Number 8

 

 

Number 8

An almost sixty point jump takes us to Number 8. Where we find a band that made the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown with their 2018 album. A band we love dearly ever since seeing them for the first time in a now defunct bar in Eindhoven, Netherlands with Belzebong and Mars Red Sky on the same bill. A band but we never really talked about on the HiVe because it was already such a big name in our little scene and we tend to mention the starting bands more. But we did this time, mentioned the album late August, cause sometimes praise has to be sung. Out on Season of Mist, since September, the album is the opening salvo for a trilogy to come. And it feels like a turning point, shaped by upheaval, renewal, and forward momentum after the album that came before. The record is open and expansive, glowing with hope tempered by sorrow. Certain tracks ascend with quiet beauty, while others deliver crushing grooves and there is always those sharp contrasts of light and dark. The closing epic track sinks deepest, offering bleak catharsis. Progressive, heavy, and emotionally resonant, this album defines the ever evolving identity of the band. And promises a lot for the other two albums to follow shortly... 

On Number 8 we find: 




STONED JESUS - SONGS TO SUN

 

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Season of Mist

Stoned Jesus – Songs To Sun

Number 18 on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2018

 

 

Number 9

 

Number 9

On this first of the single digits and almost fifty points above Godzillionaire on Number 10, we arrive at an album that was released in September. Another album released by Blues Funeral Recordings, but this time in conjunction with King Volume Records and one that is able to create its entire own universe. A fantastic realm that implores medieval, mythical and operatic influences to shape their compendium of heavy metal. Barely a turning of the Earth after we were invited into the realms, the banners are raised once more. From their Brooklyn keep, the four return, bearing a weighty tome of steel and sorcery. Enter, and you’ll find not mere pageantry of cloaks and unicorn sigils, but true craft: riffs forged like broadswords, drums that thunder as siege engines, and a voice, by turns angelic and infernal, issuing proclamations fit for any great hall. The shock of discovery has passed, yet the magic endures. This chapter leans more toward galloping heavy metal than creeping doom, its songs roaming far and wide through mythic lands. But there are epic ballads of wonder and passages which flirt with operatic grandeur, as if monks and metalheads alike were chanting the same prophecy. What seems at first a playful masquerade reveals itself as living legend. No longer cosplaying actors, they are becoming real heroes… Fast… 

On Number 9 we find: 

 

CASTLE RAT - THE BESTIARY

 

Bandcamp

Homepage

Facebook

Instagram

 Blues Funeral Recordings

King Volume Records

Stoner HiVe on Castle Rat – The Bestiary

 

Number 10

 

 

Number 10

As we enter the Top 10, we have also arrived at the realization that so far a lot of your choices have been released by either Heavy Psych Sounds, Blues Funeral Recordings or and even more by Ripple Music. And guess what. The Number 10 album was released by Ripple Music as well and all the way back in January! And across many reviews it has been accurately described as the bands most eclectic release to date. It builds on everything the fans already loved, while confidently pushing forward into new territories. Stoner rock, grunge, alternative grit and flashes of metal colliding without ever spinning out of control. Razor tight performances and fearless songwriting. With a vocalist clearly reinvigorated delivering lyrics that are raw, reflective and sharply human. His voice shifting smoothly between restraint and eruption. A record that does not simply hit you hard, it stick with you, like a scar you forgot about until you brush against it and immediately remember exactly what you did and how you got it. Emotional weight throughout, but still catchy and always unflinchingly honest. Nobody ever claimed you had to arrive at the finish line unscathed.. 

On Number 10 we find: 

GODZILLIONAIRE – DIMINISHING RETURNS

 

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Linktree

Ripple Music

Number 11

 

 

Number 11
 

Crazy Number 11 sits only ten points above Number 12… All those numbers, all those digits, it might cause you to see circles, lose sight, go round and round, like a snake biting its own tail! Released in August by Ripple Music its another Number 1 album on the Doom Charts. So for this one we summon the alembic and we light the furnace, for the new record is pure transmutation. Nearly two decades of searching has brought these riff alchemists the gold drenched stoner rock they have been searching for. This is their sixth and it is proof the circle of heavy rock remains unbroken. Less sermon, more mirror, these songs manage to offer for judgement, the leaden flaws of modern life and then go forth to melt them down with towering riffs and crushing weight. Punchy anthems formed from stoner ore and polished doom, give you seven tracks, perfectly balanced, endlessly repeatable. It’s an album by a band that never seems to age, but only seems to refine, shedding impurities and growing stronger with every passing cycle…  

On Number 11 we find: 

BORRACHO - OUROBOROS

Bandcamp

Instagram

Facebook

Ripple Music

 

Number 12

 

Number 12

 

Seventy points above Number 13 we arrive on a spot occupied by two albums! That’s right, the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2025 contains 22 albums. Damn! Did I just give away the fact that after this placing there are no spots occupied by more than one album? I guess so… Sometimes it’s good to share right? And we hope these two bands will think as well. For they also share the same label: Heavy Psych Sounds. One was released in October and the other already in April. 

Let’s write a few words about the Italian quartet first. For the psych-space explorers have returned with a bold new chapter in a career defined by constant evolution. Building on some two decades of sonic exploration, from garage psych, to heave space rock and cosmic stoner, the new album blends hypnotic rhythms, swirling synths and expansive guitarwork into a retro futuristic soundscape that could help you imagine some weird new steampunk adventure. Time, infinity and human frailty are themes that unfold across eight powerful tracks. Turning it into a sci-fi journey completely and utterly timeless. 

The other album we find on Number 12 definitely set the table early when it comes to sludge rock and stoner metal. That’s right, the now stripped down trio, kick down the kitchendoor with their fifth full length and don’t even think about closing it behind them. It grooves, pulsates and swings like a caffeinated wrecking ball! Powerful by default, psychedelic stoner sway colliding with sludge-fueled force and razor-edged heavy metal riffs. No filler, all protein! Don’t worry, the bulldozing foundation is still there, but it is fully alive, breathing and snarling. Louder, leaner, this is a band full throttle and devouring all in its way. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, guests and all! 

 

On Number 12 we find: 

 

GIÖBIA - X-ÆON

&

KOMATSU - A BREAKFAST FOR CHAMPIONS

 

 

Homepage

Bandcamp

Instagram

Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds

 

 

Bandcamp

Homepage

Facebook

Instagram

Last.fm

iTunes

Heavy Psych Sounds

Stoner HiVe’s - Komatsu – Breakfast is served…

Review for A Breakfast For Champions

Review for Rose Of Jericho

Review for New Horizon 

Recipe For Murder One, Number 19 on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 of 2016

Review for So How's About Billy

Review for Manu Armata

Review for Komatsu

Number 13

 

 

Number 13

A bit more than thirty points takes us from Warcoe on Number 14 to lucky Number 13. Released in February through the German Prophecy Productions label, it brings a close to a six year long smoke choked wait we all had to endure. For yes, the Seattle duo comes roaring back with a self-titled album that will knock you out of your socks and hits you over the head like a rhythmic ritual performed at full volume. Powered by some colossal bass work and hypnotic no-fear vocals which are locked in mortal combat with feral bone-rattling drums, this is the doom and this is the stoner, stripped of excess and pumped completely full of high powered adrenaline. Guitars, we don’t need them, we don’t miss them, as psychedelic sludge, grunge grit, hard rock swagger and shoegaze haze coil together into something all encompassing. Grooves crawl, scramble, creep, lurch and then crush, dragging you in, under, swallowing you whole before spitting you out… Smiling… Captured with cinematic weight, this is heavy music that bites… Sharp teeth, radiant soul and zero compromise gives you a record that demands to be played loud, extremely loud, until you feel it vibrating in your chest… 

On Number 13 we find: 

YEAR OF THE COBRA - YEAR OF THE COBRA

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Linktree

Prophecy Productions

Number 12 on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2019

 

 

Number 14

 

 

Number 14

A fifteen point jump takes us to Number 14. Where we find an album that was released by Ripple Music and Morbid and Miserable Records back in September. The Italian trio is on their third full-sized album and have made another amazing step forward in both songwriting and production. They are kicking down the temple doors and lighting the altar on fire! This is doom metal fully awake, Sabbath blooded riffs, proto metal swagger, a finger licking stoner groove and occult grime swirling into something dangerous and wicked. The songs hit harder, move smarter and seem to ooze with some deliciously strange details. Take that garage rock filth here or the psychedelic haze there and even that touch of dungeon-synth shadows. Vocals arrive like a half mad cult sermon, pulling you deeper into the ritual with no place left to run. Darker, louder and sharper! It’s the sound of a band possessed, confident and merciless. They are becoming the regal doom masters that are worthy to sit upon all of them thrones… 

On Number 14 we find: 

WARCOE - UPON TALL THRONES

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Ripple Music

Morbid and Miserable Records

Stoner HiVe on Upon Tall Thrones

Stoner HiVe on A Place For Demons

Stoner HiVe on A Place For Demons single

Stoner HiVe on The Giant’s Dream

 

Number 15

 

Number 15

It’s time to move another twenty points from Paralyzed at Number 16 to reach the Number 15 album on this years Top 20 Countdown! An album, we must confess we did not listen to all that much since it was released in October. But luckily the fact it is now here on Number 15 remedied that fact. Votes trickled in throughout the voting period, but during the final night, it suddenly soared. And rightfully so, for they have returned in flawless form with their new self-released album. A bass-heavy occult doom blues triumph if ever there was one. Smooth yet powerful grooves, haunting vocal harmonies, and precision-crafted riffs reward every listen. Hooks across the board. Catchy, subtle, and devastatingly heavy, it’s a top level release packed with standout tracks and undeniable legacy power. And you know it’s gonna be this good from that first eerie tick tock tick tock… 

On Number 15 we find: 

BRIMSTONE COVEN - THE LIGHT SHINES NOT FOR THEE 

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

 

Kozmik Artifactz

Number 16

 

 

Number 16

Their 2022 album ended up on Number 12 of that years Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown. And it’s great to see them enter the Countdown once again. With 30 points more than Goya, the Germany quartet deliver another selection of heavy rocking, seventies inspired, blues based, psych rockers. This time around perhaps not the diesel blues variant, but more the desert inspired blues, surging through every composition that still vibrates at the perfect vintage pitch. And yes, sometimes or even often, we might assume the vocalist to be the bastard son of Jim Morrison. But the music has drifted more away from The Doors and into heavier territory. And that is never a bad thing! Signed to the majestic Ripple Music label for this album the four turn their heavy blues into true hard rocking power. A lot of groove and boogie that keeps the energy flowing the right way, up until the middle track, serving as the perfect resting point to breathe, admire the guitar work and the scenery created by these blues spirited four. The album is another thunder rocker and at those moments when the organ is allowed to flourish, punctuate and penetrate, it all becomes irresistible!

On Number 16 we find:

 

PARALYZED - RUMBLE & ROAR

Bandcamp

Instagram

Facebook

Ripple Music 

Stoner HiVe on Rumble & Roar

Stoner HiVe on Heavy Road

Number 12 on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2022

 

Number 17

 

 

Number 17

And now we climb just over 20 points from Naxatras at Number 18 to reach this wild doom album. We had personally wanted to write a few words about this record at the end of October. For obvious reasons. Even though it was released in June. But due to situations beyond my control that never materialized. You all voting for this record gives me the opportunity to remedy that a little bit. An album that definitely hit hard emotionally upon first listening and then slowly opened up to show how meticulous and wonderful the music was crafted after having it on repeat. A wild and monolithic slab of doom forged from crushing riffs, fuzz-soaked guitars, and haunting psychedelic atmospheres. Six sprawling, low-tuned epics that ooze despair while remaining hypnotically accessible. Recorded in Seattle with legendary producer Jack Endino, the album’s colossal tones and immersive production amplify its graveyard grooves and bleak meditations on mortality. Heavy, melodic, and relentlessly punishing, the album released in June on Blues Funeral Recordings marks the band’s towering resurgence. Heavy on all fronts, this is music for staring into the void... And realize that once this album hits, the void will be staring back at you and wink at ya... 

On Number 17 we find:

GOYA - IN THE DAWN OF NOVEMBER

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Blues Funeral Recordings

Number 18

 

 

Number 18

It’s a forty point jump to reach Number 18. Released in February through their own Evening Star Records this is their fifth full-sized album and one that stands tall as the epitome of heavy underground fusion. Almost logically it ended up on the Number 1 spot of the Doom Charts of that month, where we wrote: Space and Progressive rock have always been the sisters that could dervish and whirl in beautiful circles around each other. Combined with more jazzy and fusion tones; elements borrowed from many world music scenes and everything psychedelic, turns their fifth album into grandiose 1001 nights fairytale proportions. Like a quicksilver river the compositions flow through your veins and warm up your blood. Vivid images and sceneries come to life, bloom and blossom as you listen to this album. Visionary might be an understatement here… Indeed, and all of you who voted must have felt something similar, cause the album ended up on Number 18…

On Number 18 we find: 

NAXATRAS - V 

Bandcamp

Instagram

Facebook

Youtube

Evening Star Records

Number 19

 

 

Number 19

 

Just like every year, during the first few days we do two days where we do two spots per day, so we can end the Countdown on January 1st... Yesterday, late afternoon we learned that Conan and Kaiser occupied the Number 20 position of this years Top 20 Countdown. This morning we jump almost two hundred points to reach Number 19. Indeed, quite a big jump in points, after which the jumps get smaller for quite a few spots. It’s with much admiration that we present to you this record, released in September on Blues Funeral Recordings. An album full of honor, mourning and devotion… The album drifts between worlds. Swirling, weighty guitars and incantatory vocals conjure meditative metal, shoegaze, doom, and psych entwined. A vessel for spirit and loss, hypnotic, worldly, unignorable. Enter this heavy rock mantra and let the ritual unfold within… 

On Number 19 we find: 

INSOMNIAC - OM MOKSHA RITAM

 

Bandcamp

Instagram

Facebook

Homepage

Blues Funeral Recordings

Number 20

 

Number 20

There were only a few moments in the past weeks that two albums occupied the same spot. During the final hours, this happened again. And yes, on Number 20 we find two albums! Both of them released during the first months of 2025. Both of them got reviewed on Stoner HiVe and we wrote something that hopefully enticed you to listen to these albums. To this ferocious fuzz-soaked journey. Bursting with Kyuss-worthy stoner grit, metallic muscle, and stunning musicianship, this addictive album only grows deeper with repeat listens. Loud, dynamic, and irresistibly heavy! For the other album we jotted down some thoughts that could guide you along this brutal descent into doom, sludge, and pure sonic warfare. Burning riffs, pulverizing drums, and desperate fury collide across eight devastating tracks. From crushing epics to punked-out assaults, this is a band at their most colossal and merciless! With some forty points above the Number 21 we find two bands… 

 

According to all the votes that came in… 

On Number 20 we find: 

KAISER - 2ND SOUND  

&

CONAN - VIOLENCE DIMENSION 

 

 

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Majestic Mountain Records

Stoner HiVe on Otu – Fuzzy Tunes 

Stoner HiVe on 2nd Sound 

 

 

 

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Homepage

Linktree

Heavy Psych Sounds 

 Stoner HiVe on Violence Dimension