May 2025: Matt Recommends

Well, May was pretty good for music. I have a favourite release but I have 5 or 6 total that got me excited enough I want to tell people about them. I already recommended one to a friend but that's it so I need to make up for it. This month we've got Canadian psychedelic doom, Swedish "stoner" rock, barely describable German psych/funk/kraut/stoner rock, and more. It's a global affair. On top of all that, May's As I Go Playlist is a 6.5 hour non-linear trek across time from the 60s to today with stops in each and every decade. It's nuts.

Let's get to it, shall we?

Aawks - 'On Through the Sky Maze': This Barrie, Ontario group's debut LP was 'Heavy on the Cosmic' and damn dude if this one isn't heavier on the cosmic, and just plain heavier! The heaviness upgrade may be from new bassist/vocalist "Grimepup". Dude is awesome. He's got a really cool dirtweed-sludge growl. When I saw them play he did all the vocals for a Weedeater cover. So you know what I'm talking about. 'Sky Maze' obviously has him slotted in with Kris (guitar/vocals/synth), Paraiso (guitar/violin/synth), and Randylin (drums) like he's been there the whole time. The album is a trip, man. Heavy ass psychedelic space doom. Every track feels like an epic. Thunderous riffs woven with cool psych touchs and smooth groove. There are quiet(er), introspective moments blown away by walls of fuzz. Totally retro atmosphere rising to the sky as mountains form below, the earth itself moved by doom. You get the idea. It's a deep album too. Not just that the album is a no-skipper. There are things to think about. I need to get my hands on the lryics. I should have skipped out on work to go to their show last month and bought the CD. And I probably missed an awesome set. I hope they don't get too big to stop coming to play our "intimate" local venue. Honestly, this is definitely my favourite album of the month, and a contender for AOTY, but there are a few more releases I feel compelled to shine a light on. But if you like the idea of "the definition of psych-doom" then check this out first.



Witchcraft - 'Idag': I've generally been a fan of Witchcraft. Since their debut, I believe. Their last release, 'Black Metal', came out 5 years ago and it's not my favourite. It's pretty low-key and not very "black metal". Not bad, just different. So in a way 'Idag' (Swedish for "today") is the spell I've been waiting for since 2016's 'Nucleus' and I can say I'm not disappointed at all! It's brimming with the kind of varied riffing and powerful fuzz the Swedes excel at. Lots of Swedish lyrics on this too. As much as I suck at discerning lyrics anyway I usually prefer English when the vocals are such that I can hear the word. But, when you've got a vocalist like Magnus Pelander it doesn't matter. His distinctive voice and delivery suits the music perfectly. It lends a folkiness to the doom tones. The acoustic portions do that too. I mean, just listen to the ballad-ish "Om du vill". I'm not going to say it's their best album yet but goddamn that argument could be made. It has all the things that make Witchcraft great. I could just sit on that riff in the title track for days though. *sick riff face* Find out for yourself.



Miss Mellow - 'Dancing Through The Earth': As I said above, Miss Mellow blend a number of different styles like funky, hip-shaking, 70s-ish danceable fun, blissful lounge, tripped out heavy psych, and bouncy, bright, keyboard-heavy boogie. And that's just the four-part title track. Variations of such themes are built into the rest of the album along with sublte and not as subtle nods to the power of kraut and stoner rock. Some lyrics are in German but like Witchcraft it works for the songs. With slow jams and body-movers with more of a pulse 'Dancing Through The Earth' never leaves you still. Groove, vocal harmonies, and plenty of keyboards take you far away from the mid-2020s and back to an age with no more peace but one with much more love. It's a positive and uplifting album that simply rocks. I loved their debut. Instant fan on first listen. To be honest, it took two or three spins for me to sync up with one but now it's a beautiful experience every time. And check out that artwork!



Here's three more that I wanted to do blurbs for but I'm running out of steam. These are all just as good as those above.

Causa Sui - 'In Flux': Brilliant and chill.



Turtle Skull - 'Being Here': An amazing journey I need to take again. Often.



Budos Band - 'VII': I don't usually like horns but I love the Budos! Another wicked album of psychedelic funky soul rock.



And as always, The As I Go Playlist. Eat up.

January 2025: Matt Recommends

Super late this time. Things. In the interests of moving on I won't say much. But, that's also kind of on purpose because the the bands whose albums I'll be recommending today don't say much either. They're either completely or mostly instrumental. A direction I've been leaning into more lately. Dig these three.

Fogdriver - 'Dancing Fire': This one really got my motor running. This German trio is actually four members. Their visual artist, Tanja, is considered a member and that's really cool. Now that would be a live show to see! I'm going to check some out on Youtube. Fogdriver are easily categorized as instrumental psychedelic space stoner post-rock. Pushing all the right buttons! I especially dig the bass. I like the way it drives over you. It's wicked. Groovy. Easy to get lost in. Spotify says this was released in January 2024 but that's wrong.



Mogwai - 'The Bad Fire': Full disclosure. This was my first time listening to Mogwai. Ok, maybe I did back in 2001 because I worked with a guy who liked them. I was young and stupid and not open to instrumenal post-rock. Now I am. I've yet to find out how typical 'The Bad Fire' is of their output but I liked what I heard. Reminds me of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. (The visual aspect of Fogdriver made me think of GY!BE.) A couple tracks have vocals. No biggie. They're not bad vocals. Going back for more of this one and back to 2001 to see what I missed.



bunsenburner - 'Reverie': Instrumental again as promised. This time heavier and with more elements of doom. Also from Germany like Fogdriver, and recorded in a live setting which Fogdriver does as well. They have to know each other, right? Don't let the black metal cat fool you. No screeching. Not vocally anyway, obviously. Some experimental tendencies let the guitar do some screeching though. A lot of the time it's either chill as fuck or groovy as hell. There even a bit of spaghetti western influence. There is a lot going on. And ya sure repetition is expected but bunsenburner don't drag it out too long. It's even got one of those "when the riff comes back...but slower" moments. At least one. Not your boring ass instrumental crap!



That's all folks. I have no more words today. Other than "check out my January 2025 Spotify Playlist". (I didn't hear Fogdriver or Mogwai until February. Good thing I was late.)

2024: My Favourites

(image generated using AI)

Here we are again. Another year gone by and another list of albums to call my favourites. Honestly, I think it was something of a "down year." There were plenty of albums that I absolutely love but the choices weren't terribly hard to make. Many of the bands featured are familiar names and all-time favourites. Almost a dozen are bands that are relatively new to me. Two of the bands don't even exist anymore. Almost everything will fit into the stoner/sludge/doom/psych sphere. If you've been paying attention here that should be no suprise. Enough babbling. Here are my 25 favourite releases of 2024 and then some bonus releases that I still think you should know about and that I might listen to in the future. Ear time is precious. Outside the Top Three the order is relatively artibrary.

1. Slomosa - Tundra Rock (Stickman): I discovered Slomosa's 2020 self-titled debut in 2023 via Weedian's Trip to Norway compilation and was completely hooked. Tundra Rock buried another barb. This time even deeper. High energy desert rock culling influence from obvious players like early QOTSA and Kyuss with probably some influence from the European scene like Dozer, etc. Tundra Rock just kicks so much ass that I had to list it above the masters of ass-kicking...

2. High on Fire - Cometh the Storm (Southern Lord): The flames are definitely high! I was cautiously sceptical about Coady Willis replacing Des. No need. Des will be missed and I do have his autograph on my original CD copy of The Art of Self Defence but Willis fuckin' gives'er, man! This new era is going to rule just as hard. Jeff Matz is doing some crazy cool stuff here and Pike, well, Matt Pike for President. Anyone who shits on the record needs to wipe their face after extracting it from their own ass.

3. Fu Manchu - Return of Tomorrow (At the Dojo): Any Fu Manchu album is going to make my list. Bias is real. But it still rules. All the talk about the album mentions the two "sides" of the album, one being more mellow than the other. I guess that's true but I didn't hear anything that didn't sound like Fu Manchu to me. "Mellow" is relative, I suppose. Bonus: I finally got to see Fu Manchu live this year. They only played for like 35 minutes and I missed the first 10 due to a doors vs. start of show misunderstanding. (ALWAYS show up early, Matt! Idiot.)

The rest (more or less in order of release):

Brugada - To Slow Death and Fast Riffs (Tone Zone): Canadian west coast outfit with former members of Astrakhan. Complicated and somewhat artful hardcore-eged prog-sludge? I dunno. The band actually split years ago and it took that long to get this album out. I didn't think I'd ever see the day. Now I have the cassette tape. Booyah! (January Album of the Month)

Fearbirds - Aux Blood (Batskull/New Damage): Another left coast Canuck band that feeds the aggro beast with members of other bands I used to love. Specifically Kevin Keegan of Barn Burner (and Dead Quiet but they're still going). The other members are scene vets as well. I think they split too. Their van bit the dust, they canceled their tour, and they called it a day. Seems kind of fucked but life goes on. (February AOTM)

Weedow - Weedow (self-released): Polish stoner doom trio. As smoked out as you would expect.

Kungens Män - För samtida djur 1 and 2 (Majestic Mountain): Experimental, avant-garde, psychedelic, meditative rock from Germany.

Uncle Woe - Oblivion and Further Disaster (Packard Black Productions/Owlripper Records): Depression Doom from the Ontario wilderness (not terribly far from me actually). Main man Rain Fice enlisted Aussie drummer Mark Witworth of X's for Eyes for this one (and Well from 2023). I don't do a lot of sad stuff these days but I almost have all the Uncle Woe records on vinyl so.... (March AOTM)

Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol - Big Dumb Riffs (self-released): I liked this one better than Doom Wop. All big dumb riffs. Makes you want to break things.

The Cosmic Dead - Infinite Peaks (Heavy Psych Sounds): Heavy psych space rock from Scotland. It's a long trip, man. One of my favourite sub-genres of music these days.

Bongripper - Empty (self-released): Their songs are instrumental so they aren't about ripping bongs but Empty will nonetheless take all your worries away. For about 66 minutes. The doom looms.

Eye - Dark Light (New Heavy Sounds): Jessica Ball of MWWB brings us Dark Light, a darkfolk, dream pop, electronic psych doom, and more exploration of feeling with new project, Eye. It's intimate and textured. It's hard to explain, and hard to explain what it is that draws me in so much. I like it that way.

Ufomammut - Hidden (Neurot): The Italian psychedelic sludge masters just keep pumping out quality stuff. I've been enjoying their drony, hypnotic, snyth-laden, industrial heaviness for decades and they haven't let me down yet. (May AOTM)

Beaten to Death - Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis (Mas Kina): Back to Norway. This time with the explosive melodic grindcore of Beaten to Death. Sunrise continues the sonic bludgeoning with the same playful ferocity I've come to expect. This is where I go for quick pent-up energy release.

Thou - Umbilical (Sacred Bones): I really should have this one closer to the top just in case someone doesn't read this far. This is where to go to feel absolutely crushed. The music is heavy but it also makes you feel the weight of humanity's suffering with each riff. I shouldn't have to explain Thou.

Causa Sui - From the Source (El Paraiso): Aaaaahhhh more escapist music. Instrumental, experimental, proggy, psychedelic rock. It puts me in the same space as Dead Meadow, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Colour Haze. There is a lot of good stuff on El Paraiso Records.

Penza Penza - Alto e Primitivo (Funk Night Records): Psychedelic and instrumental but this time it gets funky. And jazzy, I suppose. But I like how it makes me move. It feels good! Ow! (July AOTM)

delving - All Paths Diverge (Blues Funeral): This side project of Elder's Nick DiSalvo is so chill. Light and airy, psychedelic. Beautiful sonic explorations that just seem to flow naturally from one movement to the next. Similar vibes to a lot of the places Elder goes. (His other project, Weite, is a little different. See below later.)

Anciients - Beyond the Reach of the Sun (Season of Mist): If you like guitars, and lots of them, this is for you. I feel like Anciients have moved further from the sludge of "progressive sludge" into the prog end but still fucking rip. The songs are good obviously too but the big standout for me is listening to all those notes! (August AOTM)

Brant Bjork Trio - Once Upon a Time in the Desert (Duna Records): The legend Brank Bjork brings back his Duna Records label with this beaut with the legend Mario Lalli on bass. And that's what it sounds like. Yawning Man bass on a Brant Bjork album. Sweeeeeet.

Goat - Goat (Rocket Recordings): My favourite psychedelic funk rock collective brings more hip-hop style beats into the mix on this one and I'm obviously okay with that in this instance. It was my October AOTM and I described my feelings pretty well in that post. Yeah, I picked it over Brant Bjork Trio. It's that cool.

Sun and Sail Club - Shipwrecked (Heavy Psych Sounds): Tony Adolescent, Bob Balch, and BOTH Scott Reeders! Fast! Aggressive! Punk! Relentless! (Except the jazzy guitar yacht rock bookends!) Fuck off attitude! Not stoner rock!

Low Flying Hawks - Makebelieve (Sympatry Records): Hard to explain this one. Hypnotic, sludgy, noisy at times, art-rock, psych. But it's even more complex than that. Gothic. Emotional, through anguished screams or harmony. I still need to spend WAY more time with it. It just keeps getting better. October was a pretty hard choice for AOTM.

Hawklords - Relativity (self-released): I like this better than the more recent Hawkwind albums! The associations with Hawkwind are pretty loose at this point but Relavity occupies the same space. AI concept album. I dig it. But like, sci-fi Asimov stuff not ChatGPT or whatever. Plus, it's really cool space rock, man!

There they are. My favourite 24 albums of 2024. I cheated by lumping the Kungens Man albums together but who's counting? As promised, here is another bunch of albums I thought were cool enough to mention.

Elephant Tree/Lowrider - The Long Forever (Blues Funeral): Honestly, I kind of forgot about this one and I know I liked it but didn't feel comfortable putting it above. Oops.
Baardvader - When the Stars Arrive (self-released)
The Whims of the Great Magnet - FRYDOM (self-released): December AOTM
Weite - Oase (Stickman)
Cosmic Fall - Back Where the Fire Flows (self-released)
Tube Warmers - Fertilized Eggs and Honey (River Records)
Crippled Black Phoenix - The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature (Season of Mist)
Vessel - The Somnifier (Majestic Mountain): November AOTM
Babel Map - Teeth (Lost Future)
Ian Blurton's Future Now - Crimes of the City (Pajama Party): (The crimes are that for most of their shows in Toronto they don't go on stage until 1am or some nonsense.)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD (Constellation)
Mammoth Volume - Raised Up By Witches (Blues Funeral)
Free Ride - Acido y Puto (Small Stone)
Ainu - Ainu ((Subsound Records)
Rezn - Burden (Sargeant House)
Khruangbin - A La Sala (Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories)
Locrian - End Terror (Profound Lore)
Sons of Alpha Centuri - Pull (Exile on Mainstream)
Monkey3 - Welcome to the Machine (Napalm Records)

There are more but really, that's enough. Comment below if you have anything to say. Keep an eye for my playlists!

Nebular Nine: September 2023

For the first time in a long time I went a whole month without alcohol. And the last 8 days without weed. Or wearing a hat. Those things are irrelevant though as the quality of the music was unaffected. 

Based on number of plays the new Baroness takes the cake for September. 'Stone' seems to be the logical place for Baroness to be at this stage in their career. Stellar.

Frankie & the Witch Fingers are one of those bands that found me. A little weird, a little progressive, a lot of fun. 'Data Doom' kicks ass. 

Not enough can be said about Danko Jones. High energy rock and fucking roll. Their 11th studio effort kicks all kinds of ass. My only complaint is by the time it came out I was basically done cutting grass for the year so I couldn't bomb around the yard yelling lyrics to the wind like a nut job. Ah well.

Another all-time in Brant Bjork. I would also include here 'Saved by Magic Again' by Brant Bjork and the Bros. They are companion pieces and all. And both classic. These reissues are niiiiice.

Random throwback with 'Ocean Machine'. I know I've listened to it before but it had been forgotten and neglected for decades by me for some reason.

Speaking of neglected, I liked the debut from Kvelertak. Then I didn't like them. Now I like them again. Thank you, 'Endling'.

That Iron Buddha album is some heavy shit. Gotta get back to that one.

The Nashville show of Clutch's PA Tapes is a killer set! Lots of favourites. And I hear that Neil Fallon chose that set list. 

Last but certainly not least, the newest from Night Verses, 'Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 1'. They're a new band for me but I am totally a fan now. This mostly instrumental album is quite the departure from the sound of their debut (and subsequent albums) and I'm blown away by their musicianship. 10/10 will listen again. 

Van tunes: Slayer - 'South of Heaven', High on Fire - 'The Art of Self Defense (original Man's Ruin release), Mizmor - 'Prosaic', Bell Witch - 'The Clandestine Gate', Beaten to Death - 'Unplugged', Danko Jones - 'Electric Sounds'.

Spotify playlist (one song from every album I listened to at least once, most more than once):

As I Go Sepetember 2023

King Dead - King Dead

It wasn't the self-proclaimed “spaghetti western doom sludge” tag that drew me to King Dead. It was the fact that the instrumental trio is two bassists and a drummer. I love that dynamic. In fact, the spaghetti western part could very well have turned me the other way. It's not exactly a style I'm fond of. Try as I might I couldn't even make it all the way through that last Across Tundras album. But I gave King Dead the benefit of the doubt and forged ahead.

Forging ahead is actually a common theme on this self-titled debut. Without the benefit of vocals the music itself does the narration. Most often one can get a sense of the scene by the way King Dead shape their dynamics. They build up towards the spilling point creating a sense of drama.

The really interesting thing is one bassist, Will McGrath plays a 6-string and his role is higher pitched and steely, while Kevin Vanderhoof takes the low road with his growling low end. At times McGrath will soar like an eagle while Vanderhoof plods away below. At others Vanderhoof plays the lead role while McGrath provides more atmosphere. It's not the sound you'd expect from two basses but that makes it all the more appealing.

Directing the show in a way is drummer Steve Truglio. As he goes, so does the song. He can sit back and let the bassists do their thing or he can push the energy through, sparking the drama to unfold in cathartic climax.

On the hole King Dead is ethereal and smokeladen. The steely and rumbling basses are quite expressive. It can go from depressing to triumphant and back again. Their bluesy psychedelia sounds like solitude and introspection. But there's a resolve, determination and urgency that filters through over the course of the journey.

From ambling cadences to full-on sprints the album unfolds with a sense of purpose. Drone, doom and sludge all have their place on this heartfelt, expansive and callous-handed release. The desert aura and steely/synth tone would have you thinking in reddish hues but the album pulses with a blood more blue. The noonday sun shines not on King Dead. Storm clouds gather on the horizon at dusk bringing a chill to the air. And well, King Dead is pretty cool.

King Dead on Bandcamp

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