“A new consciousness is developing which sees the earth as a single organism and recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed. We are one planet. One of the great revelations of the age of space exploration is the image of the earth finite and lonely, somehow vulnerable, bearing the entire human species through the oceans of space and time.” ~ Carl Sagan
The world as I’ve known it has changed its perspective many times over during my life. People are separate or together, introverts or extroverts, anxious or serene, as well as falling somewhere in between them all. All are individuals, of their own minds and opinions. The only place I’ve ever witnessed a collective consciousness consistently at work is within the crowd at a live heavy music performance.
The attendees and performers of live heavy music events are unlike any other collection of people I’ve been a part of. This is important – not “apart from”, but “a part of.” It’s a community like no other, all individuals with primarily one goal – get the music heard and loved and shared. Attending more heavy music events than I could ever count, I will continue to attend all I can – until ripped from this mortal coil, smiling as I raise my middle finger on one hand and throw horns with the other. Hopeful that happens at the end of a show after the last band, but until then I’ll continue my part to achieve that goal.
Compiling newer music we’ve found, heard, and loved, there is a tallied collection of 25 heavy music options shared every month on the Doom Charts for you discover (or rediscover). A hot, sultry August edition is here to swelter in, as this month there are FOURTEEN new albums in their debut appearance on the charts, with one album revisiting! (A Doom Chart revisit is a rare occurrence for an album that’s been out for a spell, but I think it’s damned cool when it happens.) All these incredible releases to peruse, listen to, and share with other like-minded, individual music-loving maniacs like yourselves. Find your great revelations, People of Earth!
~ Leanne
Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio and podcasters, and album reviewers from the doom-stoner-heavy underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…
25. THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN – CYPRESS AVE
Ten songs that clock in at just under 45 mins and this time out, The Midnight Ghost Train has decided to run the complete gamut of musical styles, not limiting themselves to anything in particular. Usually thought of for their blues-heavy / stoner / doom groove they established more and more with each previous release, with this album we have it all and then some as you may not have expected.
~ Matthew Thomas (Taste Nation)
24. TOKE – ORANGE / RETURNING!
Toke‘s “Orange” album has made a return back to the Doom Charts! Released at the beginning of January of this year, the “Orange” album has most likely been destroying its fair share of speakers with its super fuzzed out, stoner grooves since then. Toke‘s stoner doom masterpiece is harsh, nasty, and dank as fuck. I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes it on a lot of end of the year lists. They set the bar pretty high with this release, and I can’t say much has surpassed this little nug. I mean, if you’re going to name your band Toke, you’re going to have to deliver on the THC infused tunes, and these dudes most certainly do!
~ Samir Asfahani (Super Dank Metal Jams)
23. CITIES OF MARS – TEMPORAL RIFTS / NEW!
So, the Swedes are dominating the Doom / Stoner Metal spectrum again. Cities Of Mars, with their excellent new album. Heavy, spaced out tunes that draw influence from Kyuss, Mastodon and Monster Magnet. Songs, such as Envoy Of Murder and Children Of The Red Sea, perhaps bring their spaced out moments to the forefront of the action. With heavy, progressive, stoner sounds adding a sense of urgency that will last an eternity. Science Fiction is a big theme with this album. Though, let’s stick with real life facts. It’s because of albums like this why Sweden rules the world in the realm of Doom / Stoner Metal.
~ Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun)
22. HOWLING GIANT – BLACK HOLE SPACE WIZARD: PART 2 / NEW!
After a very solid debut EP, Howling Giant delivers riffs for days on the second ‘Black Hole Space Wizard’. It’s kinda like taking a space capsule back in time to 1999 and mainlining the MeteorCity and Man’s Ruin back catalogues… all in one sitting!
~ Gruesome Greg (Hellbound)
21. KAL-EL – ASTRODOOMEDA / NEW!
Stoner Metal with Doom vibes make this a must for any Monster Magnet or Sabbath worshipers. With a thick, heavy sound and riffs that get my head nodding, the sci-fi lyrics complete this trip into deepest space with impressive results. Buckle up kids, this is a cosmic trip with fuzz-boxes set to kill and a spaceship powered by amps cranked up high.
~ Tony Maim (Black Insect Laughter, Stoner HiVe)
20. POSEIDON – PROLOGUE
The word epic gets bandied around a fair bit as a riff descriptor, however it is completely apt here in not only the tracks but overall concept. Poseidon have embarked on a multi-album tale they’re calling “The Medius Chronicle” covering the downfall and rebirth of civilization. ‘The Beginning; The End; The Colony’ kicks off the narrative, an ominous intro paving the way for the superlow lows – the bedrock of which is exposed at around 7:52 when the subterranean bass rumbles alone over the drums. Very cool vocals too, legible which helps in following the unfolding chronicle, and slightly reminiscent of those in one of my favorite bands, Aleph Null.
The opening crusher gives way to lighter, brooding moments in ‘Mother Mary; Son of Scorn’, however the gravitational reprieve does not last long as ‘Chainbreaker’ opens up with a rousing excerpt from Mario Savio’s ‘bodies upon the gears’ freedom speech and into a dense riff maelstrom. ‘Omega’ is the closer, putting a firm exclamation mark on the obvious songwriting talent within Poseidon. Couldn’t ask for more from a debut album, and this is a great early pickup from a label, who I’m yet to hear anything less than quality from in Ripple Music. Bring on Part 2 of The Medius Chronicle!
~ Clint (Hand of Doom Radio)
19. DEVIL ELECTRIC – DEVIL ELECTRIC / NEW!
Dark, beautiful, mysterious!!!! Brilliant FFOBR (female fronted occult blues rock) Doom metal!!! If there is an album capable of taking true doom metal into a larger audience, this is it. It has every trait of our beloved underground, yet it is accessible to the casual listener.
~ Paul ‘Papa’ Rote (Doomed & Stoned)
18. SHROUD EATER – STRIKE THE SUN
Shroud Eater’s ‘Strike The Sun‘ is an album of immense magnitude and depth utilising an array of dynamics with which to shade and texture its diverse and dazzlingly collection of raucous grooves. Shroud Eater are a band consisting of three people, all of whom sing and the band use this to great effect, mixing ethereal and mournful tones with those of a more visceral nature.
A brave move that could, in other hands, result in a confused and fragmented sound with no identity. Not so with Shroud Eater, they use this to their advantage, arranging their songs so as to incorporate those voices so that no matter who is at the mic, the listener is in no doubt that the grooves they are listening to belong to Shroud Eater.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
17. MONOLORD – RUST / NEW!
Monolord comes back and do not fail, one of today’s most indestructible battleships. ‘Rust‘ takes the best of ‘Empress Rising‘ and ‘Vænir‘ and takes them to the highest levels of doom and psychedelia, embraced within a thick cloud of space rock, executions and progressions that show that Swedes have no rivals. Few can boast three discs of such high level and in constant evolution. Monolord spits in our face, without doubts, the best records to date.
~ Roberto Fuentes (La Habitación 235)
16. DEMON EYE – PROPHECIES AND LIES / NEW!
As much as I dug ‘Tempora Infernalia‘, this record is a big step forward. Fans of Pentagram, Deep Purple and fuzz-drenched 70’s riff rock will have a hard time finding something not to love on this Carolina quartet’s third album.
~ Gruesome Greg (Hellbound)
15. VENOMOUS MAXIMUS – NO WARNING
‘No Warning‘ reminds me of David Bowie or Billy Idol gone full stoner. I even hear The Cars. A stoner doom version of them, anyway. This has potential to be big.
~ Paul Rote (Doomed & Stoned)
14. GREENBEARD – LÖDARÖDBÖL
They say the third time is the charm and Greenbeard have proven that statement with their latest offering. The Texas trio have taken their blistering stoner riffage to new heights melting faces with bluesy psychedelia, precision vocal tones and a radiant progression of song craft. The artwork continues on the theme of badassery with another example of supremacy. You can’t afford not to grab the first press on vinyl…
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)
13. CORTEZ – THE DEPTHS BELOW
Let’s take a trip with the Boston quintet Cortez. Let’s have them drag us down with them to ‘The Depths Below‘. I reckon we can safely state that most of you freaks out there already dug their earlier releases. Well, get ready to profess your undying love for these guys. Turning a much more metallic corner on some tracks, the fuzz, the grunge and the stoner that Cortez brings is simply amazing. And then there are those more pop sensible, almost catchy moments.
Yes, there is something about this record that screams ‘instant classic’. Vocalist Matt Harrington truly shines on every track and together with the killer choruses, massive riffs, dueling guitars and majestic drum work, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Cortez… Shit, where is the closest grimy tattoo parlor, so I can get Cortez tattooed across my heart!
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
12. ELDER – REFLECTIONS OF A FLOATING WORLD
It’s a bit surreal to be writing a blurb to gush about the best band signed by the label I founded, *after* I sold and exited that label, but here we are. Elder’s ‘Reflections of a Floating World‘ is so unconscientiously epic that you never notice that you’re listening to 8-to-12-minute songs. Sweeping movements, bold hooks, triumphant choruses, and massive, uplifting soundscape — all in the course of what are essentially rock songs. If you like Baroness, but wish they would cut loose a bit more, Elder has provided the expansive, unrestrained counterpart to Purple.
You know that saying, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist?” Well, the best trick Elder ever pulled was making a profound, lasting work of art so fluid and infectious that everybody would just think it was a rock album. This is a legacy-making record.
~ MeteorJadd (The Ripple Effect)
11. THE JUDGE – TELL IT TO THE JUDGE / NEW!
Magnificent return of The Judge, heavy psych / blues and the crudity of that heavy sound that was born in the 70’s. The Judge shows us its analogical spirit, remembering the greatest of the genre. Like going back to the time of the great “Disraeli Gears” and seeing together Bruce, Baker and Clapton. One of the most explosive releases of the year.
~ Roberto Fuentes (La Habitación 235)
10. OLDE – TEMPLE / NEW!
With ‘Temple’, Olde have picked up exactly where they left off with their hammering 2014 debut “I”, except this time around they have increased the damage levels right across the board. This is a tough, menacing outing with no reprieve. Doug McLarty’s aggressive vocals hit the mark with a hardcore style reminiscent of those in Pro-Pain, a cathartic bludgeoning over the sledgehammer drumming (those drums really do sound like they’re right in your lounge room at times, so good!). Cannot recommend this album highly enough – give the title track ‘Temple’ a listen and you’ll be instantly hooked. Vinyl available on STB records, don’t sleep on this one…
~ Clint (Hand of Doom Radio)
9. SASQUATCH – MANEUVERS
On June 20th, 2017 numerous reports of a loud, earth rumbling noise came across the scanners, platelets shifted and clouds parted. The crushing sonic boom revealed itself later that morning as it crested the far reaches of the planet, rumors of Sasquatch plagued the airwaves and ‘Maneuvers‘ was exposed as a fifth wave invasion. Sasquatch successfully maneuvers, indeed, through a perilous flat spin of grandiose fuzz. Powered by progressive, stoner distortion and state of the art vocal delivery, the bearded beast of the desert engages its target and deploys a massive assault of absolute riffage. The pilot was the only survivor. He’s got the need. The need for speed!
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)
8. DESTROYER OF LIGHT – CHAMBER OF HORRORS
With its Sabbathian overtones and essence of Iommi emanations, every thing is bigger in Texas and that includes the darkly hued doom of The Lone Star State’s latest from Destroyer Of Light. Constructed with epic compositions, each one crafted with churning, opiate-like riffs and dirge-worthy rhythms, the bone-shuddering drums pound and pound away, while the emotion-ridden vocals moan out their commiseration. A hugely grandiose album that establishes Destroyer Of Light as one of the more remarkable heavy bands active at this time.
~ Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (Riff Relevant)
7. HIGH PRIESTESS – DEMO / NEW!
High Priestess deliver diverse, heavy and exotic riffscapes interwoven with soaring, dreamy vocals (and the odd growl here and there). This debut release is entitled ‘DEMO’ but it sounds massive, seamlessly blending a swirling cauldron of doom, stoner, psych, and even heavy groove blues (have a listen to the dense groove in ‘Take the Blame’).
There’s a special feel about High Priestess, that intangible element where excellent songwriting, skill, and chemistry in a band collide to deliver more than the sum of their individual parts. You’ll be hearing much more from High Priestess, absolutely no doubt about it!
~ Clint (Hand of Doom Radio)
6. RED MOUNTAINS – SLOW WANDER / NEW!
There aren’t that many albums that truly seem to open a door into a different universe. ‘Slow Wander‘ by the Norwegian Red Mountains is one of those albums. It shows you majestic vistas of ocher colored mountainous terrain, filled with large, tumbling, gravel hills and rolling valleys of mellow, psilocybin-rich flowers, ready for plucking. It’s psychedelic rock with this dark edge, progressive at heart and teeming with stoner inspirations, that never becomes oppressive, but shines in its wide and open landscapes. It inspires and leaves you longing for lone adventures through the wastelands…
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
5. BLUES FUNERAL – AWAKENING / NEW!
What about “Awakening”, the new lifeblood of this Texas quartet? The key word is MELODY. Strong, solid, reverberating and abrasive melodies whip our ears, while wrapping us in a warm embrace. Blues Funeral’s creative and emotional ability to play the melodic factor is something grand and stony, serving as a pillar to sustain the quartet’s main power as its other gifts are gathered and unveiled throughout the listening of their songs. Peeling layers of an onion. In 2017, the band skillfully takes back from past decades’ electrifying and generous musical layers to form their revivalist and passionate sonority, with a respectful service of homage paid to the great names of the past in an apparently worn-out genre that was worn to exhaustion.
~ Matheus Jacques (October Doom)
4. ETERNAL BLACK – BLEED THE DAYS / NEW!
Crafting their first full-length opus with boulders of sludge, foundations of doom and the ultimate dispensation of monstrous heaviness, Eternal Black deliver wounding impact with ‘Bleed The Days‘. Its monstrous heaviness will hammer you senseless via epic riffs, wrenching rhythms and the newly aggression-enhanced vocals. The Brooklyn Brotherhood of The Black have truly arrived!
~ Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (Riff Relevant)
3. THE NECROMANCERS – SERVANTS OF THE SALEM GIRL / NEW!
Let’s be honest here, when Ripple Music signed French riff purveyors The Necromancers, most of us thought, Who? Well no one is asking that question now! The quartet from Poitiers, France seemingly arrived from nowhere to suddenly be the band everyone involved in the “underground” is talking about, due to the power and sonic impact of their debut release. “Servants of the Salem Girl” is a stunning six song opus packed with progressive-tinted metal grooves, sprinkled with a modicum of hard rock / stoner fuzz and a soupcon of psych and post-rock texturing, believe me when I say it doesn’t get much better than this!
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
2. RUBY THE HATCHET – PLANETARY SPACE CHILD / NEW!
Ruby the Hatchet return with another twinkling gem, defining their place in the top-tier of modern heavy rock. The psych factor showers us with retro glimmer, as the voyage of heavy madness pummels through smoking hot vocal fantasia and gravity defying groove. The band is firing on all rocket launchers with its most ambitious work to date. Go see them live and leave a transformed heather of outer worldly rock n roll.
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)
1. YOUNGBLOOD SUPERCULT – THE GREAT AMERICAN DEATH RATTLE
As expected, the new album by Topeka’s Youngblood Supercult is a total ripper. The blues are as heavy as ever, the psych factor overflowing with dusty fuzz, vocals grizzling with dreamy rigor, and mountains of riffs that rattle the stage like a wild mustang bucking through the Americana spirit world.
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)
Special thanks to the ongoing contributors to the monthly Doom Chart. You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:
A.S. Van Dorston (Fast n’ Bulbous); Bill Goodman (The Evil Engineer); Billy Goate (Doomed & Stoned); Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect); Clint (Hand of Doom Radio); Doktor420 (Stoner HiVe); Doombeard (DoomBeardZine); Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist); Gram ‘Son of Sam’ Pola (Dirty Denim); Gruesome Greg (Hellbound); Ken Elliott (Heavy Planet); Leanne Ridgeway (Riff Relevant); Lucas ‘LK Ultra’ Klaukein (Stoner HiVe, You May Be Dead & Dreaming); Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe); Lyk (Phantasmagoria); Magnus Tannergren (Into The Void radio); Mari Knox Knox (Doomed & Stoned); Martin Petrov (Rawk’n’Roll); Matthew Thomas (Taste Nation); Matheus Jacques (October Doom); Mathieu Van Der Hert (Dutch European Stoner Rock); Melissa Marie (Doomed & Stoned); MeteorJadd (The Ripple Effect); Pat Harrington (Electric Beard Of Doom); Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (Riff Relevant); Paul ‘Papa’ Rote (Doomed & Stoned); Roberto Fuentes (La Habitación 235); Rod Reinhardt (Captain Beyond Zen); Samir Asfahani (Super Dank Metal Jams); Skip (The Burning Beard); Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun); Steve Miller (Vertical Chamber Apparatus); Steve Woodier (Shrieks From Below); Tanguy ‘Mr Fuzz’ Dupré (More Fuzz); Tony Maim (Black Insect Laughter, Stoner HiVe).
This August 2017 edition of the Doom Chart was tallied by Bucky Brown and edited by Leanne Ridgeway.
Doom Charts 
Great list as always. Youngblood Supercult ‘s release is super solid. Looking forward to listening to Venomous Maximus’s record. I enjoyed their last one.
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Hell ya Johnie! That Venomous Maximus is fantastic indeed.
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Killer list (chart) as I’ve come to expect. New >= known/own ratio for me which is always a bonus! Hail to the Goddess of Doom who tunes their instruments with darkness and gloom. She gave doom to the masses and we try to do the same.
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https://coughdust.bandcamp.com
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