Release Date: November 21st 2025. Record Label: Small Stone Records: Formats: CD/Digital
Winds Of Neptune - Tracklisting
1.The Faun's Rhyme
2.Gas Giant
3.La Cacciata
4.Temporal Mutant
5.U.S.L.
6.So Sayeth The Mouth of the Void
7.The Fitz
8.Queen of Sumatra
Lineup
Ross Westerbur: bass, vocals
Mike Alonso: drums
Kevin Roberts: guitar
Review
Winds Of Neptune is a Heavy Psych/Stoner Rock band from Detroit who are made up of three musicians from the local scene including Mike Alonso from the legendary Flogging Molly. The band play a great style of Heavy Psychedelic Stoner Rock that’s merged with huge elements of Classic Hard Rock, Space Rock, Blues Rock and Grunge. Imagine THIN LIZZY playing modern day Stoner Rock but still allowing their dominant Classic Hard Rock to shine through and that’s what you get with Winds Of Neptune stunning debut album.
The first half of the album mostly concentrates on Classic Rock for the most part with Winds Of Neptune taking influence from the likes of Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, BUDGIE, Aerosmith and Deep Purple. Though, if you look beyond this classic rock influences, Winds Of Neptune harnesses a subtle modern day STONER energy which aligns them closely to the likes of WO-FAT, MOTHERSHIP and CLUTCH but still playing a great style of their own making. The music does offer brief amounts of Blues Rock surroundings with that legendary Seventies HARD ROCK sound allowing Winds Of Neptune to branch out into areas of Spaced Out Rock on the second half of the album.
The first half of the album moves along at a stunning fast-pace with Winds Of Neptune constructing a Prog Rock landscape that makes their music last for quite a long time in places and that’s no bad thing especially on tracks such as Gas Giant, La Cacciata and Temporal Mutant amping up the Psych Rock stakes to maximum levels of genuine excitement. There’s some hidden shifts into Sludge Rock melodies though it’s kept to a fair minimum as Winds Of Neptune are mostly about that Classic Hard Rock style. The vocals are excellent from Ross Westerbur who taps into the glorious heyday of Seventies Hard Rock and Nineties Old-School STONER ROCK dominance when the time calls for this.
The dynamic guitars of Kevin Roberts brings a heavy PSYCHEDELIC and COSMIC flavour when Winds Of Jupiter just move into areas of dramatic Space Rock territory on the second half of the album. Mike Alonso is a whirlwind of nature on drums showcasing why he’s so highly regarded. Hell, all of the musicians are legends of the local Detroit scene and they all prove their worth here with first class musical performances.
As I said, the second half of the album becomes more spaced out with Winds Of Neptune becoming riff-loving ASTRONAUTS on tracks such as So Sayeth The Mouth of the Void, The Fitz and Queen of Sumatra where you can hear echoes of the likes of MONSTER MAGNET and FU MANCHU not too far off into the distance. The sound is brilliantly organic especially when unexpectedly they start relying on their Classic Rock roots for a fuller, richer and aggressive sound which veers into GRUNGE sensibilities along the way.
The record runs for over an hour in length but this album is ALL KILLER AND NO FILLER. It’s jam-packed full of outstanding landscapes and wicked instrumental solos that you’ll be listening to this album for a very long time to come.
Winds Of Neptune is first class entertainment and hopefully this will allow the band to gain a loyal dedicated following within the global Stoner Rock scene.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Earsplit PR for the promo.
Winds Of Neptune is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Small Stone Records.
Links
https://windsofneptune.bandcamp.com/https://www.instagram.com/windsofneptune
https://www.facebook.com/windsofneptune
https://www.smallstone.com