Tetsuwan - YONDER(trail,betrayal,trial) (EP Review)

Release Date: October 02nd 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

YONDER(trail,betrayal,trial) - Tracklist

YONDER(trail,betrayal,trial)

Members

Ross Curry – Vocals & Guitar

Misha Voeykov – Bass

Stephan van der Meyden – Drums

Review

YONDER(trail,betrayal,trial) is the latest epic single from Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers Tetsuwan who released a superb debut album ASUNDER back in November 2025. This record helped Tetsuwan establish a different kind of Psychedelic Doom Metal sound that relied upon a fantastic style of Seventies Hard Rock attitude with modern Progressive techniques throughout. 

Tetsuwan continues that great style of music with this fantastic track that runs for over seventeen minutes in length. The song is split into areas of Heavy Psych, Ambient Rock, Doom Metal, Classic Rock, Prog Rock and that aggressive Stoner Metal sound that matters when it’s really needed the most. The song does operate with a looser style of Post-Metal that reminds me of Pelican and Russian Circles before transferring over to a haunting Doomed Out Sound.

The vocals from Ross Curry feel like they’ve been transported from a long lost era of Seventies Hard Rock with the emotionally charged delivery. The music becomes fully consumed by a crushing level of psychedelic heaviness that weaves a dark cloud of Hazy and Sludge Rock melodies that leave in a complete trance.

Tetsuwan adds deft touches of screeching guitars, warped amplifiers and distorted instruments that become quite subdued when the band switch to a clearer style of Post-Rock and Post-Doom surroundings.

YONDER(trail,betrayal,trial) is very multi-layered with its three part cinematic structure that Tetsuwan employs for this track and it works wonderfully well with a song that demands your full attention but one that treats you with respect even when things become slightly crazy along the way.

This is another great release from Tetsuwan who may establish themselves as serious players if they continue to release great records such as this.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Portuguese Atmospheric Sludge/Post-metal trio Palegazer reveal full details of "White Mourning"

Portuguese atmospheric sludge/post-metal trio Palegazer have revealed the full details of "White Mourning," their debut album for Octopus Rising, set for release on October 30, 2026 on CD and digital formats.

Following the recent release of "Imminence", the band now unveils the complete five-track album, an intense exploration of human fragility, loss, vulnerability and the process of letting go.

"White Mourning" reflects on the narratives we create to understand our experiences and the way our perceptions shape the realities around us. The album's title embodies this duality, suggesting both mourning and liberation, with loss becoming a path towards rebirth and self-discovery.

Musically, Palegazer moves between immersive melancholy and crushing heaviness, combining atmospheric post-metal with the weight of sludge and doom. Drawing inspiration from YOB, Russian Circles, REZN, Deafheaven, Conan, Bölzer, Mastodon, Ahab and Bell Witch, the trio create a sound built on contrasts, moving from fragile melodic passages to towering riffs and intense vocal dynamics.

"White Mourning" was recorded at the band's own studio and mixed and mastered by Diogo Santana of Noise Portrait Recordings.

PALEGAZER - "WHITE MOURNING"

October 30, 2026 | Octopus Rising​ | ​CD + Digital

Tracklist

Imminence - 5:52
Searing Light - 6:52
As What Remains Drifts - 6:12
Ancient Twin - 5:39
White Mourning - 14:07

For more info:

​https://www.instagram.com/palegazer/​
​https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords​

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the details.

Instrumental Doom/Post-Metal outfit SHAKHTYOR unleashes crushing first single "Das Sechste Siegel" off upcoming album "Simulacron"!

German heavy instrumental Doom/Post-Metal outfit SHAKHTYOR has unveiled "Das Sechste Siegel", the crushing first single taken from the band’s forthcoming studio album "Simulacron", set for release on November 6 via Moment of Collapse Records.

Listen to "Das Sechste Siegel" HERE

When SHAKHTYOR were formed in Hamburg in 2009, the direction initially seemed clear: instrumental doom. It soon became apparent, however, that the trio would not be content to stay within those confines. Doom and sludge collide with black and death metal eruptions, psychedelic jam passages, hypnotic grooves and spacey synthesizer textures. For SHAKHTYOR, genre boundaries are material to work with rather than limitations.

"Simulacron" is now the Hamburg trio’s third album, following their self-titled debut and its successor "Tunguska". Once again recorded at Tonmeisterei, the album sounds anything but stagnant despite the band’s long history. Quite the opposite: the songwriting has become more concise and focused, while their musical boundaries have been pushed even further. Songs longer than 10 minutes are no exception.

The guitars remain the crushing foundation. Riff walls flatten everything in their path before the songs drift into psychedelic passages or are swept away by eruptive black/death metal assaults. Particularly effective are the long, stoic grooves that burrow almost hypnotically into your skull. SHAKHTYOR create pressure not through constant speed, but through dynamics, repetition and carefully constructed tension.

Samples and electronic soundscapes are far more than mere decoration. They give the songs a dark, at times almost cosmic atmosphere, making "Simulacron" feel like the soundtrack to some seriously twisted trip inside your head.

Tracklist:

01. Simulacron
02. Das Sechste Siegel
03. Alone
04. Wolfmannsgehau
05. Letzte Schleuse
06. Electric H

Seventeen years after their formation, SHAKHTYOR remain difficult to categorize. "Simulacron" combines crushing riff power with psychedelic depth and atmospheric finesse. A heavy, idiosyncratic beast - and precisely for that reason, one hell of an intriguing album.

"Simulacron" will be out November 6 on Moment of Collapse Records and is available for pre-order HERE.

SHAKHTYOR are:

Christian Müller
Nils Langbehn
Christian Herzog

For more info visit:

https://www.facebook.com/shakhtyorband/
https://www.instagram.com/shakhtyor.band/
https://shakhtyor.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/momentofcollapse/

Thanks to All Noir PR for the details.

Post-Metal Legends NEUROSIS Announce Latest Tour Dates

Photo Credit: Scott Evans

Exactly two seasons have passed since we declared An Undying Love for a Burning World. It has been an incredibly rewarding time for us and we are humbled by your love and support.

With our first two shows behind us, we are now working hard to be ready for the upcoming sets. We respectfully ask you to join us at one of these upcoming gatherings.

TICKETS

Neurosis Tour Dates

10/16/2026 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA w/ Terry Gross [SOLD OUT]
10/17/2026 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA w/ Kowloon Walled City [SOLD OUT]
10/30/2026 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Uniform [Tickets]
10/31/2026 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Primitive Man [Tickets]
11/21/2026 Metro – Chicago, IL w/ Mr. Phylzzz [Tickets]
11/22/2026 Metro – Chicago, IL w/ Primitive Man [Tickets]
11/27/2026 Revolution Hall – Portland, OR w/ special guests TBA, Great Falls [Tickets]
11/28/2026 Revolution Hall – Portland, OR w/ special guests TBA, Trigger Object [Tickets]
11/29/2026 Showbox SODO – Seattle, WA w/ special guests TBA, Great Falls [Tickets]
12/12/2026 Converge's Saddest Day @ Roadrunner – Boston, MA w/ Converge, and more [Tickets]
1/02/2027 The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA w/ Special Guests TBA [Tickets]
4/17/2027 Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, NL (Neurosis will play two sets) [Tickets]

Links

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | BANDCAMP

Thanks to Neurot Recordings for the details.

KONGH - Dissolved In Time (Album Review)

Release Date: September 25th 2026. Record Label: Trust No One Recordings!. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Dissolved In Time - Tracklist

1.Staining the Ether

2.Guided to the End 

3.Dissolved in Time

Members

David Johansson – vocals, guitar, bass, electronics

Christian Augustin – drums

Jörgen Sandström – backing vocals

Review

Doom/Sludge Metal heavyweights KONGH return after a decade long silence and their first album in thirteen years. The main creative force of the band (David Johansson) is still leading the band but this time round David has called upon the talents of Christian Augustin and Jörgen Sandström who are well known names within the Swedish Heavy Metal scene in their own right.

Dissolved In Time is a different kind of record from KONGH as it aligns itself more closely to the Psychedelic Doom movement with crushing Sludge Metal destruction. The whole sound is helped along by that classic Post-Metal delivery with intense Atmospheric Metal melodies forging a great progressive Doom Metal sound that reminds me of YOB in places. The vocals from David Johansson are superbly inventive which is quite different to KONGH’s early records as David feels more aware of the musical environment around him.

Sometimes David is helped along by Jörgen Sandström who provides excellent backing vocals along the way where the mood does become quite violent and ferocious as KONGH level the playing field with haunting COSMIC DOOM surroundings especially within the mindblowing opening epic track Staining The Ether.

Staining The Ether runs for almost nineteen minutes which is classic KONGH through and through with the music changing from Sludge Metal, Post-Metal, Doom Metal and Heavy Psych soundscapes which is made more technical and highly efficient by the clever use of electronic passages. The lyrics are quite grounded and slightly fantastical at the same time with KONGH developing a cool sounding Post-Doom and Post-Rock aspect into their musical on the later stages of the song.

Second track Guided To The End is a more riff driven affair with KONGH bringing a brooding and pounding style of Doom/Sludge Metal that has a distorted Stoner Metal aspect forming which gives the band a more urgent drive to their music. The FUZZED OUT exterior is quite aggressive with a low-key Doom Metal flow behind David’s vocals. Sometimes the music has a certain Industrial Metal feel which allows KONGH once more to expand their musical horizons once more. Sometimes the record has a disjointed approach but the music is always thrilling and this track has some of heaviest, meanest and thickest grooves on the whole record.

The third and final track Dissolved In Time blends eerie Space Rock sounds to a destructive Post-Rock and Post-Metal playing field which slowly takes time to form that fully branches out into KONGH’s trademark style of Progressive Sludge Metal. The song does have a wicked slow-to-mid delivery where the different flavours of Psych, Space, Fuzz and Post Doom generate some interesting musical and creative choices being made on the track. This is a track where KONGH let their music do their talking and allowing Dissolved In Time to end on a highly aggressive flourish.

Dissolved In Time is expertly created from top to bottom with great work by everyone who helped behind the scenes with the making of the album. This is a breathtaking album from KONGH who have delivered the goods yet again. This is a masterclass of modern Doom/Sludge Metal that is meant to be truly delivered.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to All Noir PR for the promo.

Dissolved In Time is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Trust No One Recordings!

Links

https://www.facebook.com/KonghDoom
https://www.instagram.com/kongh_official
https://www.kongh.net
https://www.facebook.com/tnorec/
https://www.tnor.se/

Rapidly Aging - You're Not Yourself Lately (Album Review)

Release Date: October 02nd 2026. Record Label: Fig On West. Format: DD/Tape

You’re Not Yourself Lately - Tracklist

1. Distant Sirens Wailing (2:41)

2. Fleeting Moment (5:47)

3. The Negative Thought Loops (4:20)

4. Awoken From A Bad Dream To An Even Worse Reality (7:58)

5. How Quickly The Ground Falls Out Beneath You (5:13)

6. Unsaved (6:46)

7. To Keep From (7:48)

Members

Music by Shalor Howell

Guitar, Slide Guitar & Bass performed by Shalor Howell

Drums performed by Matt Hendler

Pedal Steel Guitar & Violin performed by Ethan Fogus

Review

You’re Not Yourself Lately is the debut album from Ambient/Post-Metal collective Rapidly Aging who brings a dense and progressive style to the Post-Metal world as Shalor Howell (the creative mastermind behind the project) explores a slow style of music that allows other areas of Post-Rock. Shoegaze and Sludge Metal to fully form. Rapidly Aging takes their time in building highly melodic Post-Rock structures that are firm and hold steady one moment before a towering force of Atmospheric Sludge destroys everything for a heavier style of ritualistic passage to form.

You can hear influences from the likes of Pelican, Neurosis, OM, Pink Floyd, Earth and Russian Circles which shows you the type of musical surroundings that Rapidly Aging aims for. The whole thing does take time to fully get moving along but it’s a deeply reflective journey that allows the Ambient and Post-Rock sounds to appear within the haunting opening tracks of Distant Sirens Wailing and Fleeting Moment. I would consider these tracks the most straightforward songs on the whole album as Shalor Howell moves along into some unexpected themes of music for the stunning third track The Negative Thought Loops. 

The Negative Thought Loops combines Post-Metal aesthetics with a gloomy Americana, Gothic and Southern Folk sound which is held together by a commanding Post-Metal presence. The instrumental passages are heavy for the most part but Rapidly Aging then aims for a subtle Alt Rock and Experimental based flow. The whole thing tries to strive for pure Post-Metal heaviness but settles for a great style of Post-Rock and Post-Doom aggression. Parts Neurosis and Pink Floyd combine for a sound that’s perhaps one of the most reflective moments on the whole album.

Fourth track Awoken From A Bad Dream To An Even Worse Reality never shies away from playing a monumental style of precise progressive melodies that have a certain Pelican (Australasia) vibe to them. The free-flowing “cinematic” journey of the track brings a low-key Psych Metal aspect into the mix. The song is equally spaced out and fuelled by tranquil Post-Rock themes that feel cautiously optimistic but quite content to remain in the darkness at the same time.

The level of music experimentation is excellent with some deft classical rock and jazzy scores starting to make themselves known on the second half of the album. All of the vocal samples that provide the main storyline for the album are taken from the classic 1974 French film “The Man Who Sleeps” with this album acting as the unofficial soundtrack. I haven’t seen the film but the samples used are magnificent where they are matched up to the music amazingly well especially within the Ambient sections of the whole record.

The final three tracks of the album allows Rapidly Aging to fully explore the heaviest and progressive moments on the album whilst keeping to a slight Orchestral delivery mostly on How Quickly The Ground Falls Out Beneath You and To Keep From. There’s a determined energy to how the music is delivered with intense Progressive musical beats becoming thicker and denser that allows the album to reach it’s emotionally charged conclusion.

You’re Not Yourself Lately is not an easy album to listen to but it’s the overall journey that Rapidly Aging takes you upon that’s the real highlight. For an instrumental record, Rapidly Aging have crafted a dark and mysterious record that offers no easy answers but you can’y deny how brilliantly powerful the record is when everything is said and done….

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

You’re Not Yourself Lately is available to buy now.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Post-Rock/Post-Metal Collective Our Ceasing Voice Unveil New Single And Video “Wherever You Are”

A deeply personal song about loss, forgiveness and keeping a memory alive

Austrian post rock and post metal quartet Our Ceasing Voice return with “Wherever You Are”, the third single taken from their forthcoming album “The Origin of Everything”, due for release on October 2nd, 2026 via Argonauta Records.

Watch the official video for “Wherever You Are”:

Following the previously released singles “Diamond Eyes” and “The Man You Wanted Me To Be”, “Wherever You Are” reveals perhaps the most intimate side of Our Ceasing Voice. Written in the aftermath of a devastating personal loss, the song is a meditation on grief, guilt and the difficult path towards forgiveness.

Vocalist Dominik Dörfler explains:

“When I was faced with the loss of an especially close friend in 2005, something inside me broke and has still not healed to this day, leaving a huge void.”

For years, Dörfler carried the feeling that he could somehow have prevented his friend's death, a thought that became increasingly difficult to escape.

“This feeling haunted me for so many years and prevented me, in every way, from coming to terms with it.”

Fourteen years after the loss, in 2019, Dörfler finally sat down at the piano and wrote “Wherever You Are”. The song remained untouched for a long time, neither played nor listened to, before the band eventually returned to it while working on “The Origin of Everything”.

Reworking the composition and revisiting its lyrics ultimately became part of a deeply personal process of healing.

“Working on it really helped me cope with this loss, see it in a different light, replace that feeling of anger with a kind of forgiveness toward myself, and immortalize the memory of a beautiful person.”

That sense of emotional transformation lies at the heart of “The Origin of Everything”. While the album looks inward at identity, belonging, memory and the forces that shape who we become, “Wherever You Are” confronts the past directly, turning grief into remembrance and regret into acceptance.

Musically, the song showcases the band's ability to move between fragile intimacy and expansive post rock intensity, creating a space where melancholy and catharsis coexist. It is another glimpse into an album that sees Our Ceasing Voice pushing beyond their earlier sound while preserving the emotional depth that has defined them since their formation in Innsbruck in 2006.

“The Origin of Everything” will be released on October 2nd, 2026 via Argonauta Records and features eleven songs that trace different paths through memory, identity, longing and transformation.

For more info:

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

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the details.

Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree - In Between Strides (Album Review)

Release Date: September 18th 2026. Record Label: Magnetic Eye Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

In Between Strides - Tracklist

1. Departure

2. Respite

3. Clutching at Straws

4. Elisa

5. Return, Precipice

Members

Simon Weinrich – guitar, vocals, Rhodes piano

Marc Dreher – drums, vocals, Rhodes piano

Lucas Dreher – guitar

Christopher Popowitsch – bass

Review

Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree return with their exquisite fourth album In Between Strides which will surely establish them once and for all as one of the most refreshing and essential modern day Psychedelic Doom/Post-Metal outfits the scene currently has right now. The band perhaps rely on a refreshing style of Ambient Metal unlike ever before with this release which allows them to construct the perfect musical gateway in delivering their sublime Post-Rock vs Post-Metal based structures. 

Though, the band still build those Post-Metal foundations on a solid level of Psychedelic Doom Metal with moody Stoner Rock based measures which comes superbly well within the opening tracks of Departure and Respite. Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree construct an epic cinematic narrative with their lyrical content and the haunting vocals that appear with a dedicated Alternative melody allowing the band to deliver sludgier instrumental sounds.

Some of the songs are quite fractured which reminds me of Pelican and Russian Circles in places but it’s the winning meditative energy that brings everything back together. With a free-flowing creativity matched only by the likes of ELDER and YOB, there’s always something unique, heavy and emotionally rewarding being played within every track.

In Between Strides allows Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree to experiment with areas of Drone Rock, Shoegaze and Prog Rock which arrives on different parts of the album. The band even experimented with haunting piano melodies with both Simon Weinrich and Marc Dreher playing superb instrumental pieces on the Rhodes Piano. 

The second track Respite is more of a Jazzy Post-Rock interlude which showcases a more caring and tender side of the band which is beautifully played and layered with small movements of Psych Rock and Spaced Out sounds. There’s a small glimmer of Drone appearing within the closing stages which allows the band to add a brief sense of gloom and hopefulness into the mix.

Third track Clutching At Straws sees the band return to that heavy Doomgaze world with echoes of Psychedelic Doom being the main focus with distorted sludgy rhythms developing into a modern Post-Metal sound. This is layered with choppy instances of Sludge and Drone with a harsh backdrop of Stoner Metal which is the heaviest part of the album and perhaps the band’s career to date. Everything feels like it is being destroyed before being rebuilt in a more peaceful and hopeful image when the uplifting Ambient Post-Rock melodies appear within the final moments. 

The final two tracks of Elisa and Return, Precipice is a great combination of cinematic based surroundings which sees Bees Made Honey in The Vein Tree to further explore different areas of Doomed Out Heaviness with Elisa really hitting some hard-hitting emotionally charged movements. The vocals are excellent once more but it’s the progressive themes and technical sounds that capture the imagination especially from Marc Dreher (Drums) and Christopher Popowitsch (Bass) as they form a great understanding with that epic rhythm section.

This allows Lucas Dreher (Guitar) and Simon Weinrich (Guitar) to create world-expanding Cosmic based guitar passages which becomes more Space Rock dominated though still holding the band’s core instrumental sound. The vocals do become more depressing, bleak and ultimately destructive within the final track of Return, Precipice with music even transforming into a heavier blend of Blackened Post-Metal but with that sublime Post-Doom momentum still being heard within the background.

This is another album of the year from Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree, as In Between Strides is the band’s heaviest, aggressive and most unique sounding record yet. The music is wonderfully precise, beautifully sweet and equally as destructive the next. The whole journey feels like one grand musical adventure which instantly draws you in with its sweeping romantic Doomed Out measures that will leave you in a tranquil state of being.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to All Noir and Magnetic Eye Records for the details.

In Between Strides is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Magnetic Eye Records.

Links

https://beesmadehoneyintheveintree.com
www.facebook.com/beesmadehoneyintheveintree
www.instagram.com/beesmadehoneyintheveintree

Void Sinker - Pitch Black Sun (EP Review)

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

Pitch Black Sun - Tracklist

1.Pitch 

2.Black

3.Sun

Members

Guglielmo Allegro - Everything

Review

Drone/Doom/Sludge Metal instrumentalist Void Sinker offers another round of distorted misery with their latest chapter called Pitch Black Sun. Influenced by the wretched and cursed summer weather that Guglielmo Allegro experienced in his native home country of Italy, this record continues a similar journey heard on the last record of Cycle. This record has a gut-wrenching drone sound that holds everything down into the depths of Sludge based DOOM METAL. 

There’s a crushing Pitch-Black delivery that allows Void Sinker to create overlapping areas of pure violent distortion with a sweeping Post-Metal sound that has a gloomy aquatic energy that is disturbingly played for long stretches of mind expanding psychological terror.  The three part EP aligns the music closely to the likes of BONG, SUNN O))) and EARTH with no sense of upbeat energy appearing at all.

The thick industrial beats and massive chasms expand even more violently on the epic second track “BLACK” with even more layers of evil sounding DRONE METAL coming up from the depths of hell. The subtle chants can be heard which adds a classic Seventies Horror Movie effect with brief excursions into Cosmic Horror along the way.

Pitch Black Sun lasts for around twenty five minutes but it’s another cautionary and superb record from Void Sinker where they feel rejuvenated by the great use of Black Metal dynamics that perfectly matches the downbeat cover that illustrates what to expect for this record. The Ambient melodies have a distinctive Ambient Metal attitude with Guglielmo performing long drawn out instrumental sounds that feel like a mentally and physically exhausting workout before everything is said and done.

Void Sinker impresses yet again with another sublime release that’s perhaps his most intense, darkest and droned out record in quite some time. This is one perhaps for dedicated followers of Void Sinker only but what a great experience that ultimately awaits them.

Words by Steve Howe

Links 

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Chat Pile - Who Loves The Sun (Album Review)

Release Date: September 04th 2026. Record Label: The Flenser. Format: CD/DD/Tape/Vinyl

Who Loves The Sun - Tracklist

1.Creature
2.Deep Blue
3.Same Rules
4.PEN I S MALL
5.Shrine
6.Intruder
7.Christabel ‘26
8.Influence
9.Family Funeral
10.October All The Time

Members

Ray B. - Vocals
L. Manhole - Guitar
Stin - Bass
Drums - Cap’n Ron

Review

Noise/Sludge Metallers Chat Pile return with their highly anticipated third album Who Loves The Sun which once again highlights why they’re one of the most unpredictable, original and most important bands to emerge from the Heavy Metal scene in years. This record shows once again how the band incorporates new elements of music into their ever-growing sound such as Alt Rock, Indie Rock, Shoegaze and Trip-Hop.

Chat Pile demonstrates why they’re so highly thought of with ten tracks that captures the raw essence of the Sludge Metal scene with a grimy and seedy attitude most bands cannot capture. The moody Noise Rock theatrics keeps everything grounded and allows Chat Pile to reinvent themselves yet again with a mixture of Industrial Metal and Post-Punk beats which has a mighty Eighties Rock presence especially within the lyrics and the more somber parts of the record. There’s a great style of vicious melody and rhythm developing which is more focused compared to their previous two albums.

Who Loves The Sun even has brilliantly refined commercial aspects which can easily launch these guys further into the mainstream. The despairing Noise Rock quality reminds me of The Jesus Lizard jamming with the likes of The Melvins and Kowloon Walled City but with Chat Pile keeping their own unflinching approach with bleak lyrics holding everything together. The shift in minimalist Post-Rock, Post-Punk and Sludge Metal is quite refreshing with a subtle Grunge and Psychedelic flavour emerging which adds a real chameleon like effect to the whole journey.

The “Doom & Gloom” essence is stripped apart and rebuilt within the band’s image which they incorporate into almost every track with a filth ridden attitude that can be quite buoyant and gleefully upbeat at times. The raw sounding production values allows Chat Pile to play at their own destructive slow-to-mid paced grooves with a level of sheer heaviness only appearing when it’s really needed.

The first half of the album allows Chat Pile to explore a decaying style of Grunge, Noise and Alt Rock with songs Creature, Same Rules and PEN I S MALL adding a heap of Blackened Sludge themes for a subversive experience. This allows the lead vocals to demonstrate a politically charged energy that really does hammer the points home that Chat Pile are providing this album.

Chat Pile are fully committed to exploring different areas of music for this record on other tracks such as Shrine, Intruder, Family Funeral and October All The Time which have some of the most rewarding moments on the album. The whole mood is constantly engaging with intense progressive musical passages being quite hypnotic and brilliantly surreal. 

Who Loves The Sun isn’t an easy album to listen to but it’s one that offers a must have experience where Chat Pile doesn't even offer any easy answers or solutions. As they leave this up to the listener’s own conclusions. What is guaranteed is another masterful record from Chat Pile that once again cements their status as one of the most important Heavy Rock bands in the world currently playing today. 

This is an absolute masterpiece and is a record everyone needs to own right now!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Rarely Unable PR for the promo.

Who Loves The Sun is available to buy now on CD, Digital, Tape and Vinyl.

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

30,000 Monkies - Super Rebound (Album Review)

Release Date: September 18th 2026. Record Label: FVN KULT RECORDS. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Super Rebound - Tracklist

1.THE GUMS

2.PRISM BREAK 

3.[HORNS WAILING]

4.MOUNTAINESQUE 4

5.UNSOUND HERO

6.[SIREN SINGING]

7.SUPER REBOUND 

8.SWERVER

9.[BELLS RINGING, TALE MELTING]

 

Members

Ruben Savelkoul (Guitar, Vocals, Programming)

Michiel De Naegel (Guitar, Vocals)

Cyril Beerten (Bass, Vocals)

Mattias Jonniaux (Drums)

Review

Doom/Sludge/Noise/Sonic Terrorists 30,000 Monkies return with their sixth album Super Rebound and it’s equally weird and brilliantly fucked as their previous albums. However, this is the band’s most heaviest, creative, riff-centric and dare I say hopefully optimistic despite the harsh and bleak savagery the band put the listener through. Taking the classic Post-Metal template used by the likes of NEUROSIS, ISIS and CULT OF LUNA before applying an experimental vibe that reminds of BORIS and THE MELVINS. 

The added use of Psych Metal, Industrial Metal, Punk Metal and Stoner Metal make drastic appearances throughout the album where 30,000 Monkies not only come to terms with their own musical legacy but also redefining and reinventing everything for the better. This album does have a warped schizophrenic vision but there’s a gloomy sense of rhythm and melody holding everything together with the bombastic vocals being sung violently but with real purpose. 

You can see the band applying a nightmarish delivery to their music but it’s superbly real and grounded even with 30,000 Monkies applying a scattered approach to the overlapping areas of music being played like their lives dependent on it. The Blackened Sludge melodies does remind me of KVELERTAK on certain parts of the album with 30,000 Monkikes developing a non-stop array of grooves, riffs and musical hooks to entice the listener with. 

30,000 Monkies perhaps over do things with the SONIC passages and feedback loops where the music could have a great “LESS IS MORE” delivery but I would be lying to myself if I don’t own up to the fact that the album works best when the band unleash a torrent of fucked up grooves that venture into the Experimental Metal spectrum. 

Super Rebound does feel too long at times but it’s never boring with 30,000 Monkies creating a non-stop symphony of chaotic violence on tracks such as The Gums, Prism Break, Mountainesque 4, Unsound Hero, Super Rebound and [Bells Ringing, Tales Melting]. You will probably need a few listens to fully understand the message that 30,000 Monkies are trying to deliver with Super Rebound. However, it’s worth doing this as I missed quite a lot during my first listen of the album. That’s mostly down to how many different areas of music that 30,000 continues to develop throughout the album.

The whole experience is wonderfully offbeat to the very end but 30,000 Monkies never lose sight on how to have fun with the record even if they’re confronting their own musical legacy and creative mortality within the main themes of Super Rebound. The multi-faceted approach of the album is absolutely groundbreaking in the grand scheme of things as you don’t experience this style of Doom, Sludge and Post-metal very often.

This was a very hard album to review where I must have written about five different versions before settling on this one. I apologise to everyone if I didn’t manage to capture the unique presence of this album but that’s what to expect for such a true original that allows 30,000 Monkies to be one of the most daring and highly original bands within the underground Doom/Sludge Metal scene today.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Super Rebound is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via FVN KULT RECORDS.

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