September 2025: Matt Recommends

What do we have for you this month, eh? Well, as usual, there's some psychrock to bliss out with. I've also brought something more powerful and something fuzzed out. Let's get into it.

Orions Belte - Pur Jus: I'm not too sure how I got turned on to this Norwegian psych trio. Some algorithm is likely. No matter. To parse their artist description, they're breezy, sometimes loud, and vibrant with groove. And that's why I like it! Feel-good tunage that puts your head in the clouds and makes the body sway. A song like "Milk Champagne" brings a vibe similar to Khruangbin. Never a bad thing. Orions Belte uses less vocals, though. That's cool with me, too.



Kungens Män - Resande i rockmusik: Slide to the east for this Swedish outfit. Similarly to Orions Belte, Resande i rockmusic is a blissed-out instrumental trip. Heavy on the repetition, sonically laced together in waves. There's a free-flowing groove that anchors the listener in a hypnotic sway. It's much warmer music than what's depicted on the album cover. And more psychedelic, of course. The four tracks average 11 minutes each. Just enough time to entrance you with varying intensities. Chill away the day.



Appalooza - The Emperor of Loss: Staying in Europe we have Appalooza from France. I love the cow skull imagery they carry across their artwork. Which is incredible. Between that and their sound you'd think they're from the American West. Sort of a desert feel. They do reference QOTSA in their bio. And Alice in Chains. Powerful desert rock with just a little melancholy and the muscle to overcome it. The highlight of the album for me would be "Tarantula". It's a complex track with with a killer fucking riff that they groove out on for a while at the end. It's a neck-snapper!



The Gray Goo - Cabin Fever Dreams: Now, Appalooza may look and sound like they're from Montana but The Gray Goo actually are. Cabin Fever Dreams takes the loose, groovy feel of psychrock (not too different than Orions Belte or Kungens Män) and infuses it with a sort of indie flair. Fans of King Gizzard and Thee Oh Sees know what I'm talking about. And more vocals. Perhaps some doom feel in there too. This album is a lot of fun. Lots of groove, fuzzy guitars, killer bass, cool riffs, atmosphere in spades without it feeling forced, just a natural thing. It feels good to the gray goo inside my skull and that's all that matters.



My September Playist is very all over the place. You've got the bands above but also bands like Biohazard. Enjoy and skip as you wish!

Album of the Month - June 2025: Goya - In the Dawn of November

This album deserves a more well written review than I'm able to give you today. I forgot I hadn't posted one yet. But at no point did I forget about In the Dawn of November, the latest (and greatest) album from the mighty Goya. I've been keen on this Jeff Owens outfit since Obelisk came out in 2015 and all their shit is good. But as the kids say, this one just hits different. Maybe it's that bitchin' album art. Or that fucking tone. Or the songs that dig into you, become you, bend you, and crush you.



It sounds massive. Of course. But tone and volume don't mean shit unless you have the riffs to back it up. No worries, my dudes. Goya has the riffs you're looking for. Sludgy and bluesy and crafted into something with character and life. Characters and life factor into the lyrics even. Mourning lovers, depressed and angry people, you know, relatable shit. But sometimes in a fastasy occult/horror context. Like "Cemetary Blues". Or just straight up this-world-sucks mean mugging. "Depressive Episode" for example. And the great thing is, the lyrics are understandable. Which means the singalongs/lip syncing are near constant. It's like a Princess Bride of downer doom. It's got doom, depression, horror, romance, and beefy riffs. Oh, and dig the solos, people. Most often bluesy and sure to enhance the emotional response In the Dawn of November illicits.

It's just bloody fantastic. I'm pretty sure it has found more air time in my head than anything else yet this year. As heavy and dark as it is, it's still really catchy. Catchy doom is the shit. And I am not sick of it in the least. (See track 4, "Sick of Your Shit")

Well, this review exceeded my low expectations and honestly Goya exceeded my high expectaions with In the Dawn of November. I'm high while writing it and it's fair to say Goya were too. Boom! Even more relatable! Now let me go listen to it some more.

Before you go, don't forget to check out my As I Go June 2025 Playlist! Goya is 40 songs in. And tracks from my favourite albums from 2006 take up a good portion of it.

Album of the Month - April 2025: Conan - 'Violence Dimension'

Greetings, fellow voidfillers. I'm going back to Album of the Month for at least April. I'll note some other releases at the end but Violence Dimension from the mighty Conan definitely stands above the rest of the pack. The Mizmor/Hell collaboration stands pretty fuckin' tall but I'm not here to pit them against each other. Plus, the collaboration needs to grow on me to understand it's depth. Conan however, Conan has already put me six feet under and pushin' up daisies. It's fuckin' killer. I'll want to dig into the lyrics but if we're being honest I mostly enjoy Conan for the pure sonic bludgeoning. Being buried in fuzz. Vibrating with tone. Beaten senseless. Taken to a dimension of violence.

I'm pretty sure the Violence Dimension guitarist/vocalist Jon Davis is growling/yelling about is in some way the one we're living in. Earth on this plane at this time. Certainly feels like it anyway. I've come to realize that I either connect with an album and it's sound, or I don't. And I won't. The frequencies don't line up. I don't resonate into violent frequencies all the time. There's enough of that in this dimension. In a fight fire with fire kind of way, my shield against violent waves is itself made of violence in sync with MY frequencies. That's where Conan comes in. There are all kinds of violent music. Hyper-violent. Black, death, grind. Not the right frequency (most of the time). Crushing, hulking, muscular, fuckin' doom-sludge worthy of the Barbarian's name is a most effective defense. Anytime. Every time.

What isn't as consistent with Violence Dimension - at least compared to their previous three albums - is the man wielding the bass. This time it's former Fudge Tunnel bassist David Ryley. Chris Fielding returns solely to the producer/engineer's chair for this effort. Thank the gods he didn't abandon Conan completely. I don't think Conan would sound like Conan without him in that position. So what does that mean for the new album? I haven't worked that out scientifically, comparing and contrasting details of sound and performance and atmosphere across years of material. But my gut, my real brain, my gut said "capital Fuck Yeah, bud."

Maybe I didn't anticipate the frequencies of Violence Dimension lining up with mine so perfectly, or something, but when the hammer dropped on this bad boy the energy shot right through me. It felt more vigourous, more powerful, more effective than I was expecting for some bizarre reason. It gave me marching orders. As if drummer Johnny King issued a command. "We're fucking shit up with sonic energy. Get on board." Then boom! By the time we hit "Total Bicep" the sprint towards battles of warfare and death is downright lustful. Rage and heaviness and thunder and a fucking doom drop that takes you to your knees drags you to your feet again for a weary march to the next encounter.

The next encounter being the title track. It's a more subdued affair. At least at first. The nine-minute track starts with more space, somewhat majestic, not unlike the album cover. Still massive. It plods through its midpoint, drawing energy, expanding dimensional sonic horizons in waves of droning chords. Punishing gravity returns in the tracks later third, with a beastly growl at that. A track worthy of identifying the collective material.

I could go trying put sounds into words for more of the eight tracks but you get the idea. I've been a remorseless Conan fan since at least Monnos in 2012 and I've never lost faith so I don't know exactly why Violence Dimension hit me so hard. I won't complain. Aligned frequencies, I guess. Low, pulsing, menacing, tense, frequencies. I'll get carried away again here. I can't recommend this enough especially if you're already fond of sludgy, heavy as all fucks doom. Worship!



Also recommended from the April collection of releases: Mizmor/Hell - 'Alluvion', Action & Tension & Space - 'New Dimensions', Ponddigger - 'Nocturnal Hymnal', and Blackwater Holylight - 'If You Only Knew' EP.

And as always, every release I listened to in April all wrapped up in my April Spotify Playlist. The first 80 or so tracks are all from my seven favourite bands. The new release stuff starts after that.

Nebular Nine: December 2023

Full disclosure. I'm tired of this format. This will be the last collage/what I listened to most post.

I'm not sure what's next, if anything, but this post at least will be kind of half-assed.

These don't usually show up here but I'm always listening to the Weedian compilations. December featured at least the Trips to Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Arizona too, I believe. 

I missed out of the Giant Lungs album when it first came out. But I'm sure loving it now! Tone and riffs and appealing vocals. Let's doom!

Speaking of doom. Uncle Woe gave us a new EP called 'Well' and well, it's pretty awesome. There's something about them that just resonates. Heavy, a little psych/post/prog and stuff. Interesting structures and all that. My vinyl is gonna be great when it gets here. 

I already know my Slower CD will be great when it arrives too. It's a January release though. I very rarely check out promos before release but I went ahead with this. I mean, Slayer but slower? Fuck yeah!

I'm going to have to check out the Mars Red Sky album again. I can't remember. December was weird.

Ok, bottom row we have three releases from Goat. I listened to the whole discography. 'Levitation Sessions' kicked things off and I went backwards from there. These three just had the most tracks. 

Van tunes: Talkin' Slayer Podcast

As I Go December 2023 Playlist

My Favourites of 2023 coming up next.

Nebular Nine: November 2023

Music is a drug. A strong, addicting, healing drug.

Here's what I medicated with most in November.

Ok, so obviously not all of these were November releases but thats not how this works anyway. 

'Lords of Data' by Astral Hand came out in March. Too bad I didn't know about the psychedelic doom within back then. The Anuseye album came out in October. It's pretty cool. Same with Massive Hassle. That album cover is VERY deceptive. It's not black or death metal at all! Uh, the heavy ass Tortuga album was also October. And the Ufomammut EP. And the Howling Giant. They were all late October, okay? 

November's best is the self-titled Psychic Trash debut. Bear in mind this is basically (literally) Wizard Rifle with a different name. With all the gun violence in the US they thought it best to change monikers. Same weirdo duo though! Maybe a little less weird.

Ethereal Tomb released their album in September. It's great. They're even better live. Show report upcoming.

Last but not least is the reissue of Hermano's 'Only a Suggestion'. I suggest you listen to it.

November 'As I Go' Spotify Playlist (one song from each release I listened to, in order. If I listened to it 100 times it's still just one song.)

Van tunes: Filter - 'Short Bus', Black Mastiff - 'Loser Delusion'

Podcasts: Talkin' Slayer, some Communist/Socialist/leftist stuff I don't want to look up right now, the Clean and Sober Stoner interview with JJ of The Obelisk.