Sunday, 24 May 2026

ELDER - Through Zero (Album Review)

Release Date: May 29th 2026. Record Label: Various. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Through Zero - Tracklisting

1.Sigil To Ruin

2.Capture/Release 

3.Through Zero 

4.Strata

5.Sight Unseen

6.Blighted Age


Members


Nicholas DiSalvo - Guitar, vocals, synthesizer

Jack Donovan - Bass guitar

Michael Risberg - Guitar, Rhodes piano, slide guitar

Georg Edert - Drums, percussion


Review


Elder are celebrating their twentieth anniversary as a band this year and finally perhaps cemented their place and reputation as the premier Heavy Psychedelic Stoner Rock band the scene currently has right now. The band have released multiple critically acclaimed albums since then and some are considered classics of the scene. Elder may still get their usual round of critics saying they prefer the heavier Doom Metal sound they delivered on their earlier records but the band have soldiered onto bigger and better things with each subsequent release.


Through Zero is their seventh album and it’s another masterclass of everything that came before it with Elder rewriting their own musical legacy with a record that manages to be brilliantly heavy and laid back at the same time. This record feels like ELDER has discovered the lost art of storytelling with the way they open up with each individual track that includes emotionally charged lyrics that make you sit up and take notice.


This album is perhaps Elder’s most sonically diverse release yet with the band moving areas into Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Electronica and Progressive elements unlike ever before. There’s even some creative callbacks to their classic 2007 debut album Dead Roots Stirring along the way. Elder leaves no creative stone unturned or untouched with Nick’s stunning work on Synths and Michael’s haunting Rhodes Piano instrumental passages allowing Georg on Drums and Jack Donovan on Bass to form a superbly intelligent rhythm section which holds everything together.


The record is full of passionate musical surroundings with Elder creating a Space Rock landscape to build their musical ideas upon especially within the epic opening track Sigil To Ruin. The track runs for over ten minutes that sees Elder relive past musical glories and modernise them for a new found audience discovering this great band for the first time. Elder effortlessly blends areas  Psych, Post-Rock, Doom, Stoner and Prog Rock into music of such rich musical depth you can’t help but fall in love with what's being played. There is a wonderful “orchestral” and “classical” feel that is being teased and developed on this track that’s used throughout the rest of the album.


Sigil To Ruin is just the doorway to expand the listener’s mind into ELDER’s increasingly hopeful and brilliantly musical quest. The other tracks allows Elder to breathe new life into the whole Heavy Psychedelic scene with different levels of musical heaviness bringing a sense of calm and distorted awareness which fully sells the whole Space Rock vibe whilst being superbly grounded at the same time. 


There are some parts of the album where Elder veer into Post-Metal territory and perhaps challenging the likes of PELICAN and RUSSIAN CIRCLES of developing some of the most sublime Post-Rock/Post-Metal sounds I’ve heard in a very long time on tracks such as Capture/Release, Through Zero and Strata. Though, it’s the ethereal soundscapes that keeps the record firmly within the Heavy Psych and Stoner Rock environments. 


The music is beautifully played with everyone putting in truly magnificent performances with Nick’s vocals once again showing a wealth of knowledge and maturity way beyond his years. Though, it’s the complete musical package that Through Zero takes the listener upon with a never-ending array of uplifting Ambient sounds and forward thinking progressive melodies that’s backed up by first rate production values that make this a real grand musical adventure.


I remember reviewing Dead Roots Stirring for a defunct webzine back in 2008 and I never thought I would be doing the same thing almost two decades later with another new record from them. Fast forward and ELDER have released seven full length albums, four EP’s and two live albums.


The music may have changed directions slightly but they have always remained the same band with a level of warmth and uplifting quality that remains virtually unmatched in today’s scene. Through Zero is a testament to that fact and how Elder proves once again why they’re masters of their musical craft that other bands can’t even come close to fully matching or even surpassing. 


Elder may have just released the finest Heavy Psychedelic / Stoner Rock album of the year for me. 


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to All Noir for the promo..


Through Zero is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Stickman Records, in North America through Blues Funeral Recordings and Bird’s Robe in Australia.


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DOOM/SLUDGE METAL MONSTERS - FROGLORD – “THE MYSTIC TOAD” VINYL REPRESS + NEW BONUS SINGLE “CROAK”



Black Throne Productions is proud to announce the long awaited vinyl repress of Froglord’s cult amphibious doom opus The Mystic Toad, arriving this summer alongside the brand new bonus single “Croak”, due for release on June 3.

Following the massive success of their sixth album Lower & Slower, the UK’s favourite Amphibious Swamp Doom outfit return to Loveland once again, delivering another monstrous collision of cryptid horror and swamp soaked doom in collaboration with the creators of the Frogman film saga.

Dallas Kyle’s journey into the mysteries of Loveland, Ohio continues in Frogman Returns, as Froglord once again provide the perfect sonic pairing to the film’s chaotic found footage horror. Combining swamp worshipping riffs, towering fuzz and cinematic atmosphere, the band continue expanding the mythology that has made them one of the UK underground doom scene’s most recognisable cult names.

The new single “Croak” expands the world of The Mystic Toad even further, serving as both a standalone amphibious sludge anthem and an essential addition to this definitive repress. Filthy, hypnotic and drenched in Loveland swamp energy, the track captures everything that has helped Froglord carve out a distinct identity within modern doom metal.


Originally released in 2021 in an ultra limited run of just 100 copies, The Mystic Toad has become one of the band’s most sought after releases, with fans calling for a repress for years. Partnering with Black Throne Productions finally allows the amphibian overlords to resurrect the record on vinyl once again, now featuring “Croak” as an exclusive bonus track.

The release continues the momentum built by Lower & Slower – Vol. 1, the band’s recent charity focused release supporting the Waterfowl and Wetlands Trust, which raised close to £1,000 for conservation efforts connected to the UK wetlands that inspired Froglord’s swamp dwelling mythology.

FFO: Electric Wizard, Conan, Weedeater, Acid Mammoth, cryptid folklore, swamp horror cinema, found footage terror

To support the release of “Croak” and The Mystic Toad repress, Froglord will tour across the UK this July for a two week run supporting Bat Sabbath, the Black Sabbath worshipping alter egos of Cancer Bats. Personally invited by Cancer Bats frontman Liam Cormier, the tour marks another huge step forward for the Bristol swamp dwellers following an increasingly explosive rise through the UK underground doom scene.

The tour also sees Froglord returning to Bloodstock Open Air for the festival’s 25th anniversary celebrations, alongside a debut appearance at Stoomfest London alongside bands including Stoned Jesus and Colour Haze.

Known for immersive live performances blending psychedelic sludge, creature feature horror and ritualistic swamp theatrics, Froglord continue building a world entirely of their own. Equal parts doom metal performance and amphibious fever dream, the band’s live reputation has rapidly transformed them into one of the UK underground’s most distinctive heavy acts.


TOUR DATES

July 12 – Nottingham – Beta, Rock City
July 14 – Manchester – Rebellion
July 15 – Glasgow – Cathouse
July 16 – Sheffield – Corporation
July 17 – Birmingham – Castle & Falcon
July 18 – Bristol – Electric
July 20 – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
July 21 – Brighton – Concorde 2
July 22 – Tunbridge Wells – The Forum
July 23 – London – Scala

August 8 – Derby – Bloodstock Festival (Sophie Stage)
August 25 – London – The Garage (Stoomfest London)

RELEASE INFORMATION

Release Date: June 3, 2026
Release: The Mystic Toad (Vinyl Repress) + “Croak” (Bonus Single)
Label: Black Throne Productions
Format: Vinyl + Digital

LINKS

https://blackthroneproductions.com/
https://linktr.ee/BlackThroneProductions
https://www.facebook.com/BlackThroneProd 

https://www.youtube.com/@blackthroneproductions


LINEUP

The current formation of Froglord consists of:

Benjamin “Froglord” Oak – vocals
Jordan “Caudata” Cross – guitars
Luke “Bufo” Clemenger – bass
Chris “Anura” Seldon – drums

BAND BIO

Since the dawn of time, mystics have prophesised the coming of an ancient amphibian bestowed with deathray vision and ectoplasmic slime. Emerging from deep within the mystic swamps of Bristol, UK, Froglord arise with their powerful blend of psychedelic doom, swamp sludge and colossal fuzz drenched riffs.

Formed in 2020 and inspired by everything from classic doom metal to cryptid folklore and found footage horror, the band have rapidly built a devoted following through relentless touring, immersive mythology and an unmistakable amphibious identity. Combining creature feature horror, towering sludge grooves and ritualistic live performances, Froglord continue their reign of swamp soaked terror across the underground metal world.

Thanks to Neon Leopard Promotions for the details.
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Canadian Doomgaze Band 'Truster' to Release Full Length Album 'Creeping Thing' on July 10


Canadian doomgaze trio Truster have announced their long-awaited new album, “Creeping Thing”, to be released digitally and on vinyl on July 10. The band has also released a single,“Wretch Collector”, which highlights the album’s crushing yet ethereal sound and devastating lyrics.
 
The listener is welcomed to ‘Creeping Thing’ with found audio of harrowing screams from a mass exorcism event in small town Alberta. Truster encapsulates this intensity throughout the album, where even in moments of quiet restraint, there is a seething desperation that inevitably feeds its way into emphatic fervor.

‘Creeping Thing’ is a concept album that explores devotion, reverence, and religious sanctification. It threatens a world where autonomy is no longer given away or taken; it is reinstated to an omnipotent degree. It begs the listener to explore their essentiality and demands that they build an altar to it.‘Creeping Thing’ is not an album of clemency; it is an ode to reclamation through sublime malevolence.

‘Creeping Thing’ can be pre-ordered here. Fans who pre-order will have instant access to an unreleased track from the album.


Truster hails from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They play heavy doomgaze influenced in equal parts by the absurdity of trauma, weaponized resilience, and love. Blending wall of sound, down-tuned guitars, heavy, churning drums, and boundless, desperate vocals, Truster’s sound incorporates elements of doom, black metal and shoegaze.

Truster has shared the stage with notable acts PISS, BIG/BRAVE, Lung Butter, Stuck, Peach Kelli Pop, Anamai, Aversions, and many more.

Creeping Thing’ was recorded and produced in Vancouver by the venerable Jesse Gander, who has worked with White Lung, Ahna, Brutus, Castle, and Baptists, to name a few. It was mastered by Nick Zampiello, who has worked with the likes of Converge, Isis, Pelican, Unsane, and Thurston Moore.

Links


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KROKA - Believe It (Album Review)

Release Date: May 22nd 2026. Record Label: Black Throne Productions. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Believe It - Tracklisting

1Sasquatch 03:45

2.You Never Know 03:35

3.Mothman 03:31

4.Roses 05:10

5.Have You Lost Your Mind? 04:10

6.The Experiencer 04:22

7.Chupacabra 01:55

8.Wendigo 03:35

9.Piggy's Revenge 03:32


Members


Richard Fenna - Vocals, Guitar

Beau Ferguson - Vocals, Bass

Martin Thorsmatz - Drums


Review


Desert/Stoner Rockers KROKA debut album is a masterful collection of songs that has a gritty underground attitude contained within the majority of the tracks. The band are influenced by the likes of QOTSA, KYUSS, FU MANCHU and 1000 MODS. Helping them on this creative journey is a good friend of the blog with Jason Taylor (The Obsessed) who produces this record. Jason allows the band to inject their own  into the mix with a slight Alt Rock attitude appearing and a winning turbo-charged delivery developing throughout the whole record.


KROKA demonstrates a subtle Hard Rock attitude that allows some other cool sounding influences to appear within their music very early on tracks such as Sasquatch, You Never Know and Mothman. With KROKA being from Canada, there’s some Canadian themes, motifs and folklore being heard on the album but there’s still a global Stoner Rock element being included along the way. Just enjoy the ride with KROKA conjuring a ton of great musical melodies which feel quite razor sharp especially with how the music plays out within the heavier Psychedelic passages that surround the listener the best of times.


The vocals are catchy and flirt between Post-Stoner and Alt Rock delivery which is down to the great work from both Richard Fenna and Beau Ferguson working superbly well together. They never try to out do each other and fully support each other especially on the more melodic and emotionally engaging aspects of the album.


KROKA even find the time to move over into the heavier areas of the Doom and Sludge Rock scenes that gives their music a more unpredictable quality on tracks such as: Mothman, Roses, Have You Lost Your Mind?, The Experiencer and Wendingo. These tracks allow KROKA to add a progressive style of Fuzz, Desert Rock and Stoner Rock soundscapes where you can hear the 1000Mods influence fully breaking through.


Believe It is a splendid debut that allows KROKA to perform a classic style of Desert Rock/Stoner Rock that has some epic sounding METAL grooves and spicy lyrics to match that will leave you fully satisfied from start to finish.


Excellent and Highly Recommended.


Words by Steve Howe


Believe It is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Black Throne Productions

Links


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Friday, 22 May 2026

Psychedelic Stoner Rock Trio KALAMATA Announces New Album Zenosyne. First Single Streaming.


With Zenosyne, German psychedelic stoner rock trio Kalamata returns after years of change, upheaval and relentless touring — and simultaneously sets out toward something entirely new. Released June 26th via Copper Feast Records (London/ Amsterdam) and Made of Stone Recordings (Thessaloniki), the album marks the band’s most personal, atmospheric and daring work to date.

Today Kalamata is sharing the first single Coming from the new album.


The band tells us about the track: "Coming is the pure essence of Kalamata. Heavy, hypnotic drive with moments of quiet vulnerability.“

The title Zenosyne — the sensation that time seems to accelerate as we grow older — forms the conceptual frame for a record that refuses to dictate a single meaning. The five track titles There / Is / No / Coming / Back open a space in which every listener can find their own story: slowing down, appreciating moments, valuing people, using the time we have, or confronting the inevitability of change.

Much has happened since the last album. Kalamata have toured across Europe, endured lineup changes, navigated personal crises and lived through heavy chapters — yet never lost faith in their music. Zenosyne is the distilled essence of these years: a fragment of lived life, captured in sound.

Recorded in late 2025 with renowned producer Ingo Bednarek at his studio in Hannover, Germany, the album represents a shift in approach. While the first two records were raw, direct and recorded live, this time the band focused intensely on detail, texture and sonic experimentation. Fuzz collides with fragile melodies, heavy riffs dissolve into shimmering effects, hypnotic repetition expands into cinematic vastness. The mastering by Role Wiegner (Tonmeisterei, Oldenburg, Germany) adds depth, warmth and a sense of physical presence.


The artwork draws from an old legend of Kalamata’s hometown Hildesheim: the tale of the Hildesheim Maiden who, after finding her fiancé struck dead by lightning, wanders lost through the dark forest until a distant evening bell guides her back to life. The tower from which that bell rang is still known today as the Kehrwiederturm — the “Come Back Tower.”

This story of loss, disorientation and the call to return resonates with the emotional tension of the album, without illustrating it literally. Zenosyne is not a concept album, but a work full of echo chambers.

Musically, Kalamata build on their signature strengths — hypnotic depth, massive bass foundations, trance-like guitar arcs, dynamic drumming — and push them further. Where earlier reviews praised “massive stoner riffs,” “psychedelic soundscapes,” “hypnotic epics” and “a pull you can’t escape,” Zenosyne reveals a band that not only masters these elements but rearranges them with newfound maturity, intensity and vulnerability.

Zenosyne is not just a third album. 
It is a turning point.
A reflection and a departure.
A work about time, change and the things that remain when everything else moves.

The new single Coming is out now, stream it here:


Zenosyne, the new album from Kalamata is out June 26th, pre-orders with limited edtion vinyl are live here:


Copper Feast Records Bandcamp (incl. single Coming):


Kalamata Bandcamp (Incl. single Coming):

1. There
2. Is
3. No
4. Coming
5. Back

Album details

All songs written and performed by KALAMATA
Guitars Peter Jaun • Bass Niki Hosseinian-Sereshki • Drums Olly Opitz
Produced, recorded and mixed by Ingo Bednarek
Mastered by Role Wiegner / Die Tonmeisterei
Photo Hubert Pawkin
Artwork Flora Karger
Copper Feast Records & Made of Stone Recordings

Links

Bandcamp: https://kalamata.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kalamata_band
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Kalamataband
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/0fPJpK7HMars0TTr5ljc5j
Label: https://copperfeastrecords.com
Label: https://madeofstone.gr


Thanks to Creative Eclipse PR for the details.
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Mother Bear - Orm 2 (Album Review)

Release Date: May 29th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Orm 2 - Tracklisting

1.Homunkoloss

2.Kometenwein

3.Muggroom Caravan

4.Inazea

5.Nachtigalloskop (feat. Allysen Callery)


Members


Jonas Wenz – Guitar & Vocals


Kevin Krenczer – Bass


Florian Grass – Drums


Review


Orm 2 is the second album from Doom/Stoner Metallers Mother Bear who take a slightly more dramatic Droned Out route compared to their debut album which elevates them closer to the Doom Metal way of life. The record is monolithically heavy, dense and full of progressive distortion. Mother Bear takes inspiration from the likes of Electric Wizard, Monolord, Windhand and Pallbearer on various stages of the album. The sound is quite murky, down-beat and fully showcases a gloomy sense of slow paced methodology appearing within their music. 


The level of distorted heaviness is perhaps Mother Bear’s main musical weapon of choice creating a bleak sonic fuelled landscape of grim progressive themes which come across superbly well within opening track Homunkoloss which does pay great homage to the likes of Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard. The vocals from Jonas Wenz can be quite merciful at times but one that sticks closely to the modern Doom/Stoner Metal rulebook which always feels refreshing and contemporary at the same time. Mother Bear adds levels of distorted Drone Metal hysteria which keeps the mood sullen, violent and superbly refreshing with their slow-paced style of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION with echoes of intense melody forming from the very start.


Second track Kometenwein continues with that  LOW & SLOW musical trajectory as Mother Bear finds new ways of delivering brooding moments of Progressive sounding Doom/Stoner Metal grooves which sees a modern day quality bursting out with fans of Monolord and Pallbearer will enjoy. There’s still a classic DOOM METAL perspective being used with areas of swirling Space Rock making a welcome appearance. The change isn’t subtle and Mother Bear don’t have time to FUCK arround making everything sound clean and effortless. This is music full of dirt, dirge, grime and everything you want from a song that has the makings of being a true underground Doomed Out Metal anthem. 


Mother Bear really excel at delivering the violent fuzz metal aspects of this type of music that relies heavily on the “LESS IS MORE” approach especially when the band move further into the COSMIC DOOM and SPACED OUT abyss. The atmosphere becomes less riff dominated with Mother Bear using superior long drawn out notes which are still highly melodic and full of hidden psychedelic pleasures lurking in the background.


Third track Muggroom Caravan allows Mother Bear the opportunity to play a faster, heavier and more straightforward style of Stoner Metal where the droned aspects are left out completely. This is relies more heavily on the thrilling musical delivery of the epic rhythm section of Kevin Krenczer on Bass and
Florian Grass on Drums respectively. The lead vocals of Jonas flirt between Electric Wizard shock value and Black Sabbath cinematic storytelling whilst putting his own great musical identity into the mix. 


It’s business as usual for the final two tracks of Inazea and Nachtigalloskop with Mother Bear employing their heaviest, surreal and violent sounds for the closing stages of the album. These tracks can be quite subversive with Mother Bear using an experimental vibe at times but never losing their warped WEEDIAN perspective for moments of sheer psychedelic terror emitting from the speakers. The cautious slow-paced approach holds everything together with the whole creative narrative not changing direction much at all. 


This may seem a very safe route to take for some but Mother Bear is more about the journey than the eventual destination. As nothing feels safe about this great album. Mother Bear brilliantly executes their violent down-tuned sonic imagery down to a masterful art form that leaves you wholly satisfied but one that also leaves you wanting more at the same time.


Orm 2 is a first rate exercise in how to create a modern day Droned Out musical experience that pays respect to everything that has come before it but also one that allows Mother Bear to create their own highly important blend of intense music.


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to Mother Bear for the promo..


Orm 2 is available to buy now on Digital Download / Vinyl Formats.


Links 


Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram
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Exclusive Song/Video Premiere For Stoner Rockers RED SUN New Song DETAILS FROM THE PAST From Forthcoming New Album


Italy-based psych/stoner band Red Sun unveil 'Details from the Past', first single and video from 'Songs From Hidden Places', their upcoming album due for release on Subsound Records on June 19th, 2026.

Photo by Nicola Neso

A lilting, enveloping rhythm harks back to trip-hop, carried by Elisa Brusati's evocative vocals, while guitars, synth, and theremin weave in a psychedelic touch. The song speaks of unknown places explored despite a troubled state of mind — seeking safety in the unknown and in the power of the subconscious.


Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Metaversus PR for the detais.
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