Saturday, 2 May 2026

Bird - Mondo Occvlto (Album Review)

Release Date: 04th March  2026. Record Label: Olde Magick Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Mondo Occvlto - Tracklisting

1.Fright 04:43

2.Yehudit 04:51

3.The Fall Of The House Of Horus 05:28

4.Sebeth 06:13

5.Queen Of The Mountain 05:39

6.The Saint 04:20


Members


Simone Pennucci - lead vocals and guitars;

Pietro La Tegola  - backing vocals, bass, synthesizers, and theremin

Johnny the Snake - drums


Review


Mondo Occvlto is the latest album from Psych Stoner Rockers Bird who are formed from the ashes and musical legacy of Italian cult rockers Whiskeycold Winter. This time round they explore their musical horizon to play a mixture of Psych, Prog, Doom, Stoner and Folk Rock which is lovingly wrapped up in Seventies Hard Rock aesthetics. On their latest record, the band play a riffier and free-flowing sound compared to their previous records. There’s some epic levels of amplifier distortion and screeching guitars played against an out of control THERMIN and SYNTHS combo for certain sections of the album.


For the most part Bird are quite happy playing closer to the classic style of SABBATHIAN heavy metal with brief trips in to Eighties Heavy Metal excess which allows Simone Pennucci on lead vocals to fully embrace that “WILD MAN OF ROCK” persona that he pulls of brilliantly on the album. Sure, it’s outlandish and way over the top but it works for the context of this album. 


Johnny The Snake on drums is a pure enigma at times. One moment he’s calm as hell and the next he’s playing like a madman which gives a whole unexpected frantic energy to the album. However, the real MVP has to be Pietro La Tegola who provides backing vocals, bass, synths and theremin. Though, together as a collective unit, Bird are brilliantly impressive which allows them to have an unpredictable quality to them on how they play their music. 


Mondo Occvlto is pure rock and roll theatre with Bird tapping into that classic style of Proto-Doom and Occult Metal on tracks such as Fright, The Fall Of The House Of Horus, Sebeth and Queen Of The Mountain. However, the album does have some real emotionally charged moments where the mood becomes quite reflective when Bird plays a cooler style of Classic Hard Rock with areas of modern day Psychedelic movements appearing.


Overall, Bird has delivered an album that’s quite different and eerily familiar at the same time. The record may take a few listens to get the multitude of different sounds and flavours that Bird has committed to record but it’s a journey worth taking over and over again. 


Excellent and Highly Recommended.


Words by Steve Howe


Links 


Facebook | BandCamp
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Portland, OR Heavy Psych Rockers Slow Goat announce debut album "Where the Wisest Fear to Tread", out July 10th


Gamy riffs cut from the flank of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Oregon's Slow Goat peddles in the heavy and the psychedelic, with fuzzed-out jams thick enough to chew on, all anchored by clear and commanding vocals that drift between ethereal and feral.

In the band's own words:

"Debut album Where the Wisest Fear to Tread took shape over nearly four years, growing with us as we pushed and refined the ideas behind it. The music is close to our hearts, and we’re excited to share it with listeners.

There are no heroes or triumphant victories in these songs. Yet there is persistence in the face of inevitability, endurance through futility, and an embrace of that which evokes suffering. Where the Wisest Fear to Tread explores darkness and realms beyond, from the terror within waking nightmare, to the stark reality reflected back in the mirror. The album title itself, a line from the track “Fell Ritual,” serves equally as a warning and invitation to bear anguish. And while many of the album’s themes draw on personal experience and a compulsion to look inward, we encourage the listener to derive their own meaning, or simply none at all. The record does not offer resolution so much as it documents the act of pressing forward despite it

Sonically, we wanted the album to have real weight and gravity without sacrificing the raw edge of our live experience. One of our main songwriting philosophies is to approach the music live-first; It needs to feel full and complete on stage as one vocalist, guitarist, bassist, and drummer. To that end, we didn’t rely heavily on studio magic to make the music something it’s not, rather, we used things like overdubs or effects to embellish on an already-strong core. Anecdotally, at least one of the long guitar solos on the record came from an early scratch take during the first session."

Where the Wisest Fear to Tread drops July 10th.


Slow Goat - Where the Wisest Fear to Tread

Album out July 10th, 2026
Self-released (Digital, Vinyl)
Portland, Oregon, US
Engineered & mixed by Eddie Brnabic (Hippie Death Cult)
Mastered by Jack Endino
FFO: Black Sabbath, Trouble, Kyuss, Judas Priest, Acid King, Windhand

Slow Goat is:

Rosie Peterson - Vocals
Danel Black - Guitar
Adam Carter - Bass
Eric Bloombaum - Drums

Tracklist:

1. Downward (0:57)
2. Fallen Child (4:23)
3. Visions / Fell Ritual (10:52)
4. Love Like Water (4:21)
5. Dark Procession (7:42)
6. Wilting (6:40)
7. Sisyphus (4:43)
8. Under the Glass (6:38)

Links:


Thanks to Good Boy PR for the dteails.
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Restless Spirit - Restless Spirit (Album Review)

Release Date: 08th May 2026. Record Label: Magnetic Eye Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Restless Spirit - Tracklisting

1.The Burning Need 

2.Hallowed

3.Red In Tooth and Claw 

4.Desire Lines

5.Desolation's Wake

6.Ember

7.Time And Distance

8.Phantom Pain


Members


Paul Aloisio – guitar, vocals

Jon Gusman – drums

Marc Morello – bass


Review


Doom/Psych/Stoner Metallers Restless Spirit have vastly become one of my favourite bands within the heavy rock underground scene over the last seven years or so with a collection of great albums to their name. The band never disappoint with their hard-hitting blend of Psych, Sludge, Stoner, Doom and Progressive sounds that cut right down to the bone almost every time. Restless Spirit return with their fourth album and it’s their first self-titled release which perhaps shows the band releasing their most honest and truthful record to date.


Restless Spirit have gone under a slight reinvention on this record with the Progressive themes being slightly dialled back for a more Heavy Metal and Post-Doom flavoured sound which still keeps with the bands stunning backdrop of Psychedelic and Sonic based passages. The music here has a tighter and more proficient technical ability compared to their previous records which still allows them to develop intense Sludge Metal passages that opens the door to more transcendent areas of Heavy Psychedelic music.


You could say that Restless Spirit are the heavier versions of ELDER, HOWLING GIANT and KING BUFFALO combined with the free flowing progressive energy of Mastodon and Baroness whilst superbly developing their own original sound. The album is quite cinematic with grounded realism appearing within the lyrics and how the vocals are delivered by the ever present Paul Aloisio (Vocals/Guitar) who excels throughout.


The album is made up of eight tracks that explores the far reaches of modern day Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal with a gritty emphasis on HEAVY METAL. There’s a great creative development of Ambient sounds and Post-Doom structures that appear from the opening track of The Burning Need that allows Restless Spirit to lay down the groundwork for further expeditions into heavier musical waters compared to their previous records. 


There’s also an emotional and human quality to the music with Restless Spirit using moments of Shoegaze and Post-Rock in the quieter moments which leave you on the edge of your seat. However, Restless Spirit changes direction for the better where they unleash a torrent of aggressive Sludge/Stoner Metal passages that are absolutely breathtaking to experience.  


The standout tracks on the record for me are: The Burning Need, Hallowed, Red In Tooth And Claw, Desolation’s Wake, Ember and Phantom Pain. These are the tracks that offer the heaviest, cleverest, freshest and highly melodic sounds on the whole album with Paul’s intense proggy guitars, Jon Gusman’s ferocious drumming and Marc Morello’s free-flowing bass all joining forces and playing the best music they’ve ever created to date.


The album can be pure carnage and destruction at times but it’s also one that isn’t afraid to show real human emotion which is perhaps its greatest strength. It’s a record that genuinely has something to say but told through the power of music with an understated determination that results in non-stop epic outbursts of dominant Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves of the highest order.


Restless Spirit have once again delivered an ALBUM OF THE YEAR contender with this record which should become essential listening from everyone who is a dedicated follower of the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal community.


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to All Noir PR and Magnetic Eye Records for the promo.

"Restless Spirit" is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Magnetic Eye Records at THIS LOCATION

Links 
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Friday, 1 May 2026

Robot God - Onto The Afterlife (Album Review)

Release Date: 01st May 2026. Record Label: Kozmik Artifactz & Black Throne Productions. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Onto The Afterlife - Tracklisting

1.Soldier of Love 06:40

2.Onto the Afterlife 06:11

3.Cerebral Annihilation 08:57

4.I am the Night 11:13

5.Long Goodbye 08:19


Members


Matt Allen - Bass,Vocals & Synth

Raff Iacurto - Guitar, Vocals & Synth

Tim Pritchard - Drums & Synth


Review


Psych/Doom/Stoner Rockers Robot God return with their latest sonic conquest Onto The Afterlife after the two critically acclaimed albums (Portal WIthin and Subconscious Awakening) in 2024. This album continues the Psychedelic and Space Rock trajectory of those albums but with a more confident Grunge, Blues and Sludge Rock attitude. The band are also releasing another album called Curse Of The Driven to be released later this year and this is perhaps the first part of a much more expanded story.


Creative cues from the likes of Black Sabbath, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, MONOLORD and KYUSS are just some of the bands you can hear throughout this album. However, Robot God are wise enough to formulate their own plans of Sonic Distortion which comes into life on the excellent opening track Soldier Of Love which pairs up the legendary SABBATHIAN heavy DOOMED OUT sound with the murky grunge attitude of Soundgarden. The level of overlapping psychedelic melodies and grounded vocals opens Robot God to new areas of seedy heaviness with a great level of mass distortion emitting from all corners.


There’s a slight dependency on Prog Metal and Proto-Metal which gives a surreal creative attitude which could even allow Robot God to move over to the Post-Stoner Metal brotherhood where the likes of ELDER and KING BUFFALO reign supreme. The influx of Ambient sounds and Post-Rock passages comes across superbly well on tracks Onto The Afterlife and Cerebral Annihilation with that gloomy “APOCALYPTIC” approach holding everything together.


The dual vocals from Matt Allen and Raff Iacurto work superbly well together and even against each other when they’re both trying to battle for vocal supremacy within the band. Robot God adds some thrilling use of intricate Psychedelic sound effects and Space Rock loops that allows the album to drift into heavier pastures.


Onto The Afterlife becomes vastly more creative within the second half as Robot God experiments even further with distorted fragments and down-tuned grooves on tracks such as Cerebral Annihilation, I Am The Night and Long Goodbye. Despite the fantastical element of the music, the album can be quite real with Robot God writing some killer socially aware lyrics that puts the record on a more subversive level with real intelligence appearing from start to finish.


Robot God have once again delivered the goods with Onto The Afterlife which perhaps leaves a few questions unanswered which maybe fully answered when their next album Curse Of The Driven is released in the second half of the year. 


Words by Steve Howe


Robot God Links:

Bandcamp | Youtube | Facebook | Spotify
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LEASH - SIT (EP Revivew)

Release Date: 01st May 2026. Record Label: LEASH Records. Formats: DD

SIT - Tracklisting

1.Leash 04:21

2.HHYB? 04:03

3.Meanie 02:55

4.Mellotrauma 03:41


Review


LEASH is the new band from Hudu Akil's Zac Crye which sees this project play a similar style of music of that great band but focusing upon a more Psychedelic, Punk Rock and Desert Rock attitude. The music is perhaps more riff-centric compared to Hudu Akil and will impress fans of bands such as DOZER, KYUSS and MONSTER MAGNET. There’s a highly energetic attitude to LEASH’s music which you can feel on their debut EP - SIT. The record is full of catchy Desert Rock sounds that quickly transform into a wave of Psychedelic and Space Rock soundscapes that have an eerie Blues Rock familiarity to them.

Shades of early-era QOTSA can be heard throughout the EP with opening tracks as Leash and HHYB? allowing  LEASH the time to slow things right before thinking of their next strategic move with their music. The Punk Rock atmosphere can mostly be heard within the production values and sludgy guitars that make a more commanding presence within the quieter parts of the record. 

LEASH even allow themselves the creative opportunity to add a spicy “GRUNGE” aspect to the record which adds a level of Nineties Alt-Rock sensibility which demonstrates a low-key Droned Out and Fuzz based effect. SIT does have a dominant DIY recording ethic that’s been used to great effect that gives LEASH a gritty and less polished sound which is what you need for a great debut release to grab audiences attention with. 

The final two tracks of Meanie and Mellotrauma are the most rebellious and aggressive tracks on the record with similar sounds from HUDU AKIL appearing along the way. There’s some cool sounding QOTSA based Desert/Stoner Rock with LEASH exploring their musical influences with great love and affection whilst also doing their own thing. This is a great riff-fuelled musical quest with LEASH impressing yet again. 

SIT is a superbly entertaining EP which should allow LEASH to introduce themselves to the underground Stoner Rock/Metal scene in a great way and I’m hoping to hear more from LEASH with perhaps a longer release next time. As my only complaint is the EP is too damn short. However, that shouldn’t stop you for adding this to your record collection at the earliest opportunity.

Excellent and Highly Recommended. 

Words by Steve Howe


Links 


BandCamp | Instagram
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FROGLORD UNVEIL MYSTERY BONUS SINGLE AHEAD OF THE MYSTIC TOAD VINYL REPRESS


Swamp doom favourites Froglord begin the next chapter of their ever expanding amphibious universe with the reveal of a mystery bonus single, set to feature on the long awaited vinyl repress of The Mystic Toad, released via Black Throne Productions.

This news teases an unnamed addition to the reissue, the mystery single will also arrive as a standalone release on 3 June. The release follows the momentum of the band’s sixth album Lower & Slower, continuing to deepen their immersive world of sludge heavy grooves, psychedelic doom, and swamp soaked mythology rooted in The Tale of The Froglord.

Emerging from Bristol’s underground, Froglord have carved out a distinctive identity through dense, fuzz driven riffs and conceptual storytelling. With this new release, that world expands further, not only as a new piece of music, but as part of a wider creative collaboration.

Reuniting with the team behind the cult horror film Frogman, the band contribute to the soundtrack of its upcoming sequel Frogman Returns. The film follows Dallas Kyle as he continues his investigation into the amphibian cryptid of Loveland, Ohio. Froglord’s murky, submerged sound sits naturally within the film’s found footage aesthetic, adding a layer of tension that bridges the gap between doom and cinematic unease.

The inclusion of the track on The Mystic Toad repress marks a significant moment for the band, bringing renewed focus to one of their most sought after releases while expanding its place within the wider Froglord universe.

To support the release, Froglord will take their live show across the UK this July, joining Bat Sabbath (the Black Sabbath tribute project featuring members of Cancer Bats) for a two week run. Alongside the tour, the band are set for key festival appearances including a return to Bloodstock Open Air and their debut at Stoomfest London.

With new material, a growing presence in film, and a packed summer schedule ahead, Froglord continue to establish themselves as one of the UK underground’s most distinctive and imaginative voices in doom.



Thanks to Neon Leopard Promotions for the details.
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Swedish Sludge Metal quartet MOLOKEN announces new self titled album and shares first single and video

MOLOKEN - Photo by Marcus Norman

Swedish four-piece Moloken have spent nearly two decades forging a sound where doom, death, sludge, black and post-metal converge into something singular and immersive. The result is a unique blend of dark, moody and menacing music that manages to be both cerebral and crushingly heavy.

Today, Moloken announces their self-titled fifth album for a September 25th release via Discouraged Records. The album marks a powerful return after six years of silence - a dark, introspective journey through themes of consciousness, death, and eternity - and with the album announcement, the first single and video ‘A Night Vision Revealed (Asterion Pt. I)’ is released.

As an entry point to the album, ‘A Night Vision Revealed (Asterion Pt. I)’ sets the tone for what lies ahead: a deeper exploration of contrast, where light and darkness coexist, and where Moloken’s evolving identity takes shape in its most human form yet. The song offers a glimpse into a new dimension of Moloken’s sound. Marking the band’s first use of clean vocals, the track reveals a more exposed and vulnerable side without sacrificing the weight and intensity that defines them.

'A Night Vision Revealed (Asterion Pt. I)' is a retelling of a classic story about the Minotaur of Crete, hiding in his labyrinthine palace. On surface level it is a story regarding profound loneliness, the loss of innocence and holding out hope for some kind of redemption but it is also a personal reflection on feeling stuck, the loss of self, life's dreariness and routine finally coming to a head.

Filmed in a single unbroken take in Holmsund, outside Umeå, the video captures the night sky in real time — a conceptual “slow video” where drifting clouds and the subtle movements of nature become the only visual counterpart to the music’s unfolding atmosphere.

Moloken will play two May shows in Sweden and Norway, with more shows to be announced in the months to come.

MOLOKEN Live 2026:

09.05.26 - Umeå, Stallet (SE)
15.05.26 - Vadsø, Valo Rock Festival (NO)

Watch the video for ‘A Night Vision Revealed (Asterion Pt. I)’


Doom, death, black, sludge or post - few metal subgenres escape Moloken's gravitational pull. Since forming in 2007, the four-piece from Umeå, Sweden has consistently pushed the boundaries of their sound, carving out new musical terrain with each release.

Moloken’s music moves like a shifting legend. For nearly two decades it has passed from listener to listener, changing shape along the way and leaving behind a lingering aura of mystique. Pinning the band down to a single genre is nearly impossible - but their uncompromising weight and precision as a live act are undeniable. At its core, Moloken is an experience: something to be felt rather than explained, reaching its full force on stage.

After six years of silence, the album marks a powerful return. Moloken reconnects with a more primal, doom-laden foundation while expanding their sonic palette: clean vocals, acoustic passages, and subtle traces of Nordic folk music are woven into the whole. Since ‘Unveillance of Dark Matter’ (2020), the band has undergone significant changes shaped by loss, hardship, and transformation - all of which resonate throughout the new material.

The band’s fifth album revolves around the burden of consciousness, death, and eternity. It unfolds as a journey through a Nordic mythscape, drawing the listener deep into a dense forest. Lush melancholy intertwines with a creeping unease; what first feels inviting gradually becomes disorienting. When the illusion breaks, you find yourself alone in the dark, surrounded by your own thoughts - with only a faint light somewhere beyond the fear.


MOLOKEN - ‘A Night Vision Revealed (Asterion Pt. I)’
Single artwork by Akrar

Online

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