Mothertomb - Dying To Live (Album Review)

 

Release Date: July 14th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD/Tape

Dying To Live - Tracklist

1. The Summoning (3:47)

2. Cythraul (10:00)

3. Beware (6:53)

4. Mountain Hag (9:42)

5. Dying to Live (9:35)

Members

Alice Gawlinski - Vocals

Chance Gawlinski - Guitar

Alton Minor - Bass

Mike Benitez - Percussion

Review

Dying To Live is the debut album from Gothic/Doom/Stoner Rockers Mothertomb who blend sultry Occult Rock tones with a gritty Appalachian flavour being added into their music. There’s an essence of Grunge, Psych and Shoegaze which gives Mothertomb quite a contemporary and heavy rock sound which is why you can see the comparisons to bands such as Acid King and Windhand have been made recently but that only tells half the story. As the album unfolds in great storytelling fashion with haunting melodies, spooky Psychedelic grooves and Ambient Post-Rock structures that are quite emotionally daring when Mothertomb fully take flight within the aggressive Doom/Stoner Metal persona.

The record does start off in quite understated fashion with the excellent opening track The Summoning which mixes Drone Rock passages and the exquisite vocals/chants of lead vocalist Alice Gawlinski. Alice’s vocals may feel quite restrained at first but wait until you experience the rest of the album as Alice can really sing. The music is quite restrictive but that’s too get the listener into the Gothic and Occult Rock vibe the album takes you upon.

Second track Cythraul transforms slightly to a Proto-Metal delivery which allows Mothertomb fully move over to the modern day Doom/Stoner Metal arena with thumping sludgy guitars creating a Post-Doom vortex for those massive stadium sized riffs to appear. Alice’s vocals are the biggest change when some brutal harsh screams come out of nowhere. Where’s the calm, reserved and measured vocals from the early stages of the record. Just be prepared for a symphony of different Doomed Out movements that each have their own emotionally charged style of intense musical passages with Mothertomb wisely tapping into some classic Eighties Gothic Metal delivery. However, the band still finds the time to transport the listener back to the modern day era of melodic Doom/Stoner Metal.

Dying To Live is quite a progressive album with the majority of the tracks running between seven to ten minutes in length. There’s a lot to take in with this record especially on tracks such as Cythraul, Mountain Hag and Dying To Live. There’s riffs galore here with Mothertomb superbly moving from slow played atmospheric sounds to a faster and heavier style of Psych Stoner Metal with flashes of some grounded spirituality appearing within the lyrics.

Mothertomb are quite vivid with how they blend groove orientated metal against the classic strands of Gothic Rock, Occult Rock, Proto-Metal and good old fashioned Hard Rock whilst opening the door to other modern based themes.

My favourite track has to be Mountain Hag which I reviewed earlier this year and I’m going to include a brief passage from that review. Yeah, it might be lazy but I’m still happy how I described that track back then.

“Mountain Hag is nothing short of a revelation with Mothertomb continuing their progression in perhaps becoming one of the best upcoming acts the underground scene currently needs right now”

I stand by that review and I feel Mothertomb have proven that point I’ve made completely with Dying To Live which combines classic levels of intense storytelling with superb forward thinking Doom/Stoner Metal music that will leave you emotionally drained and even fully refreshed after listening to the whole album. 

With WINDHAND taking an absolute age releasing their next album then MOTHERTOMB are here to satisfy that craving but bringing their own unique take to the party and perhaps opening the door to a highly rewarding career that will no doubt stretch past the far reaches of the heavy underground scene. Dying To Live is an absolute delightfully heavy and thrilling record that will become one of the standout records to own and devour before the year is out.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

Dying To Live is available to buy now on CD/DD/Tape.

Links 

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram | DistroKid

Slow Goat - Where The Wisest Fear To Tread (Album Review)

Release Date: July 10th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Where The Wisest Fear To Tread - 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)

Members

Rosie Peterson - Vocals

Danel Black - Guitar

Adam Carter - Bass

Eric Bloombaum - Drums

Review

Slow Goat’s debut album Where The Wisest Fear To Tread takes a more revisionist take on the Heavy Psych based Doom/Stoner Metal journey compared to other bands. As they adapt their music to be influenced by different eras of Proto-Metal, Psych, Grunge, Desert Rock and Hard Rock for a more atmospheric sound which is boosted by some sublime Spaced Out landscapes.

The record is mostly dominated by the Nineties Heavy Rock Scene with Slow Goat suddenly shifting into different musical timelines whenever the need calls for this which you can fully experience within the opening tracks of Downward, Fallen Child and Visions / Fell Ritual. The lists of influences are perhaps endless with Slow Goat lovingly borrowing or appreciating musical themes we’ve heard before but moulded in their great way and that’s down to the excellent use of scorched Desert Rock soundscapes.

Slow Goat are quite brooding even within the most reflective and quietest parts of the record with the amazing third track Visions / Fell Ritual that feels like Acid King, King Buffalo, Yawning Man, KYUSS and Windhand playing together in one massive jamming session. The production values are mostly stripped back and that’s down to the excellent work by Eddie Brnabic (Hippie Death Cult) on engineering and mixing duties. You also have the legendary GRUNGE MAESTRO Jack Endino on mastering duties which gives the record quite a vivid seedy appetite especially within the haunting Doomed Out pastures that transform into atmospheric Post-Rock / Desert Rock segments to fry your brain with.

Lead vocalist Rosie Peterson has an immense Blues Rock / Doom / Occult Rock presence throughout this album with some cool sounding Classic Hard Rock and Proto-Metal deliveries which never outstay their welcome. The rest of the band provide fulfilling, catchy and aggressive sonic measures that allow Slow Goat to become quite dirty when the FUZZ ROCK energy appears on tracks such as Visions / Fell Ritual. Love Like Water, Dark Procession, Wilting and Sisyphus.

The lyrics sometimes have a deep fantastical element to them but Slow Goat manage to keep everything grounded and running smoothly with the distorted and grimy Doom, Desert Rock, Psych and Stoner Rock providing plenty of massive sounding amplified jams to fully lose yourself in.

Slow Goat provide the most heaviest and interesting grooves on the record when they focus on providing longer drawn out sounds that even manage to provide an air of mystery into the overall creative theme of the whole journey that the album provides. 

Where The Wisest Fear To Tread is a superbly executed debut album delivered by a hugely talented band that knows how to write a collection of great songs whilst injecting their own creative identity into the mix which will leave you emotionally satisfied and begging for more.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

Where The Wisest Fear To Tread is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl

Links 

Facebook |  LinkTree | Instagram | YouTube | BandCamp

Heavy Psychedelic Rockers PELEGRIN share new single and lyric video "In the Company of Stars" from new album "The Curse of Nephtar" out September 4th on Ripple Music

French heavy psychedelic rock explorers PELEGRIN keep gazing East with their travel-inducing new single "In the Company of Stars" (featuring Halima Joy on guest vocals). Their forthcoming third album "The Curse of Nephtar" is due on September 4th through Ripple Music.

 Listen to new single In the Company of Stars  + watch the official lyric video at this location

After two critically-acclaimed LPs that earned them comparisons with Elder, King Buffalo and Slift, French heavy psych explorers Pelegrin are back with their most ambitious work to date, The Curse of Nephtar, to be released on Ripple Music this fall. Their signature sound, built around rich melodies, nuanced dynamics, and a dash of Arabian spices, has taken some steps towards a catchier and heavier direction. Razor-sharp riffs and powerful hooks are to be expected amid their trademark backdrop of proggy, ambient songwriting.

About the song, they say: "The album's narration, following the eons-long story of fossil fuels in the Middle East, continues with 'In the Company of Stars'. Oil is portrayed as a dark orb, born at the bottom of the deepest ocean, fighting to reach the surface and unleash its full power. In this song, while geological eras come and go, the dark orb grows conscious of its own existence. It learns how to manipulate the feeble ocean beings swimming, crawling and lurking about. Through them, the orb senses that there is more to see, more to do. Lifted upwards by massive schools of fish, carried by colossal cetaceans, it steers its way to solid ground - desolate lands in fact, with the sun and stars as sole companions."

With The Curse of Nephtar, Pelegrin has created a powerful allegory of fossil fuels and their tragic influence on modern-day events in the Middle East and beyond. The album draws inspiration from the ‘resource curse’ theory, which observes that oil-rich nations are paradoxically less peaceful, developed, and democratic than comparable countries with no such resources. Told through sound design, spoken word and incisive lyrics, the Nephtar story provides a perfect soundtrack for the chaotic times we live in. Stream the previous single "Eons" at this location!

PELEGRIN "The Curse of Nephtar" - Out September 4th on Ripple Music (LP/CD/digital)

“This is psychedelic stoner rock of the highest order.” - Outlaws of the Sun

“Plenty of evocative and cinematic images through a blend of dynamic surges.” - Powerplay Magazine

“Songs are forever shifting with moments of ethereal beauty, bitter angst, overwhelming cheer and undying optimism.” - Astral Noize

For the typically discrete and camera-shy Pelegrin, it’s perhaps natural to let others do the talking. Located between Nantes and Paris, the band has been earning a solid reputation as a hidden gem of the heavy rock underground. After self-releasing their first two albums Al-Mahruqa (2019) and Ways of Avicenna (2023) to great critical acclaim, they caught the eye of California’s very own Ripple Music – a leading label known for discovering young talents, as well as harboring some of the world’s best heavy rock acts (Hermano, 1000Mods, Wo Fat, The Obsessed…)

Largely a studio project for their first years, Pelegrin are now also emerging as a powerful live act that has shared stages with some of the genre’s top bands (Naxatras, Ufomammut, Hippie Death Cult, Deaf Radio). Their third album The Curse of Nephtar (released September 4th, 2026 by Ripple Music) is bound to delight old fans and seduce new ones.

About the upcoming album theme, the band says: "The album depicts the tale of Nephtar, a powerful black orb that comes to life in the depths of prehistoric ocean Tethys, which used to stand above the current Middle East. Ignored for eons, it eventually uses its manipulative powers to join the surface and subdue all living things. While for a brief moment, it is hoped that using Nephtar will create an era of plenty for all, humans come to realize that the price to pay is exceedingly heavy and start fighting to break the curse."

Pelegrin is

François Roze - guitar, vocals
Jason Recoing - studio bass
Nacim Virieux - live bass
Antoine Ebel - drums, percussions

Pelegrin links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Ripple Music Links

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the details.

Doom/Stoner Metallers Burnt Witch Unleash Crushing Electric Wizard Cover "We Hate You" Exclusively on Bandcamp

WEST TENNESSEE - Fresh off the world premiere of the track on The Zach Moonshine Show on Metal Devastation Radio, West Tennessee doom outfit Burnt Witch have officially unleashed their crushing rendition of "We Hate You," originally performed by legendary British doom pioneers Electric Wizard.

The cover is available exclusively on Bandcamp , giving doom devotees an early opportunity to experience Burnt Witch's massive reinterpretation before it arrives on additional streaming platforms at a later date.

Rather than simply recreating a classic, Burnt Witch inject their signature blend of swamp-soaked heaviness, crushing low-end, and fuzz-drenched atmosphere into the iconic track while paying respect to one of doom metal's most revered influences.

The release follows the growing momentum surrounding the band after their acclaimed EP Dopelich , which earned recognition from Weedian's "Best Releases" spotlight. Burnt Witch have continued building a reputation throughout the underground with their uncompromising approach to doom and sludge, drawing attention from fans across the heavy music community.

The band also recently appeared on The Zach Moonshine Show for an in-depth interview discussing their evolution, gear, songwriting, and the growing Memphis doom scene, while also shining a spotlight on the upcoming Delta Doom Fest , scheduled for October 17, 2026, at Growlers in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fans of Electric Wizard, traditional doom, sludge, and riff-driven heavy music won't want to miss Burnt Witch's crushing take on this underground classic.

Listen now exclusively on Bandcamp:

https://burntwitch.bandcamp.com/track/we-hate-you

More streaming services will follow in the coming weeks.

Connect:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/burntwitch/dopelich-ep
https://open.spotify.com/artist/19WSxNJAzrFZoivgL0f5Pe
https://burntwitch.bandcamp.com/album/dopelich-ep
https://www.youtube.com/@burntwitch75
https://www.facebook.com/burntwitch75/
https://www.instagram.com/burnt_witch75/
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/burnt-witch/1865047179
https://shop.tonethreads.com/collections/burntwitch
burntwitch75.com

Thanks to Metal Devastation PR  for the details.

Druglord - Hear It Breathe (Album Review)

Release Date: July 03rd 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD

Hear It Breathe - Tracklist

1.All Gone 04:49

2.Unclean 03:32

3.Boiled In Oil 05:09

4.Shadow 04:13

5.Void Uncoiled 04:09

6.Forever After 06:02

Members

Julian Cook - bass

Bobby Hufnell - drums

Tommy Hamilton - guitar, vocals

Review

Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Druglord release their first album in eight years with Hear It Breathe which is a great title with the band returning with a trippy sound that elevates slightly the grunge sound with echoes of TAD, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains being heard within the opening stages of the opening track All Gone. The record has a fast-paced addictive energy with the slightly fuzzy and sludgy guitars stirring up a muscular presence for Druglord to whip an amplified style of frenzied Stoner based energy.

The sound is quite stripped back with a lot of dirt and seedy reverb building up throughout the opening track alone. Perhaps not as refined as their previous records but still 100% DRUGLORD with a mammoth WALL OF SOUND and PSYCHEDELIC flavour being cooked up within the opening tracks of All Gone, Unclean and Boiled In. You can hear the doomed out DNA of Electric Wizard, SLEEP and Black Sabbath with Druglord adding their own grimy GRUNGE surroundings with some excellent guitar work from Tommy Hamilton bridging the gap between the Seventies Proto-Doom sounds and modern filthy doomedelic surroundings.

The lyrics have a classic WEEDIAN sound that taps into the Stoner Rock/Metal folklore with real intense precision but it’s how melodic Druglord actually are with their music even with some Ambient themes shining through on the later stages of the record. The album can be quite haunting and emotionally damaging especially on the standout track of Boiled In. There’s a destructive melody that develops with areas of Classic Hard Rock with that distorted Sludge Rock/Metal sound allowing Druglord switching to a more nightmarish delivery especially when Tommy Hamilton’s vocals veer into violent waters with a grizzled and hardcore attitude.

The second half of the album sees Druglord continue to the DEVIL’s work of delivering finely tuned and massive sounding down-tuned melodies and distorted passages. The excellent rhythm section of Julian Cook (Bass) and Bobby Hufnell (Drums) steady the ship with their epic soundscapes destroying almost everything in their wake. Tracks such as Shadow and Forever After continue with that fuzzy, distorted and down-tuned delivery with that thrilling Grunge aspect providing some of the best grooves on the record.

Hear It Breathe is quite a short and compact record running under twenty eight minutes but that’s more than enough time for DRUGLORD to announce their triumphant return to the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal underground scene. With a high amount of outstanding riffs, grooves and bombastic instrumental solos, Hear It Breathe has it all. If you want an album that fully dives into the dark underbelly of WEEDIAN MEATAL then DRUGLORD are here to SAVE THE FUCKING DAY!!!

Simply sublime. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Links 

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Shadow Of Jupiter - BONES (Album Review)

Release Date: July 10th 2026. Record Label: Ripple Music. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

BONES - Tracklist

1.BONES 

2.Whatever God You Fear

3.Ugly on the Inside

4.Echo Chamber 

5.Rumblestrip

6.Riot Dogs

7.For Heaven Above

Members

John Piotrowski: Lyrics/Vocals

Colin Peterson: Guitars

Scott Brakebill: Bass Guitar

Adam Kazragys: Drums

Review

Shadow Of Jupiter created and achieved a lot of great things with their acclaimed 2023 debut album PORTA COELI with its mouth-watering blend of Proto-Doom, Stoner Rock and Psych Rock which wasn’t afraid to throw in some aggressive outbursts of classic Heavy Metal and Hard Rock. Fast forward three years later and Shadow Of Jupiter returns with BONES with a record that’s more Spaced Out with some earthly Swampedelic melodies forming whilst having some great influences from the Space Rock and Southern Rock scenes.

Opening track BONES has a mighty throwback to the likes of HAWKWIND, MONSTER MAGNET and BLACK SABBATH with lead vocalist John Piotrowski aligning the Grunge, Sludge, Doom and Stoner Metal wastelands with his epic vocal delivery. The music is constructed by a highly methodical style of Psych, Doom and Heavy Metal with some swirling Space Rock attitude showing some cool progressive grooves being used that’s laid down by Colin Peterson (Guitars), Scott Brakebill (Bass) and Adam Kazragys (Drums). The instrumental work is intense with a brooding creative force leading the band into the next heavy wave of psychedelic aggression.

Second song Whatever God You Fear is delivered by a classic Heavy Metal theme with the music inspired by the Eighties Hard Rock scene. There are also some classic overlapping guitars that can be quite thrash based with Shadow Of Jupiter applying an OLD SCHOOL delivery with John’s vocals being more outrageous compared to the opening track. This track shows how the band moves between the different eras of Heavy Rock they play throughout this album. Some parts are made up of pure Seventies Proto-Metal direct energy whilst other aspects are driven by an epic modern day psychedelic landscape.

Third song Ugly On The Inside feels like what WO FAT would sound like if they ever went down the GRUNGE route for a song that’s still bursting with Doom/Stoner Metal attitude. Sometimes the music is played quite cautiously within the quieter aspects but there’s still that undeniable sideline of riff-centric energy that once again allows Shadow Of Jupiter to construct some hard rocking inspired riffs with seedy Blues Rock sounds holding the whole line together. 

Fourth track Echo Chamber opens with an Occult Rock and Proto-Doom distorted movement with Shadow Of Jupiter slowly building up the atmosphere with intense Sludge Rock passages which quickly transforms into a hard-rocking monster inspired by the likes of Saint Vitus and The Obsessed. The gloomy melodies have an eerie Drone vibe with John’s vocals revelling in the role of storyteller and ringmaster of this record that moves ever so closely to HARD ROCK and HEAVY METAL excess. The music does allow Colin, Scott and Adam to have a min-battle between themselves to fight over who really has the “LEAD” on this track which they all win outright in their own unique ways.

The final three tracks of Rumblestrip, Riot Dogs and For Heaven Above sees a killer NOLA and Southern Rock/Metal delivery starting to fully take shape with Shadow Of Jupiter once again writing classic Heavy Metal lyrics that offer a NO FUCKS GIVEN attitude. This gives BONES its most rebellious sideline of stunning grooves and psychedelic soundscapes that remain absolutely vital and essential listening until the dying seconds of the whole record.

Shadow Of Jupiter have aligned themselves to the mighty powerful RIPPLE MUSIC for this album and we all know they’re the definitive label within the underground HEAVY ROCK scene. The record sounds excellent from start to finish but still having that undeniable underground sound, feel and quality to make BONES really stand out. 

BONES is an absolute winner on all levels where it delivers on all fronts. What more could you possibly want!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.

BONES is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Ripple Music.

Links 

Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Truster - Creeping Thing (Album Review)

 

Release Date: July 10th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Creeping Thing - Tracklist

1.The Flesh Beneath Our Nails, a Gift 00:34

2.Wretch Collector 03:08

3.She Who Requires Blood Remembers Them 05:16

4.The Fire 07:01

5.The Flood 04:27

6.Lest I Tear You to Pieces and There Be None to Deliver 06:26

7.A Home for the Lonely 06:12

Members

Stacy Burnett

Jordan LaFleche

Kevin Wunderlich

Review

Doom/Shoegaze metallers Truster debut album Creeping Thing is quite a thought provoking and highly emotionally charged record that uses the power of Post-Metal, Shoegaze, Doom and Drone to highlight the experiences that members of the queer community go through especially within their daily lives and even within the HEAVY METAL underground scene. However, the record is also emotionally uplifting throughout despite Truster’s maximum use of Doomgaze and Post-Metal that creates moments of pure chaos and violent soundscapes devouring everything within it’s wake.

Truster are also inspired heavily by the Alt-Rock and Grunge scenes with their music being more potent when it enters that grimy atmosphere. The level of Drone, Fuzz and Distortion that holds everything together is superbly impressive on both a technical and musical level. The haunting vocals from Stacy Burnett are beautifully poetic but also cuts like a knife when the banshee screams come out of nowhere which just hammers the point home on how powerful Creeping Thing actually is. You can tell Stacy is speaking from personal experience when the screams violently shake the listener to their emotional core on track Wretch Collector, She Who Requires Blood Remembers Them and The Fire. 

Those tracks make you aware how socially aware and emotionally devastating the journey that Truster take you upon with compounding Post-Rock/Post-Metal melodies that’s spliced with Shoegaze, Doom and Drone that reminds me of Neurosis, Windhand, Slow Crush, Portishead, Tori Amos and PJ Harvey in equal measure. Sometimes the music is quite hard to describe but that’s a great thing as Truster has a more dangerous element to their musical persona that allows them to take bigger, bolder and fearless risks with their music.

The music is played at a great slow-to-mid pace with the bone-crunching instrumental passages allowing Stacy’s vocals the perfect time to breathe and grow naturally. The Post-Rock/Post-Metal sounds are my favourite aspects of the record from a musical perspective as Truster brings a sense of darkness to their music and when they inject that brooding style of Ambient and Trippy sounds into the mix. Creeping Thing becomes a more sensual experience even when the dominant Sludge Metal grooves reign supreme on tracks such as She Who Requires Blood, The Fire, The Flood and Lest I Tear You to Pieces and There Be None to Deliver which is perhaps my favourite track on the whole album.

One of the strongest aspects of Creeping Thing is how Truster moves between different musical landscapes where it’s emotionally delicate one moment and the next they have the power to destroy whole musical planets with a single note, rhythm or melody. Stacy, Jordan and Kevin are masters of their own musical craft as this is a brilliantly original record which is just earth shattering.

Creeping Thing is an absolute marvel of an album to fully listen to which leaves you a shivering wreck with its brilliantly poetic lyrics and sometimes bleak vision. I’m hopeful that Truster will achieve bigger and better things on this record as they absolutely deserve it. 

WOW. What an experience. 

Words by Steve Howe

Creeping Thing is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl from Truster.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram