“I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me…”

~ Foreigner

A quick explanation again of what this post is all about, perhaps? Well, why not… Every month the many Doom Charts Contributors send in their list of favorite albums of that month to our compiling and tallying maniac Remi VL. But with those lists, they also send a blurb or two or three for the albums they absolutely adore. Some of those albums unfortunately do not make the final 25 of the published edition. So, we decided to publish them with a second post. The post you are reading now. This will explain the fact why SAMÁN’s II. Montaña Roja album for instance has two blurbs of why the Heavy Road album by PARALYZED has even more… Its because many of the Contributors loved that album so much and wrote that little blurb even before knowing if it would make the final list. But of course it did, and then we publish the remaining blurbs on this Peroration post. So… If you wanna know what love is, you’ve come to the right part of the heavy underground…

The following are professions of love and adoration by Doom Charts Contributors for albums they could not stop spinning. Each month, the Doom Charts critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge, metal, stoner, psychedelic and other sorts of heavy rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart which is published monthly. However, sometimes a love is so great, but for whatever reason the album unfortunately did not make the published Doom Charts Edition or because there were so many contributors in love with that one album, that many decided to send blurbs for it, and only one got published… You can peruse that love here…

BAD BREEDING – HUMAN CAPITAL
Punk, Noise, Hardcore, Sludge
Stevenage, UK
Iron Lung Records

Punk, hardcore, noise, but pushing beyond the genre pitfalls of each. BAD BREEDING are a punishing, brash, sludge-infused shot of adrenaline to whatever you call a brain and it’s a fucking ride.
~ Kyle SB (Stoner HiVe)

BEHOLD! THE MONOLITH – FROM THE FATHOMLESS DEEP
Sludge, Doom, Heavy Stoner
Los Angeles, California, USA
Ripple Music

BEHOLD! THE MONOLITH have unleashed an ungodly beast upon the world with their latest record The Los Angeles trio have always been skull crushingly heavy, but on the band’s fourth full length, and their first for Ripple Music, BEHOLD! THE MONOLITH maintains their heaviness but has refined it to create a more sophisticated record that still absolutely rips your head off and destroys your city and all the surrounding metropolitan areas. The heavy doom/sludge and of the six tracks outlines perfectly as to why BEHOLD! THE MONOLITH are above and beyond what a lot of similar style bands are doing today. Elegant brutality at it’s finest.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

BIRTH – BORN
70’s, Hard-Progressive, Vintage, Psychedelic-Rock, Retro
San Diego, USA
Bad Omen Records

CAMEL, KING CRIMSON, YES, PINK PLOYD, RENAISSANCE, ATOMIC ROOSTER, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, BARCLEY JAMES HARVEST and many others are sacred names of the 70’s scene that will come to your mind when you hear ‘BORN‘, they decide to take the progressive path without any blush, to invite us on a trip to the bowels of the hard-progressive of the 70’s. ‘BORN‘ is an album that could well have been created in the middle of that prodigious decade, but its vintage sound goes further and contains brilliant psychedelic moments also with clearly contemporary arrangements. Talented musicians seem to pay their particular tribute to those vibrations that flirt with classicism, with jazz, but maintain that rock spirit.
~ Roberto Lucas (DenpaFuzz)

BOOST – THE QUIET SCREAM ORCHESTRA
Post-punk, Gothic Unplugged-Metal, Flamenco-rock, Blues
Strasbourg, Alsace, France
Self-released

2020, the French hardcore/indus band BOOST released the album Reboot but was frustrated not to have the opportunity to promote it live (due to the Worldwide Covid Tour). During this silly period, they rewrote the album with a completely reinvented aesthetic (and many guests from the French Metal scene). The Quiet Scream Orchestra (2022) is a total amazing metal-morphosis! Thanks to the (almost) unplugged orchestration, the songs take on a delicious post-punk or dark wave flavor. Their sublimated melodies become darker and deeper, often very closed to doom or gothic atmospheres. The strong and multiple emotions should please the fans of Type O Negative, Dead Can Dance, Sisters Of Mercy and more generally to the most romantic doomers.
~ Thierry ‘Booster-T’ Francois (Metal Intégral)

CHURCH OF CTHULHU – HEXAKOSIOIHEXEKONTAHEXAPHOBIA
Experimental Sludge, Doom, Metal
Romania
Self-released

“𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝕮𝖙𝖍𝖚𝖑𝖍𝖚. 𝕴𝖓 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝕽’𝖑𝖞𝖊𝖍 𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖕𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖜𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖘, 𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌, 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖓𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖆𝖜𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖉𝖊𝖊𝖕 𝖘𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖕. 𝕱𝖔𝖗 𝖎𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖓𝖆𝖑, 𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖑 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍.”

With deepest, most subterranean riffs and their very specific CTHULHU-occult-element-mixture of flying visits through the bundled realm of the heavy genre, this Romanian quartet of demonic dignitaries, shakes the sleeping soul of CTHULHU and the universe to the core! For a few seconds a foreboding mirage of homely sounding “SLEEP-RIFF” thunderstorms and gloomy “SUNN O))) droning hovers in the listener’s auditory canal, which however, post mortem, turns out to be CTHULHU‘s unique and omnipotent soul in sound format. Massive sound volleys will crawl through your auditory canal like CTHULHU‘s tentacles and leave you with a powerful awakening, as if under high voltage! – At least with a full tear in the spleen!
~ Mel Lie (Sunday’s Heavy Tunes)

CREEP CREEP JANGA – LOOSE, STONED, DRUNK, ROCK N ROLL
Psychedelic Doom, Stoner
Eugene, Oregon, USA
Self-released

The Oregon Doom scene sheds light on yet another impressive Eugene outfit in CREEP CREEP JANGA. Four tracks of absolutely criplling and debilitating doom with glacial-paced riffs, Earthy female vocals and brain-mangling arrangements – still unsure as to why this never made the July list…
~ Reek of STOOM (Doomed&Stoned, Stoner HiVe)

FOOTHILLS – INGRESS
Doom, Sludge
Sydney, Australia
Self-released

Hook laden, dynamic doom from Sydney, Australia. A dash of hardcore in the vocals here and there with plenty of heavy twists and turns, and massive riffing around every corner. A thoroughly satisfying listen, most definitely not your average cut and paste doom of which there is plenty these days…
~ Clint Willis (Hand of Doom Radio)

HIROE – WROUGHT
Instrumental Rock, Post-Metal, Post-Rock
Philadelphia, USA
Pelagic Records

Attention, absolute addiction factor is given here! Once pressed play, there is the danger of having to listen to it over and over again. Beautifully sad and powerful instrumental melodies that never want to end. This debut album is already one of my absolute favorites this year.
~ Silvi Pearl (Doomed & Stoned, Electric Fire Records)

HOWLING WOLVES – AS ABOVE SO BELOW
Hardcore, Grunge, Stoner, SabbathPunk
Berlin, Germany
Karma Conspiracy Records

The boys from Berlin’s HOWLING WOLVES all come from a hardcore punk background, and this shines through on their new record. While their promo material cleverly calls them SabbathPunk, I would say this leans way more on the punk side, almost more crossover thrash at times then the doomy stoner side of the coin. There are aspects of heavy grunge and some stoner vibes as well. I hear hints of 90’s Hardcore label Revelation Records artists and even a bit of Gorilla Biscuits if they decided to smoke a lot of weed and listen to Volume 4. Good stuff.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

INDIAN HANDCRAFTS – EMPRESS IN DECLINE
Rock, Garage, Punk, Noise, Stoner, Psych, Metal, Sludge
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Self-released

Right before the world grinded to a halt, the INDIAN HANDCRAFTS three invited producer Toshi Kasai to their filthy basement recording studio The Bethlab. There they would go on to make one of the strongest statements about the human condition, civilisation and ‘what the planet had been going through for years with climate change, civil disobedience, and everyone at each others throats’. And there’s nothing political about those statements, it’s universal and it’s brought with fury and fire and a whole lot of sludge and noise. But all that ruckus is so layered and with so much progressive dissonance, you can spin this endlessly and till infinity and you will still discover new stuff… Brilliant!
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)

LORD VIGO – WE SHALL OVERCOME
Epic Doom, Metal, NWOBHM
Kaiserslautern, Germany
Self-released

Gigantic. That is the one word I would use to describe the latest record from the German epic doomsters LORD VIGO. We Shall Overcome is huge in every way. The album just has a big presence when you listen, like something you can’t contain in your little speakers. LORD VIGO sounds as if Robert Smith of The Cure started an epic, gothic doom band. The vocals at times a dead ringer for Mr. Smith combines that with the energy and vibes of a band like Unto Others, but doomier, and you get what LORD VIGO is dealing. The second part of a trilogy and the follow up to the excellent Danse De Noir, We Shall Overcome may exceed even that doom classic in quality and giganticness. A breathtaking, epic goth/doom classic trilogy in the making.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

PARALYZED – HEAVY ROAD
Hard Rock, Heavy Blues, Seventies, Stoner Rock, Psych
Bamberg, Germany
StoneFly Records

Do you wish that Danzig would return to his old sound? If so, you are hereby ordered to check out Heavy Road by Germany’s PARALYZED. Mixing blues metal with stoner riffage … accompanied by a vocalist who sports a Glen Danzig/Jim Morrison croon at the mic … this will take you back to the days of Lucifuge and How The Gods Kill.
~ Chris Tighe (The Mighty Decibal)

I fell in love with PARALYZED‘s first LP and this second opus is … even better! The German quartet masters the recipe for cooking a ‘stoneryzed blues’. There is a strong flavor of The Doors in Heavy Road (including the warm, deep and a bit rocky voice of Michael Binder), but I also smell some Steppenwolf, Led Zep and Deep Purple perfumes. I listen to the album with this incredible feeling of listening to the stainless hits that have marked the History of Rock!
~ Thierry ‘Paralyzed-T’ Francois (Metal Intégral)

The grooves of HEAVY ROAD, the second album from German bands PARALYZED, are infused with smoky, ripped heavy-blues, fueled by thumps of gritty vintage hard-rock and stoner updates. A sound reminiscent of the pioneers of the rawest sounds of the 70’s but that is honest and solid. A party of vintage sounds with wah-wah writhing guitars, thunderous drums and a voice that captivates you with every verse. With a mix between THE DOORS and STEPPENWOLF, in a large part of their songs, the Germans do not give up moments of heavy rock, coupled with their base of pure blues. But despite this, PARALYZED are not a retro band, but rather a band from the early 70’s that by chance was born in the 21st century.
~ Roberto Lucas (DenpaFuzz)

REALM DRIFTER – REALM DRIFTER
Doom, Stoner Metal, Heavy Psych
Fort Worth, Texas
Gravitoyd Heavy Music

This four man posse from Fort Worth, Texas roam the vast plains of Doom as thunderclaps of Stoner Metal echo all around them and flashes of Heavy Psych illuminate the night sky. The five songs on this storming debut release total a hefty forty-six minutes in length and will envelop you within their dark, heavy atmosphere.
Bob “Mr. Weird Beard” Baker (More Fuzz Podcast)

SAMÁN – II. MONTAÑA ROJA
Stoner Rock, Sludge Metal, Heavy Psych
Bogota, Colombia
Self-released

Swirling Colour Haze-ish heavy psych textures twinned with the type of crunching metallic riffs you might expect to find on a Dopelord album resulting grooves decorated in a mixture of vocal stylings sang in the bands native Spanish tongue.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)

Stoner metal and heavy trucking riffs, but with so many atmospheric and psychedelic elements to create the II. Montaña Roja universe, you often forget you just heard some intense grunts and doom-tinged stoner metal. SAMÁN’s II. Montaña Roja is an album you simply must hear… It is a starkly beautiful masterpiece…
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)

SONS OF ARRAKIS – VOLUME I
Desert Rock
Montreal, Québec
Self-released

Desert rock for the desert planet! I can’t think of another band where their sound matches their chosen theme so well. The Canadian quartet SONS OF ARRAKIS delivers fuzzed-out riffs with killer vocals which would serve well as the soundtrack to either of the Dune movies or the TV series.
~ Fuzzy Cracklins (Fuzzy Cracklins)

THE CIMMERIAN – THRICE MAJESTIC
Sludge, Adventure Doom
Los Angeles, USA
Self-released

You will hear elements of some of the best bands in the genre on this release, Sleep, Black Sabbath, Mastodon, High on Fire, etc. Every song rips, and the fighting spirit of THE CIMMERIAN is thriving across all of them!
~ Tom Hanno (Tom’s Reviews)

THŪN – II
Cthulhu, Death Metal, H.P. Lovecraft
London, UK
Eat Lead And Die Music

Here are two things that accompany me since my youth and attract me magically which are “Lovecraftian” and “Eldritch Horror”. “II” is finest death metal well spiced with a good pinch of black-metal tinged vocals that can truly be heard.= Guest lead guitarist Karl Sanders gives the concept the perfect finishing touch.
~ Silvi Pearl (Doomed & Stoned, Electric Fire Records)

YOUR HIGHNESS – THE RAGBAG VOL.1
Stoner, Sludge, Doom
Antwerp, Belgium
Hoogheid Records

A festival of beastial riffs, packed in 15 mins of music that will have you hit the repeat button faster than a ninja star! These guys are in the same league with the likes of Restless Spirit, Firebreather and Psychonaut. Until the 2nd Volume comes out, I will go back to check out their albums, and if they are anywhere near as good as this EP, I may have a new favourite band! Brilliant songs, blistering tone, excellent sound production. Grabbing a copy is a no-brainer!
~ Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture)

And a special thanks goes out to Doktor420 for the cover image…

If you listen, it will doom…

Special thanks to the ongoing contributors to the monthly Doom Chart.  You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:

Aaron Pickford (The Sludgelord); Adam Walsh (Earmunchies); Andy Benson (Nerve Salad); Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy); Bill Goodman (The Evil Engineer); Billy Goate (Doomed & Stoned); Bob “Mr. Weird Beard” Baker (More Fuzz Podcast); Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin); Brandon Collins (Super Dank Metal Jams); Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect);  Clint Willis (Hand of Doom Radio); Chris Beck (Doom Tomb Podcast); Chris Latta (Ghost Cult Magazine);  Chris Tighe (The Mighty Decibal); The Doom Oracle (Spectral Ecstacy); Doomsday Jesus (DoomsdaysJesus); Duncan Evans (Alternative Control); Eric Varasiftsky (Stoner Rock Army); Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist); Fuzzy Cracklins (Fuzzy Cracklins); Geoff Leppard (Atom Heart Mutha); Graur Zaur (Crypt Guard); Gravitoyd HM (Gravitoyd Heavy Music); Gruby (Doomsmoker); Günther “Doktor420” (Stoner HiVe); Héctor “Mr. Heavyhead” Hurtado (More Fuzz); Hugo Hulleman (Metalfan.nl,Orange Maze); Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture); Jamey Morris (Fistful of DOOM); Jay Morgan (High Desert Valley Radio); Jim Thompson (Heavy in the Hills); JJ “HP Taskmaster” Koczan (The Obelisk); John Gist, (Vegas Rock Revolution / The Doomed & Stoned Show); Jonny Pirie (Hour of the Riff); Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe); Ken Elliott (Heavy Planet);  Kyle SB / Shasta Beast (Stoner HiVe); Leanne Ridgeway (Riff Relevant); Magnus Tannergren (Into The Void Radio); Marc-Eric Gagnon (Stonefly Effects); Marc C. Pietrek (Vitriol INC / A Dark United Front); Mark Partin (The Ripple Effect); Martin Doomed Desbois (Le Mellow Man, Metal Alliance Magazine) Matt Slighter (Cheeto) (Hwy 420, Core of Destruction Radio) Matthew Thomas (Taste Nation); Mathieu Van Der Hert (Dutch European Stoner Rock);  Mel Lie (Sunday’s Heavy Tunes); Mike Williams (I Talk to Planets);  Mr Stone (More Fuzz); Nick Pipitone (The Third Eye, Monster Riff);Pat Schober(Monster Riff); Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (The Ripple Effect);  ‘Papa’ Paul Rote (Doomed & Stoned); Reek of STOOM (Doomed&Stoned, Stoner HiVe); Remi VL (Remi Post Too Many Links); Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip); Roberto Lucas (Denpa Fuzz); Roberto Fuentes (La Habitación 235); Robert Pannell (Doom Loom); Rod Reinhardt (Captain Beyond Zen); Roman Tamayo (Doomed & Stoned); Silvi Pearl (Doomed & Stoned, Electric Fire Records); Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun); Steve Rodger (God’s Holy Trousers); Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast); Tanguy ‘Mr Fuzz’ Dupré (More Fuzz); Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral); Tom Hanno (Tom’s Reviews); Tom Schmahl (Rock Circuz); Tony Maim (Black Insect Laughter, Stoner HiVe); Tony Van Dorston (Fast n Bulbous); Wombat Tarantino (Wombat Cult)

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew above to determine their thoughts and gather the votes at the end of the month. Leave us comments below and let us know what you think about the Charts.

Are you still here? At the very bottom? Well, why not leave a comment about your favorite album on the list?