“Everything’s one, renewed by the sun…”
~ King Buffalo
Renewed by a sun that had it’s day in the north western hemisphere. The days are darkening and the wind rolls in, heralding the coming of the fall… Like those leaves scattered everywhere, the votes were cast in every direction, a total of 231 albums received votes. And the 25 to 3 were all pretty close together. But the Numbers 1 and 2 jumped out by miles. As you will notice when you peruse the list below. But all of them belong to the great and majestic Heavy Underground. All of them are great releases… We are lucky… Which Sunil Singh so elegantly realized on his arcticle for Metal Talk… We get to live and enjoy a musical period that has everything good from all that came before; and manages to transform and renew it into something more…
Another thing we need to mention, is the fact that after a vote, yes, the Doom Charts are democratic in every sense of the word, the publishing date of the Doom Charts will be moved. No longer, the 1st of every month, but the 1st Friday of every month. This due to the fact that some of the contributors think late releases at the end of each month might not get enough attention and because for most of the months this might work better for most of the Contributors involved. So, the October edtion will be publish on Friday, November 4th. But that’s weeks and many hours listening to great music away… For now, we have the Forty awesome releases below… Here’s the September Doom Charts, on October 1st…
Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and reviewers from the 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…
40. WÖLFHEAD – BLOOD FULL MOON / NEW!
39. PATERIKON – THE WAY DOWN / NEW!
38. MAGMA HAZE – MAGMA HAZE / NEW!
37. SONIC FLOWER – ME AND MY BELLBOTTOM BLUES / NEW!
36. PLANET HUNTER – MOSCOVIUM / NEW!
35. TRIPPELGÄNGER – THIRD TRIP / NEW!
34. SOLANHUM – ROSTRATUM / NEW!
33. ELEPHANT IMPRESSION – DAWN OF DOOM / NEW!
31. HIGH TONE SON OF A BITCH – LIVE AT THE HALLOWED HALLS / NEW!
30. LORD OF CONFUSION – EVIL MYSTERY / NEW!
29. RIFFCOVEN – NEVER SLEEP AT NIGHT / NEW!
27. WHITE HILLS – THE REVENGE OF HEADS ON FIRE / NEW!
26. THE BLACK ANGELS – WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS / NEW!
25. UMBILICUS – PATH OF 1000 SUNS / NEW!
852 Points
Prog rock, Psychedelic rock, Stoner
Tampa, Florida
Listenable Insanity Records
Everyone knows that in the wider rock universe, some of the best musicians are found in metal, often hidden behind thick layers of guttural growls and tons of distortion. But what would happen if some of them decided to form a supergroup with members from some of the heaviest bands ever to walk this Earth, like Cannibal Corpse and Deicide? Well, in Greece we have a saying that roses spring from thorns, and the brilliant debut of UMBILICUS is testament of that. Tasty 1970s-infused prog rock with an excellent sense of melody and a sweet sound that flows like warm whiskey down a weary traveller’s throat. The band’s influences range all the way from Hendrix and Kravitz, to early Deep Purple and some touches of Skid Row. In all, UMBILICUS have created a statement of an album, and I would be surprised if it doesn’t make the waves it deserves in the global stoner rock scene. Brilliant staff, check it out today!
~ Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture)
24. EVEREST QUEEN – MURMURATIONS / NEW!
972 Points
Heavy Sludge, Blackened Doom
Stevenage, UK
Self-released
Lush and expansively powerful soundscapes rife with righteous riffing, hefty chug, absolutely crushing rhythm and brutal double pedal action, emotively grim vocals, shimmering passages of post-metal orchestral texture ala This Will Destroy You. EVEREST QUEEN has definitely secured their seat at the table of UK sludgy doom royalty’s table with this massive headbanger. Check it out. You’ll be glad you did.
~ Doom Oracle (Spectral Ecstacy)
23. GOATSMOKER – E.O.T.A. / NEW!
1050 Points
Metal, Doom, Stoner
Copenhagen, Denmark
Self-released
Trading in trudging sludge, stoner, and doom, GOATSMOKER from Copenhagen, Denmark deliver a suitably rock solid debut with “E.O.T.A.“. Gritty, driving chug is paired with a dark and at times melancholic atmosphere to create a dense album, both in mood and tonality, that hits like a bag of bricks in the best way.
~ Kyle SB / Shasta Beast (Stoner HiVe)
22. WOE – CZERNOBOG / NEW!
1190 Points
Traditional Doom Metal, Proto Doom
Tasmania
Crypt of the Wizard
WOE makes a remarkable entry on this month’s Doom Charts edition with a bloody sacrifice to the Black God known as Czernobog. Here’s a band that stays faithful to the old gods of Traditional Doom Metal while being invigorating and sounding fresh. Melodic vocals are the icing on the cake. Please, bring me another piece!!!
~ Marc-Eric Gagnon (Stonefly Effects)
21. WOOD WITCH – EYES OF DARKNESS / NEW!
1197 Points
Doom, Metal, Stoner
Virginia, USA
Self-released
The generals and witches have gathered in their masses and both agree… this band keeps getting better with each release. Expanding on the love for the riff, songwriting and production, WOOD WITCH prove they’re not just another flash in the overflowing pan of doom.
~ Adam ‘Work-Shy’ Walsh (Earmunchies)
20. VOSKOD – DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON / NEW!
1221 Points
Stoner metal, Desert rock, Psych rock
Chambéry, France
Self-released
In the deep valleys of the French Alps, resounds the enormous vibes of VOSKOD‘s new album (what a powerful job as a sound engineer! – this fool doesn’t care of avalanches). DSOTS is a 45 minute hike through stoner jams scree. The lyrics are quirky and the music is made up of feelings caught on the fly because Voskod’s motto seems to be a single word: ‘spontaneity’. The raw milk from the alpine pastures now has a strong stoner taste and a little psych rock flavor too. Drink it! Drink it! Drink it! (hypnotic echo of the mountain) Drink it… dig it!
~ Thierry “T-Spoon“ François (Metal Intégral)
19. RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL – DOOM WOP / NEW!
1267 Points
Stoner, Rock ‘n Roll
Austin, TX
Self-released
RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL oozes originality from their vocal delivery to their sleezy brand of stoner, doom and rock n roll and Doom Wop is no exception. You can put on this album and get absolutely crushed by fuzz, but all the while with a big smile on your face.
~ Ryan Foster (Slightly Fuzzed)
18. MYTHIC SUNSHIP – LIGHT/FLUX / NEW!
1452 Points
Psychedelic Rock
Copenhagen, Denmark
Tee Pee Records
Light/Flux eases in with a light and dreamy landscape and tends to feel comfort in that space. Almost as though the listener is wandering through some welcoming shamanistic world open to explore the unseen in its atmosphere. There are ominous undertones that seep in on occasion as the album progresses. Those provide a light touch of paranoia to the trip but everything about these songs brought me in closer. Neither band nor label are strangers to delivering the goods. Trust them as your spirit guide.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
17. HEAD – SATISFACTION / NEW!
1656 Points
Blues, Psych, Hard Rock
Toronto, Canada
Fuzzed and Buzzed Records
Give me HEAD, … no you fool, not that head! I mean the Canadian musical combo with the soulful bluesy hard rock grooves and the cool vocal trade offs, you know the HEAD that recently gave us “Satisfaction”, … No not that sort of satisfaction, I mean the album!
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
16. WITCHSNAKE – WITCHSNAKE / NEW!
1881 Points
Psychedelic Doom, Sludge, Scuzz, Acid Doom
Milan, Italy
Self-released
Filthy evil sounding fuzz and devastating distortion twinned with thunderous drumming and vocals buried so far back in the mix they are barely audible might sound like a bit of a nightmare and, in truth, it is, but this is a nightmare you will not want to wake up from. WITCHSNAKE‘s music is like a drug, it leaves you feeling dirty and debased yet desperate for another fix, a soundtrack for depravity and perversity that, if we didn’t know better, sounds like it could have been recorded in the fiery bowels of Hell with the Devil himself sitting at the mixing desk.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
15. WEDDINGS – BOOK OF SPELLS / NEW!
1960 Points
Stoner Rock, Grunge, Doom, Psych Rock, Gothic Rock
Vienna, Austria
StoneFree Records
All over the place in the best kind of way. One minute you are getting some serious Nick Cave vibes, the next you are knee deep is some excellent male/female vocals stoner rock until you find yourself smacked across the face by some killer 90s grunge stylings with some doomy tendencies, without ever feeling like there is a lack of direction at any point in time, all covered in the shadow darkness throughout the nine tracks.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
14. DRÖÖG – DRÖÖG / NEW!
2266 Points
Psych, Rock, Stoner, Doom
Falun, Sweden
Majestic Mountain Records
If you love Samsara Blues Experiment, King Buffalo, ATW, etc, I really think that you will love this too. Released by a duo from Sweden, it is sung in their native language and it’s so damn good I don’t even care that I can’t understand it. Great musical passages filled with cool riffs and sweet leads. It’s the type of music you can get lost in. Press play and let it carry you away.
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)
13. GONE COSMIC – SEND FOR A WARNING, THE FUTURE’S CALLING / NEW!
2360 Points
Psych Rock, Stoner Rock. Heavy Blues Rock
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Grand Hand Records
On their second full length, Send For A Warning, The Future’s Calling, the band even more seamlessly combines the heavy blues inspired killer vocals of Abbie Thurgood with the more stoner/psych leanings of the rest of the crew to create an absolute ripper of an album that melds the best of both of those worlds. An urgent. energetic, and excellent sophomore release.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
12. SPIRITUS MORTIS – THE GREAT SEAL / NEW!
2453 Points
Doom Metal, Heavy Metal
Ostrobothnia, Finland
Svart Records
SPIRITUS MORTIS has been around quite a while, having gotten their start back in 1987 and claiming to be the first Finnish doom metal band. With such longevity, line-up changes and shifts in musical direction should be expected, sometimes with questionable results. However, SPIRITUS MORTIS ages like a fine wine! A powerful new vocalist and epic doom inspirations make The Great Seal an incredible milestone in the band’s ongoing legacy!
~ Brandon Collins (Super Dank Metal Jams)
11. THE NECROMANCERS – WHERE THE VOID ROSE / NEW!
3220 Points
Heavy Metal, Heavy Occult Rock
Self-released / Ripple Music
Poitiers, France
Children of the Night – kneel down! Your soundtrack and appropriate for the autumn and Halloween season has arrived. Vampiric guitar sounds, occult heavy rock paired with haunting vocals. Celebrate and manifest your dark powers from this French-born band.
~ Silvi Pearl (Doomed & Stoned, Electric Fire Records)
10. ABRAMS – IN THE DARK / NEW!
3564 Points
Grunge, Stoner, Heavy Alternative, Psychedelic Rock
Denver, Colorado, USA
Small Stone Recordings
The Denver, Colorado (now) four piece have perfectly captured the sounds of 90s heroes that they call out in their bio (Failure, Quicksand and Hum which are good reference points) but put their own ABRAMS touches on their songs adding more psych leanings than you heard from those 90s legends. Regardless of who they remind me of, In The Dark absolutely kills.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
9. TORNET – DOMEDAGAR / NEW!
3600 Points
Heavy psychedelic, Proto-prog, Retro rock
Gothenburg, Sweden
Majestic Mountain Records
‘Domedagar’ has immediately shot straight and true to the top of my personal list of the year due to its powerful, purposeful and extremely high-quality delivery in overall concept, execution, musicianship and
pristine production. Tones of Graveyard, Horisont, and early Witchcraft are present along with Tull-esque moments which whisk us away into TORNET’s world of ferally matriarchal magic without becoming just
another occult rock cliché. Effortless weaving of double guitar on top of wicked, chugging fuzz, keys, and well-placed atmospherics not to mention the bloody fantastic, commanding vocals come together like an
unstoppable force of nature in this stellar album of high-powered, heavy riffing and searingly beautiful, proto-metallic, psychedelic retro rock steamrolling right through your psyche. This is the real deal, people.
~ Doom Oracle (Spectral Ecstacy)
8. COLOUR HAZE – SACRED / NEW!
4824 Points
Stoner Rock, Heavy Psych
Munich, Germany
Elektrohasch Schallplatten
On their 14th studio album, COLOUR HAZE, the godfathers of post-Kyuss heavy psych, welcome new bassist Mario Oberpuncher and see keyboardist Jan Faszbender take on an expanded role in the proceedings. The result? Well, it’s a COLOUR HAZE album, replete with all the tonal warmth, and fragile beauty one would expect. And yet, as deep in their catalog as they are, the band still have capacity to surprise, in particular here through Faszbender’s inventive playing. Will Sacred be remembered as COLOUR HAZE’s high-water mark? Maybe not. Will it be remembered as one of the best albums of 2022? Absolutely.
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)
7. SPELLBOOK – DEADLY CHARMS / NEW!
5382 Points
Rock, Hardrock, Seventies, Proto, Occult
York, Pennsylvania, USA
Self-released
This album starts off with giving every Sabbath loving freak out there everything they could ever need. A riviting and slightly ominous intro, galloping riffs in that second track Rehmeyer’s Hollow and a vocalist that has a certain pitch and manic energy that borders that of our lord Ozzy. During the course of the new SPELLBOOK album the tracks move more towards something with pop-sensible catchiness, but never losing touch of that vintage groove and the ageless sound of bloodlust occult; charming! Deadly Charming… Deadly Charms!
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
6. CLUTCH – SUNRISE ON SLAUGHTER BEACH / NEW!
5726 Points
Stoner Rock, Pro Rock
Germantown, Maryland, USA
Weathermaker Music
CLUTCH never, ever disappoints. Nine tracks in 33 minutes. Seems like you may be looking for more after four years, but every track on Sunrise On Slaughter Beach is a top-notch edition to the cannon and just keeps the string of killer CLUTCH records going. You get all you want with a CLUTCH album in a tight, compressed package ready for mass consumption.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
5. FRAYLE – SKIN & SORROW / NEW!
6188 Points
Doom, Goth, Alternative, Heavy Rock
Lay Bare Recordings
Cleveland, USA
However, what always hits me to the core with almost every track is the eerily heavy and gloomy lyrics.
They take you by storm and you finally feel understood! Any fate, any low blow, and any still so dark hour is united with a sound that somehow encases both morbidity and lust for life. And what can I say? Sometimes “I need something darker than black.”
~ Silvi Pearl (Doomed & Stoned, Electric Fire Records)
4. ROBOT GOD – WORLDS COLLIDE / NEW!
7657 Points
Psychedelic-rock, Stoner, heavy-psych, doom, progressive, space
Australia
Kozmik Artifactz
A combination of heavy psychedelia with a strong Floydian inspiration, with powerful Stoner riffs and the acidity of its developments with elements of blues, progressive passages and forays into psycho-doom territory. ‘Worlds Collide‘ invites us to go to the other side of the mirror and enjoy four long songs, with their own identity, and with a rainbow of sound nuances. Cosmic nebulae that drug us, but also know how to make us wake up from that gratifying lethargy with a heavy sound, diffuse at times, but absolutely wonderful and addictive.
~ Roberto Lucas (Denpa Fuzz)
3. MUTAUTU – GRAVEYARD OF GIANTS / NEW!
8092 Points
Proto-Metal, Heavy Blues, Occult Rock
Helsinki, Finland
Self-Released
Graveyard of Giants, the second album from Helsinki’s MUTAUTU, not only carves out the band’s niche in the proto-metal space but sets them firmly ahead of most bands mining those sepia-toned ores. What sets MUTAUTU apart is that they’ve been able to trade atmosphere for strong, hook-filled songwriting that shines with the album’s warm tonality. Take, for example, Ruins’ riffy menace or the delicate slink of Lost Shoes Blues. What results is a record that vibes and flows in the same manner as the best in the genre while standing apart from those content to merely echo the sounds of Witchcraft and Graveyard.
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)
2. FREEDOM HAWK – TAKE ALL YOU CAN / NEW!
17908 Points
Proto, Seventies, Stoner Rock
Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Ripple Music
Our top doom release of the month goes to Virginia Beach stoners FREEDOM HAWK for their sixth full length, Take All You Can. Of utmost import is the top notch song writing here, three old school Sabbatharian doomsters, two laidback psychedlic ditties and one radio-ready catchy-as-hell. Add the Ozzy-esque vocal warblings and there you have a package demanding multiple listens. And it’s a grower. Buy!
~ Chris Tighe (The Mighty Decibal)
1. KING BUFFALO – REGENERATOR
18440 Points
Heavy-psych, Psychedelic-rock, Kraut, Progressive, Stoner, Space
Rochester, USA
Stickman Records
Continuing with that exploration of the modernity of heavy psychedelia, his songs that trap you in true sonic spirals of starry overtones, but without giving up his beautiful and padded melodies. A formula that follows works for the trio. A whole melting pot of psychedelic, progressive and spatial sounds create a moving album that is equally impressive, surprising and masterful. The album shows us the shadows, but is also able to find the light with its meandering and hypnotic songs, which span a melting pot of styles and influences to blend them perfectly. An exquisitely coupled rhythmic machinery makes the songs mutate between different atmospheres, creating a gratifying magnetic field for the listener.
~ Roberto Lucas (Denpa Fuzz)
Regenerator is yet another masterpiece from the prog rock trio. The follow-up to December’s Acheron, Regenerator is KING BUFFALO at their arguable best. Instead of pursuing the doom-driven metal of Dead Star or the introspective psychedelia of Orion, Regenerator is an ecstatic reimagining of what KING BUFFALO can be. While this is unmistakably KING BUFFALO, the guitars are brighter, the solos are happier, and the rhythm section is filled with optimism. This album will leave you feeling inspired.
~ Patrick Schober (Monster Riff)
It’s been ten years since the KING BUFFALO three (then four) delivered their first demo. During the past twelve months, they released a trio of albums that can easily measure up to all the great trilogies ever released in the course of musical history. In fact, they can immediately be counted as one of the best. This third, closing act, Regenerator, gives us indeed closure, comfort, and reassurance. That even if not all is well, it is still okay. Be here now. You, me, and the KING BUFFALO three.
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
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); Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard); 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); ‘The General’ (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); JC Cansdale-Cook (The MotorFuzzin’ Ibex); 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); Ryan Foster (Slightly Fuzzed) ; 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.
Here we are, you and me? At the very bottom? Well, why not leave a comment about your favorite album on the list?
Doom Charts 
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