Born in the shadow of Oxford’s dreaming spires and forged in a haze of down-tuned amplifiers, UK heavyweights Indica Blues return in 2026 with their most ambitious and apocalyptic work to date. Their long-awaited new album, Universal Heat Death, will be released on January 31 via digital platforms and CD, marking the band’s first full-length since their critically acclaimed second album We Are Doomed.
To herald the album’s arrival, Indica Blues unveil their new single ‘The Raven’, a towering slab of blues-soaked doom that captures the band at their most urgent and expansive. Driven by crushing riffs, haunting dual-guitar interplay, and a foreboding atmosphere, the track sets the tone for an album obsessed with collapse, consequence, and the slow grind toward oblivion.
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Since forming in 2014, Indica Blues have carved out a formidable reputation as one of the UK’s most compelling psychedelic doom-stoner hybrids, once described as “bong-filling rock that is platinum heavy, but blessed with a melodic sensibility underneath it all.” Their sound, a molten blend of fuzz-drenched blues, doom, sludge, and psychedelic melancholy has earned them devoted fans worldwide and praise from both underground tastemakers and major publications.
Their previous album, We Are Doomed, received 4 stars in Kerrang!, reached No. 4 in the Doom Charts, and proved eerily prophetic: an apocalypse-themed record released just as the first wave of the global pandemic brought the world to a halt.
“We’re looking forward to touring Universal Heat Death*, and hope no cataclysmic world events stop us this time,” laughs bassist Andy Haines.
Finnish stoner rock power trio KAISER has just dropped a brand-new music video for ‘Brotha’, a standout track from their crushing second album, 2nd Sound, released March 7, via Majestic Mountain Records.
Building on the raw, riff-fueled foundation of their debut, KAISER pushes their sound further into heavy, groove-laden territory, delivering thick, blues-soaked riffs, thundering rhythms, and soaring melodies that land somewhere between Kyuss, Sleep, and early Clutch.
Finnish stoner rock titans KAISER have just released another thunderous new single from their forthcoming second album 2nd Sound, which is set to be released on March 7, via Majestic Mountain Records.
Titled ‘Awaken Monster,’ this new track premiered at Decibel Magazine, who praised the track stating: “With a sound that stands tall and proud in the center of the sun-baked desert fuzz/soulful British electric blues/thunderous doom thrash Venn diagram, the trio from Helsinki come out swinging with their latest work.”
The band had this to say about the track: “This song was crafted in the wake of the world reopening after the long, isolating shadow of the Covid era. It captures the essence of reclaiming all that was lost or deferred during those times. More than just a song, it’s an anthem about awakening from a state akin to death, to truly live once more. It’s about the rebirth of experiences, the joy of connection, and the triumphant return to life’s vibrancy that we feared might be gone forever.”
Formed in 2013, the band — Otu (guitar/vocals), RiQ (drums), and Pex (bass) — has steadily carved their own path through the Finnish rock scene with their signature sound, influenced by the likes of Kyuss, Sleep, and High on Fire.
Stockholm-based stoner rock upstarts Caboose are set to shake up the scene with their debut album, Left For Dust, to be released on March 21st via Majestic Mountain Records, and to mark the occasion, they’ve just released the high-energy video for ‘High on You’.
Watch it here, and thank us later:
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Formed during the frigid winter of 2022 by four high school friends, Caboose started as a school project aimed at crafting high-tempo stoner rock. What began in a makeshift garage studio quickly evolved into something much bigger, as the band honed their fuzz-driven sound, blending classic rock grit with the modern stoner rock spirit.
Now, nearly two years into their journey, Caboose has become a staple of Stockholm’s rock scene, delivering high-volume, riff-heavy performances from underground venues to festival stages. With fuzz-drenched riffs, thick grooves, and raw energy, Left For Dust cements Caboose as a band to watch in the Swedish rock underground.
They’re pitched as being for fans of, among others, the Jesus Lizard, QOTSA, Earthless, King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard, Fu Manchu, Daughters, and Beak, and their influences are listed as Dick Dale, Black Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, Ennio Morricone, Scott Walker, Pink Floyd, Fear, Erkin Koray, and Minute Men. And for those familiar with the band, the fact that Cigarette is their first album in five years is likely to be a cause of excitement.
Citing Daughters has become somewhat tarnished lately, in the wake of allegations against singer Alexis Marshall, which saw the band halting activity and him dropped by this label., but then, there likely a lot of people who aren’t aware of this, and moreover, it seems that even convictions and out of court settlements are no obstacle to becoming president of the United States, so perhaps a lot of people aren’t especially concerned by such things.
I’m not sure what The Giraffes have been up to for the last five years, or how they’ve managed to avoid my radar for the entirety of their career – after all, they formed back in the 90s, and released their debut album in ’98, with Cigarette being their eighth. But this is something that happens a lot: there are simply so many acts out there, it’s impossible to be aware of all of them. But we’re here now.
Some may say that five years is a long time to cook up just seven songs, but quality beats quantity, and Cigarette is solid and consistent in the quality stakes. There’s an abundance of drawling, stoner swagger. If ‘baby Pictures’ makes for a gentle start, they slam on the gas and go pedal-to-the-metal on the riffarola of ‘Pipes’, before ‘Limping Horse’ goes all out on the blues-driven scuzzy rock ‘n’ roll.
‘Dead Bird’ brings the requisite slow-tempo acoustic mid-album breather, and in doing so brings an almost folksy aspect to proceedings, while also strongly reminiscent of Alice in Chains in the harmonies.
Revisiting politically-charged single cut ‘Million Year Old Song’ in context of the album, and realising grimly how much can change in just a few weeks, it clicks that I’m reminded a little of Rollins Band with its sinewy lead guitar work and rant blasting over a low-slung groove.
It closes off with aa couple of six-minute epic sluggers, with ‘The Shot’ starting out with a delicate slow-burn but builds, snaking, smoking, and spun with a dash of flamenco and a swirl of drama into a writing monster of a track, before ‘Lazarus’ provides a worthy finale, with its atmospheric, almost post-rock epic intro that leads into a sultry strut that underlies a contemplation on death delivered in a gritty, Mark Lanegan-esque growl.
There’s a solid, vintage feel to Cigarette – which is to say it’s by no means ground-breaking, but while bands like this were ubiquitous in the ‘90s, now, they’re not so much. It’s not only nostalgia that means I miss them; there’s a place for this kind of chunky, dependable rock ‘n’ roll with a whiff of attitude and the perspiration of graft, and Cigarette is ultimately satisfying.
Brooklyn alternative rock outfit The Giraffes presents their new single ‘Million Year Old Song’, a caustic zipper from their self-released eighth album Cigarette, accompanied by an adventurous video, conceived and directed by Damien Paris, featuring a crass tongue-in-cheek modern depiction of America the wild.
Cigarette is a hypnotic hard-edged psychedelic rock score for our current age of decay and disappointment, fear and fury, idiocy and hope. Previewed by the singles ‘Pipes’ and ‘The Shot’, this long-awaited and loaded 7-track offering is full of surprises, taking new risks with subject matter and composition while maintaining the intensity and dexterity fans know and love.
Recorded and engineered by Andrew Totolos at Apesauce Studio, this was mixed by Grammy nominated producer Francisco Botero (Matisyahu, Odesza) at the iconic Studio G Brooklyn and by James Dellatacoma (Bill Laswell, Herbie Hancock, TS Monk, John Zorn, Angelique Kidjo) at Bill Laswell’s famed Orange Music Sound Studio.
Since forming in 1996, The Giraffes have been crafting a hedonistic soundtrack that is loud, agile, dangerous, funny, sick, complex and satisfying. Known for their trademark menu of metal-tinged scuzz-rock, The Giraffes offer a tasteful mixture of heavy rock, punk, post-punk, surf and whatever else they find interesting. With lead singer Aaron Lazar and guitar maestro Damien Paris as its core, drummer Andrew Totolos provides the locomotive rhythm section with Hannah Moorhead anchoring the bass. This year marks the beginning of a new era for the band, with Moorhead now also contributing backing vocals and songwriting. With the line-up no longer in flux, the focus is now largely on songwriting.
Aaron Lazar explains the origins of this song: “One of Damien’s most ‘badass’ style cartoon bad guy riffs deserved some extemporizing. The phrase “a million year old song in twenty year old lungs” caused me to remember how I was at that age. The first verse is a picture of that time in my life – the feeling of invincibility along with my backward looking cultural tastes (obsessed with blues explosion and old soul and punk from the 70s). The smoke everywhere at all times. No phone culture. It was a world that kids today would not believe existed. I wanted to not be a total old man stuck looking back at my youth so I imagined someone my kid’s age hitting 20 and what the world will look like for them for the second verse. This protagonist has the power of youth but in a much more dire world. I believe that the animating spirit of “rock n roll” or whatever is that self-destructive imperative for fun at all costs. Interesting to think of what that will look like later on down the line. The song remains the same – just the world changes.”
For those unfamiliar with ShitNoise, their bio describes them as ‘a noise punk band hailing from Monte-Carlo (Monaco). Formed in February 2022, the band has undergone several lineup changes. Currently, it consists of Aleksejs Macions on vocals and guitar, Vova Dictor on guitar, and Paul Albouy on drums.’ What’s more, they reckon their third album, I Cocked My Gun And Shot My Best Friend, ‘showcases their most energetic and mature work to date… Departing from their previous noise-centric style, the band blends grungy guitar riffs, metal-influenced double-kick drums, and a more polished production. The album explores themes of confronting the harsh realities of society and the lasting psychological impact of traumatic events. Through gritty soundscapes and stream-of-consciousness lyrics, it paints a raw portrait of present-day existence and the enduring human spirit in the face of adversity.’
I’m often wary of bands and artists who claim to have matured: all too often it means they’ve gone boring, that they’ve lost their fire and whatever rawness, naivete, edge, that made them stand out, drove them to make music in the first place. But these things are relative, and ShitNoise isn’t just a gimmicky moniker, but a fair summary of what they do. Here, they’ve stepped up from no-fi racket to lo-fi racket and evolved from the trashy punk din with dancey and electronic elements that at times sounded like a Girls Against Boys rehearsal recorded on a Dictaphone, toward a more wide-ranging and experimental approach to noisemaking. As for the album’s title… well. Was the act an accident, one of stupidity, gross negligence, or intentional? Either way, as the adage goes, with friends like these… ShitNoise are certainly not the friend of sensitive sensibilities, or eardrums.
So sure, they’ve ‘matured’ inasmuch as they’ve broadened their palette, but in doing so, they’ve discovered new ways of creating sonic torture.
‘Ho-Ho! (No More)’ launches the album with shards of shrill feedback and distortion: it’s two and a quarter minutes of nails-down-a-blackboard tinnitus-inducing frequencies and deranged yelping that’s somewhat reminiscent of early Whitehouse, minus the S&M / serial killer shit. Not that I have a fucking clue what they are on about, and the noise is so mangled it’s impossible to differentiate any of the sound sources from one another – guitars sound like screaming synths, and there’s so much dirty mess in the mix everything sounds so broken you begin to wonder if your speakers are knackered.
Proving just how much they’ve ‘matured’, ‘Brown Morning’ barrels into churning noise driven by thunderous beats as the backdrop to a rappy / spoken word piece, after which the arrival of the fairly straightforward punk tune ‘Gum Opera’ feels like not only light relief, but somewhat incongruous. But then, in the world of ShitNoise, anything goes, as long as it’s noisy shit. And keeping on with the noisy shit, there’s the gnarly Jesus Lizard meets Melvins gone rockabilly slugging sludgepunkfest of the oxymoronic ‘Pleasant Guff’ to go at, and it’s abundantly clear that they’re absolutely revelling in following their curiosity in every direction when it comes to exploring any and all avenues of racketmongering. I Cocked My Gun is wild, and wildly divergent, stupid, chaotic, and fun.
If the off-kilter grunge of ‘X-Ray Phantom’, with its incidental piano tinkling along behind crunchy guitars hints at something approaching a kind of sensitivity – and a closet ability to write songs – ‘Endless Void’ demonstrates their capacity to step back from noise completely, and venture into near-ambient territories, and with remarkable dexterity.
But mostly, these deviances only serve to bolster the impact of the manic racketmaking which dominates the album, which brings us to the epic penultimate track, ‘Hashish (The Yelling Song)’ – a ball-busting seven-and-a-half-minute stoner-doom slammer that slaloms its way through some heavy drone and some explosive psychotic episodes… and we’re immensely proud to be able to present an exclusive premier of the video which accompanies this mammoth slab of sonic derangement right here:
Get it in your lugs. Let it permeate every cell. Bask in the insanity. With I Cocked My Gun And Shot My Best Friend, ShitNoise have really gone out on a limb, and while teetering on a precipice of madness, have proved that artistic fulfilment lies on the other side of mania. It’s a far more enjoyable place than the everyday in which we find ourselves of late, so why not dive on in?
Since their inception as Our Haunted Kingdom in 1995, before transitioning to Orange Goblin and releasing their debut album, Frequencies From Planet Ten in ’97, OG have established themselves as leading exponents of heavy metal thunder.
Science, Not Fiction, explores, as the press pitch puts it, ‘the world as seen through the three fundamental factors; Science, Spirituality, & Religion and how they determine and affect the human condition.’
On the one hand, this is very much hoary old-school metal, with monster riffage cranked up and driving hard with gruff vocals giving it some. But on the other, it’s hoary old-school metal that’s very much more in the Motorhead vein than, say, Iron Maiden. It’s got the heavy swagger of the best of stoner, the monstrous density of slugging, sludgy doom. Fretwanking is kept in check while ball-busting riffery is cranked up to eleven. No shit, this is how it should be done.
‘(Not) Rocket Science’ is exemplary, and brings both the riffs and the cowbell. They sling in some sampled speech on ‘Ascend the Negative’, which offers a solid sense of positivity pushed on by a pounding riff and thunderous percussion. ‘The rich inflate their egos while the poor just foot the bills’, Ben Ward growls on ‘False Hope Diet’, clearly establishing their political position. This enhances my personal appreciation of the band, for certain – but as much as anything because of their up-front engagement with issues, rather than just pumping fists about birds or relationships. That shit just gets tired and has been done to death, as has mystical bollocks for that matter. It ain’t the 70s anymore, man.
Orange Goblin by no means strive to subvert or place a spin on well-established genre tropes: if anything, quite the opposite is true: Science, Not Fiction absolutely revels in them. But, at the same time, in terms of subject matter, Science, Not Fiction is bang-on contemporary and on point.
There’s simply no arguing with this album: Science, Not Fiction is all the meat, there’s no let-up from beginning to end: nothing but riff after riff, delivered with confidence and brute force. Good shit.
WORSHIPPER drop a psychedelic lyric video featuring the super heavy track ‘Heroic Dose’ as the next single taken from the Boston psychedelic hard rockers’ forthcoming third album One Way Trip which is scheduled for release on July 19, 2024.
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WORSHIPPER comment on ‘Heroic Dose’: “This is the final song that we wrote for the record, and probably the most personal for me”, guitarist and singer John Brookhouse reveals. “I lost my dad in 2022, and one of the last conversations that we had was about his time in Vietnam. As I was writing the lyrics for this song, I realized that I had all of these remarkable stories, which he had told me about that period of time. Essentially, he flunked out of college, and in the midst of a ‘spirit journey’ he realized that he needed to enroll in the Army to avoid being drafted. I cannot even imagine being faced with such a grave decision. I made a bunch of war sounds with a Moog and a theremin that my dad gave me and handed them over to our producer, Alec Rodriguez. Alec just nailed the sound design, especially when mixed with all the acid fuzz freakout stuff at the end over Jarvis’ excellent drum fills.”
French psychedelic/prog-rock collective Djiin will have recently revealed a music video for a brand song of their forthcoming fourth full-length album Mirrors due out on May 3 via Klonosphere Records/Season of Mist.
The follow-up to 2021’s third album Meandering Soul was recorded, mixed and mastered by Peter Deimel at Black Box Studio and sees Djiin further honing their exciting and powerful blend of psychedelic stoner rock and 70’s progressive rock. Written during the last four years by Chloé Panhaleyx (Vocals/Electric Harp), Allan Guyomard (Drums/Backing Vocals), Tom Penaguin (Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Charlélie Pailhes (Bass/Backing Vocals), "Mirrors" is full of powerful and fuzzy riffs, twisted beats, psychedelic melodies and vocal incantations that invites listeners to embark on transcendental and magical journey. The use of the electric harp in this “classic” rock line-up adds a unique and surprising sonority that accentuate the band’s mystic and ritualistic universe.
Aural Aggravation 