The very first of the Doom Chart Contributors personal lists of favorite albums of 2021 that goes up, is the one Roberto Lucas sent over. The man has been writing his ass off for the Doom Charts since he joined back in 2018 as well as for DenpaFuzz. And he has been doing so like a madman! This was his list of favorite albums last year… 2020 Favorites! The man has taste and the man knows what’s up! We thank him for all his hard work and for everything he does for the Heavy Underground! Best of wishes Roberto! Doom on!

25.- LUCID SINS.- ‘CURSED!’
(UK)
70’s, hard-progressive, folk-rock, psychedelic, psychedelic-rock

Seven years after their debut album, Scottish psycho-progressive duo LUCID SINS is back a bigger and more ambitious beast to create their second album ‘CURSED!’. By inviting several musicians from his entourage to join the train, LUCID SINS gains in nuance, solidity and versatility to create a small masterpiece of contemporary vintage rock. Exploring hard-progressive sounds born in the 70’s, Scots create a warm, lofty, and brilliant album. His dark and silky songs walk down a path that the Germans KADAVAR already traveled in their last albums, although here, the Progressive echoes are much more evident, becoming the leitmotif of ‘CURSED!’

24.- DAXMA.- ‘UNMARKED BOXES‘
(US)
post-metal, post-rock, atmospheric, dark-folk, doom, stoner

Songs that are disturbing, depressing at times, and that put the listener with the soul in a fist, but at the same time, they contain liberating moments, full of emotion. Sophisticated yet forceful, DAXMA create a fascinating album with beautiful songs that always lean towards the bombast, with a haunting orchestration fusing violin and piano and ethereal vocals. ‘UNMARKED BOXES’ is the perfect soundtrack for those autumn afternoons of melancholy and gray skies; a sad, atmospheric album that radiates a feeling of nostalgia, which DAXMA successfully manages to convey that feeling to the listener.

23.- TEMPLE FANG.- ‘FANG TEMPLE‘
(Holland)
psychedelic-rock, heavy-psych, psychedelic, progressive, space

Four long jams between eighteen and twenty-two minutes that make us fly between passages of pure psychedelia. Adorning its long developments with exotic fragrances, the songs tend to lean towards sidereal environments, with beautiful melodies inherited from the psychedelics of the late 60’s coexisting with moments of heaviness in which the quartet unleashes all its strength. A great creative work that flows with an astonishing naturalness. Always opting for containment, his epic tones do not explode into shrill sound, but instead keep the listener hooked with soft and delicate melodies. Steeped in psychotropics, his riffs gravitate between Floydian influences colored sometimes with jazz elements, and sometimes with progressive touches. There is no doubt that the Pink Floyd legacy is present, so is the Motorpsycho online experimentation.

22.- KANAAN.- ‘EARTHBOUND’
(Norway)
experimental, psychedelic-rock, space, free-jazz, stoner

An album that sounds heavier and rougher despite the many dreamy psychedelic passages that this new installment contains. If some bands evolve their sound from heaviness to other more elaborate and soft moments, the Norwegians seem to go against the current presenting their most diabolical and forceful album. No, it is not that they renounce their essence, but rather that they construct their story by endowing it with much more strength and heaviness. KANAAN are not a band that follows too many stereotypes, and their forays into free-jazz reach a level of authenticity only available to a few.

21.- KAL-EL.- ‘DARK MAJESTY’
(Norway)
desert-rock, fuzz, Stoner, proto-doom, psychedelic-rock, progressive, Stoner-metal

A trip to a desolate cosmic desert in which they execute the most forceful stoner-doom of their careers. Making their songs take a thousand turns, they manage to catch the listener with a sound bet full of attractions. The band’s glorious sonic universe is made up of bass-heavy beats, distorted guitars, and mind-blowing lyrics. Norwegian fuzzers unleash their heaviest and most complex album to date. Starting from the Sabbath legacy, they build their songs by making them travel through hypnotic psycho-progressive spaces; which does not prevent them from continuing to download their monolithic and intoxicating riffs.

20.- HOLY DEATH TRIO.- ‘INTRODUCING…’
(US)
heavy-blues, Stoner, hard-rock, psychedelic-rock, blues-rock

A fiery album containing a 9-track tornado of high octane rock’n’roll, drenched in Texan boogie, pure heavy-rock retro beats and fast-fire hooks where blues are present. Showing his reverential love for Hendrix, Black Sabbath and with a sound straddling Radio Moscow and his fellow countrymen ZZ TOP, ‘INTRODUCING…’ is one of those albums that smells of smoke and roadside whiskey.

19.- MT. MOUNTAIN.- ‘CENTRE
(Australia)
psychedelic-rock, kraut, drone psychedelic

A gourmet LP, especially for the most exquisite palates that will delight the most epicurean fans of the genre. Constructing their songs with meticulous melodies, they offer us a placid journey to the psychedelic of kraut tints, (surely this is their most hypnotic album), with elements of the pioneers such as CAN or NEU !, but above all, with cottony KIKAGAKU online songs MOYO or MOON DUO. Always leading us to ecstasy, his songs caress us in a pleasant mystical trance full of magic and reflective spirituality. Its floating guitars, its velvety melodies, or its hypnotic rhythms, never go beyond the noisy line, offering a gratifying balm for the senses.

18.- HIPPIE DEATH CULT.- ‘CIRCLE OF DAYS’
(US)
hard-progressive, heavy-psych, heavy-rock, proto-metal, psychedelic-rock, retro, Stoner, vintage

The quartet continues to offer us its particular tribute to the proto-metal sounds of the 70’s, but in a calmer tone and broadening its sound spectrum to psycho-progressive forests. With ‘111’ they had set the bar very high, and now polishing their songs more, they do not disappoint the listener. Possibly it has yielded something in its rawness, but without a doubt, they have polished their songs more without them being apathetic. Five songs that sound like vintage rock, wrapped in good doses of smoky psychedelia, with whispering melodies that balance the balance of its harshest moments of its powerful riffs.

17.- WEEDPECKER.- ‘IV: THE STREAM OF FORGOTTEN THOUGHTS’
(Poland)
heavy-psych, stoner, psychedelic-rock, progressive-rock, rock

Much more mature than their previous albums, WEEDPECKER seem to be embarking on a new path in their sound. With complex psycho-progressive themes, the band approaches the dictates of bands like MOTORPSYCHO without giving up their psychedelic essence. Creating songs rich in nuances and with a thousand twists in their development, they dispense with the heaviness to experiment with more elaborate and tasty harmonies in nuances. If in the album as a whole, his songs reflect a greater complexity, it should be noted that the guitar solos always appear when you least expect them to give shine to songs that are polished, taking care of the details, which makes them become fascinating .

16.- MOTORPSYCHO.- ‘KINGDOM OF OBLIVION’
(Norway)
70’s, 90’s, psychedelic-rock, progressive-rock, experimental, hard-progressive, hard-rock, rock

Recovering material that did not fit in their last album, they have tried to create a heavy album in which psychedelia and progressive have an important weight. By coloring their riffs of different influences to which we are already accustomed, they take us out of the routine. If the band was born from crunching guitars, roaring basses and the sheer chaos of unhinged drums, with their experience and expertise, they manage to build a creative work, as only they know how to do. Dreamy melodies along with riffs that slice your soul because they are, an incredible band that writes incredible albums.

15.- KING BUFFALO.- ‘THE BURDEN OF RETLESSNESS’
(US)
heavy-psych, kraut, metal, psychedelic-rock, shoegaze, space, stoner

Surely his darkest and heaviest album to date. If to his proven ability to create heavy-psych atmospheres, we combine his velvety shoegaze melodies, and a succession of hypnotic rhythms with a kraut vocation, along with his heavy starts in the Stoner vein, the perfect storm is served. Managing to convey their inner demons to the listener, the trio, with a crystalline sound, makes their songs at times lean on progressive metal vibrations; This is one of the incentives that KING BUFFALO offers us in his new album. An iron sound that beats our neurons with millimeter rhythms inevitably seduces us.

14.- SLOWSHINE.- ‘LIVING LIFE‘
(Germany)
heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, space, Stoner

Songs drenched in filters and fuzz, blending the warmth and haze of 1970s British psychedelia with the expansive riffs of the stoner. Striking a perfect balance between the melodious shoegaze vocals and a certain post-punk talent, with the fuzzy riffs, they create a heavy psychedelic album of many carats. Its kaleidoscopic atmospheres more typical of the pioneers of psychedelia, hit with a diffuse sound, which sometimes inclines to a stage more typical of noise.

13.- JACK HARLON & THE DEAD CROWS.- ‘THE MAGNETIC RIDGE’
(Australia)
blues, dark-folk, desert-rock, doom, heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, space

The formula they offered on their acclaimed ‘HYMS’ debut in 2028 is now reinforced to create one of those albums that border on perfection. With a sound that inevitably recalls ALL THEM WITCHES in its heaviest facet, the band knows how to play with blues elements, forays into territories that are close to the dictates of doom, but above all, with heavy psychedelia and desert riffs. , but that also offers us moments of dark-folk. This new album is the perfect soundtrack for a trip through the desert after a generous intake of peyote.

12.- MYTHIC SUNSHIP.- ‘WILDFIRE’
(Denmark)
avant-garde, free-jazz, fuzz, heavy-psych, improvisation, jam, raut, psychedelic-rock, space

Breaking the chains that bind many bands so as not to leave their comfort zone, destroying the stereotypes of heavy and psychedelic music into a thousand pieces. MYTHIC SUNSHIP are anarchy! But blessed anarchy! Shattering the foundation upon which previous albums were built, the group have reinvented themselves to present an album that shows the band at its most basic and primitive form. The orgy of sounds with which the Danes are able to stimulate us is worthy of all praise. Monumental, exuberant and turbulent, the sound of ‘WILDFIRE’ is suitable for the most advanced students of the psychedelic avant-garde and a challenge for those who have not yet been seduced by this type of masterful bet.

11.- ELARA SUNSTREAK BAND.- ‘VOSTOK 1’
(Germany)
acid-rock, 70’s, psychedelic-rock, fuzz, hard-rock, heavy-psych, space, Stoner

A fascinating, exuberant and captivating album that combines the most acid vibes of the 70’s, with heavy-psych waterfalls and desert fuzz storms with a cosmic vocation. Keeping in mind both Hendrix’s legacy and that of the Lizard King, his long never travels through a shamanic cosmos in which Pink Floyd’s genes are enriched with oriental ornaments with impressive results. A versatile album in which the retro sounds take on a monumental dimension under its complex and well-cared developments.

10.- LIQUID SOUND COMPANY.- ‘PSYCHOACTIVE SONG FOR THE PSOUL’
(US)
psychedelic-rock, heavy-psych, acid-rock

‘PYCHOACTIVE SONGS FOR THE PSOUL’ es una nueva pequeña obra maestra de la banda. 10 años han pasado desde que publicarán ‘ACID MUSIC FOR ACID PEOPLE’, su anterior LP, pero la espera ha merecido la pena. Precisamente por eso, cualquier amante de psicodelia, no debería dejar pasar la oportunidad de sumergirse en unos surcos que emanan fantásticas vibraciones lisérgicas. La banda se muestra en plenitud creativa, en un mágico viaje sensorial que te engulle con cada riff. Creando ácidos sonidos que expanden la mente del oyente, consiguen que nuestro cuerpo flote en sus etéreos y magnéticos sonidos. Todo su brillo cósmico sigue intacto, lo hace que cada canción sea un regalo para el oyente.

9.- MADMESS.- ‘THE BIRTH’
(Portugal)
stoner, heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, jam, psychedelic

A monument to the heavy psychedelia of the XXI century. The Portuguese trio MADMESS, with their first LP ‘REBIRTH, picks up where they left off in their promising debut EP. The path is none other than that of the best heavy-psych sounds of the moment. Taking the listener to a cathartic state in which the mind is released from any pressure, ‘REBIRTH’ is a fascinating sensory journey to a new dimension. Long unpredictable songs, which are mostly around ten minutes, and that invite us to walk through the heart of the heavy psychedelic of the 21st century.

8.- SATURNIA.- ‘STRANDED IN THE GREEN’
(Portugal)
devotional, kraut, progressive, psychedelic, psychedelic-rock, space

A magical album with spatial passages, psychedelia with exotic oriental tones, tribal rhythms, acid guitars and a voice full of magnetism, are part of this jewel of the psychedelic of the 21st century. The reminiscences of the early Pink Floyd are evident in most of their songs, but the legacy of Hawkwind is also very present, adopting a mystical form. Even with a hint of Color Haze, ‘STRANDED IN THE GREEN’ is a gem for lovers of vintage psychedelia with its haunting and hallucinogenic cosmic atmospheres, which create a sonorous mantra for the listener.

7.- SPECK.- ‘UNKRAUT’
(Austria)
heavy-psych, jam, kraut, space, psychedelic-rock, instrumental

All an explosive madness, in an addictive album that will not leave you indifferent. Filled with diabolical sounds of great hypnotism, SPECK invites us to a bacchanal of hypnotic and captivating psychedelia. But I feel obliged to make a WARNING: “Prolonged listening can affect your neural capacity.”. Frenetic rhythms, spatial setting, and tons of psychotropics in every riff. Somewhere between EARTHLESS and HAWKWIND, SPEAK finds his place to make our heads fly with his hellish sound.

6.- THE FUR.- ‘SONNTAG’
(Belgium)
heavy-psych, fuzz, doom, instrumental, psychedelic-rock, space, stoner, post-rock

Do you want to take a pleasant trip to the confines of cosmic psychedelics and let your mind run wild? If the answer is YES, you are in the right place. A new sensory journey through distant galaxies with an exquisite, hazy and completely magnetic soundscape. Expansive sounds with precious moments of balsamic psychedelic, tormented descents to more hostile territories in which the Stoner and at some point almost the doom make an appearance. But, above all, ‘SONNTAG’ is a sonorous trance in which the best psychedelia of the 21st century is shown before us through more than 40 magical and captivating minutes

5.- GREEN LUNG.- ‘BLACK HARVEST’
(UK)
hard-progressive, hard-rock, heavy-rock, ocult-rock, psychedelic-rock, vintage

‘WOODLAND RITES’ is a more colorful reinvention of the band’s sound. ‘This new GREEN LUNG album is loaded with hooks that seduce the listener with a rainbow of vintage sounds. Energetic songs with a retro aroma on a hard-progressive base, heavy-rock and successful vocal melodies. ‘BLACK HARVEST’ is a dynamic, retro, and exciting album that quickly catches you on a journey to the late 70s and the golden age of heavy-rock.

4.- SNOWY DUNES.- ‘SASTRUGI’
(Sweden)
blues, hard-rock, heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, stoner, vintage

A fantastic work in which the songs evolve in their forms and their sound influences, offering the listener different incentives and moods. The undulations that we find in the structure of each song is one of the hallmarks of ‘SASTRUGI’. Quite a completely stimulating adventure for the listener, since each twist in the plot places us in a different setting. ‘SASTRUGI’ is SNOWY DUNES ‘smoothest album yet, but this doesn’t mean it doesn’t have hooks capable of making you fly. Fascinating, bewitching and emotional, the album offers heartbreaking moments in which the voice breaks, exhuming tormented passages that seem to drink from the legacy of The Doors in an astral conjunction with Zeppelin in an acid trip that takes us to gratifying sensory states.

3.- ROSTRO DEL SOL.- ‘ROSTRO DEL SOL’
(Mexico)
heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, vintage, hard-rock, jazz-rock, progressive,

ROSTRO DEL SOL has created one of the most surprising and interesting albums of recent times. Everyone knows that the Mexican quarry was a fertile territory from which good bands have always come out, but what these guys did is impressive. Good melodies and a perfect execution of themes rich in nuances and textures. A great endorsement that makes everything flow with a somber naturalness, without complexes. Five children of Moctezuma who, with their debut, are worthy of conquering the world. A magical half hour in which progressive rock, the most acidic psychedelia, jazz-rock and funk rhythms, are dressed in vintage tones in the purest 70’s style. Imagine a party in style with Hendrix and Alvin Lee as hosts and with Colloseum, Traffic, Deep Purple, Earthless, Santana, Zappa or Siena Root as guests.

2.- MAHA SOHONA.- ‘ENDLESS SEARCHER’
(Sweden)
70’s, blues, heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, Stoner

MAHA SOHONA has a singer who not only sings, but whispers each verse to us, making us fall surrendered to his power of seduction. Captivating in all their facets, the Swedes know how to calmly prepare the atmosphere in which their songs unfold. Always with a groovy that catches us, his songs take the elements of desert rock to write his particular psychedelic story. Its Color Haze line magnetism is perfectly balanced with a few drops of blues between its crystal clear riffs; A good dose of narcotic fuzz supported by a powerful rhythmic base, complete their long and compelling songs. Their songs are structured with long instrumental passages offering the trio’s most sensual side, but they also have ridges in which the echoes of the desert appear, keeping the legacy of bands like Kyuss or their fellow Lowrider, at a high level.

1.- KING BUFFALO.- ‘ACHERON’
(US)
heavy-psych, psychedelic-rock, shoegaze, Stoner, metal, psychedelic, kraut

KING BUFFALO has earned its reputation by making a completely personal sound recognizable, but it is also showing us on each new album that the evolution of that sound is endless. Here, again, they prove it to us again with a magical album brimming with gratifying songs with innovative elements. Four long songs of ten minutes each, which have their own identity and which show us the melting pot of vibrations in which the Rochester trio unfold with ease. Relentless rhythms that always hit the right beat at the right time, guitars capable of taking you to heaven or plunging you into the most abject depths, and a sublime, hypnotic and full of magnetism bass.