Black Moon Cult - Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (Album Review)

Release Date: September 05th 2025. Record Label: Black Doomba Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig)  - Tracklisting

1.Moonchild Ritual 06:07

2.Supernova 05:12

3.Ophidian Future 08:06 video

4.Sunfish 04:40

5.At The Mountains of Madness 05:43

6.Stoned Ape 08:41

Members

Kaleb M. Riser - Vocals, Guitar, Synth, Electric Sitar

Kevin Lewis - Vocals, Bass, Keyboard, Pipe Organ

Jeff Vandebussche - Vocals, Drums, Percussion

Review

Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) is the latest record from Black Moon Cult who throw every groove, sound, rhythm and melody from the Psych/Stoner Metal movement with this album running for over thirty eight minutes in length. However, the album feels twice as long with Black Moon Cult playing a wide array of different style of melodies with fantastical creative insight. That creative vision is brought to life even further with Prog Rock/Metal techniques being added throughout the album.

With a multitude of different instruments played by the three core members to almost pure perfection especially on the experimental parts of the record where things like Electric Sitar and Pipe Organ make an appearance. However, it’s also the traditional instrumental sounds that make up the majority of the heavy based melodies with intense grooves being overplayed against areas of destructive Fuzz, Cosmic Rock and Space Rock for a sound you don’t really come across that much.

The vocals are EPIC but also wonderfully WEIRD which sees all three members branch out into louder areas of Heavy Metal at the drop of a hat. To confuse matters is Black Moon Cult’s dramatic use of Middle Eastern Trippy Sound Effects which sees this record having a weird “KrautRock” attitude before switching into other areas of Mystical Heavy Metal.

With influences ranging from Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd and KYUSS this never deters Black Moon Cult being their own band where they play their own highly original style of Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal with intense lyrics to match. There is a sense of weirdness appearing for all of the tracks but you can’t help be impressed by the band’s storytelling skills and the whole narrative of the record being completely BONKERS but also quite grounded at the same time on tracks such as: Moonchild Ritual, Supernova, Ophidian Future and Stoned Ape. 

Those tracks were the main standouts for myself as that’s where Black Moon Cult impress the most with their fearless playing and intense sludgy melodies that even had a “NO FUCKS GIVEN” attitude being added just for the sheer hell of it. Some may complain that Black Moon Cult are trying too hard here with the multitude of different styles that appear on the record and perhaps maybe play it safer. I’m grateful that Black Moon Cult feel brave and bold to release a wonderfully weird record like this for their debut album.

The band are aiming BIG with Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) and it really does have a gigantic CINEMATIC quality which taps right into the classic heyday of 1970’s Hard Rock EXCESS but delivers this with a free-flowing modern day attitude which is where the REAL MAGIC happens. 

Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) is delightfully weird and absolutely bonkers at the same time. However, it’s also a brilliantly entertaining record with Black Moon Cult delivering a highly anthemic and original sound of their own making.

Words by Steve Howe

 

Thanks to Metal Devastation Radio PR for the promo.

Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Black Doomba Records.

Links

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At War With The Sun - Remembrance (EP Review)

Release Date: September 12th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Remembrance - Tracklisting

Remembrance

Become The Void

Members

Karl Bicknell - Bass

Alex Keen - Drums

Jon Weatherill - Guitar/Vocals

Review

Doom/Sludge Metallers At War With The Sun return with their new EP - Remembrance. This is a brutally heavy and slow paced affair with the band creating deliberate Droned Out passages which has a hidden Ambient underscore within the gloomy psychedelic movements the band conjure up throughout the two lengthy tracks that make up the record. This is bleak music with a purpose where At War With The Sun focus upon building up their musical surroundings with echoes of decaying filth and down-tuned grooves for the majority of the EP.

Imagine THOU and BONGRIPPER jamming with SUNN 0))) with the opening track of Remembrance having an excellent melodic aspect at times within the Psychedelic and Post-Doom aspects of the band’s music. At War With The Sun experiment with their Post-Metal aspect of their sound that evolves into an almost Post-Rock creative flow but there’s a sense of hidden darkness always emerging from the shadows. The harsh vocals from Jon Weatherill appear only when they’re needed but with a style that’s always violent, harsh and aggressive but delivered with real purpose.

Some folks may feel that not a lot happens within the seventeen minute plus runtime of Remembrance but this is a journey worth taking as At War With The Sun fully succeeds in portraying a bleak and aggressive track that’s full of emotional sorrow at the same time. The final five minutes of the track is where the band fully bring their riff-centric sound to the Doom/Sludge Metal vortex with long drawn out notes with a flash of Psychedelic Heaviness and Down Tuned Distorted beats being some of the best parts of the whole EP.

Second track Become The Void has a slight Ambient Post-Rock / Post-Doom opening which allows At War With The Sun to conjure up highly destructive Droned Out Doom sounds merged with a highly cautious style of Atmospheric Sludge. Once again, the band takes a less-is-more approach with the music being played at a very slow pace which only allows the listener to soak up the violent melodies once more.

The level of DISTORTED FUZZ is slightly more powerful compared to the opening track but the name of the game for this EP is “LOW & SLOW” which At War With The Sun pulls off with flying colours. Jon’s vocals once again provide a punishing ritual of SATANIC GROWLS that easily fits in with the Drone Metal surroundings that Alex Keen (Drums) and Karl Bicknall (Bass) create by providing a formidable rhythm section.

Remembrance is a startling and brutal EP to punish your senses throughout. This perhaps marks a turning point for At War With The Sun with this being their standout release to date which could even see them gain quite a considerable and loyal following within the UK Underground Metal Scene.

Words by Steve Howe

 

Thanks to Diaries Of Doom for the promo.

Links

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Old Deer deliver scathing mathcore, sludge & more on new album "Someone in the House", out November 7th

Following their crushing 2024 debut EP of sludge, noise, and mathcore “Something in the Water”, Colorado quartet Old Deer return with a vengeance, pushing their sound to new extremities with first full-length “Someone in the House”.

As the title suggests, there is danger within Old Deer’s latest work. An unpredictability of what new sonic violence lurks around the corner, be it the piercing saxophone hidden with “The Hatch”, or the pit-inducing madness and crush of “Take it All”.

Drawing from a wide swath of heavy sounds, the corners of “Someone in the House” hold notes of sludge, doom, and post-metal, woven into foundations of blistering mathcore, noise rock, and post-hardcore.

Chameleon vocalist Matt Conlee delivers harrowing, ear-shredding screams, weaponizing his vocal cords for visceral impact one moment before laying down deep, melodic cleans the next.

In similarly shape-shifting fashion, the guitars and drums reel between brutal hardcore pummel and dizzying, spidery progressions owing as much to jazz as to math and noise.

Old Deer have concocted a heady, frightening brew of dangerous sonics and ill intent on “Someone in the House”, and dare listeners to take refuge within. The LP drops November 7th, and first single “Maelstrom” will storm the gates on September 19th.

Old Deer - Someone in the House

Album out November 7th, 2025 Self-released (Digital, CD)
Denver, Colorado
FFO: Botch, Chat Pile, Kowloon Walled City, Zao

Tracklist:

1. 2eizure 2alad (0:19)
2. The Hatch (5:00)
3. Still so Still (2:35)
4. Take it All (2:40)
5. Astrid (0:49)
6. Someone in the House (8:10)
7. Maelstrom (3:36)
8. 4507 (12:40)

Old Deer is:

Matt - Guitar, Vocals
Josh - Bass
Tyler - Guitar

Adam - Drums

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the details.

Polly - Death Drive (Single Review)

Release Date: September 08th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Death Drive - Tracklisting

Death Drive 

Members

Tina P, Tom P and Alex B.

Review

Death Drive is the new single from Psych/Stoner Rockers Polly which is from their upcoming new album of the same name due out for release on 22nd September 2025. What we have here is a song that explores areas of Psych, Doom, Stoner Rock and Proto-Metal surroundings. Death Drive starts off cautiously and slow paced with Polly delicately building the levels of Stoner Rock passages that transform into a gloomier driven sound.

Polly primarily uses the Seventies Rock & Roll template to create their music with flashes of other eras of Psych Rock with fragmented use of modern Doom/Stoner Rock grooves. The vocals are part of the Proto-Doom world with flashes of Occult Rock interacting with the subtle Instrumental grooves that merge Sludge Rock screeching guitars and COSMIC themes for a more aggressive style of music for the second half of the track.

The end result is a twisted ride into the Proto-Doom/Stoner Metal vortex with flashes of subtle Blues and Psych Rock distorted melodies that leaves you wanting more once the eight minutes runtime is finally up. If the rest of the upcoming Death Drive album follows this the same musical path as the title track then Polly should have no trouble gaining quite a cult following within the underground scene. 

Words by Steve Howe

 

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO - Sideral Voivod (Album Review)

Release Date: September 19th 2025. Record Label:  Octopus Risings. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Sideral Voivod - Tracklisting

Interstellar Greyhound

Icarus

Sideral Voivod

Sasquatch's Eyes

Ouija Witch

Telekinetic Thunder Yeti

King Bong

Prelude

Whale

Space Leech

Worship the Middle

Stomp

Summer in the Void

Members

Sara de Luca

Nicola Viola

Alessandro “Camu” Camurati 

Review

Sideral Voivod is the latest SONIC expedition from GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO. The record is a sludgy mix of Psych, Fuzz, Grunge, Noise and Stoner Metal with a subtle nineties Alt-Metal charge leading into some unexpected levels of distorted heaviness. The band adds an abrasive and sonic inducing level of raw aggression into the overall feel and sound of the record which leads into some catchy and fucked up heavy grooves.

The influences of L7, The Melvins, FU MANCHU and Acid King can most definitely be felt and heard with GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO applying their own blend of GONZO and HIPSTER based melodies throughout the album. The end result can be quite experimental in the most unexpected of places but doesn’t stop the band playing superbly interesting grooves with that Garage Rock attitude being played very early on within tracks such as Interstellar Greyhound, Icarus and Sideral Voivod. Sometimes the levels of distorted FUZZ Rock drown out the excellent vocals but maybe that’s the point to keep up with the “DESTROY TOKYO” aspect of the band’s name with a violent musical effect developing for the majority of the album.

The album transforms into one of Cosmic Doom landscapes merged with Psych Sludge Rock passages that allows the band to have some wicked fun within the whole album. There’s some freakish extended instrumental passages that have a wicked deviance into JAM Based rock soundscapes with that classic Noise / Grunge aesthetic creating the heaviest and most riff-centric parts of the whole album.

The LO-FI and SEEDY delivery of the record is demonstrated even further on tracks such as Telekinetic Yeti Thunder, King Bong, Space Leech, Worship The Middle and Summer In The Void with elements of MONSTER MAGNET appearing quite suddenly but with GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO providing their own creative stamp of PSYCHEDELIC HEAVINESS and OUT OF THIS WORLD WEIRDNESS.

Sideral Voivod does allow the band to perform a wide array of different Sludge/Stoner Rock styles throughout the thirteen tracks contained on the album but told with a mesmerizing down-tuned and amplifier distorted approach. If you love where the AMPS are played at dangerous levels with the band never losing their Psychedelic and Cosmic attitude then this is the place to be. Truth be told, Sideral Voivod has a nightmarish element when the band plays a faster and more violent style of music which may leave you gasping for breath in places.

The record is never boring with GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO adding a fresh and unique perspective within their hybrid style of HEAVY RAWK that not only reaches for the STARS but absolutely destroys everything within its wake.

SIderal Voivod is FUCKING AWESOME. Plain and Simple!!! 

Words by Steve Howe

 

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.

Sideral Voivod is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Octopus Rising (Argonauta Records Imprint).

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Temptation's Wings - StormForged (EP Review)

 

Release Date: September 09th 2025. Record Label:  Self Released. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

StormForged - Tracklisting

1.Aqua Tusk

2.Brother of the Storm

3.The Calm/The Fury

4.Hell-ene

Review

StormForged is the new EP from Southern Metallers Temptation’s Wings which offers four new tracks of classic HEAVY METAL riffage paired up with classic NOLA Metal energy which should appeal to fans of DOWN, Corrosion Of Conformity and Crowbar. The band add a great style of NWOBHM sounds to the EP with some fantastical lyrics that allows Temptation’s Wings to be quite PRIMAL and wholly AGGRESSIVE in the way they deliver their music.

Temptation’s WIngs are a super tight unit with a monstrous PROTO-METAL appetite being developed and played within the stunning opening track of Aqua Tusk. The Southern Metal influences are powerful, dynamic and played to perfection. The whole EP is full of classic Heavy Metal melodies and lyrics that veer slightly into “POWER METAL” domain but Temptation’s Wings have a great talent for keeping everything within the realm of Southern Metal and a haunting grounded vision at the same time.

Standout tracks are perhaps Brother Of The Storm and The Calm/The Fury with the band showing some fine Psychedelic energy within the instrumental passages and exquisite Heavy Metal melodies that you wouldn’t expect on an EP such as this. Sure, things can be over the top at times but it’s Temptation’s Wings talent for adding a sense of humanity and realism that makes this such an outstanding EP from start to finish. 

StormForged is perhaps Temptation’s Wings best record in years and I hope they continue with this style of music especially with the stripped back production values that allows the band to have a more threatening, muscular and aggressive presence to their overall sound.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Desert Bloom for the PR Details.

StormForged will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Sunday 07th September 2025.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Electric Jaguar Baby: Clair-Obscur (Album Review)

Release Date: September 05th 2025. Record Label:  Majestic Mountain Records. Formats:DD/Vinyl

Clair-Obscur - Tracklisting

1.Heroine (feat Chris of Acid Mammoth) 04:34

2.Bring Me Down (feat. Patrón) 03:33

3.Stray from the path 05:00

4.My Way 03:04

5.Goin thru the blu part.II 05:18

6.Nightmare 02:30

7.The Fastest Ride 04:28

8.Anything 04:52

9.Winterholidays VS Fuzzroutine 04:12

10.Hownow 03:41

11.The Oswlad Cobblepot complex 05:02

12.Bonus track - Rock n Roll Queen (The Subways cover) 03:32

Members

Franck (drums/vocals)

Tony (guitar/vocals)

Review

Clair-Obscur is the latest album from Psych/Fuzz/Stoner Rockers Electric Jaguar Baby and they fully lean into the modern day sound that QOTSA have developed over the last decade or so but with more catchy rhythms, grooves and a shit-ton of streetwise attitude as well. With a free-flowing style of Garage Rock, Acid and Punk Rock overtones, the band have a playful and highly energetic attitude to their music which does see the band play multiple styles of music with that Acid Rock tinged vibe serving the band superbly well.

Starting off this crazed journey is the excellent opening track Heroine which features Chris of Acid Mammoth fame providing guest vocals with a song that’s refreshingly hip and rebellious from the very start with a murky sludgy grooves being quite flamboyant in places. The song is superbly heavy with a seedy sideline in FUZZY sounds which sees Electric Jaguar Baby align themselves closely to the likes of TRUCKFIGHTERS and FU MANCHU with the Fuzz Rock aspect.

Second track Bring Me Down has a slight departure into Grunge and Alt Rock attitudes with the sound being FUNK ROCK in places with a dynamic mid nineties Stoner Rock presence appearing within the vocals and heavy guitars. The sound once again flirts between QOTSA catchy grooves and the full-on Psych Stoner Rock attitude of today’s modern scene. The vocals are superb yet again with guest musician Patrón appearing along the way which gives this track a cool sense of unpredictability.

Third track Stray From The Path is full of Desert/Stoner Rock heaviness that has a sense of seediness with the subtle flashes of Noise, Grunge and Acid Rock melodies that develop. With a confident stride into aggressive Post-Rock and Noise Rock surroundings, Electric Jaguar Baby really start to find their own voice on this record especially when a distinctive Droned / Shoegaze melody appears within the instrumental movements. 

Fourth track My Way is a song that moves away quite heavily from the Psych/Stoner Rock path the previous tracks contained. This is more dominated by Fuzz Rock sounds with catchy Garage Rock riffs and Punk Rock attitude which is quite refreshing to hear but isn’t the most exciting track to hear but I give Electric Jaguar Baby credit for doing something different on this album and this is the first real sign of things changing quite dramatically for the rest of the album.

I can’t review every track on the album as it’s quite a highly involving record with the band offering twelve tracks that allows them the perfect opportunity to craft a different musical style for the majority of the tracks with even more weird and wonderful stories developing from the Fuzz/Garage/Stoner Rock creative template they have at their own disposal.

Electric Jaguar Baby always allow themselves the perfect opportunity to develop themselves further within other areas of Hard Rock with a fearless attitude that may not always work but they still develop a vast collection of outstanding tracks that will appeal to many different factions of the Indie Rock, Mainstream Rock and Underground Rock scenes. That is a very hard thing to pull off but Clair-Obscur is a superbly entertaining record with tracks such as Goin thru the blu part II,  The Fastest Ride, Anything, Winterholidays VS Fuzzroutine and The Oswlad Cobblepot complex.

If you’re a fan of the previous albums by Electric Jaguar Baby then you’re going to be in your element here with twelve tracks of superb sounding quality and their excellent cover of Rock n Roll Queen by The Subways makes it all worthwhile. 

Overall, Clair-Obscur is a superbly produced record that focuses upon the classic sounds of the Nineties Heavy Rock Scene and gives it a cool modern-day atmosphere and wise-cracking attitude to match.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Clair-Obscur is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records.

 

Links

Electric Jaguar Baby Links

http://electricjaguarbaby.band
https://electricjaguarbaby.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/ElectricJaguarBaby
https://www.instagram.com/electricjaguarbaby