August 2025: Matt Recommends

For whatever reason I do find the summer months to be a little light when it comes to new releases. This August I've got three releases that I'd like to highlight for you. Quite a mix too. With a common thread. Before we get started however, this month's playlist has doom, thrash, nu-metal, hardcore, and more.



Swaamp - II: Trippy, spacey, psychedelic journey lasting for an hour and a half. Blissed out meditations that rock, man. They have THREE monthly listeners on Spotify. Let's make some noise for Swaamp! And go listen dammit! (on Bandcamp though)



Tube Warmers - Volume 2: Not terribly different than Swaamp in general tone but more chill and less rock. Definitely a trip. Easy enough for far out background music too.



Tumanduumband - Hail Satan, Triumph Awaits: The name says it all. Satanic and triumphant. The aptly named Tumanduumband (a two-man doom band) move some heavyweight air plying a sinister style of droning instrumental doom maliciously stitched with dark samples. It is the sound of evil wrapped in a fog as heavy and magical as vaporized mercury descending and spreading through the underworld. Dance with the devil. It takes two to doom.



There you have it. Three trippy recommendations from August of 2025.

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.

March 2025: Matt Recommends

Greetings. Maybe I need some medicine or something because I can't seem to focus on these posts anymore. But I don't want to treat my ADHD with pills. So...late again and half-assed. My picks for March include the incredible return of an already incredible progressive sludge band, a heavy psych send-off, and volume 2 of a one-man trip. Let's get to it. I have a busy day to be capped off attending a Parabolus show (the Complete Tool Experience).

Rwake - 'The Return of Magik': Rwake's 2011 album, 'Rest' is one of my all-time favourite albums. I thought the band was dead. It happens. Some of my favourite albums are final albums from bands that just disappeared. (I Hate Sally, Astrakhan, others) Naturally I hit the roof when out of nowhere the title track for 'The Return of Magik' just dropped out of nowhere. And holy fuck the title is spot on. The magik is back! It's so heavy. It's so emotional. Expansive. Deep. Magikal. It's so Rwake. Listening to it in the proper isolated environment produces an out-of-body effect. I need to study this album. Really get into the lyrics. It took over a decade to put this album together and it could take that long fully wrap my head around it. It's gonna be tough to knock this one off the top of my year end list. Listen for yourself.



Dead Meadow - 'Yoyager to Voyager': To the detriment of the world Dead Meadow bassist Steve Kille sadly passed away due to cancer. While the band does plan to continue, 'Voyager to Voyager' stands as Kille's final contrbution to the band. Not only will it stand out in their storied catalog for that reason alone but regardless it's simply one of their best releases period. Sure, knowledge of circumstances influenced the listening experience but you can't argue with how good it is. How Dead Meadow it is. Dead Meadow is a band I just "connect" with, right from the first time I head 'Howls from the Hills' playing in a record store and bought it immediately. If I'd heard this one I'd do the same. Their style of heavy psych definitely takes me on a voyage. It takes a weight from my shoulders, lifts me away from the damp, cold earth with its dynamic sway and entrancing melodies. Again, I really need to dig deep into this record and really understand it. Maybe once my preordered vinyl and CD finally show up!



Futuropaco - 'Fortezza Di Vetro, Vol. 2': Unfortunately El Paraiso Records doesn't use Bandcamp and Futuropaco only has one release on their page so the embedded link will have to be Spotify. Sorry. How do I even describe the album though. There are elements of funk, psych, and weird, fun electronics? Maybe what I feel as "funk" isn't accurate but it feels funky to me. It's got a certain groove that gets you movin' while the keys, fuzz, and psychedleic flourish isolate the pleasure centers of the brain. Layers upon layers weave in and out of this psychedelic journey. Like most of the stuff I listen to anymore it's something to sink into. It's all instrumental by the way. Justin Pinkerton does it again. I'd recommend it for fans of King Gizzard, Budos Band (no horns but whatever), or a bunch of other stuff on El Paraiso like Causa Sui. Check it out.



Two all-time favourite bands and one I'm just getting into. If you want to know what else I was into in March, here's my As I Go March 2025 Playlist. Honourable mentions to 'Yun' by Pyres and 'Mentalism' by Mantras.

February 2025: Matt Recommends

Most of the February releases I wanted to check out droppped on February 28 so I had to take some time to digest them before throwing some recommendations out into the void. Speaking of the void...

Naxatras - V

It's hard to assign a particular sound to Naxatras. The Greek artists expertly blend prog and psychedelic rock with space rock and a bit of stoner. But V feels like a journey through space. Not emptiness but all the wonderful and awe-inspiring planets and places and processes we may never see. Their use of groove and rhythm on tracks like "Numenia" feel firmyl rooted in humanity and its earthly heart. Best of both scenarios. Anyone who has been reading lately should know how much "escapist" albums pull me in. V does just that. An expansive album able to push away the day to day. Naxatras binges are always a heavy trip.



Year of the Cobra - Year of the Cobra

We kick things up a notch with the newest from Year of the Cobra. Their third album just happens to be self-titled. It does feel like a step up but not a redefinitition that some bands do when releasing a self-titled that isn't their first album. You know what I mean. Again, it's not different from their first two albums just...more. The duo of drummer Jon Barrysmith and bassist-vocalist Amy Tung-Barrysmith (yes, they're married.) have added more emotion, more dynamics, more expression to their already doom-laden stoner heaviness. Amy gets more out of her bass than most guitarists with way more strings and you can really feel how much Jon is locked in. I've been a fan from the start. I feel like i've listened to Year of the Cobra more than Ash and Dust and ...In the Shadows Below combined though. And it's probably not even close. It's a banger.



Uncle Woe - Folded in Smoke, Soaked and Bound

You may also know I'm a dedicated fan of Uncle Woe. Obviously I'm going to include Folded in Smoke, Soaked and Bound. Now, Spotify says it was released February 28 and Bandcamp says March 1 so I'm putting it in February because I already have my three recommendations for March and I HAVE to include this one somewhere. Folded in Smoke is not an album but rather a 10" consisting of two 8+ minutes tracks. The 10" is pretty special and not for the casual collector but it's worth it for a big fan like me. I just love how Rain Fice and Mark Whitworth can move me with melancholy and despair. There's so much emotion and grace. And power. The band really put it best themselves, Folded in Smoke "ponders and sprawls and creeps and whispers and slithers, but still ends up as dead as everything else". Honestly, I'm envious of Rain's ability to make real the intangle feelings we have inside.



Honourable mentions to III by Yawning Balch (so good), and Dark Green by Tumbleweed Dealer (pretty cool). III by Red Eye and The Wolfe by Dope Smoker are pretty good too.

February Playlist -> RIGHT HERE Only Naxatras on this one.

Here's March too. it's pretty much done. MARCH PLAYLIST Year of the Cobra, Uncle Woe and others are here.

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!

Album of the Month - December 2024: The Whims of the Great Magnet - 'FRYDOM'

December is always a month that doesn't have very many releases. Ya know, because list season. To really value something you have to sit with it a while. You have to. Countless times I've heard something once or twice and thought "This is fuckin' awesome!" only to sober up some and realize it's just okay. Just as easily, but less often, something could be a hard pass early on only to come back around under different conditions and it's a completely different thing. Decemeber doesn't allow that so I get it. That being said, recency bias and/or state of elevation should take nothing away from this month's favoured listen, 'FRYDOM' by The Whims of the Great Magnet.



A state of elevation could be gained just from listening to 'FRYDOM'. You can feel a sort of lightness coursing through the air, the psychedelic vibes lifting burdens from your shoulders as the crude material world dissolves away on "Baby Blue (Hit Song)". A little later "Sunstroke Serenade" plays around with a warm, grungy, garage rock energy and the "jam band" nature that permeates their output. There's a live version on Youtube that's pretty cool too.

It's not a terribly complicated thing really. But it doesn't have to be. I mean, their tag line is "slacker mellow yellow stoner jam band". I don't think anyone is slacking here, especially considering it's mostly the work of Sander Haagmans. His live band does not slack either. The mellow stoner jam thing is pretty spot on. The loud/soft dynamics aren't formulaic and seem to form naturally between and within tracks. Bluesy guitar work blossoms in the solos. Waves of psychelia wash between hemispsheres, between the ground and skies, all according to The Whims of the Great Magnet. I'm not completely sure what FRYDOM means but I'm taking it as the freedom to get fried and escape with this album for a little while. Check it out.

You can find "Reborn" and a track from their 2019 album 'Good Vibes and High Tides' on my As I Go December 2024 Spotify playlist along with a bunch of great tracks from the whole year as I worked on My Favourites of 2024. Stay tuned.

Other notable releases from December 2024:

Cogents - 'Desolace' (co-written, recorded and produced by Neil Fallon)
Ze Stoner - 'Desert Buddhist'
Kopilott - 'III'
Some Pills for Ayala - '...and we leave the planet?'

Album of the Month - May 2024: Ufomammut - 'Hidden'

Italy's mighty Ufomammut have the distinguished honour of being Album of the Month for May 2024 here at Kingdom of Noise with 'Hidden'. The "psychedelic sludge" trio celebrate their 25th year by releasing their 10th album. Not a bad pace if you ask me. Pacing is a large part of the appeal of Ufomammut too. The band has always mastered their pacing. Mostly a lumbering gait kinda thing. As doom does. Ufomammut dial up the repetition more than most locking the listener into whatever otherworldly headspace they're creating. Drones, synths, and FX round out the full effect. Ufomammut albums are a trip, man, and 'Hidden' feels of no diminished quality this deep into the band's career. Ufomammut are remarkably consistent in that regard.



There's just something about them that clicks with me. So it makes sense that 'Hidden' does too. It's heavy as fuck for starters. The transisions are near perfect. When they move between parts it doesn't feel forced or clunky even if it's abrupt. Even without the snyth effect, the industrial undertone persists. All the synths and FX do is take it to another level. It's what takes all their albums to the next level. It's so integral to their sound. I mean, it's right there in the name Ufomammut. UFO and mammut (Italian for mammoth). The power of a huge, earthshaking animal infused with otherworldy influence. Charged darkness comes to mind. An atmosphere alive and sunless and ancient.

'Hidden' is a muscular and nuanced album. It deserves your attention. The more undivided that attention is, the better. Hide yourself in the layered sonic intensity and let it overwhelm you.

2022: My Favourites

Well, here we are again. 2022 was actually a decent year personally. There are always big things hanging overhead but at least not many fell. I drifted further and further from the more extreme forms of metal. I mean, most of what I'm going to list below isn't even metal. Most of it can be heavy but there's almost no death, black, grind, noise or whatever. 

I've even sort of reinvented myself in terms internet presentation. "MetalMatt Hinch" doesn't really exist. I dropped Twitter a while ago, I changed my IG handle, lastfm account, and other associations with that handle. It's just me now. And these are 40 albums that really turned my crank in 2022 tiered into the four higher states of being. Enjoy!

FULLY ENLIGHTENED BEINGS (pure beings devoid of faults)

Clutch - Sunrise on Slaughter Beach (Weathermaker)

Stöner - ...totally (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Brant Bjork - Bougainvillea Suite (Heavy Psych Sounds)

16 - Into Dust (Relapse)

Elder - Innate Passage (Armageddon Shop)

Dead Meadow - Force Form Free (Blues Funeral)

Colour Haze - Sacred (Elektrohash)

King Buffalo - Regenerator (self-released)

Mammoth Volume - The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites (Blues Funeral)

MWWB - The Harvest (New Heavy Sounds)

GODS OF THE FORM AND FORMLESS REALMS (aeons of refined bliss)

Black Space Riders - We Have Been Here Before (self-released)

Marc Urselli's Steppendoom - Steppendoom (Magnetic Eye Records)

Baardvader - Foolish Fires (Baardvader Records)

Freedom Hawk - Take All That You Can (Ripple Music)

Soulfly - Totem (Nuclear Blast)

Gypsybyrd - Visions (self-released)

Wo Fat - The Singularity (Ripple)

Ufomammut - Fenice (Neurot)

Fuzz Meadows - Orange Sunshine (self-released)

Dhidalah - Sensoria (Guruguru Brain)

DESIRE REALM GODS (enjoyment and satisfaction of desires)

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion (Mrs. Red Sound)

Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! (Universal)

Blackbraid - I (self-released)

Ian Blurton's Future Now - Second Skin (Pajama Party)

Druids - Shadow Work (Pelagic)

Nebula - Transmission From Mothership Earth (Heavy Psych Sounds)

10,000 Years - III (Death Valley Records)

Uncle Woe - Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abbatoir Deluxe (Red Spade)

Cult of Luna - The Long Road North (Metal Blade)

Gnome - King (Polder Records)

PRECIOUS HUMAN LIVES

Earthless - Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Nuclear Blast)

Pike vs The Automaton- Pike vs The Automaton (MNRK)

Crowbar - Zero and Below (MNRK)

Somali Yacht Club - The Space (Season of Mist)

Lazer Beam - Man In The House/Lost in Oblivion (LCF)

Cancer Bats - Psychic Jailbreak (New Damage)

My Sleeping Karma - Atma (Napalm Records)

Messa - Close (Svart)

Mizmor - Wit's End/Myopia (split with Thou) (Gilead Media)

Sons of Arrakis - Volume 1 (self-released)

Tell me what I missed!