“Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”
~ Truman Burbank
Once every full moon the First Friday of the new month will be on the very first day of the month. Welcome to the August edition of the Doom Charts! Brought to you by a throng of heavy music fiends who diligently send in their lists every month after listening to as much of the great albums floating around the Heavy Underground as they possibly can. This time around 245 albums received votes and you can see and listen for yourself which albums made the August Edition. You will also notice, that for the first time in many editions, no less than Four albums carried over from the July edition. This happens mostly when the Contributors simply can’t get enough of those releases or if they perhaps voted a bit too soon for a certain release. Of course, with promos arriving early or very early and the ever more fluent release dates, the official dates do become a bit hazy… But personally, I’d like to think that whenever this happens, the album is that good and deserves to be heard by as many of you lovely folks out there as possible… So, here you go, the August 2023 Doom Charts, be vigilant, keep watching and keep listening! Cause there’s so much good and heavy stuff out there, we often think we only actually scratch the surface…
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. THE FIERCE AND THE DEAD – NEWS FROM THE INVISIBLE WORLD
39. KING MOUNTAIN – WRATH OF THE GODS / NEW
37. THE FIRE MYSTICAL – THE FIRE MYSTICAL
36. BLOODWOOD – SOLARIS / NEW
35. BOTTOMLESS – THE BANISHING / NEW
34. SLOWNER – LEADING TO NOWHERE / NEW
33. DUN RINGILL – 150-WHERE THE OLD GODS PLAY-ACT 1 / NEW
32. GODTHRYMM – DISTORTIONS / NEW
31. ACID ROOSTER – FLOWERS & DEAD SOULS / NEW
30. EARTHBONG – CHURCH OF BONG / NEW
29. JOVIAN QUEEN – JOVIAN QUEEN / NEW
28. TURN ME ON DEAD MAN – CASSIOPEIA / NEW
27. HEPHAISTOS – MEDUSA / NEW
26. EYES OF THE OAK – THE STONE VORTEX / NEW
25. ARTEAGA – NEON ACIDO / NEW
924 Points
Acid Rock / Heavy Psych
Santiago, Chile
Interstellar Smoke Records
ARTEAGA does scuzzy acid rock like no one else. Neon Acido is a dynamic kaleidoscope of mesmerizing vocals and true neon acid-soaked fuzz. 10/10!
~ Ryan Hilton (Black Throne Productions)
24. GURTHWORM – SCOLECIPHOBIA / NEW
990 Points
Stoner, Grunge
Charlotte, NC, USA
Self-released
No fear of worms for me here as I can’t get enough of Charlotte’s GURTHWORM, who bring the killer stoner/grunge vibes with some nicely placed cowbell for good measure on Scoleciphobia. You get some up-tempo stoner jams and some slower burn grungy AIC vibes for an overall delightfully creepy crawly experience on this too short four track EP. I look forward to a full length slithering our way hopefully soon because these guys bring it.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
23. ASTRAL CONSTRUCT – TRAVELING A HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS / NEW
1368 Points
Heavy Psych, Doom, Space Rock, Hard rock
Colorado, USA
Self-released
The awesome cover artwork says all you need to know about this album. Space – The Final Frontier! While other sub-genres can seem restricted or confined can you really do that to Space Rock? ASTRAL CONSTRUCT says hell no. Pushing the boundaries with light and dark, chaos and peace flow seamlessly through the expansive universe that this band has created. Space Rock at its finest!
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)
22. MALKASIAN – THE MACABRE / NEW
1408 Points
Rock, Blues, Psych, Stoner, Country
Denver, Colorado, USA
Self-released
Blues, but all twisted and deranged… Alternative blues, stonerrock noir. Diesel Americana. Fuzz Country. Heavy dark folk. Melancholy campfire songs brought to you by a rocking trio, moody and cumbersome, but MALKASIAN makes it work and turns their The Macabre in something amiable and almost comforting.
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
21. Tō Yō – STRAY BIRDS FROM THE FAR EAST / NEW
1440 Points
Sunny fuzzy psych folk rock
Japan
King Volume Records
On Stray Birds From The Far East the band mixes indigenous Japanese folk music with modern psych rock. A short and varied bunch, these six songs in thirty minutes will obviously appeal to fans of Japanese psych like Kikagaku Moyo, but also to more danceable, frivolous modern psych like Yin Yin, and uptempo psychedelic rock like Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Tō Yō shows all these sides, and adds a dash of character that is very distinguishably their own. Perfect summer music!
~ Jasper Hesselink (Weirdo Shrine)
20. ASTRAL WIZARD – ASTRAL WIZARD / NEW
1534 Points
Heavy, Stoner, Desert Rock
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Self-released
The Ervin brothers are back! After Mutha Trucka, Sleazy Owl and Snakebite Delight, here comes ASTRAL WIZARD! More heavy stoner than their three other bands, this one is grittier, fuzzier and groovier. Under a tremendous artwork (cactus, orange amp, wizard, starry sky, mountain, all the stoner artwork’s clichés are there!), the tireless brothers struck a blow again!
~ Damien Regnauld (Stoner Freaks Anthology)
19. IGLESIA ATOMICA – LOS DEMONIOS ANDAN SUELTOS / NEW
1552 Points
Instrumental Heavy Psych, Stoner Rock
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Self-released
“Their best yet” seems to be the quote attached to every IGLESIA ATOMICA album ever released and that is because every new release is just that, this new album is no exception.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
18. LUCIFUNGUS – LUCIFUNGUS 4 / NEW
1576 Points
Doom, Sludge, Stoner Rock
Australia
Self-released
Growing up as a KISS fan, I immediately theorized about the songs Gene Simmons would have on each album. The sinister, inauspicious tracks. The songs each procured for the ‘Demon’. LUCIFUNGUS encapsulates the darker side of the groove with a sly look and a Devil May Care grin. Beware Bunyips, Yowies, and Dropbears. When you hear this music in the wild, you know the beast is nigh. The latest offering by the heterotrophs of the underworld should be the battle cry for the beasts that lurk in the Australian shadows.
~ Chris Beck (Doom Tomb Podcast)
17. GRAND CADAVER – DEITIES OF DEATHLIKE SLEEP / NEW
1616 Points
Death, Doom, Sludge
Sweden
Majestic Mountain Records
Gothenburg’s GRAND CADAVER deliver a massive slab of crippling Death Doom with their seventh release, “Deities of Deathlike Sleep” – ten tracks of trepanning tonality that is as feral as a Lynx on amphetamines – Massive!
~ Reek of STOOM (Howls from The Hollows, Doomed&Stoned, Stoner HiVe)
16. THE DEATH WHEELERS – CHAOS AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MADNESS / NEW
1683 Points
Instrumental, Biker Rock, Sleaze Rock
Canada
Riding Easy Records
Get your motor running and head out on the highway. This album reeks of old leather and engine oil, a sample strewn instrumental soundtrack for riding open roads on just two-wheels with the wind blowing through your hair and dead bugs collecting on your teeth.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
15. BEES MADE HONEY IN THE VEIN TREE – AION / NEW
1820 Points
Psychedelic doom-post-metal
Stuttgart, Germany
Magnetic Eye Records
“Aion”, the third album of the Stuttgart doom post-metal bees from cosmic blackness, is a breathtaking, to kneel down beautiful and at the same time poignant soundscape majesty! To linger here only in a short listening flight for a “one track stop” would be an absolute crime! One should drop into this enchanting work with body and soul and let oneself be carried away by the hypnotically creeping spheres of this “Watercosmic” Doom / Post-Metal sound, which glide through the subconscious like mighty tidal currents with diverse, unexpected textures and surprising whipping undercurrents. It is not only an extended dive through space and time, but rather a time-forgetting dwelling of the subconscious in an unfathomable black, bottomless shimmering grotto lake, in which melancholic, gloomy funeral doom guitar sounds rise to beautiful, soothing foam ridges, only to rush almost imperceptibly, with bass, drum fireworks and harsh vocal power, into the doomy depths! The mesnerizing and reverb-soaked voice, which seems to come from somewhere beyond, swings its fins in the natural unison of the musical tidal flow. The BEES have managed to breathe a persistently captivating soul into their almost 80-minute concept long player, with bundled passion of their band existence and brilliant creative artistry. Thanks BEES, for this stunning majesty!
~ Mel Lie (Sunday’s Heavy Tunes)
14. AAWKS/AIWASS – THE EASTERN SCROLLS / NEW
1850 Points
Psychedelic Stoner Doom
Barrie, Ontario, Canada / Austin, Texas, USA
Black Throne Productions
AAWKS and AIWASS join forces on a crushing exploration of the world of Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. AAWKS‘ more psychedelic, stoner doom collides with the ominous AIWASS sound to create a surprisingly unified and breathtaking split.
~ Ryan Foster (Slightly Fuzzed)
13. FATMAS – EXTERNAL INTERNAL ETERNAL / NEW
1903 Points
Alternative, Doom, Metal, Prog, Post, Stoner, Rock
NSW, Australia
Self-released
This album really grabbed me. It was my most listened to of the month. I wasn’t familiar with the band so I had zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It’s one of those albums upon first listen that I kept asking myself, wait what is this? The dichotomy of the heavy af riffs with acoustic flourishes and prog rock passages are fantastic. It works so well and makes the album so exciting and interesting. Quality songs and musicianship seal the deal. The 46 minutes go by so fast and leave me wanting more.
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)
12. SPIRIT ADRIFT – GHOST AT THE GALLOWS / NEW
1910 Points
Classic Metal, Doom, NWOTHM
Austin, Texas, USA
Century Media
On their fifth, and most accomplished, full-length, Ghost At The Gallows, SPIRIT ADRIFT show that they’ve come a long way from the trad doom solo project that channeled the likes of Mirror of Deception on Chained to Oblivion. Now part of metal’s vanguard, the band seamlessly meld their doomed notions with classic metal righteousness and a touch of trad and progressive flourish. Even if the extensive nod to Crazy Train feels a bit much on I Shall Return, there’s more than enough riffing badassery and fretboard pyrotechnics on tracks like Barn Burner and the catchy-as-hell Death Won’t Stop Me to prove that SPIRIT ADRIFT are a force with which to be reckoned.
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)
11. RITO VERDUGO – KAMIKAZE BOOM / NEW
2730 Points
Stoner Rock, Heavy Psych
Lima, Peru
Necio Records
Back at the turn of the century, there was a strain of stoner rock that was more ROCK than bong resin, more fretboard pyrotechnics than drones for Satan. RITO VERDUGO’s newest album, the aptly titled Kamikaze Boom, happily harkens back to that early-aughts ethos while putting its own stamp on the sound. More complex, more psychedelic, more weird (in a good way). So, if you like your Bitchwax Atomic, your Karma Burning, and your Undia… Coping with the Urban Coyote, this one’s for you!
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)
10. KING FATHER BABOON – PLANTING GALLOWS / NEW
2754 Points
Heavy psych, Blues rock, Stoner
Nuremberg, Germany
Self-released
Planting Gallows is the perfect album when I’m looking to be in a good mood. KING FATHER BABOON offers us a beautifully composed, masterfully performed and very well produced psychedelic blues album tinged with stoner. Sometimes soft, meditative or energetic, the melodies are always brilliant.
~ Thierry “Baboon-T“ François (Metal Intégral)
9. THE W LIKES – II / NEW
3420 Points
Stoner Rock, Hard Rock. Psych
Hamar, Norway
Ramah Records/Evil Noise Recordings
Soulful vocals, blessed with an element of Cornell-like power, married to gritty stoner grooves tinted here and there with elements of doom, grunge and heavy psych. The bands first album promised much their second delivers on that promise.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
8. WHITE CANYON & THE 5TH DIMENSION – GARDENERS OF THE EARTH / NEW
6135 Points
Psychedelic, Stoner Rock
Brazil
Self-released
For their third release. Brazilian Psychonauts WHITE CANYON & THE 5TH DIMENSION leave no-holds-barred…This is a magnificant blend of Psychedelic and Stoner Rock, tinged with touches of Old School Goth and even a twinge of Pop here and there. “Gardeners of the Earth” unfolds like an origami bird… mesmerising, delightful and wonderfully inventive when deconstructed. A pulsating, Lysergically-generated album that overlaps the fuzzy blur between Classic Psychedelia, Rock and Indie in a way that few can accomplish.
~ Reek of STOOM (Howls from The Hollows, Doomed&Stoned, Stoner HiVe)
7. SONIC MOON – RETURN WITHOUT ANY MEMORY / NEW
6966 Points
Doom, Stoner, Grunge
Aarhus, Denmark
Olde Magick Records
This could wind up being the best all in release that Olde Magick has put out, because SONIC MOON’s debut is a must listen for fans of anything fuzzy, desert-like, or trippy doom. Don’t expect to rock your socks off but do get ready for some heady angry slow burn goodness. Anger and urgency can still be felt without playing at breakneck speed or louder than everybody else. Slow, fuzzy, and raw in all the best ways.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
6. MASHEENA – WEST COAST HARD ROCK / NEW
8968 Points
Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Stoner Rock
Bergen, Norway
Electric Talon Records
West Coast Hard Rock” is exactly what it is says it is, hard rock from the West Coast, only the West Coast this hard rock comes from is situated not on the edges of the Pacific Ocean but on the colder North Sea facing edge of Norway, hard rock from a geographically differnt location but with the same ass-kicking groove.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)
5. REZN & VINNUM SABBATHI – SILENT FUTURE
10127 Points
Progressive, Heavy, Psychedelic
USA & Mexico
Blues Funeral Recordings
Officially released August 11th, many Contributors jumped the gun, because they loved it so much, making this collaboration already make the July Edition. A testament to the quality of this release perhaps? And perhaps also towards the Postwax Series? Cause while we’re on the second year of the Postwax Series, brought to you by Blues Funeral Recordings, we can glance back towards a loud past and see it has delivered so many amazing releases. And with the release of the collaboration between REZN & VINNUM SABBATHI we might conclude that the absolute best has just arrived? Maybe so… At any rate, this extremely atmospheric and cinematographic rock experience takes you on an adventure through the cosmos and delivers an endless future of discoveries…
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
4. KIND – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS / NEW
13064 Points
Stoner, Grunge
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ripple Music
Boston “supergroup” KIND, whose 2020 record, Mental Nudge, was in my top five that year now brings us Close Encounters for our grunge/stoner/doom/psych enjoyment. Close Encounters is the band’s third album (dig that clever album name!!!), and quite possibly their best, which is saying something considering how awesome Metal Nudge is. These guys come from great bands like Elder, Black Pyramid, Roadsaw, and Rozamov, and if you know any of those artist’s work you will hear bits of each in KIND, as well as some serious 90’s Seattle/Alice In Chains vibes. The killer playing and songwriting makes this a top 10 AOTY contender.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
3. MOON COVEN – SUN KING / NEW
21114 Points
Stoner, Doom, Psych, Occult Rock
Malmo, Sweden
Ripple Music
MOON COVEN has a modern classic and an (my) album of the year candidate with Sun King. The band has taken their occult tinged stoner rock to the next level as the band sounds like no other band while giving me everything I love about heavy music. Killer riffs, catchiness without compromising the heaviness, cool/weird lyrics, unique vocals, and an aura of mystery. All of this comes together on Sun King, which has all the stars and planets align, creating a stoner/psych masterpiece and my probable album of the year.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
2. ACID MAGUS – HOPE IS HEAVY / NEW
25075 Points
Doom, Stoner, Progressive, Hard Rock
Pretoria, South Africa
Mongrel Records
Hope Is Heavy is an absolute truth, and delivers an outstanding follow up to its debut, Wyrd Syster. ACID MAGUS have honed a perfect balance of crushing grit, vocal harmony and psychedelic dirge with this epic output of modern doom mastery, instantly shoving itself into AOTY territory.
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)
1. BORRACHO – BLURRING THE LINES OF REALITY / NEW
33462 Points
Stoner metal, Desert rock, Heavy psych, Hard rock
Washington, D.C., USA
Repetitive Heavy Grooves Music
There are not a ton of protest songs in stoner rock that are not “legalize it” related or that are political leaning but are more subtle references than flat out political statements. There are even less full protest albums in the genre, and maybe zero CSNY Ohio level protest albums. There is a first time for everything however, because here we are with the Washington D.C. trio BORRACHO’s new album, Blurring The lines Of Reality. These three dudes are pissed off and are not afraid to air their grievances for all to consume via some killer stoner rock riffage. Think Wo Fat/Fu Manchu hybrid action but only if both those bands read the Washington Post, like a lot. The only thing that will not make this album a top ten of the year, if you love riffs, is if you cannot separate the politics from the music, either because you don’t like to mix your rock with the news or you don’t feel the same way the band does and can’t get over their leanings versus your own. I have no such issue, because Blurring The Lines Of Reality kicks so much ass nothing else matters.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)
Introducing BORRACHO seems unnecessary to me because I consider the trio from Washington is one of the big names in the Heavy Rock scene and there is no doubt that Blurring The Lines Of Reality will further consolidate its notoriety. If you enjoy heavy riffs fueled with fuzz, expressive vocalist and totally hypnotic jams this album will be a jewel for you – period!
~ Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral)
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); Damien Regnauld (Stoner Freaks Anthology); 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 (Heavy Galaxy); 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 (Howls from The Hollows, 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.
You’re… At the bottom of the bottom of that bottomless pit…
Doom Charts 
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