned out to be the prelude for the new twelve track album Discharge. It features the three songs from the Sleep EP and another nine concise modern metal tracks. Sleep was of course the first recordings with the new vocalist and Discharge features a new bass player as well. A doom toned Intro starts, segways into more of a metal approach, imploring nineties guitar and immediately offering insights into what is to come. Although Eyes Wide Shut immediately, ups the ante, ups the speed and even sounds like melodic groove thrash, especially, once the vocals enter the track. Opening the album with an anthem for pit kings is definitely a statement. And one they continue to live up to as the album envelops you. Skin continues that declaration with even more power, shoving you left and right, as the vocals cut straight through the middle. And that drum work! There’s a beast at work here. Dead Man Walking brings out the swagger, the grunge influences and turns the vocals and shouting Rise Of The Wood choir into a moment of sheer brilliance. If you weren’t addicted by those first two tracks, this one will have you hook, line and sinker. They’re nearing perfection on this one. Blasting out of the gates next is Underground, steamrolling like an eighteen wheeler, slaying metal riffs and pounding drums, will have you breaking your neck, and the sudden return to a catchy pop sensible chorus, and a melodic climb will surely warp your mind for a moment. But that’s what Rise Of The Wood seems to do quite often. Not going for the obvious option but keeping the listener on its toes. Imagine the voice of that dude that mixes Johnny Cash and Metallica singing Sleep and you have a song that would be better than most of that band's later work. Sleep, singular in execution, really picks up with its addictive personality once the vocals have gone round twice, the chorus has come and gone and the riff train that never stops, heads off into the distance. It's the longest track on the album, with a wonderful break and offering insights into what aces the Rise Of The Wood crazies have up their sleeves. And with seven more of those conquering metal tracks on Discharge, you can safely state this is chockfull of dominating metal, always groovy and with loads of melodic and catchy takes that deserve every bit of your attention. Shit, these Rise Of The Wood really delivered something awesome here! Not sure when or how this rag tag team known as Rise Of The Wood became this highly professional and accomplished sounding metal outfit. But it happened and Discharge is the proof! 

(Written by JK)

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Cozmic George - Cozmic George

 

 

Cozmic George - Cozmic George
Self-released - 2025
Stoner, Psychedelic Rock
Rated: ****

We might be a bit late for the party, but on the other hand we might also be a tad early as this release seems to have slipped under the radar of many. And that's a big shame, as the s/t debut ep by Austrian instrumental groove duo Cozmic George is a damn fine one.

Big riffs and a night-driving-without-headlights-while-speeding-down-the-highway type of groove are the name of the game on opener 'Gang Fight' that brings to mind names like Karma to Burn and 7 Zuma 7. After it's finished they stumble on with the chugging 'S-Bahn'. And it indeed feels like you're on a streetcar moving to the cadence of the wheels rolling down the tracks before shooting off into outer space while holding on for dear life. Third track 'Iron George' sounds like Kyuss in a shamanic attempt to dry out the desert with an added psychedelic touch and album closer 'Cosmic George' explores the borders of the cosmos in a way that wouldn't feel out of place on a Colour Haze of My Sleeping Karma album. Maybe too diverse for some, but 'Cozmic George' is a very good release that deserves way more attention than it's getting so far. So, consider our job done for the moment. Now head over to their Bandcamp page and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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The Dukes of Hades - Oracle of the Dead

 

 

The Dukes of Hades - Oracle of the Dead
Self-released – 2025
Stoner, Doom
Rated: *****

The Dukes of Hades is a two-piece powerhouse from Dorset, England, consisting of seasoned musicians Gareth Brunsdon (who used to be in the highly underrated shitrock and sleazepunk outftit Sludgefeast) on drums and Steve Lynch (who you might know from - amongst others - The Electric Shakes) on sub octave guitar and vocals. 'Oracle of the Dead' is their first extended ep and hits home run after home run.

Right out the gate they plant 'Seeds of Oblivion' in your ears while attacking you with heavy, pounding drums and a lowdown groove that's bound to split your gut in two before splattering it across the walls of your living room with a bloody grandeur that normally only sees the dark of night in cheap-ass horror movies. And to make sure you get time to process what's happening, they end that first track with a steady, slightly slower doom part before kicking it up a notch or two by hammering some 'Last Rites' down your throat. The tone is set for a collection of energetic songs ranging from mid-paced stoner (the highly addictive 'Pigs') to aggressive sleaze-infused assaults of sped-up mayhem ('Constant Grief') and an epic eight minute scorcher 'Tomahawk' (the highlight amongst highlights) where everything comes together - and then some. Add to that the powerful, gritty, yet well-articulated vocal delivery and an excellent production, and you just know this will be amongst the best stoner/doom releases this year. It's fucking amazing and bound to lift you (and the blood gushing out of your torn-up body) to death defying heights, as the title of the final song so eloquently suggests. All killer. No filler. Period.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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Black Tongue Reverend – Upstate Of Mind

 

 

Black Tongue Reverend – Upstate Of Mind 
Self-released – 2025
Hard Rock, Metal, Stoner Rock, Blues
Rated: ****

Stoner, hard rock, metal and blues… That’s Diesel Blues for ya! You can smell the fumes as the smoke wafts from their amps. They play with power and they play with restraint. You can hear them play with the throttle and accelerate on all the dangerous curves. A touch of doom and a spell of proto and you’ve got a banger of an album called Upstate Of Mind, delivered to ya by the three good ol’ boys that are known as Black Tongue Reverend. These tracks, breathe, they have soul, they live. Just listen to opening and absolute smashing When The Reverend Comes To Town and following freak power blues groover 37 West and be entirely intoxicated by their sound…

(Written by JK)

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Lay Bare Fest – Frequencies Across Borders Festival

 

 

Lay Bare Fest – Frequencies Across Borders Festival

 

I love Lay Bare Recordings. How about you? A great label that just does things right and always scours the underground for great bands to shine a spotlight on. And now, they've gone and started their own Festival. A Label Showcase all the way over in London, England. And perhaps we should have started with the following: It's only 19 Pounds in pre-sale!!! 

That's right, 19 Pounds to see Seven bands to their magic in The Black Heart in London!

 You know where you are? You're in the Black Heart baby! On Saturday September 27th!  

Forlorn (UK)
The Answer Lies In The Black Void (HU/NL) 
Coltaine (DE)
Rosy Finch (SP)
Mrs Frighthouse (UK)
Rats And Daggers (NL)
Taz Corona (UK) 

And do we read that PR Wire right, there might be one more added as wel?!?!? 

 

 PR Wire: 

A Cross-Border Collaboration Empowering Underground Music

Lay Bare is beyond ecstatic to announce the very first Lay Bare Fest – Frequencies Across Borders on September 27th at The Black Heart, London!

In response to the growing challenges faced by emerging European artists in a post-Brexit music landscape, Lay Bare Recordings is proud to present a Label Showcase Festival in London, aimed at building bridges between the UK and European underground scenes.

The label showcase festival will feature cutting-edge acts from the Lay Bare roster, upcoming bands from The UK and exclusive album release shows. On the line up so far and still one announcement to go!


Forlorn (UK)
The Answer Lies In The Black Void (HU/NL) 
Coltaine (DE)
Rosy Finch (SP)
Mrs Frighthouse (UK)
Rats And Daggers (NL)
Taz Corona (UK)

TICKETS HERE

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Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s 
Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

Rise Of The Wood
The Vintage Caravan
Stoned Jesus
Borracho
Deftones
Spin The Skull
Vvarp
Farseer
Black Tongue Reverend
Crop

It’s another Monday for you all! And me too. Hope y’all been hooked on all those August edition Doom Charts albums? Spinning the shit out of them! A busy week in the books and next up, is probably another one. But still, we managed to do three reviews and we might just have about three ready for this week as well. Did you read the ones about Deftones, Vvarp and Warcoe? If not, you still have that chance! It might just get you all psyched up for the albums already out and the one that is only a few weeks away. They’re all damn crackin! Just like the Top 10 above… Go check’m out… Check’m all out! 

The Spotify Playlist for...

Stoner HiVe's Weekly Top 10 Most Listened

Week 36

The Doom Charts for August 2025

 

DOOM CHARTS

AUGUST 2025

“You see, eventually the Doom Charts will help put an end to war and poverty. It will align the planets and bring them into universal harmony, allowing meaningful contact with all forms of life, from extraterrestrial beings to common household pets…”

~ probably misheard quote by Rufus in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

The Conjunction of the Spheres has this time caused for wonderful things to happen. For you see, the stars have aligned to bring all of you out there the August 2025 Doom Charts! Together with another Bandcamp Friday. So, there goes your paycheck! Cause of the 214 albums that received votes this month, the Top Forty is published and twenty-fife of them receive a blurb. Blurbs, a few lines of words to spur you into action. To entice you to listen to the album and by all means, to buy it if you like it… Some day some how… Bandcamp now perhaps?

 

There she is! In all its heavy glory!

The August Doom Charts with forty amazing albums... Straight out of the Heavy Underground... Gonna be listening to all forty in a row soon... But first those few I have not even heard yet. And if my fellow contributors are voting for them like the rabid dogs they are, I definitely need to check them out! Delicious meaty riffs must be waiting!

The ones I did hear and voted for were: SuperNaughty, HÖG, Tar Pit, Mezzoa, Bask, Giant Haze, Black Water Rising, Superseed, The Big Rip, GUILD aus, Red Mess, Black Tongue Reverend, Witchrider, Wucan, Toilet Snake, Maanta Ray, TORSO band , Rise Of The Wood, Astral Nomad & Church Snakes... 

 

Check'm out! For it's Bandcamp Friday... Buy an album or two and be excellent to each other!

Already featured on Stoner HiVe... 

 

Deftones – Private Music

 

VVARP – Power Held In Stone

 

Toilet Snake - Back From The Sewers

 

Wucan – Axioms 

Superseed – Tremor

 

My Personal Number 1 of the month: 
 

Bask – The Turning 

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…

The Doom Charts for August 2025 

VVARP – Power Held In Stone

 

 

VVARP – Power Held In Stone
DHU Records – 2025
Doom, Metal, Occult
Rated: ****

Learning that Melbourne trio VVARP pays tribute and honors the Wurundjeri People Of The Kulin Nation because they recorded their new album Power Held In Stone on their land, warms my heart and soul. I’ve always been fascinated with Australia and it’s original people. And I hope to one day visit the continent. But enough about me, we’re listening to Power Held In Stone and are enchanted by the shamanic doom that it contains. Their soundtrack to the ‘folk horror film that exists only in our collective imagination’ brings it all to life and spreads its tale like a river of mist across your mind. The shimmering sound silhouettes set in stone by the doom stomp, those pounding drums and the rattling bass work. The vocals offset it by its often monastic, chant like nature, turning every composition into a deep and powerful force of vision. Casual listening will not be permitted, you are welcomed and allowed to cross over to realm beyond our perception, but only if you lay down all your reservations and open your mind. VVARP will show you a different reality…

(Written by JK)

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Warcoe – Upon Tall Thrones

 

 

Warcoe – Upon Tall Thrones
Ripple Music / Morbid and Miserable Records – 2025
Metal, Classic, Doom, Proto
Rated: *****

I might have passed by their houses. Drove passed their rehearsal place or the studio they recorded in when I travelled from the south of Italy to the north back in June. We actually stopped a night over near Cattolica and could have easily travelled to Pesaro to meet the three from Warcoe. Well, and perhaps we should have. Next year perhaps? But this year we could have been the first to hear the new tunes that made it to the Upon Tall Thrones album. A step forward once again for the Italian trio. Not just in songwriting and production. But also, because they signed to Ripple Music and Morbid and Miserable Redcords, and with the trust of those labels behind you, you know you are on to something big… Something that might make a splash… 

Upon Tall Thrones will be arriving on September 26th and the nine tracks and almost forty minutes of Warcoe will do wonders for all proto metal, doom metal and classic metal loving freaks out there. There’s so much of the tried and tested heaviness on here that it’s impossible to not to feel the jive and the groove of this beautiful doom record. But then there are those minute different touches. This is the spice of Upon Tall Thrones for me personally. The garage touch on Spheres with a guitar that reminds of Black Keys or Bud Spencer Blues Explosion or the Flame In Your Hand track that brings in something good out of the Dungeon Synth genre. Which isn’t easy in my humble opinion. Or Brown Witch, with its stoner trucking and grunge fuzzing. And the vocals throughout, drawling and slightly nasal, offer this minor cult element and turns every vocal moment into a ritual you will want to be a part off. There are so many ‘or’s’ and ‘and’s’ to sum up, cause even though I started with the remark that there is so much ‘tried and tested heaviness’ on this album, the Warcoe three class up every part of that. They’ve gobbled up all of their influences and sneaked them in here or there, giving every track that silver shining edge and the entire Upon Tall Thrones album something mercurial. Indeed, an album laced with mercury and unpredictable touches throughout. This will cause ripples for a very long time… 

(Written by JK)

Album drops on September 26th, but you can listen to two singles right now...




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Deftones – Private Music

 

 

Deftones – Private Music
Reprise / Warner – 2025
Metal
Rated: ****

In the foul year of our lord 2011, I had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Moreno and the then still part of the team Mr. Vega. And sure, we talked about music and the Deftones Covers album that was released for Record Store Day that year. But we talked more about their favorite spaghetti dish, the might of big company, pulling pranks, the sublime qualities of water and what the two of them would do if they would suddenly turn into a lobster the next time they did an ollie on a skateboard. All that was here nor there back then and even more so now, cause the band is back with a new album and perhaps it has absolutely no place on Stoner HiVe. For the band is no heavy underground band at all or a starting heavy band or anything to do with stonerrock of psych or doom. Or… Etc. Why do we want to mention Private Music in that case you say? Well… 

Because it’s pretty darn freaking good! And sometimes, it doesn’t have to make sense. In some ways the new album grabs back to their earlier sound of metal, shoegaze and hardcore. And in other ways it screams about post metal and an early two thousands nu metal touch. All turned up and into something all leveling, roaring and thundering. With vocals that often scratch that emotional itch, although some do sound smoothed out or edited. But then there’s one of those screams and howls, or another wistful refrain to jump on and you forget about that and scream along. There’s just so much good and heavy to enjoy, to punch along with. Shadowboxing your self into a state of admiration for almost every track on Private Music. And then there’s the guitar work, the slicing riffs, the electrifying leads, the serrated tones. Deftones’s Private Music is their tenth album in their thirty-seven years of existence and is without any doubt in my mind one of their absolute best. Which I definitely had not expected. Did you?

(Written by JK)

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Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s 
Top 10 Most Listened Artists Last Week…

Mastodon
Dusted Angel
Stoned Jesus
Wucan
Baba Sad
Toilet Snake
A Gram Trip
Hög
The Dogs
Muffasonic

Mornin and welcome to the start of another week. Hope it will be good. Past week was busy and perhaps this week will be only a mildly bit less busy. But still, we managed to put a few posts online. A Quick Fire Friday is always a good day! And rocking out with Toilet Snake on that same day as well. Words about the new Wucan and Baba Sad were published as well as a bit of a longer screed about the amazing new Stoned Jesus album. The first of three to follow in succession! Be ready for those… Friday we’ll see a new Doom Charts edition go live. What’s been your favorite of the past month? Check out the ten listed above and all the others you come across! Enjoy!

The Spotify Playlist for...

Stoner HiVe's Weekly Top 10 Most Listened

Week 35