Gjenferd - The Thrill (Single Review)

Release Date: February 13th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

The Thrill - Tracklisting

Crimson Rain

Members

Jakob Særvoll – Keyboard and vocals

Vegard Bachmann Strand – Guitar and vocals

Samuel Robson Gardner – Bass

Sivert Kleiven Larsen - Drums and vocals

Review

Doom/Stoner Rockers Gjenferd return with another high octane slice of Rock and Roll that follows the same path as their previous single Crimson Rain with the band adding a Classic Rock touch. The previous single touched upon areas of Proto-Metal and Seventies Hard Rock, this time round there are progressive flourishes with the band sounding they take influence from the likes of Orchid, Black Sabbath and The Who.

The song has a very cool slow paced contemporary sound which allows the excellent vocals firmly leave a mark set against the gloomy Occult sounding synths. Gjenferd offer a more confident and aggressive song compared to Crimson Rain with the Doom/Stoner Rock elements fully taking control even when the band play a mammoth style of Classic Rock instrumental sounds especially with the groovy guitars.

The Thrill is a much more riff-centric offering which bodes well for the band’s upcoming new album Black Smoke Rising. If you want a Proto-Metal/Stoner Rock band that gets straight down to business and doesn’t waste any time in delivering the good stuff then GJENFERD are the band for you.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

You can pre-order Black Smoke Rising now on CD/DD/Vinyl.

Links 

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

L'IRA DEL BACCANO - The Praise Of Folly (Album Review)

Release Date: February 20th 2026. Record Label: Subsound Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Praise Of Folly - Tracklisting

1.The Praise of Folly (Part 1) 

2.The Praise of Folly (Part 2)

3.Stigma

4.Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead

Members

Alessandro Santori - Guitars, Loops, Synths

Roberto Maldera - Guitars, Fx, Slide Guit, Synths

Gabriele Montemara'- Bass

Gianluca Giannasso - Drums

Review

Instrumental Doomsters L’IRA DEL BACCANO  return after a three year absence with The Praise Of Folly which is another huge sounding SONIC and SPACED OUT expedition into the vast COSMOS. The record is perhaps L’IRA DEL BACCANO’s (LDB) most grounded album to date with the band adding strands of Shoegaze and Post-Rock into the music. They still offer their trademark Space Rock and Doomed Out sound that’s been inspired by the likes of Black Sabbath, Hawkwind and Pink Floyd. L’IRA DEL BACCANO play with a real sense of urgency to this album which allows them to play some of the most direct and fast-paced sounds of their musical career.

The album opens up with the two part title track for The Praise Of Folly Part 1 / Part with doomedelic melodies developing into a great mix of synths, ambient sounds, post-rock dynamics and a haunting cinematic score that’s hidden behind a scorching Stoner Rock/Metal rhythm. Echoes of the band’s musical past and creative legacy feels like it’s being reevaluated and reinvented for a modern audience. 

As I can hear brief moments from their previous records being given a more soulful and heavier purpose with L’IRA DEL BACCANO moving ever so closely to their Psych and Space Rock roots. The welcome use of Shoegaze and Post-Rock textures is another wonderful touch with the music having a real dramatic edge with L’IRA DEL BACCANO still delivering a thrilling aspect of Instrumental Rock/Metal. 

L’IRA DEL BACCANO play a fantastic “QUIET vs HEAVY” and “LIGHT vs DARK” aspect into their music where you can hear influences as diverse as PELICAN and RUSSIAN CIRCLES within the quieter moments with some epic KRAUTROCK moments being delivered throughout the whole album. 

The other two tracks of Stigma and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead allow L’IRA DEL BACCANO to add a cinematic and psychedelic Storytelling edge into their music whilst creating sublime instrumental soundscapes that are equally progressive and uplifting at the same time. The second half of the album has a more aggressive sludgier tone to add a level of grittiness whilst keeping in line with L’IRA DEL BACCANO’s highly creative and majestic vision. The backdrop is filled with hallucinogenic melodies and surreal soundscapes that will blow your entire mind. 

The production values are brilliantly realised with the album having a slight “LIVE RECORDING” aspect which is quite ironic since their 2007 classic debut album Si Non Sedes Is - Live MMVII from 2007 was an actual live album which introduced me to this amazing band. You’ll be surprised by the musical journey that L’IRA DEL BACCANO will take you upon with The Praise Of Folly. 

The Praise Of Folly is another masterful record from L’IRA DEL BACCANO and might be my favourite album of theirs yet. This album will no doubt firmly establish the guys as perhaps one of the finest Instrumental Doom/Stoner Metal bands from the underground scene of the modern day age.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to NRV Promotion for the promo.

The Praise Of Folly is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Subsound Records.

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Californian Sludge Veterans -(16)- to release "Forgeries Vol 1, (1972-1984)" cover album on Heavy Psych Sounds this May. Stream crushing Bee Gees cover now!

Santa Ana, California sludge metal veterans -(16)- take over the finest classics from Sabbath, Bee Gees, Black Flag to Scorpions on their upcoming 11th album "Forgeries Vol 1, 1972-1984", to be released on May 1st via Heavy Psych Sounds.

 Hear their crushing cover of the Bee Gees with new single Tragedy 

There comes a point in every band’s life when originality stops being a virtue and honesty takes the wheel. On their 11th long-playing record: Forgeries 1972-1984, -(16)- return to the impulse that first dragged them into loud rooms and bad ideas: the urge to steal what we love and make it semi-unrecognizable through devotion. "We have partnered with Heavy Psych Sounds Records to release a collection of covers that function less as homage and more as a possession to be given away," says the band. The artwork, rendered by the ever-amazing Marald van Haasteren, completes the ritual, iconic, unsettling, and unafraid.

"We’ve always believed that a great cover is not mimicry but revelation. It’s finding a song that's already lived inside you since youth and letting it crawl out, bruised and changed." From the early ’90s onward, -(16)- have treated covers as translations rather than as replicas, acts of tribute and emulation, filtered through distortion, fatigue, and lived experience. "These are songs that taught us how to stand, how to fall, and how to keep going," they add. "In our collective head, this album exists because these songs demanded it. Because they screamed copy me, and we listened. In the end, Forgeries 1972-1984 stands as both a thank you note and a theft, a reminder that all music worth a damn is borrowed, broken, and passed on between friends."

The selections on Forgeries 1972-1984 span eras and attitudes, unified not by genre but by necessity. Each track is a document of obsession, of influence absorbed and re-expressed without permission. The first volume will be issued on LP, CD and digital on May 1st, with preorders available via Heavy Psych Sounds.

New album "Forgeries Vol 1, 1972 - 1984"
Out May 1st on Heavy Psych Sounds - Pre-order

TRACKLIST:

1. Can't Get Enough – Scorpions
2. Nausea – X
3. Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll – Blue Öyster Cult
4. Rotten to the Core – Rudimentary Peni
5. Mother Mary – UFO
6. Tragedy – Bee Gees
7. Bloodstains – Agent Orange
8. Beat My Head Against the Wall – Black Flag
9. St. Vitus Dance – Black Sabbath
10. Foreign Policy – Fear

Formed in 1991 in Santa Ana, California, 16 stylized as -(16)- emerged from the Southern California skate scene. The original lineup featured Bobby Ferry (guitar), Cris Jerue (vocals), Ben Clark (bass), and Jason Corley (drums). Initially called *15*, the band quickly rebranded after discovering another group with the same name. Drawing influence from 7 Seconds, Bad Brains, Metallica, and the Amphetamine Reptile roster, -(16)- developed a sound that helped define both their early years and the sludge subgenre itself.

Their 1993 debut, Curves That Kick, arrived on Pushead’s Bacteria Sour and was followed by a Japanese tour and shows with Slayer. Drop Out (1996) and Blaze of Incompetence (1997) followed, with Phil Vera joining on guitar. After a 1998 U.S. tour with Grief and the 2002 release Zoloft Smile, the band toured the U.S., U.K., and Japan before entering a hiatus in 2004 amid personal struggles.

Reforming in 2007, -(16)- signed to Relapse Records for Bridges to Burn (2009), followed by Deep Cuts from Dark Clouds (2012). With Bobby Ferry now on vocals, the San Diego–based lineup of Alex Shuster (lead guitar), Barney Firks (bass), Dion Thurman (drums) released Lifespan of a Moth (2016), Dream Squasher (2020) and Into Dust (2022) to critical acclaim. Heavy touring across the U.S., Mexico, and Europe, plus major festival slots, cemented their reputation for intense, connecting live performances.

In 2025, -(16)- released Guides for the Misguided on Relapse Records, which was named one of Decibel Magazine’s Top 40 Albums of the Year. That same year, the band headlined a three-week European tour and later performed select shows in California with Acid Bath, High on Fire and Fu Manchu.

In 2026, the band partnered with Heavy Psych Sounds to release Forgeries 1972–1984, a covers album spanning influences from Black Flag to the Bee Gees. That May, they return to Europe for a tour that includes Desertfest Oslo and London, as well as the Italian and Swiss Heavy Psych Sounds Festivals. With a legacy built on resilience and constant reinvention, -(16)- continue to evolve and captivate audiences, affirming their lasting relevance in heavy music.

-(16)- is

Bobby Ferry - Guitars / Vocals
Alex Shuster - Lead Guitar
Barney Firks - Bass
Dion Thurman - Drums / Percussion

-(16)- links

Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds links

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | Youtube

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the details.

Exclusive Album Premiere Of Psych/Alt/Stoner Rockers KYOTE RADIO New Album HABITATS

Kyote Radio is a New Mexico based rock band with roots in the West Texas ghost town of Terlingua, a remote desert outpost where frontman Micah Paredes was born and raised before landing in Austin, where the band was founded in 2013. Paredes leads Kyote Radio on electric guitar and vocals, delivering sharp songwriting backed by a band that features collaborators Nick Smith, Wesley Riddle, Russ Connell, Nick Blossom and Ray Heilman - who anchor the band with a thundering rhythm section and provide listeners with a full dose of heavy riffs and fuzzy guitar solos.

Following the release of their 2018 debut EP, Mouth of the Cave, Kyote Radio teamed up with renowned Austin-based producer, Frenchie Smith, for their first full length LP, Real Crime which was released in 2021. The band has continued to release singles in the years since, including Habitats track “The Crown” featuring Kyle Shutt of The Sword, which was featured as Song of the Day on Austin's KUTX radio. In 2024 Kyote Radio shifted headquarters to Taos, NM where they are set to release their 2nd LP “Habitats” on February 13th, 2026.

Before that we're excited to share this exclusive album premiere of HABITATS thanks to Kyle over at Good Boy PR.

The band have also released a new video for their song BETWEEN THE OCEANS from their superbly heavy new album.

Thanks to Good Boy PR for all of the details.

Habitats is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl.

Links 

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Mother Crone - Embrace The Death (Album Review)

Release Date: March 04th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Embrace The Death - Tracklisting

01 - Unseen Way - 8:10

02 - Fever Stone - 7:05

03 - Embrace The Death - 7:12

04 - Unto the Dawn - 4:20

05 - Eye Of Providence - 6:59

06 - Inner Keep - 11:09

07 - Celestial Light - 3:59

    

Members

Preston Wilson (bass)

Charlie Romano (drums)

Edoardo Curatolo (guitar)

Joe Frothingham (guitar/vocals)

Review

Doom/Stoner/Sludge/Thrash Metallers Mother Crone return with their second album Embrace The Death which is their first album in over eleven years. The band have sharpened their THRASH metal instincts with a great style of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal arriving to add a level of metallic clarity to their music compared to their 2015 debut album. You can hear the band taking influence from the likes of Baroness, Mastodon, Shrinebuilder and High On Fire though the band do explore other musical avenues such as 

Grunge and Psychedelic Metal.

Mother Crone do rely on some classic sounding Progressive and Thrash Metal riffage to hammer home the heavy melodies throughout the album which remains constantly grounded. Though expect some Post-Doom and Classic Hard Rock delivery which fans of THIN LIZZY will adore within the early stages of the record on the opening tracks of Unseen Way and Fever Stone.

There is still a great style of modern day Sludge/Stoner Metal exploration with some Thrash Metal vocals aligning themselves to Mother Crone’s stellar Pitch Black vision that’s contained within lyrics. Embrace The Death becomes quite aggressive and superbly violent when Mother Crone starts playing a highly volatile Thrash Metal sound with a twinge of Hardcore and NOLA melodies. 

The band never rests on their creative laurels as they maximize their full musical potential by drawing upon the likes of Alice In Chains and Soundgarden within the grungier aspects of the record that appears in different stages. With a Post-Doom / Post-Rock narrative suddenly appearing within the quieter and emotionally engaging melodies of the album, this allows the whole mood to be quite dramatic on tracks such Embrace The Death, Unto The Dawn and Inner Keep. However, the majority of the album relies on Mother Crone to deliver a neverending style of punishing grooves and intense soundscapes which delivers the knockout punch to ultimately lose yourself in.

This is the type of record that I wish BARONESS would make today as I’ve been so disappointed with their most recent albums but Mother Crone are their own band and it’s their willingness to experiment with different Psychedelic textures and Progressive landscapes that makes this such a thrilling experience throughout. There’s a multitude of different styles that’s being played at you but Mother Crone never forget to unleash “HELL ON EARTH” when the heavy Sludge/Stoner Metal sounds fully take complete control.

The album itself is quite stripped back with Mother Crone offering a raw aesthetic into the mix which is perhaps down to the excellent production values that captures the band in an almost “LIVE GIG” setting. The sound can be ugly in places but it adds to the overall experience of this EPIC sounding album. 

Embrace The Death is everything you want to hear and fully experience from the underground Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal scene. This is an unmissable album and you should add this to your collection at the earliest opportunity. You won’t regret it!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Links 

https://www.facebook.com/MotherCroneMusic
https://www.instagram.com/mothercronemusic
https://mothercrone.bandcamp.com/

Polish Stoner/Groove Metallers MUDSLINGER releases brand new song and video for "WAY DOWN"

MUDSLINGER is a breath of fresh air on the Polish metal scene. The group was formed by the Sacharczuk brothers (Cezary – vocals/guitar, Jakub – drums) based in the Warmian-Masurian town of Susz. The duo was completed by Michał Kwaśniak (guitar) and Łukasz Kleszczyński (bass). From the very beginning, the band had a clear goal: powerful sound, honest songs, and playing live without regard for current trends. They combine massive riffs, expressive rhythm, and uncompromising energy, creating music that works equally well on stage and in speakers.

Cezary "Czarol" Sacharczuk is an endorser of the Fryta Guitars brand, while Michał "Kwahu" Kwaśniak collaborates with Merlinka Pickups.

Following the release of the EP "Rogue" (2024), the singles "Wide Awake" and "Bleed," the band confidently enters 2026, presenting another powerful hit in the form of the single "Way Down". Łukasz "Dzvon" Cyndzer (Truism, ex-Acid Drinkers) produced the track, showcasing a more mature, heavier, and even more conscious side of the band. An atmospheric music video inspired by the raw aesthetic of Polish gangster cinema from the early 2000s—in the vein of films by Maciej Ślesicki and Olaf Lubaszenko—was produced by Adrian "Klama" Meissner (IT Follows, Shadohm, Patriarkh).

The band comments new song: "Way Down is our new beginning. A new lineup, a new sound, higher quality – and the start of a story we want to tell until the end. The music video for the new composition will open our second EP consisting of four songs. But it's more than just music. We want you to not only listen, but also soak in the atmosphere of our story. Each clip is a new chapter – dark, dense, and sultry, like a good Netflix crime drama that you binge in one go… and suddenly you realize it's 3 a.m. 'Way Down' is episode one. There are three more to come".

Watch the new single for Way Down below:

Links

Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Spotify | WWW

Thanks to Solid Rock PR for the details.

Deeper Graves - Pull Me Toward The Dark (Album Review)

Release Date: February 27th 2026. Record Label: Disorder Recordings. Formats: DD

Pull Me Toward The Dark - Tracklisting

1.MISUNDERSTOOD

2.NO TIME FOR LOVE

3.OVER MY SHOULDER 

4.ALL THESE YEARS

5.WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE 

6.THE TRUTH

7.PULL ME TOWARD THE DARK

Members

Jeff WIlson - Everything

Review

Post-Punk/Post-Rock/Ambient/Shoegaze collective Deeper Graves return with their third album Pull Me Toward The Dark and it’s a sensational mix of gloomy interludes and fast-paced Post-Doom surroundings. This is the project set up by the visionary Jeff Wilson also of Chrome Waves, Contrition, formerly of Nachtmystium and Wolvhammer, and owner of Disorder Recordings. The album is an unsettling and beautifully understated release with the album creating similar sounds to the likes of BEASTMILK, THE CURE and TYPE O NEGATIVE.

This is a collection of songs that perfectly taps into the Eighties Alt Rock and Gothic era with Jeff not afraid expanding his musical horizons with glimpses of modern day Psychedelic dreamscapes and Progressive Doom Rock attitude. The music is constantly therapeutic whilst shining a light on some tough subject matter with the Shoegaze flow allowing everything to be quite hopeful.

Jeff’s vocals have a distinctive “LESS IS MORE” attitude and delivery which are beautifully understated with a rough exterior when the mood calls for this. The opening few songs Misunderstood, No Time For Love and Over My Shoulder allows Deeper Grooves to create a slow burning mix of Industrial Rock, Post-Doom and sullen Shoegaze vibes that forms across different levels of psychedelic soundscapes. The ambient landscapes can be beautifully uplifting with majestic lyrics soulfully tapping into the Shoegaze and Post-Punk lifestyle.

The second half of the record becomes more daring and experimental with Deeper Graves playing with areas of Industrial Rock that reminds me of Killing Joke and Nine Inch Nails on tracks such as All These Tears, Where Do We Go From Here and Pull Me Toward The Dark. The most exciting and truly cinematic moments come within the final stages of the album as Jeff unleashes a wave of Euphoric sounding Post-Doom melodies that left me on the edge of my seat. 

Pull Me Toward The Dark is unapollogetically slow moving but that’s intentional with Deeper Graves creating music with real meaning throughout every aspect of the whole album. The production values are off the scale with Jeff handling everything here behind the scenes. He also handled the cover art and photography of the whole album. Jeff deserves credit for taking upon such a massive task. 

Another highlight of the album is how the most simply played notes and melodies sound absolutely huge with repeated listens. This album feels like a work of art at times which makes this such a highly unforgettable album to merge from the Post-Punk/Shoegaze scene in a very long time. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Earsplit PR for the promo.

Pull Me Toward The Dark is available to buy now digitally via Disorder Recordings.

Links 

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram