Moon Destroys - OMNI (Album Review)

Release Date: September 04th 2026. Record Label: Blues Funeral Recordings. Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

OMNI - Tracklist

1.Invasion

2.Flowers 

3.My Eyes 

4.Motion Sickness

5.Kingdom

6.After

7.Sowing Stars

8.Missing Wish 

9.Nocturne

10.Lost Hearts

11.She Cried

Members

Juan Montoya - Guitar

Evan Diprima - Drums/Bass/Synth

Zachary Amster - Vocals/Guitar

Review

Sludge/Stoner Metallers Moon Destroys make a welcome return with their powerful new album OMNI which also sees a change behind the scenes with their last vocalist Charlie Suárez being replaced with Zachary Amster from the mighty ABRAMS. OMNI does see a small dramatic shift for Moon Destroys as they explore a more emotional journey with their music which reflects how the music is played throughout and the excellent lyrics that can be quite hard-hitting at times.

You can feel all the members' experiences of performing with the likes of TORCHE, FLOOR, Royal Thunder and Abrams being used to great effect on this record whilst creating their own great distinctive style of music. The band explore areas of Psych, Doom, Sludge, Shoegaze, Alt-Rock, Post-Rock and Stoner Metal with an equally satisfying “DOOM-POP” melodic sound that has a thrilling cinematic energy to it all.

The best part of the record for me is the multi-layered synths played by Evan Diprima and Zachary Amaster which allows Juan Montoya to create some of his best sludgy grooves in years whilst demonstrating why he’s one of the seminal musicians to emerge from the legendary Florida underground Heavy Rock/Heavy Metal scene.

There is a similar tone and shift that was developed for their celebrated debut album She Walks By Moonlight but Moon Destroys add a frenzied Sludge Rock sound that soon disappears into the Alt Rock landscape with a similar strategy that’s been used on the last few Abrams records. The whole Psychedelic energy can be quite dark and gloomy when you least expect this with Moon Destroys shifting from that Doom-Pop vibe to an aggressive metallic appearance which appears through the majority of the tracks.

From the very opening track of invasion that instantly pulls you into a sweet natured distorted environment with highly atmospheric sounds, upbeat melodies and stirring vocals which Moon Destroys keep that massive amplified wall of sound going to the very end. The songs go under small changes of transformation with the lyrics adding deeper levels of personal meaning and growth for the band which they use to their own great advantage. 

The hooks, melodies and swirling ambient grooves become quite daring on tracks such as: Flowers, My Eyes, Kingdom, Sowing Stars, Lost Hearts and the standout track of She Cried. These songs are where Moon Destroys impress the most by combining intelligent lyrics with real grounded appeal whilst playing music that allows each member to impress with their own sublime technical ability. 

OMNI offers quite a darker and fascinating narrative compared to She Walks By Midnight with Moon Destroys perhaps more confident with themselves and developing areas of music that could move them closer to become “breakout” stars of the underground scene. As I stated before, the main standout here for me is the synths which drift you into a different world but with the rest of Moon Destroy developing and playing riffs that keeps everything grounded especially within the haunting final track She Cries. 

OMNI is a beautifully realised record that’s brilliantly produced Moon Destroys definitely showing their “true” potential and showcasing their own great style of Heavy Psych and Doomed Out music for the underground masses to fall in love with.

Amazing. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the details.

OMIN is now available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Blues Funeral Recordings.

MOON DESTROYS links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Fallen Letters - A Familiar Absence (Single Review)

Release Date: July 09th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Released. Format: DD

A Familiar Absence - Tracklist

A Familiar Absence

Members

Vocals / Guitars / Synths – Vishal Naidu

Guitars – Aditya Ramesh

Bass – Abhay

Drums – Mukund

Review

Progressive Metallers Fallen Letters blend Prog, Psych, Post-Metal and Alt-Metal into a myriad of different styles that calls upon the likes of OPETH, KATATONIA and Deftones. The band originate from Bangalore, India but on their latest track A Familiar Absence you would think they’re from the Scandinavian or American Metal scenes. As they have quite a highly polished and superbly realized sound that marries the Extreme Metal and Underground Metal worlds superbly well.

The vocals move between Death Growls and Doom Metal surroundings with a violent undercurrent of Thrash and Death Metal appearing the background. The subtle switch to different areas of rock and metal serves Fallen Letters amazingly well. Their 2025 album Mindfractures has a different sound to this track which perhaps allows the band to be quite grounded and progressive with their music. Their sound is quite abstract with small waves of Prog Rock, Psych Rock and modern day Doom transforming into fast-paced and intense instrumental melodies. 

The majority of music that I’ve experienced from the Indian Heavy Metal underground scene has been limited down to a great mix of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal bands but I was mighty impressed from what I’ve heard from Fallen Letters with their recent album and their latest track A Fallen Absence. It may take a few listens to fully get accustomed to Fallen Letters' way of delivering pounding grooves but it’s a journey worth taking time and time again. 

A Familiar Absence is a great track for the band to introduce themselves with that ultimately leaves you wanting to hear more.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Mississippi Bones - Maladroit Blues For The Colorblind (Album Review)

Release Date: September 08th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Maladroit Blues for the Colorblind - Tracklist

1.Elvis Stressly: The King Of Rock And Woe

2.If Failure Is A Learning Experience, I Should Be A Genius 03:50

3.The Owls Asked Me, “Who?”

4.Hornswaggled By Consumer Culture, Again

5.Void, Holy Night

6.A Penny For My Thoughts, And Other Common Investment Blunders

7.Thoughts On The Finer Points Of Lesser Things

8.The Feral Philosophers

9.Is That A Wunderkammer In Your Foyer, Or Are You Just Haughty To See Me?

10.Expect Disappointment And I’ll Never Let You Down

11.This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Members

Jared Collins

Dusty Donley

Review

Blues/Doom/Stoner Rockers Mississippi Bones return with their eighth album Maladroit Blues For The Colorbllind and it sees the band return to their creative roots whilst forging an exciting chapter for themselves at the same time. The record has a stripped back attitude with Mississippi Bones going back to basics with how the music has been produced, recorded and ultimately delivered here on the final product. 

The end result is a high voltage and hard rocking affair where the guys play a great style of Delta Blues, Grunge, Southern Rock, Psych, Doom and Stoner Rock passion which has a deceptive Americana quality way of life appearing within the lyrics. This is Mississippi Bones at their most daring and brutally honest than we’ve ever heard them. However, they’re also brilliantly funny with some laugh out lyrics appearing to lighten the mood. Look at the song titles which has always been one of the great things the band have shown over the extent of their impressive career.

The songs have a great organic sound and energy to them with a murky Grunge vibe being quite deceiving where the music suddenly changes from full on Heavy Rock to Semi Acoustic instrumental passages. Sometimes this feels like Mississippi Bones have been listening to the records they grew up with and this is perhaps why you can hear influences such as Johnny Cash, Alice In Chains Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, KISS, Clutch, Cactus and Led Zepp but I could be overthinking things there. 

You’ll be surprised at how freaky, fuzzy, psychedelic and distorted that Maladroit Blues For The Colorblind can actually be as Mississippi Bones play different styles of Heavy Rock/Metal and Delta Blues for different songs contained on the album. Though, each played with the same level of great talent throughout. Sure, it can be way over the top but that doesn’t stop Mississippi Bones allowing the listener to have such a damn good time where they play some Classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal sounds that will have you headbanging in time at all.

I wanted to do a song-by-song review for this album but there’s a lot to cover with this record and I would have been here for days on end. If you want a record that goes through multiple and different genres of the Heavy Rock spectrum whilst keeping that core “Blues Rock” sound that can be even full on Doom Rock then transforming into a sullen Country Rock number then Maladroit Blues For The Colorblind is the album for you.

The lyrics are constantly engaging which shows the band’s emotional thoughts and playful humour with that masterful storytelling element that’s only become one of the best things to fully emerge from Mississippi Bones over the last few albums of late. 

Here are my favourite tracks from the album: Elvis Stressly: The King Of Rock And Woe, ‘If Failure Is A Learning Experience, I Should Be A Genius’, ‘Hornswaggled By Consumer Culture, Again’, ‘Void, Holy Night’, The Feral Philosophers and Expect Disappointment And I’ll Never Let You Down.

Yeah, the song titles can be a mouthful at times but each one tells you the type of track what to expect but it’s the epic creativity that’s hidden behind the song titles that make the journey so highly unexpected. The musical playing is first rate with Mississippi Bones playing instrumental passages with a real “whirlwind” / “tornado” quality. It’s quite hard to explain but you’ll fully understand when you listen to the whole album.

Maladroit Blues For The Colorblind is a superbly entertaining record that you can listen to all day long and still find something new you missed the first time round.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Maldaroit Blues For The Colorblind is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Heavy Psych/Stoner Rockers Paranoid Reverb reveal new album Red River Black Roots and release second single "0315"

Following the announcement of their signing with Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records and the release of their first new single "Red River", Greek heavy psych / stoner rock outfit Paranoid Reverb now unveil the full details of their second full-length album, Red River Black Roots.

The album will be released on September 18, 2026 via Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records on CD and digital. Alongside the album announcement, the band also release their second single, "0315", available now on all major streaming platforms: https://li.sten.to/paranoidreverb_0315​

Following their 2020 debut Billion Drops, Red River Black Roots marks a more deliberate and mature phase for Paranoid Reverb. The album expands their heavy psych / stoner rock foundations through denser rhythmic structures, darker tonal shades and atmospheric layers, while retaining the raw, performance-driven energy of their live sound.

Recorded in April 2025 at Shellac Recording Studios in Thessaloniki and completed the following month at producer Paris Parasidis' studio, the album places dynamics and authenticity at its core. Organic percussion, metallic objects and ambient textures become part of a sound that moves between heavy eruptions and hypnotic passages, creating a distinctly live-oriented feel without sacrificing weight or atmosphere.

Thematically, Red River Black Roots explores pressure, introspection, renewal and the tension between decay and transformation. Its title reflects this journey: the "river" represents a descent into chaos, while the "roots" suggest a return to origin. Together, they form the central metaphor connecting the album's narrative and sonic progression.

With new vocalist Manos Gotsis and a renewed creative direction, Paranoid Reverb enter this new chapter with their most focused and personal work to date.

Red River Black Roots tracklist

Acantha – 06:19
0315 – 04:30
Da Capo – 06:07
F.U. – 05:01
Red River – 04:51
Come Undone – 06:19
QuickSand – 07:15

Red River Black Roots will be released on September 18, 2026 via Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records on CD and digital.

For more info:

​https://www.facebook.com/ParanoidReverb​
​https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords​

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the details.

Celophys - Neanderthal (Album Review)

Release Date: August 21st 2026. Record Label: Robustfellow Prods. Format: Download/Tape

Neanderthal - Tracklist

1.Neanderthal 09:45

2.Mammoth March 09:04

3.TAWA 12:29

4.Paleo Dub 09:50

Members

Oleksandr Beregovyi - Everything

Review

One Man Doom/Sludge Metal wrecking crew Celophys are back with their massive sounding sixth album Neanderthal where they continue their heavy metal expedition into the far reaches of Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Psych and Drone Metal. The record is buried under layers of distorted fuzz with the music moving slightly further into the murky abyss of Black Metal along the way which comes mostly through the gut-wrenching vocals.

Celophys take the well established route of LOW & SLOW based grooves and match this against the AMPLIFIER FEEDBACK which can be unapologetically slow the best of times. If you’re a fan of CONAN, THOU, INDIAN and PRIMITIVE MAN then Celophys have every right to be mentioned in the same breath as those amazing bands. The music has that primal energy which allows the whole thing to be quite trippy, cerebral and spaced out with gloomy atmospherics adding a progressive Drone aspect to appear throughout every individual track.

The opening title track allows Celophys to lay down the groundwork and house rules for the album to follow with long drawn out distorted Sludge Metal rhythms that’s paired against a Droned Out vibe which pushes the Stoner Metal energy into a more destructive style. The vocals are quite abstract and sometimes make no sense but you can’t help being moved by the whole journey. The record is subversively progressive with the multiple levels of fractured and gloomy creative energy which sees Celophys bringing unholy entities into the world. 

The record perhaps works best when the LOUD WALL OF AMPLIFIED NOISE doesn’t have much Psychedelic and Kinetic energy driving the music to its next dramatic conclusion especially within tracks such as Mammoth March and TAWA. As there’s a violent undercurrent of overworked amps, violent slabs of reverb and distorted feedback creating long-drawn out sounds that will pummel you into submission. The sound is quite grounded with Celophys never wavering from creating violent Sludge/Stoner Metal anthems you can easily lose yourself in.

Bands such as Sunn 0))) and EARTH can be heard as direct musical influences along the way but with Celophys being six albums into their extraordinary career, they’re making highly original sounds of their own making. The album does have some great riff-centric passages which allows Celophys to show a great style of melody where the instrumental passages are played out for a very long time but allows the listener to absorb in one full sitting.

Neanderthal is a superb record and showcases once again what the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal underground scene is truly capable of and one that the mainstream / commercial scenes can never fully deliver. A record that’s absolutely brimming with intense grooves which leaves you wanting more and fully satisfied at the same time. 

This is a first rate album which you should add to your record collections right now.

Words by Steve Howe

Neanderthal is available to buy now on Digital Download/Cassette Tape via Robustfellow Prod.

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Pomroe - Heavy Drama (EP Review)

Release Date: August 15th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Heavy Drama - Tracklist

1.Tabby 05:05

2.Outside 03:58

3.Cover the whole 02:19

4.Slime 04:05

5.Center 04:29

Members

Maria Zgoda - guitar/bass, vocals

Paweł Zychowicz - guitar

Bartłomiej Czajkowski - drums

Review

Heavy Drama is the debut EP from Doom/Grunge/Sludge/Stoner Rockers Pomroe who have emerged from the Polish Heavy Rock underground scene and they have similar sounds to bands that have already made their presence known over the years. There’s a stubborn and aggressive attitude to Pomroe which makes their music have an uneasy atmosphere which is heard very early on within their debut release.

There’s an early Deftones presence which allows Pomroe build a determined level of intense murky sounds with a gloomy attitude appearing within tracks such as Tabby and Outside. There’s a slight Post-Punk and Alt-Metal movement heard within how the music is delivered. This has some disjointed and stripped back elements which gives the music a slight chaotic feel but the committed enthusiasm of Pomroe to deliver some great sounding Sludge/Stoner Metal ideas throughout..

The vocals from Maria Zgoda feel quite different to what I originally anticipated. As they’re quite grounded but perhaps best suited to a full on Alt-Metal or Post-Metal style of music and not music such as Pomroe ultimately deliver. However, this works to Pomroe’s advantage as it gives the band a great sullen vibe or energy of their own making where you can hear echoes of TOOL and A Perfect Circle emerging on tracks such as Tabby, Outside and Slime.

The music on the later stages of Heavy Drama has a great Post-Doom / Post-Sludge methodology appearing whilst exploring areas of Drone and Distortion which can only be described as pure paranoia in cases. There’s an underlying sense of dread developing which has the hallmarks of early-era Nine Inch Nails but fully contained within the world of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal.

Heavy Drama does feel unpolished at times but this only adds to the uncomfortable feeling you get from listening to the EP and makes it an even better audio experience as a result. It’s not perfect and is perhaps best described as a “WORK IN PROGRESS" but Pomroe have piqued my interest and I’m definitely interested to hear what they will be releasing next. 

Great stuff.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

UK Heavy Rock Pillars STEAK share details of upcoming "Steak" album on Ripple Music and Stickman Records; new single "Infinite" available!

UK progressive stoner rock spearhead STEAK reveal all details and preorders for their forthcoming fourth studio album "Steak", to be issued this October 9th on Ripple Music (North America) and Stickman Records (Europe & UK), and release a haunting third single on all streaming platforms today!

Stream new Steak single "Infinite" at this location 

Written and recorded as a five-piece for the first time in the band's career, their upcoming fourth full-length Steak marks another bold evolution for a band that has spent more than a decade pushing at the boundaries of desert rock, psychedelia and progressive heaviness. Combining crushing riffs, cinematic atmosphere and the band's unmistakable melodic edge, the new record sees STEAK moving further into darker and more progressive territories explored on 2022's acclaimed Acute Mania, while further defining a sound unmistakably its own.

One track after another, the UK quintet continues to showcase the depth and diversity of their sound, further building anticipation for what promises to be one of their most ambitious and powerful releases to date. Don't miss their latest singles Luxury Junk and Cometh!

About the new single "Infinite", guitarist and vocalist Tom Cameron says, "Infinite is about getting lost in your own head...where thoughts and fears can grow until they feel bigger and more real than everything around you."

New album "Steak" Out October 9th on Ripple Music (North America) and Stickman Records (Europe/UK)

TRACKLIST:

1. Cometh
2. Luxury Junk
3. Dust
4. Two By Two
5. Aether
6. Infinite
7. Knucklehead
8. Short Arms

Emerging from the shadows of London's underground heavy rock scene, STEAK has spent more than a decade carving out a reputation as one of the UK's most distinctive progressive stoner rock bands. Since forming in 2012, the band has built a loyal international following through relentless touring, acclaimed releases and an ever-evolving sound that fuses desert rock, psychedelia and progressive heaviness.

Following early releases and its debut album Slab City (Napalm Records), STEAK joined Ripple Music for 2017's No God To Save, taking the band across Europe and North America alongside John Garcia (Kyuss), Monster Magnet, Greenleaf and The Atomic Bitchwax, as well as an appearance at SXSW.

In recent years, STEAK has continued to build momentum with appearances at Freak Valley Festival, Resurrection Fest and multiple editions of Desertfest, alongside recent UK and European tours with All Them Witches, Elder and Slomosa. With the new full-length on the horizon, the London quintet continues its upward trajectory with its most ambitious and expansive work to date, setting the stage for their most exciting chapter yet!

STEAK is:

Kippa – vocals
Reece – lead guitar
Tom – guitar & vocals
Cam – bass

Dean – drums

Steak links

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Ripple Music links

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Stickman Records links

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the detials.