Doom/Stoner Metallers Son Of Boar release new single 'In The Eyes Of Hatred' ahead of their second album 'The Hand That Reigns'

Bradford-based stoner/doom five-piece Son Of Boar return with their second studio album ‘The Hand That Reigns’, which arrives on November 20th 2026 via Pale Wizard Records.

Formed in 2018, Son Of Boar quickly became an integral part of the UK’s heavy underground scene, carving out a reputation as a formidable live act. Their powerful, groove-laden, riff-heavy sound has seen them share stages with the likes of Conjurer, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Desert Storm, Nebula, Conan and Fatso Jetson while appearances at Bloodstock, Riffolution, Ruination, Hard Rock Hell Fest, Hammerfest, SOPHIE Fest and Masters Of The Riff have firmly established the band within the UK heavy-music circuit.

Drawing influence from NOLA sludge pioneers Crowbar and DOWN, stoner-rock legends Kyuss, and UK heavyweights Black Sabbath and Paradise Lost, Son Of Boar combine slumberous riffs, harmonised twin guitars and vocalist Luke Oliver’s gravelly, roaring vocals. The band epitomise the ‘Grim North’ from which they emerged. Whether it is the green fields and rolling hills, or the harsh cold stone of their surroundings, Son Of Boar channel their landscape through groove, atmosphere and crushing heaviness, creating a soundtrack to their city and a reflection of the world that surrounds them.

Their self-titled debut album arrived in 2021, showcasing a band unwilling to be confined to a single corner of heavy music. The Hand That Reigns takes that approach further, pushing their sound into a darker, heavier and more aggressive territory.

Their forthcoming second studio album ‘The Hand That Reigns’, recorded at Corner House Studios in Yorkshire with Kurt Wood and mastered by Dave Draper (Ginger Wildheart) emerged during a period in which each member was collectively navigating difficult times. As riffs developed into songs, it became clear that those experiences were influencing the writing, and something darker was taking shape. Each track is infused with a personal honesty that moves fluidly from groove-metal to blasted desert rock and the deepest, darkest doom, showcasing the wide range to the band’s sound.

Watch the video for their new single IN THE EYES OF HATRED below:

Reflecting on the creation of the album, vocalist Luke Oliver says, “At the time of writing the album, everyone seemed to be going through a dark time. It quickly became apparent that this batch was darker, heavier, and more aggressive than the previous set. There was no conscious push towards that - we just wanted to write better songs. They came out with all the previous aspects of our sound amplified. We’ve always worked in a cauldron of influences, mixing groove-led desert sounds with grim, heavy riffs and moving tonally from dark to light and back again. On these songs, the heavy sections got heavier, the slow sections got slower, but at the same time the groove got deeper, while the melodies and atmosphere became more developed.”

Across The Hand That Reigns, Son Of Boar draw together the elements that have defined their sound while pushing each one further: groove-metal weight, psychedelic desert-rock passages, deep sludge and the slow pull of doom.

Lyrically the album explores themes of alienation, judgement, personal struggles and resilience, examining the barriers people encounter, the frustration and anger that can emerge from them, and the strength required to move beyond them.

“Lyrically the album covers themes of being an outcast in various forms. Drawing on inspiration from world events, personal experiences, documentaries, and life in a band, the songs talk to the barriers we hit in life, how people judge each other, and the frustration and anger that can come from that, but also about drawing on personal strength and inner belief to get past that and try to live a better life,” Oliver adds.

Ahead of the release of the album comes its final single ‘In The Eyes Of Hatred’, released today, October 30th 2026, a song for the ‘misfits’, the track serves as a call for unity and understanding in a divided world.

Discussing the single, the band state, “‘In The Eyes Of Hatred’ is a mix of stoner groove and heavy doom that makes our brand of northern fuzz. It is a call to arms for all the misfits and people who ever felt like they don't fit in, in a divided world it's a call for unity and understanding."

SON OF BOAR ARE:

Luke Oliver - Vocals
Gareth Bates - Bass, Backing Vocals
Adam Waddell - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Lyndon Birchall - Guitar
Luke Doran - Drums

ONLINE:

Website: https://sonofboar.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SonOBoar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/son_of_boar
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3MvIo59LEuFXrQ7U6AnuoO?si=pdeJaMjlQmOdqJneZJKtPw
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/son-of-boar/1490688507
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/artists/B082K9NRW1

Thanks to Memphia Music PR for the details.

SARAKSH - Abiram (Album Review)

Release Date: November 20th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD/Vinyl

Scream Into The Camera - Tracklist 

01. Scavenger

02. Confinement: Carving Me

03. Confinement: Circles

04. Confinement: Bottom Deep

05. They Come At Night

06. Forlorn

07. Mire

08. Designation

Members

Severin Mäker - Guitar, Keys, Programming, Vocals, Production (Editing, Mixing, Mastering)

Christian Busch - Guitar

Max Hönig - Drums

Review

Sludge Metallers SARAKSH debut album Abiram brings a highly volatile mix of Doom, Prog Metal, Post-Metal, Psych Metal and Tech Metal endeavors throughout. The record is quite forward thinking with SARAKSH employing different levels of EXTREME METAL within the familiar sounding Progressive Sludge Metal structures with some aggressive Death Metal and Crust Punk themes being played from the very start.

Opening track Scavenger allows SARAKSH to lay down the creative foundations of the whole album with an aggressive and violent attitude that draws upon the likes of CONVERGE, MASTODON, GOJIRA and even CHAT PILE with the band moving into different areas of the music. The vocals are quite challenging to listen to and fully appreciate with them moving between areas of clean vocals, harsh growls and death metal screams but at least everything is quite easy to understand. 

The record does transform into different styles of modern day melodies with a frantic Post-Metal and Prog Metal attitude with some of the lyrical themes, musical complexities and vocal arrangements reminding me of Devin Townsend and Mike Patton which is no bad thing. However, SARAKSH keep themselves mostly contained within the Progressive Sludge Metal environment whilst experimenting with the wider Extreme Metal scene that both play so brilliantly alongside each other within the epic three part track opus: Confinement: Carving Me, Confinement: Circles and Confinement: Bottom Deep. 

SARAKSH added some fantastic video game soundtrack mechanics into the mix of this album which does give Abiram a slightly fantastical quality which it fully earns by being quite outlandish, real and superbly grounded at the same time. There is a fearless Operatic and Prog Rock delivery that appears along the way that never feels forced with SARAKSH delivering intense fast-paced grooves that move across the whole Sludge Metal, Death Metal and Thrash Metal spectrum.

The later stages of the record take a more reflective attitude whilst keeping with its deeply methodical and experimental sound on tracks such as: They Came At Night, Forlorn and Mire. The dominant synths and keyboards are always a welcome addition and distraction as it moves the record to a heavier and clearer Psychedelic sound which is where my most favourite parts of the album appear.

Abiram is a surreal and nightmarish take on the modern Progressive Sludge Metal sound that dares to be different. There are too many great cinematic instrumental passages to mention but SARAKSH proves time and time again what  a highly original band they truly are. This may take you a few listens to fully understand what the fuck is actually going on but it’s an album worth investing your time in as the rewards are HUGE. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to All Noir PR for the promo.

Abiram will be available to buy Digitally and Vinyl soon.

Links

https://linktr.ee/saraksh
https://www.instagram.com/saraksh_band/
https://www.facebook.com/SarakshBand
https://saraksh.bandcamp.com

GOATRIDERS Return From The Outer Reaches Of the Goativerse With New Song & VIdeo For "MURDER // MOUNTAIN" From Upcoming New Album

Sweden’s conjurers of fuzz, folklore and far-flung psychedelia venture deeper into their ever-expanding mythology with “Murder // Mountain,” the first single from Season of Slumber, out November 13 via Urskog Records. The track premieres today via Outlaws of the Sun.

Four purveyors of cosmic weirdness, hypnotic riffs and tales from the other side of the ordinary, Goatriders have spent nine years building a world with its own geography, peculiar inhabitants and gloriously crooked vernacular. Across their previous albums, wandering wizards, carrot mages, uncanny creatures and unlikely encounters have emerged from the band’s fevered imagination, taking shape in a heady brew of heavy fuzz, adventurous psychedelia and a knack for making the downright bizarre feel strangely compelling.

Goatriders are, at their essence, psychedelic fabulists. Their songs conjure occult visions, cosmic wanderings and unruly inhabitants, spinning a mythology that gathers new lore with every cloven step. Yet the Goativerse is more than a cast of outlandish characters and arcane adventures. Its magic takes hold through the interplay of four connected musicians who know precisely when to lock into a groove, when to let a riff run feral and when to drive a jam to the brink of dissolution. Beneath the fantastical tales lies a band with the instinct, chemistry and instrumental command to make the impossible feel flesh and blood. The absurdity has teeth; beneath the arcane pageantry, something raw and vital is always stirring and the mythology never gets in the way of a good noise.

The first taste of Season of Slumber comes in the shape of “Murder // Mountain,” a ten-minute-and-forty-one-second descent into psychedelic disorientation. A searing, riff-driven jam forms the track’s molten core, the guitars twisting above a rhythm section whose loose, instinctive interplay is anchored by the drums’ measured, almost metronomic pulse. The bass carves its own melodic path beneath the heavier excursions, while sitar, djembe and bells cut through the distortion with flashes of ancient ceremony. Rather than charging towards a conventional climax, Goatriders let the music find its own crooked route, building and releasing tension as it goes.

Johansson describes the song as “a real bad trip wrapped up in a ten minute envelope.” What could go wrong?

There are distant echoes of The Doors in its shadowy, incantatory atmosphere, while the guitar’s unbridled explorations carry a spark of Jimi Hendrix’s improvisational spirit. But Goatriders are following no one else’s map: “Murder // Mountain” draws the listener into a world where the ground shifts beneath your feet and the destination remains deliciously uncertain.

Ever a constant, Death stalks the trail in “Murder // Mountain,” keeping pace with those who wander it, waiting for the moment they finally surrender to its pull. Many follow the hippie dream like a procession towards the inevitable, mistaking free will for ultimate freedom. But this traveler has no intention of obediently joining the ranks. 

He knows death is on his heels, and rather than bowing his head, he calls the bastard out. The mountain caves in on itself, leaving an abyss where heaven should be. Johansson’s words hang in the air, caught between ancient warning and open-ended revelation. That tension runs through the track as it does the entire album; cosmic visions with dirt beneath its nails, occult grandeur with a mischievous grin, and four musicians willing to follow an idea wherever it leads.

As the Swedish quartet returns with its third full-length, Season of Slumber, drawing the Goativerse into deeper shadow. The winding jams, molten fuzz and ritualistic intensity remain, but this time they venture into darker currents, where old certainties begin to buckle and the search for truth leads beyond the limits of 

what we think we know.

It is the same wild imagination at work: fearless, freewheeling and forever nosing around the edges of the unknown, where stranger revelations are most certainly waiting. Following 2022’s The Traveler, Season of Slumber sheds the collective of the Carrot Wizards and brings the more solitary figure back into the fore. This tale is focused on the One Wizard.

Long confined to his tower, this ageing hierophant languishes in prophetic stagnation, guarding the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime while the world beyond his walls turns without him. His tower has become both sanctuary and sentence, its shelves heavy with the knowledge of ages, its windows opening onto a world he has all but forgotten how to read. Then the veil begins to lift. Ghosts of yonder stir, old visions take on unfamiliar shapes, and the truths by which he has lived begin to look less like answers than walls of his own making. The wizard stands at the threshold of a revelation his learning could never have prepared him for.

Across the album, witches, warlocks, devils and demons gather beneath the night sky, drawn towards a new temple of the sun, bearing offerings to the totem of noise. Yet amid the ceremony and incantation, a more dangerous possibility takes hold: that wisdom, hoarded and held beyond question, can harden into dogma; that a lifetime spent seeking truth can leave a person devoted to the very beliefs that keep it out of reach. For The One Wizard, no ancient text can furnish the answer, no incantation guarantees safe passage. To go further, he must risk the collapse of the world his knowledge has built around him, and look beyond its ruins allowing the new to take its place.

Goatriders leave these questions suspended in the smoke. The wizard’s passage becomes a meeting point between myth and lived experience, a tale of spiritual disquiet in which the pursuit of enlightenment can be every bit as disorientating as the darkness it promises to dispel.

Mixed and mastered by Joona Hassinen at Studio Underjord, “Murder // Mountain” captures that unruly spirit as old certainties crumble and the possibility of renewal flickers into view. The mountain is falling. The season of slumber is drawing to a close. Eternal vision awaits.

Season of Slumber is now available to pre-order through Urskog Records ahead of its release on Friday, November 13, 2026.

Goatriders are:

The Goat King: 

Stoffe - Vocals, conga

The Brothers Grimm:

Robin -  Guitar

Jimmie - Bass, Sitar

The Troubadour:

Daniel Pihl - Drums, djembe, bells, art & design.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to URSKOG Records for the details.

Laser Dracul - Hin Håle Blues (Album Review)

Release Date: October 30th 2026. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Hin Håle Blues - Tracklist 

1.Our King is Forever

2.Bringer of Light

3.Walking the Left Hand Path 

4.The End of Time

5.Hornæus

6.Come to me Witches 

Review

Doom/Stoner Metallers Laser Dracul return after a six year absence with their second album Hin Håle Blues which sees the band offer a heavier, darker and menacing sound compared to their acclaimed 2020 debut album. The band have aligned themselves more closely to the likes of Electric Wizard with their bleakly distorted vision having a classic OCCULT DOOM METAL energy appearing within the lyrics and music written for the album.

Hin Håle Blues means “The Devil’s Blues” in English, well according to GOOGLE but I’m happy to be corrected on that score. Laser Dracul employs a seedy Seventies Metal delivery within the early stages of the record that branches out into areas of Fuzz, Psych Rock and Stoner Metal with a record that never feels OLD or completely out of fashion. The songs are wonderfully constructed with Laser Dracul adding some classic OCCULT and HALLOWEEN themes into their music with a grizzled sludgy atmosphere allowing the music to perhaps be more modern within tracks Our King Is Forever and Bringer Of Light. 

The pounding rhythm section has that classic SABBATHIAN energy that emits a ton of amplified distortion that lurks silently in the background before aiming for a complete control within the heaviest sounds of the album. Laser Dracul never play over the top, flashy or progressive grooves as they fully commit themselves into developing a great style of vintage Doom/Stoner Metal with superb modern psychedelic touches adding a real sense of urgency to everything. 

The lyrics are superbly rooted within the Doom Metal and Occult folklore but offer a grounded take that allows Laser Dracul to deliver some violent harsh growls on certain stages of the record. The majority of the vocals are clean based but be prepared for a certain Blackened Doom approach to develop. 

The main bulk of the music is powered through a gloomy mix of distorted sounds and down-tuned instrumental passages that can be quite isolated and solitary on tracks such as Bringer Of Light, Walking The Left Hand Path and Hornæus being my favourite tracks on the album. The level of Blues Rock/Metal is another highlight of Hin Håle Blues with the whole musical atmosphere dripping in menacing Blues Rock that allows the SLOW-TO-MID played music develop naturally but still with a menacing presence.

The sound can be quite deafening at times which surprised me greatly as Laser Dracul aren’t afraid to play some violently LOUD rhythms, melodies and occult soundscapes that left me turning the volume down on my designated player at times. I mean that as a compliment and not showing my advancing years of reviewing music.

Hin Håle Blues is a delightfully sinister record with Laser Dracul firing on all cylinders throughout and perhaps releasing one of the best Occult Doom Metal albums I’ve heard this year.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Hin Håle Blues is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

GOATMILKER - Gods & Monsters (EP Review)

Release Date: October 30th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Gods & Monsters - Tracklist 

The Approaching

Cancerlung

Continuum Broken

Don Of Time

Members

Lars Godal – Guitar

Mathias Lieberknecht– Bass/vocals

Petter Ramberg – Drums

Vegard Lindtveit – Guitar/lead vocals

Review

Progressive Doom Metallers GOATMILKER return with their latest EP - Gods & Monsters. The EP follows a similar style to last year’s self-titled debut album with the band being influenced by the likes of MASTODON, Black Sabbath, VOIVOD, CAVE IN and SLAYER. Sometimes the EP can be overloaded with different musical themes and creative ideas but GOATMILKER has this great ability to make everything make sense.

The music is brilliantly deranged and highly melodic with some epic sounds having a certain KVELERTAK energy to them. The Progressive Metal part of the record even allows GOATMILKER to add a certain COMMERCIAL ROCK/POP aspect into their music especially on tracks Cancerlung and Continuum Broken. There’s some fast-paced beatdowns and breakdowns that the band play with a determined EIGHTIES HEAVY METAL approach with some classic guitar shredding appearing out of nowhere. 

The lyrics are quite darker and very conceptual compared to their debut album as GOATMILKER perfectly bridges the gap between the underground metal sounds and the commercial rock based themes that Gods & Monsters superbly contains. However, Gods & Monster really thrives when GOATMILKER aim for that highly experimental style of music that made their debut album such a standout as everything becomes completely FUCKED UP but with a fast-paced riff-centric delivery emerging on tracks Continuum Broken and Don Of Time.

Gods & Monsters is an excellent record with a real warped sense of identity holding everything together and allowing GOATMILKER to release another superb record to really stand out from the crowd and make themselves more known within the underground scene.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | Instagram | BandCamp

Human Ape Hybrid God - Scream Into The Camera (Single Review)

Release Date: October 04th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Scream Into The Camera - Tracklist 

The Approaching

Cancerlung

Continuum Broken

Don Of Time

Members

Otto Kinzel - Everything

Review

Scream Into The Camera is the debut single from Human Ape Hybrid God which is the latest creative project from Otto Kinzel who is from Doom/Stoner Metallers Dust Prophet. This project is firmly rooted within the Avant-Garde/Experimental Metal scenes as Otto whips up a creative frenzy with music ranging from Doom, Industrial Metal, Prog Metal and Post-Metal being played at a frantic pace.

This feels like the project was inspired by certain Mike Patton projects with the vocals having a slight resemblance to them. However, the music itself is wonderfully weird and highly inventive especially when the song moves into a more Jazz Metal direction with some screeching thrash metal interludes being added for good measure.

The song doesn’t follow a straight forward narrative as such with Human Ape Hybrid God exploring different areas of the Extreme Metal spectrum. Everything does feel out of place but Otto does include some intense Doom Metal and Post-Metal surroundings on the later stages of the track. There’s a great DIY approach being used for this project that allows for the song to have a great musical dynamic when everything is said and done.

It’s not the easiest track to listen to and is perhaps more suited for fans of Experimental music than your casual music fan. This is a great track if you're feeling brave enough to give Scream Into The Camera a chance. I’m excited to see what Otto releases next under the banner of Human Ape Hybrid God.

My advice is give this track a try. You may enjoy the warped music that appears within some of the craziest four minutes you’re likely to hear this year.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp

Exclusive Album Premiere Of Doom/Sludge/Post-Metallers PALEGAZER Debut Album WHITE MOURNING

By mapping sonic landscapes that shift from immersive, melancholic passages to shuddering heaviness, Palegazer, a trio from Porto, Portugal, crafts their own reflection on humanity. 

Shifting between clean vocals and drawn-out guttural growls, from shimmering cymbal resonance to the snap of the snare, and from fragile melodic phrases to cavernous, weighty riffs, their sound inhabits a space between the atmospheric depth of post-metal and the crushing density of sludge and doom. About "White Mourning" album: 

The idea behind this project has always been to create something that feels deeply human, reaching out and allowing for connection through the most raw and yet ubiquitous of feelings, no matter what shape they may take within each of us. 

The album "White Mourning" explores the fragility of human nature, how we are vulnerable both to ourselves and to the world around us. It reflects on the imagined narratives we construct to comfort ourselves, and how our perceptions ultimately shape the realities we experience. "White Mourning" can symbolize freedom from loss, whether the loss of a life, of a burden, or of something deeply cherished, representing not only grief but also rebirth and self-discovery through the act of letting go. 

Influenced by bands such as YOB, Russian Circles, REZN, Deafheaven, Conan, Bölzer, Mastodon, Ahab and Bell Witch, as well as some early 2000s metal, the sound ranges from immersive, melancholic melodies to shuddering heaviness, drawing from sludge, post-metal, and doom. 

The album was recorded at our own studio over the course of several months, and it was mixed and mastered by Diogo Santana from Noise Portrait Recordings, who has worked with several Portuguese and international bands over the years. 

You can listen to the album in full thanks to the great folks over at Grand Sounds Promotion.

Tracklist

Imminence - 5:52

Searing Light - 6:52

As What Remains Drifts - 6:12

Ancient Twin - 5:39

White Mourning - 14:07

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.

White Mourning is available to buy now on CD/DD via Octopus Rising.

Links

BandCamp | Instagram