“Less is not more… More is more…”

~ Dolly Parton

Here we are again, the final Friday of the month… With the new Peroration list. And even more than last month. A total of 31 albums, all sincerely loved by one or more of the Contributors. A few were received as double blurbs for one of the March albums, and some unfortunately did not make the Top 25, for whatever weird and possibly insane reason. Last month we had 27 and this month no less than 31 amazing albums! More is more. Please check out all those magic albums featured on this list, it might just be your next favorite one as well!

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 are 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…

ABYSMAL GRIEF – DESPISE THE LIVING, DESECRATE THE DEAD
Doom Metal
Genoa, Italy.
Avantgarde Music

Despise The Living, Desecrate The Dead is a good compilation mixing rare stuff recorded between 2016 and 2021 – original unpublished tracks by ABYSMAL GRIEF and 3 covers made in Italy, originally released in 1993, 1987 and… 1958! ABYSMAL GRIEF is a well-known name of Italian Doom Metal and this album is faithful to its reputation. The atmospheres are dark, the voices are demonic and the organ plays all the chords prohibited by the liturgy.
~ Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral)

AT THE ALTAR OF THE HORNED GOD – HEART OF SILENCE
Black Metal, Goth Rock, Ritual Ambient
Madrid, Spain
I, Voidhanger Records

Heart of Silence is a groundbreaking album, so much so that it immediately secured my album of the year spot for 2023 thus far. The project combines atmospheric black metal with gothic and ritual ambient elements, the result of which is a moody, haunting offering that at times feels somewhat hypnotic. The balance struck between harsher black metal vocals and the depressive yet epic clean gothic style vocals alone make the album worth your time and that’s without the mind blowing musicianship.
~ Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast)

CLINIC RODEO – LES NUITS
Stoner rock, post-rock, alt-rock
Ile de France, France
Self-released

CLINIC RODEO‘s music explores Stoner Rock, Post-rock, Alt-Rock, and Garage Rock lands but all the musical genres merge together at night. Anyway, it’s always rock and still built on a solid rhythm section with layers of acid drone guitars and a warm as hell voice. Les Nuits is an album with such a large range of various tracks that can be enjoyed thanks to a crystal clear sound. Notice that although the album title is in French, the lyrics are in English. The nights follow each other and each one gives birth to a singular dream … dream and enjoy dreaming.
~ Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral)

CRATER – DEGENERATE
Doom, Sludge
Shenzhen/China
SloomWeep Productions

Chinese doom/sludge heavy enough to make your eyeballs burst and your teeth rattle out of your skull. All the warmth and moisture you normally get from standard doom riffs have been sucked out and the fuzz sandblasted away to leave an arid musical wasteland of slow, hateful tempos. Salvation does lie within Degenerate  as there is a slight stoner element that resonates within the tide of toxic sludge dissonance that gives the album a remarkably accessible feel to it, but generally, the Eyehategod influenced doom leaves a debilitating sense of hopelesness and nausea for which there is no known antidote.
~ Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast)

CROWN LANDS – FEARLESS
Progressive Rock
Toronto, Canada
Universal

Anyone who is feeling the loss of RUSH should seriously invest in this band! A smorgasbord of Power Windows/Signals – era Rush with a healthy dollop of Coheed and Cambria and The Mars Volta thrown in! Power chords, brimming invention coupled with an absolute musical awareness and craft. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Geddy & Alex end up working with them!
~ Reek of STOOM (Doomed&Stoned, Stoner HiVe)

GLITTER WIZARD – KISS THE BOOT
70’s Glam, Psychedelic
San Francisco, CA
Kitten Robot Records

Long before bands such as FEVER DOG and LIMOUSINE BEACH were churning out impressive 70’s glam rock influenced records over the last two years, San Francisco’s GLITTER WIZARD were the first one’s to lead the genre’s resurgence with their stellar 2011 debut LP ‘Solar Hits’. After two avant-garde laden releases on Heavy Psych Sounds with 2016’s ‘Hollow Earth’ and 2019’s ‘Opera Villains’, the glamour-kings are back with a return to their hard-rockin’ roots with their new EP ‘Kiss The Boot’, out on Kitten Robot Records. ‘Kiss The Boot’ sees the band tap back into a full-on 70’s glam arsenal as the Sweet and Slade influences are front-and-center throughout the record as evidenced by the record’s first single and video for ‘She’s A Star’. The heavy glam influences continue with the album’s strongest track (in my opinion) ‘Sugar Beat’, which starts off with a drum intro that echoes the same exact rhythm as the Gary Glitter classic ‘Rock N Roll Part 2’. The album also sees the quintet do a bang-up job covering the David Bowie classic ‘Suffragette City’ and wraps with the power-pop infused ‘Pogo Tonight’. While the modern-day glam rock resurgence continues to gain steam in underground rock circles across the globe, ‘Kiss The Boot’ shows the rock world why GLITTER WIZARD continues to be the beacon of the present day glam rock revival.
~ Matt Hartnett (Aftershocks TV)

GREY STAG – CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN
Progressive, Sludge
Dublin,Ireland
Self-released

Dublin’s GREY STAG are ready to blow the heads off of every heavy music fan with their debut full-length ‘Call Of The Mountain’, a speedball of progressive and sludge riffs wrapped up with a huge line of groove metal rhythms and is more groovier than your typical sludge or progressive band. They played Bloodstock Open Air and the album was funded by the Irish Arts Council. If you’re a fan of Mastodon and High On Fire, this is surely one you’ll want to check out.
~ Matt Hartnett (Aftershocks TV)

HÅNDGEMENG – ULTRARITUAL
Stoner, Doom
Drøbak, Norway
Ripple Music

As a guy who really digs both hardcore and stoner rock, this is the perfect meld of both. Riffs, screams, urgency, danger, and everything you love about both genres wrapped into one 45-minute slab of heavy. Take a toke then get into the pit.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

HOPE HOLE – BEAUTIFUL DOOM
Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic, Psych
Toledo, Ohio, USA
Self-released

Gothic tinged Metal that delves into Doom, Psych and other sub-genres. The album conveys a no-hope, dismal feeling in a somewhat upbeat way. Despair conveyed beautifully.
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)

ISAAK – HEY
Stoner Rock|
Genova, Italy
Heavy Psych Sounds

ISAAK is back, now teamed up with Heavy Psych Sounds, and is bringing the riffs and killer songwriting on their third album that takes the band to the next level.  Some serious energy exudes from Hey and it is an album that is full steam ahead across all eleven grungy/stoner tracks of awesomeness. The band has stepped it up lyrically as well, making this their most complete offering till date. Album of the year candidate for this guy…
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

ISOLE – ANESIDORA
Epic Doom Metal
Gävle, Sweden
Hammerheart Records

The dual harsh and clean (mainly clean) vocals sets the tone for ISOLE‘s new album Anesidora an album that spans the full range of emotions dragging the listener from the depths of despair one moment to a rapturous sense of elation the next. It’s like attending a wake yet leaving with a smile on your face. ISOLE doesn’t need fuzz or effects to conjure an epic, aural funeral. Instead, this doom ceremony is sanctified by heavy, metallic crunchy guitars punctuated with solo’s that sound like the anguished crying of a grieving widow. Bereavement has never been this glorious.
~ Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast)

KOMMAND – DEATH AGE
Death Metal
Los Angeles, California
20 Buck Spin

Sometimes we get lost in the world of extreme music and neglect the roots of what make a great album. KOMMAND are here to remind us of what a classic death metal album sounds like. When assembling your 2023 soundtrack to total devastation, Death Age is going to be an easy fit. Grumpy vocals, aggressive percussion and riffs that bleed out of the speakers. If the two worlds were not so far apart, it would be easy to imagine sword wielding soldiers storming the castle with this as their mid-evil soundtrack.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)

MAN OR MAKER – SUMMER GAZE
Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge, Progressive
Ukraine
Self-released

Can one man truly make a difference? He can when he is the man, and the maker, of MAN OR MAKER. Explorable expanses of heady, lysergically-laced progressive metal is intertwined with passages of post-metal and sludge. From the soaring heights of unrestrained psychedelia to the tribal-inspired rhythmic structuring within these compositions, ‘Summer Gaze’ is a searing stare into a molten zone of metallic magnificence.
~ Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (The Ripple Effect)

MESMUR – CHTHONIC
Funeral Doom
North Carolina/Washington, United States / Sydney, New South Wales, Australia / Italy
Aesthetic Death/Solitude Productions

MESMUR’s ‘Chthonic’ is an engaging funeral doom album that hits the sweet spots for the genre and with more than enough depth and detail to give reasons to return.
~ Justin Wittenmeier (Metal Temple, DoomedForMetal)

NEPENTHES – GRAND GUIGNOL
Doom
Tokyo/Japan
Daymare Recordings

NOT ON BANDCAMP

Featuring ex Church Of Misery ex Coffins and G.A.T.E.S members. Heavily blues and stoner influenced doom, punctuated with chaotic solo’s that only the Japanese can pull off.
~ Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast)

NIGHT GOAT – TOTEM
Canton, Ohio
Post-punk, Grunge, Noise Rock
Interstellar Smoke Records

Four years after their brilliant “Milk”, NIGHT GOAT return with a thunderous album. Their sound worships the best underground bands of the Northwest Pacific in the 90s, with truly inspired moments where early Sonic Youth meet Kurt’s pre-Bleach demos. With tunes like the waltzing sickness of “Skinwalk With Me” and the crushing groove of “Wendigo”, I ‘m sure that I will be returning to this album for more. One of the best releases of the month for sure, check it out today!
~ Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture)

NINE ALTARS – THE ETERNAL PENANCE
Doom Metal, Epic
Durham, England
Good Mourning Records / Journey’s End Records

NOT ON BANDCAMP

On their debut album, Durham’s NINE ALTARS (feat. members of Thronehammer amongst others), breaths fresh life into the traditional doom metal template. Yes, the riffs are slow and forelorn. Yes, there are soaring (but not too much so) clean vocals. Yes the influence of bands like Warning, Candlemass, Trouble (Metal Blade era), and Revelation are present and accounted for. But there’s something more going on here, there’s an almost triumphant swagger to the down-trodden riffing that elevates the proceedings significantly above standard doom fare. Clearly, NINE ALTARS have found, in the words of Dawn of Winter, wisdom in the slowness, and in so doing they’ve produced one of trad doom’s early highlights of 2023!
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)

PLAGUE BEARER – SUMMONING APOCALYPTIC DEVASTATION
Death Metal, Black Metal
Seattle, Washington
Nameless Grave Records

Filthy, abrasive, and epic, PLAGUE BEARER‘s blackened death metal opus is a beast of an album. Toeing the line evenly between black discordance and death metal crush, the crew assault the ears with a vile wall of noise that’s as crazed as it is intentional. The pacific northwest has delivered another deliciously evil slab of heaviness to scare the neighbors.
~ Kyle SB / Shasta Beast (Stoner HiVe)

REZN – SOLACE
Doom, Stoner Rock
Chicago, Illinois
Self-released / Off The Record Label

Taking us through worlds unseen is the gift of REZN. Solace contains all the psychedelic wormholes to help the mind travel to new dimensions. Afloat in the sonic waves of the universe, they tap into the gravitational pull of spirit, body, and mind. Once the listener has fully submitted to the experimental nature of the album the heavier side of the experience begins. Patient fans of slow and heavy with clean vocal would be urged to take a ride with this album.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)

THE RHUBARB – SYMPTOM OF FAILURE
Doom, Alt-Metal, Stoner Rock, Psych
Glasgow, Scotland
Milky Bomb Records

THE RHUBARB are not your archetypical doom band, sure they have the thick reverberating chord progressions and the earth-shaking rhythms that are an essential component of any band ploughing a furrow in the field of doom, and they DO cite all the right bands as their influences, yet despite this they sound like no other doom band on the planet. The thing that sets THE RHUBARB apart from the following herd is their vocals, instead of Ozzy-like nasal whining, demonic growling or Dio-esque operatics THE RHUBARB decorate their doomic tomes with dual harmonies and vocal trade offs that are a quirky yet delightful mix of baritone huskiness and soaring ethereality. THE RHUBARB might not be your typical doom band but that doesn’t stop them being a bloody good one.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)

SANTO ROSTRO – DESPUÉS NO HABRÁ NADA
Progressive, Doom, Sludge, Psych, Metal
Jaén,Spain
Discos Macarras / LaRubiaProducciones / Spinda Records

SANTRO ROSTRO take a step forward with their new album ‘DESPUÉS NO HABRÁ NADA‘. In this new installment, the band presents us with five heavy and heartbreaking songs that live in the dark. Its long instrumental developments gravitate in gloomy psycho-progressive atmospheres built with multiple effects and synthesizers, causing a cloudy and dizzying sound. Fluctuating in their intensity, each one contains terrifying passages that overwhelm the listener with a flowing narrative, in which over elaborate prog impulses, the band pummels us with towering riffs and outsized rage. Keeping their alternative spirit intact, the trio evokes the sound that bands like VIAJE A 800 performed years ago. With songs full of twists and meanders, they offer us a sound that will gratify lovers of bands like MASTODON, ORANSI PANUCI or RUSSIAN CIRCLES, in its particular Andalusian version.
~ Roberto Lucas (Denpa Fuzz)

SHORES OF NULL – THE LOSS OF BEAUTY
Gothic, Melodic Doom
Italy
Spikerot Records

SHORES OF NULL improves their craft in every way possible. Their songwriting is impeccable because it does something that other bands either struggle against or don’t even try: create sorrowful, melonchlic doom that is also crackles and pops with catchy melodies and choruses.
~ Justin Wittenmeier (Metal Temple, DoomedForMetal)

SORCERESS – BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN
Stoner, Doom
Salem, Oregon, USA
Mizmor

A quintessential stoner-doom classic reissued to the masses on wax for the first time after nearly 14 years hidden in the modern day archives. Every song brings something to the table whether it be a sinister doom-laden vibes, hard rocking guitar solos, drone-drenched interludes, or epic 20 minute progressive rifffests. The 2LP Gatefold just arrived and will be cherished for years to come.
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)

SUSPIRIORUM – SUSPIRIORUM
Occult Rock, Horror Rock, Prog, Doom
Austin, TX, USA
Self-released

The debut release from Austin supergroup (members of Destroyer of Light, Witchcryer, Temple of Love, Hinayana, amongst others), SUSPIRIORUM, covers quite a bit of ground, and covers it in impressive fashion, for a three song EP. As one would expect from the name, horror soundtracks loom large, as evidenced by the audio samples accompanying the first two tracks, but the music here is much more song based and features prominent vocals. Think Goblin taking songwriting lessons from Roky Erickson and hiring Mansion’s Mother Alma to deliver each track’s imposing sermon. It’s a powerful combination and one that should not be slept upon.
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)

TEMPTRESS – SEE
Stoner, Doom
Dallas, Texas
Metal Assault Records

The veteran musicians from the Dallas, Texas band TEMPTRESS unleash their siren song on the world in the form of their debut full length, See, and just try not to be mesmerized by their haunting calling of doomy stoner psych heaviness. With dueling male/female vocals, killer riffs, and an element of looming danger, See is going to be one of the most remembered debuts of 2023.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

TRIGLÖTH – TRIGLÖTH
Death Metal, Thrash, Groove, Hardcore
Annemasse, France
Self-released

Groove-laden aggression fuels massive riffs and vocals served with brutality intact. Gut wrenched elements giveway to bombastic batterings of oldschool-inspired hardcore pulsating with self-assuring machismo and bragging rights. Be it breakdowns or beatdowns, the best in heaviness is this incendiary debut right here.
~ Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (The Ripple Effect)

VISION DEPRIVED – SELF ELEVATING, DEEP INSIDE THE VOID
Death Metal
Milan, Italy
Slaughterhouse Records

Unsettling Italian death metal that spits and snarls in your face in an unrelenting, frenzied attack. The riffs just keep coming, charged with adrenaline, like a serial killer stalking his next kill. Self Elevating, Deep Inside The Void, hurtles from one toxic tempo to another with crust armoured grind vying with mid paced crunch in a withering dance of ferocious extremity.
~ Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast)

VOIDSCAPE – ODYSSEY OF SPITE
Melodic Death
Clifton, New Jersey
Nefarious Industries

Prepare yourself for some serious structural work within this album. The album somewhat holds back at first with a delicate but hearty showcase of riff work. After drawing the listener in it takes off with extreme momentum. We are not talking about grind but straight forward tempo. They hold back nothing as they launch the attack with a precise and surgical procedure. The band certainly put in the work to make sure this medically driven metal album is clean and packed full of explosive passages. Vocally, it is more of a scream than a death growl and it fits with the emotional release of the record very well.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)

WITCHTHROAT SERPENT – TROVE OF ODDITIES AT THE DEVIL’S DRIVEWAY
Doom, Metal
Toulouse, France
Heavy Psych Sounds

Excellent low slow and heavy grooves of menacing stonerized doom sporting vocals that despite their slightly monotonic delivery are surprisingly bright and clean. This is the bands first release as a quartet and the addition of a second guitarist has given the bands music a fuller slightly more complex dynamic and allowed them the freedom to break out of the riff/vocal/riff/solo/riff format and experiment a little, it suits them.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)

WOE UNTO ME – ALONG THE MEANDERING ORDEALS, RESHAPE THE PIVOT OF HARMONY
Funeral Doom
Belarus
M-Theory Audio

In some ways, their sound is progressive in how far they are willing to stretch themselves. ‘Along…‘ is all doom and gloom but it isn’t all cavernous—the album has an open sound that is very exploratory without forgetting the roots of the genre.
~ Justin Wittenmeier (Metal Temple, DoomedForMetal)

ZORN – ZORN
Black Metal, Thrash Metal, Punk
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sorry State Records

The band play a perfect blend of black metal, thrash metal and punk, but deliver it with the speed, ferocity and raw unfiltered sound of 80s First Wave black metal. Most importantly they chock their music full to the brim with deliciously monstrous riffs and hooks and raw wildly shrieked vocals that never let up from start to finish. It kind of feels like a blend of early Voivod, Nunslaughter, Bathory, Midnight and Exodus, all rolled into one incredible package. An AOTY contender right here.
~ ~ Steve Woodier (Deathrattle Podcast)

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

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 (Morbid And Miserable Records); 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 Decibel); 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); Gruby (Doomsmoker); Günther “Doktor420” (Stoner HiVe); Héctor “Mr. Heavyhead” Hurtado (More Fuzz); Hugo Hulleman (Metalfan.nl,Orange Maze); Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture); James Sweetlove (CaveDwellerMusic); (Jamey Morris (Fistful of DOOM); Jasper Hesselink (Weirdo Shrine); 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); Jon Cosky (Gravitoyd Heavy Music); Jonny Pirie (Hour of the Riff); Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe); Justin Wittenmeier (Metal Temple, DoomedForMetal); 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); Matt Hartnett (Aftershocks TV); 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); Ryan Hilton (Black Throne Productions); Scott Spiers (CleanAndSoberStoner) ; 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, The Third Eye); 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.