Terra Black - Mirage (Album Review)

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

Mirage - Tracklist

1.The Gathering

2.Guayota 

3.Pareidolia

4.Thorn

5.Maze

6.In Stone 

7.Ruins 

8.In stars

Members

Ezgi – Lead Vocals and Guitars

Isak – Guitars

Denice – Bass

Sophie – Drums

Review

Psychedelic Doomsters Terra Black return with their sophomore album Mirage which takes a slightly different step compared to their acclaimed 2023 debut album All Descend. As Terra Black move slightly further from the spooky Occult Doom sound they conjured up so magnificently on their debut album which has been replaced by a thicker, denser and heavier COSMIC based attitude.

This gives their sound a trippier and psychedelic energy which is noticeable from the very start with a grounded Shoegaze and Sludge Rock melody developing with stunning vocals to match. However, there’s still that highly accomplished Occult Doom sound that made Terra Black such a great band to look out for that manages to stay consistently relevant with punishing levels of distorted FUZZ appearing behind the scenes. The lyrics have a winning DOOM & GLOOM attitude to them with the music matching the likes of MONOLORD and ELECTRIC WIZARD with that intense slow-to-mid pace.

Terra Black developed a thicker, heavier and denser style of Doomed Out Metal with a sublime Psychedelic Stoner Metal attitude forming on different parts of the album. The vocals from Ezgi are utterly captivating and deliver the right level of pure innocence and demonic based passion which feels like they’re being delivered by two different entities. This gives Mirage a bewitching atmospheric and seductive quality within the grounded moments of the album but the whole thing fully excels when the band play into their new found COSMIC DOOM surroundings. 

The music becomes noticeably thicker and brimming with amplified capabilities especially on tracks Guayota, Pareidolia, In Stone and Ruins. The whole sound is full of violent Fuzzed Out landscapes where Terra Black put their AMPS all the way upto dangerous levels and let their music do the talking. The harsh screams linger in the background before exploding into an emotional style that brings the Occult Doom world closer to the fringes of modern day Heavy Psych and Spaced Out Doom closer than ever before.

Terra Black have written some intriguing lyrics to match the music and with the band part of the massive Swedish underground metal scene then you know what to expect when that scene’s legendary sound develops into something more tribal and ritualistic. There’s some dizzying soundscapes and vocal chants that taps right into the Seventies Occult Rock scene but with dazzling Drone Metal overtones. 

Mirage is quite a forward thinking album as it’s fuelled by elements of Heavy Psych, Occult Rock. Doom Metal, Shoegaze, Stoner Metal and Space Rock which gives it such a nomadic and solitary existence at times. The whole thing is superbly real and refreshingly original with certain sections of the album transforming into a meditative style of Grunge, Post-Rock and Shoegaze that gives this record a completely different tone on the second half of the album.

The Ambient themes are exquisite and have a certain romantic elegance to them but that soon gives way to that modern day destructive grooves and soulful melodies that take no prisoners especially within the excellent rhythm section that allows Terra Black to branch out into different areas of music. 

Mirage is a magnificent beast of an album. As this is a record that knows when to become a true force of nature that destroys everything in Terra Black’s wake but it also knows when to show it’s caring, tender and emotionally engaging side as well. When both these worlds collide then there’s no stopping TERRA BLACK delivering one of the most satisfying COSMIC DOOMED OUT experiences you’ll have this year.

WOW!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Sheltered Life PR for the promo.

Mirage is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Bonebag Records.

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Spotify | Instagram | Apple Music

Shovelhead - A Place Of Dead Roads (Album Review)

Release Date: September 12th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Rising. Format: CD/DD

A Place Of Dead Roads - Tracklist

01. Witching Hour

02. Tempest

03. Dominion/Big Tex

04. Ghost in the Garden

05. Middle Man

06. White Stag Ghost

07. Bombers

Members

Jim LaPointe - Vocals, Guitar

Mike Scott - Drums

George Pierro - Bass

Review

Shovelhead may not be a name you’re familiar with but to a small and loyal dedicated following within the Stoner Rock/Metal underground community, these guys are almost legendary  especially around their hometown of New Jersey. This area is home to the likes of Stoner Rock/Metal legends Monster Magnet. SOLACE and The Atomic Bitchwax. Whilst Shovelhead didn’t reach the same towering heights of those legendary bands, their impact is just as meaningful.

The guys have returned with their first album “A Place Of Dead Roads” in nineteen years. I was a huge fan of their 2007 record The Crown & The Knife. The band helped form the style of Rock & Roll driven based Stoner Metal that’s so popular today and I’m pleased to say that almost two decades on that Shovelhead’s latest album makes them feel as important and vital as ever.

The record is powered by a classic style of “TURBO CHARGED” grooves with some great Garage Rock melodies with a burgeoning seedy Psychedelic attitude. Shovelhead don’t apply modern studio and recording techniques into their music. This is good old fashioned Stoner Rock/Metal music how it’s meant to sound and and superbly played. The end result is raw, uncompromising, gritty and highly unpredictable that allows Shovelhead to play with a fearless attitude which is applied throughout the whole album.

There are some moments of Grunge and Progressive momentums contained within the lengthier tracks of the album (Tempest, Dominion/Big Tex, Middle Man and White Stag Ghost) but there’s a multitude of different styles of Heavy Rock that’s being applied by Shovelhead that makes you just appreciate the fact how these guys are still around after thirty years making great music.

There’s a WILD MAN OF ROCK swagger that’s applied by Shovelhead to the fastest and heaviest parts of the record. There’s an out of control “JAM BASED” quality that you can hear within the fuzziest and sleaziest sounds of the album. The vocals by Jim LaPointe appear only when they’re fully needed which gives real weight to the whole record.

Only Jim LaPointe and Mike Scott remain from the original lineup with George Pierro replacing original bassist Sha Zaidi. George Pierro brings his own heavy bass sound to the part which is quite different to Sha Zaidi’s but still fully fantastic and fully becoming part of the Shovelhead creative framework.

A Place Of Dead Roads is quite a loose record and opts for a riff-centric / jam based delivery which has always been a staple of Shovelhead ever since their formative years. However, everything works as it should with the band delivering an intense musical performance that upcoming Stoner Rock bands should study and appreciate having great bands such as Shovelhead on how to create, write and perform a classic sounding Stoner Rock track.

As I stated previously, the production values are very raw and highly unapologetic but it’s one of the main strengths that allows A Place Of Dead Roads to fully stand out from the crowd. Shovelhead have released a first rate “COMEBACK” record that I’m hoping gives the band further appreciation from the whole Stoner Rock/Metal community. As this is as good as it gets.

If you miss the early days of MONSTER MAGNET when they had intense New Jersey destructive sound running through their veins that they may have lost over the years then you really need to check out SHOVELHEAD right now. As these guys are seriously becoming better musicians and more an essential band in their later years.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Mettle Media PR for the details.

Links

https://shovelheadnj.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/ShovelheadNJ
https://www.youtube.com/@theoriginalShovelhead
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pIndavttdvGqKlHdVQp3L
https://intothevoidmerchco.com/collections/shovelhead
https://www.facebook.com/people/Shovelhead/100061003818946/
https://www.instagram.com/shovelheadnj

Doom/Sludge Heavyweights Sea Bastard Prepare To Release Cyclopean on Road To Masochist. Release New Song/Video For PROPHET FOR THE PEOPLE

Formed in 2011 by four musicians with a wealth of previous experience on the scene, Sea Bastard made rapid early progress. Their self-titled debut album appeared in 2012 and the follow up, Scabrous, was hot on its heels in 2013. The sheer weight and baleful intent of their malicious blend of suppurating sludge and decimating doom also saw them invited to tour with the likes of Witchsorrow and Primitive Man, as well as being selected to appear at high profile festivals like Desertfest, Damnation and Temples. 

However, after split releases with Keeper (2015) and Primitive Man (2016), Sea Bastard retreated into hibernation while the band members focussed on other projects dear to their decaying hearts. It took the request of a friend, diagnosed with a terminal illness, to reunite them in 2021 – something no one could refuse – and make them set sail on their polluted, poisoned waters once more. And now, after five long years, they are ready to invite us on another journey into their kingdom of torpid madness, with their third harrowing album…Cyclopean.

Nerve-shredding howls of feedback usher us into the subterranean rumble of Cyclopean’s first track, ‘Dark Altar’. You are carried onwards upon a thick, primal ocean of cloying darkness, the relentless earthshaking bass and gnarled, grizzled guitars bleeding your life from you like overzealous medieval physicians. Your desire to move, to think or even breath are all lost in the soporific, congealing tides. But Sea Bastard’s vast, sprawling tracks all cover a multitude of territories in their wanderings and an eruption of rage and spiralling chaos awaits, a razor’s edge of fear slicing into the dreamless slumber. 

Then, emerging from the residue of shadows, comes ’Entombed With The Pharaoh’, full of cavernous, malignant menace; the bass weaving threads of exotic atmosphere between the head-caving riffs and lich-like vocals. Nightmares lurk in this cunningly constructed maze-like mausoleum, even as it settles into a dark, rotten and mesmeric groove…and escape from the pyramid leads only to the arms of the ‘Prophet Of The People’, a song with an imperious swagger and untouchable, unquestionable power. It slides into a morass of wickedness, irresistible and heavier than God, dragging you down beneath the surface, where, far from the light a new sonic realm unfurls – bleak, broken and bereft of hope. 

Finally, crawling from an unnerving sense of emptiness, the formless beast of aggression and terror that is ‘Nameless Purgatory’…a last chapter that offers no return to the light, no respite from agony and confusion. Ungraspable, unknowable it stretches out before you like the plains of Hell and drags you, doomed and damned, past the limits of your endurance. Sea Bastard did not return to play around. This is doom and sludge operating in the farthest badlands of the genres and will leave you hollowed out and shellshocked.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Paul 'Win' Winstanley (Code, Grave Lines, King Leviathan etc), every note of Cyclopean is imbued with an impossible, unbearable weight; while the artwork of guitarist Oliver 'Irongiant ' Hill channels all the madness and soul crushing desolation that informs this torturous work. Set to be released by Road To Masochist on October 30th, on Double Black 12" vinyl and CD, Cyclopean is the heaviest album you will hear this year, in many different ways. There is no coming back from this.

Line-up:

Steve Patton – Bass
Ian 'Monty' Montgomery - Vocals
Oliver 'Irongiant ' Hill – Guitars
George Leaver – Drums

Genre: Doom/Sludge Metal

For fans of: Primitive Man | Dead Existence | Dragged Into Sunlight | Rwake

Further Information:

https://www.facebook.com/seabastarddoom
https://www.instagram.com/seabastarddoom/
https://www.youtube.com/seabastarddoom
https://seabastard.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5bKWZ1zPK1bXb7j64jN02w

Thanks to Imperative PR for the details.

Apodemus - Radar (Album Review)

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

Radar - Tracklist

1.Ohm 00:44

2.Dynamic 07:19

3.Radar 10:50

4.Station 06:47

5.Wave / Valve 13:01

Review

Radar is the latest album from Heavy Psych Stoner Rockers Apodemus who have established themselves a loyal cult following within the underground scene due to the great records they’ve released over the years. Their music is a heavy mix of extended instrumental jams and superb freak outs that’s laced with some standout DOOM ROCK movements. The record is quite a fast-paced affair with Apodemus exploring a more adventurous and progressive style of Heavy Psychedelic music. 

Taking cues from the likes of Earthless, Yawning Man and Karma To Burn but with a glorious “HIP” rhythm from their own making. The drums are quite hard-hitting with the rest of the band shaping up the musical landscape. There’s a great use of Post-Rock dynamics with a subtle change in mood and melodies within the quieter and refined parts of the album. However, a heavy instrumental melody is never too far behind especially on the lengthier tracks of Dynamic, Radar and Wave / Valve. 

Apodemus adds themes of Doom Metal and Stoner Metal throughout the album which brings a fresh Space Rock perspective on the majority of the tracks. The scope of the record is quite straightforward but one that offers many different heavy levels of Instrumental Rock/Metal for listeners to immerse themselves in. 

Radar is quite an aggressive record with flashes of uplifting Ambient sounds hidden behind the thundering guitars and thumping rhythm section that appears quite dominantly on the standout tracks of Radar and Wave / Valve. The whole record is a beautifully orchestrated journey of highly exquisite musical passages that move across the Spaced Out spectrum of Heavy Psychedelic music.

There is some gloomy optimism and ambient methodology exploring into areas of deep sonic experimentation that can be quite meditative but Apodemus do keep close to the rules of classic Instrumental Stoner Rock/Metal that KARMA TO BURN mastered back in the day. 

Apodemus have delivered the goods with this album and it’s one that I can’t recommend highly enough. Check this out at your earliest opportunity!!!

 

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Megaton Communion - Three Of Cups (Album Review)

Release Date: September 11th 2026. Record Label: Black Doomba Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Three Of Cups - Tracklist

1.Evil Speak 03:43 video
2.Echoes in Time 04:52
3.Desert Centipede
4.Three of Cups
5.Depth
6.Embrace
7.The Hollow
8.Goddess
9.River Valley Queen

Members

Derrick – Guitar

Joe – Bass/Vocals

Ken Gosselin – Drums

Review

Desert Rock/Stoner Metallers Megaton Communion return with their second album Three Of Cups which allows the band to add a seedier and grungier style of music. The sound is still very distorted with a classic Nineties Hard Rock attitude that emerges very early on within the sublime opening track of Evil Speak. There is a great style of different influences appearing where you can hear musical vibes from the likes of Soundgarden, KYUSS, FU MANCHU and The Melvins. 

The whole sound has an aggressive layer of Fuzz Metal with some buoyant QOTSA and Truckfighters based Desert Rock swagger. Megaton Communion are in complete control creating their own great blend of gloomy sounds that become quite DOOM based with each passing song being played such as: Echoes Of Time and Desert Centipede. The band excel playing fast-paced music to the more doom rock orientated slow paced numbers which shows a wide range of different styles to appear.

Three Of Cups may be dominantly melodic but Megaton Communion allow themselves the time and freedom to go in a different musical direction where the sludgy instrumental sounds become more abrasive and refreshingly honest. The “DOOM & GLOOM” themes contained within the lyrics has a certain apocalyptical momentum especially towards the second half of the album.

Megaton Communion even added some TOOL-esque beatdowns and musical progressive beats to make this quite a mind expanding record still keeping with the grounded attitude that’s always been a great aspect of the band’s music. Perhaps not as riff heavy as their debut album but there’s more variety of great music that allows each band member to show their great musical skills from start to finish.

The stripped back production of the album is refreshingly clean and superbly real which allows  Megaton Communion to add real human emotion into their music and nothing is over played with Three Of Cups being superbly original in its own right.

Other standout tracks to check out are: Depth, Embrace, Goddess and the mighty final track River Valley Queen.

My final thoughts is that Megaton Communion have delivered a superbly addictive album that pays homage to the classic Nineties Hard Scene but adding a gritty modern day flavour into the mix that is the complete package if you’re a dedicated follower of THE MIGHTY RIFF!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Metal Devastation PR for the promo.

Three Of Cups is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Black Doomba Records.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

ROBOT GOD Release New Single – DRIFTING INTO OVERDRIVE - Out Sept 11th From Upcoming New Album

Sydney psychedelic heavy rockers Robot God are showing no signs of slowing down.

Following the release of their acclaimed 2026 album Onto the Afterlife, Robot God return with “Drifting into Overdrive”, the latest single from their upcoming album Curse of the Driven, landing on September 11 across all major streaming platforms.

“Drifting into Overdrive” is Robot God doing what they do best, locking into a deep, hypnotic groove and letting the riffs take the wheel. Fuzz, weight, atmosphere with a relentless forward momentum, delivering another glimpse into a band that continues to push its sound further with every release.

The single arrives ahead of the band's second full-length album of 2026, Curse of the Driven, due October 16th.

Available on vinyl through respected underground labels Kozmik Artifactz and Black Throne Productions, Curse of the Driven sees Robot God continuing their evolution through crushing stoner grooves, psychedelic textures, heavy riffs and expansive jams.

Robot God have spent the past few years building a reputation well beyond their Sydney home base, earning international recognition within the psychedelic, stoner and heavy underground and sharing stages with major international acts. Now, with Onto the Afterlife behind them and Curse of the Driven ready to land, the band are taking things up another level.

Check out the link below for current singles and Robot God socials.

https://linktr.ee/RobotGod

JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 16th to 20th

Before the album campaign hits Australia, Robot God head overseas for a five date Japanese mini-tour of Tokyo and surrounds, taking their live show into the heart of Japan's underground heavy music scene.

September 16 – Cactus – Shinjuku
September 17 – Crescendo – Kichijoji
September 18 – Moonstep – Hatsudai
September 19 – Rathole – Chofu
September 20 – Earthdom – Shinjuku

The Japan run marks another step forward for a band that has steadily expanded its reach beyond Australian shores.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Robot God return home in October for a run of Australian shows supporting new single “Drifting into Overdrive” and the release of their latest album Curse of the Driven, hitting stages across Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne and Geelong.

Drifting into Overdrive hits streaming services September 11th.

Full album Curse of the Driven lands October 16th.

Get on board before the machine disappears over the horizon.

Links

Bandcamp | Youtube | Facebook | Spotify

Shrineburner - Hymns Of Despair (Album Review)

Release Date: September 11th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Hymns Of Despair - Tracklist

1.Void of Guilt

2.Spectral Cataclysm 10:48

3.Bodies Dragged to Sunlight 05:53

4.Slow Death Chant

5.An Ocean of Broken Hope

6.Hymn of Despair

Members

Peter Norman – guitar, vocals

Edward Hamel – drums

CJ Johnson – bass

Review

Hymns Of Despair is the massive debut album from Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Shrineburner who have risen from the heavy metal wastelands of Chicago which is shown throughout the album. You can hear the creative DNA from bands from that scene that has come before Shrineburner where they apply their own great style of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal folklore. 

The sound here is inspired by the likes of INDIAN, CONAN, BONGRIPPER, HIGH ON FIRE and MASTODON with Shrineburner applying a destructive cosmic energy which manifests into some epic Psychedelic down-tuned melodies with a fast paced Psychedelic quality. The added layer of Blackened Doom grooves adds a ferocious HEAVY METAL attitude which allows Peter Norman’s harsh vocals to put in a commanding performance within the stunning second track Spectral Cataclysm.

The whole environment is built upon violent areas of COSMIC DOOM with an intense THRASH METAL and SPEED METAL alliance forming when Shrineburner play an unstoppable style of HEAVY METAL before changing into an absorbing Post-Rock and Ambient Metal collective. Shades of YOB and PELICAN appear within these quieter moments which are some of my favourite parts of the album as it allows you to become emotionally attached to the whole album.

Even the darkest and bleakest moments of the album have a hopeful energy behind the scenes that gives Hymns Of Despair a multi-layered and progressive feel which the band play to their own great advantage on tracks such as: Bodies Dragged To Sunlight, An Ocean Of Broken Hope and Hymn Of Despair.

The Sludge Metal dynamic becomes the main weapon of choice for Shrineburner to build epic instrumental rhythms and melodies with that thumping bass line being another highlight of the album for me. There’s some great technical grooves being applied to the album which showcases how superbly talented the individual members of the band really are. The harsh atmospheric landscapes adds a true sense of despair with downbeat grooves being projected throughout the album though it’s deeply nuanced COSMIC and PSYCHEDELIC moments that holds everything together.

Shrineburner apply some great storytelling themes within the lyrics that remind me of MASTODON and HIGH ON FIRE but the band apply their own gritty attitude into the whole void with some brutally realistic themes emerging within the longer tracks contained on the album. There’s a great mix of down-tuned, low & slow and amplifier distorted instrumental passages that manage to both be quite old-school and superbly modern at the same time. 

The vocals maybe harsh and abrasive throughout but they’re quite easy to understand which allows the listener to be fully immersed with the whole musical journey at play here. Shrineburner are a fairly “new” band forming in 2023 but they feel like they’ve been around for decades with this record feeling like a greatest hits package than their debut album.

Hymns Of Despair is a masterful record and is one of the strongest debut albums I’ve had the pleasure to listen to. On this form alone, Shrineburner have what it takes to make a long lasting impact within the underground Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene and possibly beyond. 

This is an essential album to own. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Earsplit PR for the promo.

Hymns Of Despair is available to buy now on CD/Digital Download with a vinyl release planned at a later date.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Hazemind - Inner Sanctum (Album Review)

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

Inner Sanctum - Tracklist

1.Burning Fuel 06:06

2.Mountain 07:35

3.Hellfire 06:40

4.Welcome To The Void 04:44

5.Broken Ropes 04:51

6.Interruption 00:42

7.When The Leader Speaks 07:04

8.The Shell (Part 1: On The Edge) 05:47

9.The Shell (Part 2: Into The Madness) 03:20

Members

Mathieu Pelletier - Bass

René "Bits" Hosson - Drums

Elliot Cadieux - Guitars

Jonathan Lachapelle - Vocals

Review

Inner Sanctum is the debut album from Stoner Metallers Hazemind which is a classic mix of aggressive melodies and subtle fuzz rock attitude. There’s a great Doom Rock aspect that appears from the very start with Hazemind creating fast-paced sounds with an excellent backdrop of Stoner Rock/Metal mechanics that is easily fused to some classic Heavy Rock and Desert Rock themes.

Jonathan Lachapelle’s vocals have a great throwback quality to them with them filled with vibes from the Nineties Grunge, Psych and Stoner Metal scenes. The rest of the band apply a great level of Psychedelic and Progressive based passages which should have fans of bands such as Howling Giant, KYUSS, FU MANCHU and Truckfighters on the edge of their seats. There is a trippy and psychedelic vibe which becomes more dominant from the excellent second track Mountain with some subtle musical change over to a heavier level of Doomed Out Rock. 

There’s some mighty fine interplay between the Grungier aspects that comes across superbly well from the epic guitars played by Elliot Cadieux. Though, he’s supported brilliantly by the storming rhythm section of Mathieu Pelletier (Bass) and René "Bits" Hosson (Drums) who perhaps have a subtle HEAVY METAL attitude for the way they deliver their music.

Certain sections of the record are quite intense with that Scorched Desert Rock attitude forming on the tracks Mountain, Hellfire, Welcome To The Void, and When The Leader Speaks. As the lyrics have a highly confident atmospheric nature to them. Hazemind approaches their “destructive” and "atmospheric" melodies with real cold hearted efficiency which gives their music a more deceiving style of pure raw heaviness. 

Inner Sanctum does have that raw and stripped back sound mostly heard within the sublime production values that gives Hazemind a heavier presence within the later stages of the album. This is a debut packed full of great tunes which allows Hazemind to fully announce their arrival within the Doom/Stoner Metal underground scene and perhaps make a name for themselves in no time at all.

If you want an album that stays true to the classic essence of Stoner Rock/Metal and have some brief excursions into other areas of Heavy Rock then Hazemind are the band for you!!!

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

New Jersey's SHOVELHEAD Return After 19 Years to Unveil Video Single "Witching Hour" Off Upcoming Album!

New Jersey's obscure Stoner Rock titans SHOVELHEAD return after 19 years, hauling in a heavyweight truckload of polished tracks on new album ‘A Place of Dead Roads’. Kicking up the dust on new jams starts right with the first track and video single of "Witching Hour."

Since forming in the early 90s, SHOVELHEAD (originally The Lemmings) has been at the vanguard of the groundbreaking New Jersey scene that produced underground heavy rock goliaths such as Monster Magnet, The Atomic Bitchwax, Solace, Halfway To Gone, Core, and Solarized.

Alongside other pioneering bands that helped lay the foundation for the coveted genre we know as Stoner Rock, SHOVELHEAD began crafting their sound before the genre had fully formed, resulting in a distinctive style of Stoner Rock N’ Roll that has served the scene for over three decades. During their initial run, three regionally notorious SHOVELHEAD albums (and one Lemmings album) were released, and at this point the titanic number of shows played is uncountable.

SHOVELHEAD decelerated in the late 2010s, along with the majority of planet Earth, but is back to full open throttle in 2026. Founding members Mike Scott and Jim LaPointe (also a contributor to Black NASA’s ‘Deuce’ album and live performer with the band) fused with George Pierro (Solarized, Maegashira, Tarpit Boogie) to resume playing shows, writing fresh tunes, and recording a new album.

'A Place of Dead Roads' is due out through independent release on Saturday, September 12, 2026. The heavy power trio self-produced the new full-length, with recording, mixing, and mastering all handled by George Pierro. Our introduction to the album is by way of its opening track, "Witching Hour," available for streaming on Bandcamp, and don't miss out on the official video below!

A Place of Dead Roads - Tracklist:

01. Witching Hour
02. Tempest
03. Dominion/Big Tex
04. Ghost in the Garden
05. Middle Man
06. White Stag Ghost
07. Bombers

To celebrate the release of 'A Place of Dead Roads', the band has a Record Release show with SHUT UP and BLACK HORSE PIKE in Jackson, New Jersey.

Everyone can pre-order 'A Place of Dead Roads' from SHOVELHEAD on their Bandcamp page right now:

https://shovelheadnj.bandcamp.com/

Witching Hour (Official Video) by SHOVELHEAD

Video Production & Editing by George Pierro.

T.R.O.G. - The Race of Gentleman footage was shot and provided by: / @bigblockautomobilia3895

“Best rock band in Jersey......a well-kept secret of that scene.” - The Obelisk

“Those in-the-know, KNOW that SHOVELHEAD is one of Jersey’s best kept heavy rock secrets. Those that don’t know, SHOULD KNOW!” - Tommy Southard, Solace

SHOVELHEAD is:

Jim LaPointe - Vocals, Guitar
Mike Scott - Drums
George Pierro - Bass

SEE SHOVELHEAD LIVE:

Sept. 12 Jackson, NJ - Shovelhead Record Release Show w/ Shut Up & Black Horse Pike
Sept. 25 - Vineland, NJ - w/ Meatplow & Dreadstrar
Oct. 04 - Manahawkin, NJ - w/ Dying Light

Links

https://shovelheadnj.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/ShovelheadNJ
https://www.youtube.com/@theoriginalShovelhead
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pIndavttdvGqKlHdVQp3L
https://intothevoidmerchco.com/collections/shovelhead
https://www.facebook.com/people/Shovelhead/100061003818946/
https://www.instagram.com/shovelheadnj

Thanks to Mettle Media PR for the details.

Mechwar - Love Comes With A Knife (Single Review)

Release Date: September 01st 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Love Comes With A Knife - Tracklist

Love Comes With A Knife

Review

Love Comes With A Knife is the latest single from Sludge/Stoner Metallers Mechwar which continues the great work laid down on their 2025 debut release Hope // Mercy. The time round there’s a violent stripped back atmosphere which has some harsh vocals to match. The violent Post-Doom, Grunge and Noise Rock surroundings is powered by an aggressive bass line which feels like the real motorised engine that Mechwar builds everything around.

Perhaps not as riff heavy that you initially expect but a multitude of different progressive sounding melodies that is quite grimy but superbly melodic within its own unique. Mechwar are playing a less polished style of Sludge and Stoner Metal that’s packed full of menacing intent with the slow paced drumming adding a massive wall of sound into the track. With some cool Psychedelic and Amplifier trickery being added along the way, Mechwar employs a wealth of different LOW & SLOW and DISTORTED grooves which can be quite spaced out in the quieter moments.

Mechwar channels the likes of MELVINS, MONOLORD, SLEEP and SUNN 0))) on this track but still retain their own unique musical identity within the epic eleven and a half minutes runtime with ruthless precision. The raw sounding production values are quite abstract but serves the band amazingly well with the filthy and grimy attitude sealing the whole deal that makes Love Comes With A Knife such a thrilling experience. 

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp