“The DOOM is strong with this one”

~ Darth Vader (probably misheard quote from A New Hope)

We’re almost at the halfway mark of 2024, and the onslaught of quality heavy music shows no signs of stopping. Mark your lists, tally your year-end contenders, rack and re-rack your abacus, because May is yet another bountiful month of doom, stoner, sludge, psych, prog, you name it. Doom or do not, there is no try.

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. URZAH – THE SCORCHING GAZE / NEW!

39. DEER CREEK – THE HIRAETH PIT / NEW!

38. HIGH ON FIRE – COMETH THE STORM

37. MY DILIGENCE – DEATH.HORSES.BLACK / NEW!

36. THE SONIC DAWN – PHANTOM / NEW!

35. DRIVE BY WIRE – TIME HORIZON / NEW!

34. ISAAK // GEEZER – INTERSTELLAR COSMIC BLUES & THE RIFFALICIOUS STONER DUDES / NEW!

33. TRANSONIC SCIENCE – PSYCHOBULB / NEW!

32. BOVEDA DEL SOL – COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS/ NEW!

31. DJIIN – MIRRORS / NEW!

30. SAUTRUS – LAZARUS DILEMMA / NEW!

29. APE VERMIN – ANDROMEDAS COLOSSUS / NEW!

28. BISMARCK – VOURUKASHA / NEW!

27. BRUME – MARTEN / NEW!

26. NINE MOONS – CARACARAS / NEW!

25. SUN MOON HOLY CULT – SUN MOON HOLY CULT / NEW!
1690 Points
Stoner/Psychedelic Doom Metal
Tokyo, Japan
Captured Records / Sloomweep Productions

There is just something about doom with female vocals that always hits the spot. Hakuka’s vocals are out of this world—what a set of pipes!! Fortunately, the other three members of the band match her intensity and effectiveness.  The entire band is definitely hungry for this sound and it shows within their music in a big way.  The guitars, bass, drums….it’s all just so massive.

I listened to this with headphones on…such a deep, rich sound that seems to go for days.  I can’t believe this is their debut album—the band’s synergy is well placed, the members all very obviously comfortable with each other and their chosen style of music. Ame (bass), Bato (drums), and Ryu (guitars) bring it hard.

All in all, SUN MOON HOLY CULT’s self-titled full-length is one hell of a debut album with a lot of depth and fantastic ideas that are pulled expertly and beyond the band’s actual years.  A stunning release and highly recommended.
~ Justin Wittenmeier (Metal Temple, DoomedForMetal)

24. SPACESLUG – OUT OF WATER / NEW!
2057 Points
Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, Psych Rock, Doom Metal
Wroclaw, Poland
Self-released

The mighty SPACESLUG have returned with Out Of Water which follows their usual Progressive based heavy avalanche of Spaced Out Grooves. 

Carrying the same creative environment of their last stunning album Memorial. This EP has a slightly reflective and personal mood with the songs delving into mind expanding cosmic interludes which bridge the gap between Post-Doom heaviness and world building Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal expeditions on tracks such as Tears Of Antimatter, Arise The Sun and Delusions. 

Expect the gold tier of sublime vocals from all the members which is always melodic and fully in sync with each other.

SPACESLUG prove once again why they’re one of the top Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal creative forces in the whole scene and Out Of Water is another outstanding release fron the band.
~ Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun)

23. MARAGDA – TYRANTS / NEW!
2364 Points
Fuzz rock, garage rock, heavy psych
Barcelona, Spain
Spinda Records

I became a fan of MARAGDA when they put out their The Reckless/Evil Seed live single last June and have been waiting for this full length LP. It did not disappoint! This is high quality fuzzy, heavy rock. Elements of psych, garage and space rock are filtered throughout the album also. If this album had a big name from the scene attached to it people would be raving about it IMO. So don’t sleep on this, it’s definitely worth your time.
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)

22. HIGH NOON KAHUNA – THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED / NEW!
2520 Points
Experimental, noise rock, punk rock, shoegaze
Frederick, Maryland, USA
Crucial Blast Records

I imagine most albums that land on the charts have the stoner or doom tag or at least sludge, psych, space or heavy blues. HIGH NOON KAHUNA use none of those tags on their Bandcamp page but believe me when I say they fall directly under the heavy rock umbrella. Sometimes harkening back to late 80s – 90s alternative they sit on the fence between melody and noise dipping their toes into both. This album is solid start to finish. Check it out!
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)

21. YOUNG ACID – MURDER AT MAPLE MOUNTAIN / NEW!
2576 Points
Rock, Punk Rock, Garage Rock, Stoner
Vimmerby, Sweden
Majestic Mountain Records

Talk about an absolute A-team of artists with members of Greenleaf, Domkraft, Grand Cadaver, Besvärjelsen, and The Moth Gatherer who form the rock alliance that is henceforth known as YOUNG ACID! The band is influenced by the storytelling of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren and pays homage to her and her literature throughout Murder At Maple Mountain. Sweltering punk infused stoner/hard rock with a devil-may-care attitude, that’s sure to put a smile on your face. From the opener ‘Into the Depths’ you’re introduced to the blistering bass rhythms, snare heavy drumming, suspended guitar notes and harmonious vocals. Rambunctious and energetic throughout, they only let their guard down for the final track ‘2002’. It begins with a clean guitar and piano intro, vocals with delay, then crescendos towards the end with an amazing chorus combined with layers of guitars and effects. To have only been a fly on the wall inside the studio when this was recorded, I mean they sound like they’ve been together as a band for years and sound as though they’re truly having fun and really it’s a fun album and listen!
~ Jon McGough

20. JUKE COVE – TEMPEST / NEW!
2928 Points
Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock
Leipzig, Germany
Interstellar Smoke Records

JUKE COVE’s third album, Tempest, brings an off-the-charts energy and a ton of variety. This is a band that not only proficiently plays multiple genres of music, but they do so within a single song: doom, stoner, punk, metal…it’s all here! The most admirable thing, however, is how seamlessly JUKE COVE makes these transitions between genres, making it look effortless. Combined with their vocals and lyrics, these style change-ups allow the band to skillfully and accurately depict a mood or state of mind that sends a powerful message about the human condition and our world, in a gloriously heavy way.
~ Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground)

19. DOPETHRONE – BROKE SABBATH / NEW!
3102 Points
Metal, doom, sludge, stoner, blues
Montréal, Québec
Totem Cat Records

Canada’s nastiest masters of the filthy riff are back to rock your brain around inside the cranium. Nothing new or different, just more of the sludgey, fuzzy jams they are great at. There’s always been a few bands like this and now there are even more but does anyone else do it this good? Hell Fucking No!! Play it loud Mutha
~ Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy)

18. DAILY THOMPSON – CHUPAROSA / NEW!
3180 Points
Stoner Rock, Grunge
Dortmund, Germany
Noisolution

DAILY THOMPSON, with their uncanny ability to summon the very soul of 90s grunge/alternative and inject it into their own brand of stoner rock, is back with their most ambitious, sophisticated work yet. Enlisting the help of none other than Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Big Scenic Nowhere) for engineering/mastering and featuring a solo from none other than Bob Balch (Fu Manchu) himself, DAILY THOMPSON has graced us with Chuparosa, their sixth studio release. Chuparosa contains plenty of the grungy goodness we know and love from the band, but it also sees them heavily leaning into the classic stoner/desert sound as developed by bands like Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Not only that, but the album has plenty of layered sound full of grit, groove, and a lot of soul. Stoner and alternative rock fans alike will love this one.
~ Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground)

17. KALGON – KALGON / NEW!
3234 Points
Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, Psych Rock, Doom Metal, WEEDIAN Metal, Thrash Metal
Asheville, North Carolina
Evil Noise Recordings

My mind went on an unexpected journey when listening to KALGON‘s debut album. With its devilishly wicked reliance on Thrash Metal environments with the Progressive surroundings that Mastodon, SLEEP and High On Fire rule the creative roost.

The band explore outlandish sci-fi themes influenced by Invasion Of The Body Snatchers with a great sense of humour and realism along the way. Leaving the fantastical elements behind KALGON focus upon playing subtle harsh Sludge/Stoner Metal obsessed Instrumental passages with that killer Thrash/Groove element which also transforms into Transcendental based Post-Stoner or Post-Doom mythology on the later stages.

Despite the bleak cinematic journey KALGON do offer moments of uplifting surroundings for a first rate album.

Then again I could easily be under the parasitic control of the space fungus the album warns listeners about.
~ Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun)

16. SUNNATA – CHASING SHADOWS / NEW!
3664 Points
Progressive Metal, Desert Rock, Doom
Warsaw, Poland
Self-released

SUNNATA‘s Chasing Shadows is like a warm desert wind, one minute just a gentle breeze blowing ripples across the dunes the next a raging sandstorm throwing dancing dust devils spinning across the desert floor, an atmospheric and exotic mix of intensity and calmness.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)

15. GREY GIANT – CONVERSUS IN LUTUM / NEW!
3680 Points
Doom, Heavy Psych, Stoner Rock
Santander, Spain
Self-released

GREY GIANT deliver unto us, with their second album, music that is an amalgamation of psychedelic blues early experimental desert rock and current period stoner doom fronted by unique wearied vocals, a combination that is as wonderfully trippy as it is deliciously dark.
~ Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist)

14. MOOCH – VISIONS / NEW!
4240 Points
Hard Rock, Psychedelic, Grunge, Stoner Rock
Montreal, Québec
Self-released

On Visions, MOOCH maintain that undeniable Morrison mojo, driven by a Jar Of Flies esque harmony and a Cobain grit.
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)

13. UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS – NELL’ ORA BLU / NEW!
4290 Points
Psych, Prog, Soundtrack
Cambridge, England
Rise Above Records

If you’re reading this blog, you know who UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS are and what they sound like. The fun part is 15+ years and several albums in, the band have gone wide with it and put together the sort of conceptual album I would never have expected from them. Nell’ ora blu is essentially the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist. Based on the scores and soundtracks of Italian cinema of the 60s and 70s, the album has much more in common with the works of Goblin or even Zombi or Anima Morte than with their normal sound. Replete with spoken dialogue from the ostensible film and a sprawling series of soundscapes, what the band has put together here is far more ambitious and adventurous than anything they’ve previously attempted. In short, UNCLE ACID have taken some very big swings and connected on nearly all of them. The album may not be for everyone and there will be people who refuse to come along for the ride. You don’t need them in your life.
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)

12. VITSKÄR SÜDEN – VESSEL / NEW!
4368 Points
Doom/Progressive Doom
Los Angeles, California, USA
Ripple Music

At the end of the day, there’s only one thing I focus on when choosing Top 20 Stoner Rock and Doom Albums. “Will I still be listening to this a year from now? 5 Years? Any album can make a list for any given month, but revisiting it until it becomes a classic? Do I really believe I’ll be listening to this down the road?” I think that’s the only thing that matters, and in the case of Vessel, it’s an easy answer. Hell yeah! There’s just so much here that repeated listens only reinforce the idea that this is a masterpiece.
~ Scott Spiers (CleanAndSoberStoner)

11. KAYLETH – NEW BABYLON / NEW!
5358 Points
Space Doom, Desert Rock
Verona, Italy
Argonauta Records

Italian space doom outfit KAYLETH ramped up the intensity on their latest galactic odyssey, New Babylon. There’s a greater sense of urgency in Enrico Gastaldo’s vocals. The riffs hit harder. This album just feels heavier all around than their previous outings. The band still doles out plenty of the fuzzy groove and expansive heavy psychedelic atmosphere we’ve come to expect. These guys have been at it for nearly twenty years, and the latest chapter is their finest work yet.
~ Mitch Kline (DoomyRiffs.com)

10. THE HAZYTONES – WILD FEVER / NEW!
5712 Points
Psych rock, stoner rock
Montreal, Québec
Black Throne Productions

THE HAZYTONES top themselves once again on their third album Wild Fever, trafficking in dark and scuzzy psychedelia with plenty of groove and a classic rock ‘n roll backbone. The vocals have attitude to spare, and the riffs are the perfect mix of 70’s attitude, modern occult rock, and mind-melting psych freakouts. A killer album from top to bottom.
~ Kyle SB (Good Boy PR, Stoner HiVe)

9. HUANASTONE – SON OF JUNO / NEW!
6246 Points
Stoner Rock, Grunge, Alternative, Nineties, Blues
Malmö, Sweden
Self-released

The HUANASTONE four hail from Malmö, Sweden and show us on Son of Juno that the blues was and always will be the main undercurrent for the Heavy Underground. Grunge, Stoner Rock and everything else the Alternative Nineties gave us, had that coursing through its veins. But on Son of Juno, they take those genres and inject it with even more blues. And even though they are mainlining their stoner and grunge sound on the blues of yore, those minor swirling Psychedelic touches and wavey Desert Rock vibes make Son of Juno that album you need to hear. And then there’s absolute smashing instrumental end song Red Dunes, that has guitar lines climbing mountains, braving thunderstorms and hitting like lightning over and over. HUANASTONE managed to capture all those flashes and bottled it up…
~ Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)

8. BAARDVADER – WHEN THE STARS ARRIVE / NEW!
7120 Points
Grunge, Doom Metal
The Hague, Netherlands
Baardvader Records

If doom-grunge is a thing, then BAARDVADER are its pioneers. The band is back with their third album, When The Stars Arrive. BAARDVADER is a bit unique when it comes to combining grunge with stoner/doom in that they have a tendency to veer toward the heavier side of the genre, leaning into doom metal territory. The band utilizes haunting, enchantingly eerie verses and climactic heavy guitars in the choruses that really give you the best of both worlds. This combined with powerful grungy vocals give you the ultimate listening experience that is darkly beautiful, bewitching, and deliciously heavy. On When The Stars Arrive, BAARDVADER has skillfully managed to add even more depth and layers to their sound, making it their most developed work to date. Fans of both the heavier and lighter sides of stoner/doom are going to fall in love with this one!
~ Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground))

7. THE WATCHERS – NYCTOPHILLIA / NEW!
7305 Points
Heavy Metal
San Francisco, CA, USA
Ripple Music

It’s been a long time since I was hooked by a heavy metal album. THE WATCHERS did it. Listening to Nyctophillia I felt the same thrills as when I discovered the greatest US Metal albums of the 80s. These guys have a secret to inventing incredible riffs and making them groove. The rhythm is relentless, the singer has a clean, powerful and expressive voice, and to enhance the work, Mr. Max Norman has dressed their music with a limpid and dynamic sound. Nyctophillia is a zero-flaw album. Without hesitation: it’s a must-have!
~ Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral)

6. UFOMAMMUT – HIDDEN / NEW!
7956 Points
Psychedelic Doom/Sludge
Italy
Neurot Recordings

UFOMAMMUT celebrate their 25th year with their 10th release Hidden: 6 colossal slabs of crippling Psychedelic Doom with themes of Existence and Optimism shrouded in their trademark blendings of texture, melody and riffage. This is right up there with ‘Fenice’, ‘Ecate’ and ‘Idolum’ as one of their best albums and proves that UFOMAMMUT have no intention of letting up on the creative flow of their output.
~ Stevie Reek (Howls from The Hollows, Doomed&Stoned, Stoner HiVe)

5. PALLBEARER – MIND BURNS ALIVE / NEW!
9248 Points
Doom
Little Rock, Arkansas
Nuclear Blast

PALLBEARER is a strange band to review after you just lost a loved one, but what better way to experience the beautifulness of their version of doom, a version that has become less and less heavy instrumentation wise but never loses its punch. Mind Burns Alive is barely a metal album, but it is going to be tough finding something heavier and more emotional than this record. The perfect mix of raw emotion and heaviness lyrically and musically that creates a dark and beautiful soundscape that only this band can deliver in this form so effectively.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip)

4. GJENFERD – GJENFERD / NEW!
9960 Points
Classic rock, Blues rock, 70’s
Bergen, Norway
Apollon Records

Do you know how they say « tremendous classic blues music » in Norwegian ? You say « GJENFERD » ! When four talented young musicians, barely older than the millennium, decided to produce a first album as a tribute to everything we love in rock music (the feeling, the grace, the compositions that give you goosebumps), you find yourself as if caught by a time machine and you go straight to the glorious seventies, a blessed decade for rock lovers. What a wonderful album!
~ Damien Regnauld (Stoner Freaks Anthology)

3. ABRAMS – BLUE CITY / NEW!
10350 Points
Heavy Rock, Grunge, Post-Metal
Denver, Colorado, USA
Blues Funeral Recordings

Heavy rock four-piece ABRAMS return with their fifth album, Blue City, and what a euphoric sonic experience it is. With an elaborate amalgamation of numerous genres across the ten songs, ABRAMS balance the juxtaposition of intense heaviness and melodic groove with incredible dexterity. Influenced by the likes of CAVE IN, ALL THEM WITCHES and TORCHE they have crafted a vibrant, dynamic sound all of their own. Full of catchy riffs, sublime guitar solos, pulsating rhythms and wonderful vocals, Blue City is one of the standout records of the year so far.
~ Bob “Mr. Weird Beard” Baker (More Fuzz Podcast)

2. HIGH DESERT QUEEN – PALM READER / NEW!
11466 Points
Desert Rock, Heavy Psychedelic
Austin, TX, USA
Magnetic Eye Records

Hard-driving, crunchy riffs, fuzzy groove, scorching guitar, gritty, powerful vocals, and a healthy dose of bluesy psychedelia form the foundation for HIGH DESERT QUEEN’s heady, infectious “Texas Desert Rock” sound. The Austin, TX quartet stormed onto the scene with their outstanding 2021 debut, Secrets of the Black Moon. Three years later, the band sounds as confident as ever, showcasing their broad dynamic range on sophomore full length, Palm Reader. Gaupa vocalist Emma Näslund infuses an ethereal mood to “Death Perception.” The simmering spoken word passages of “Tuesday Night Blues” build into an explosive heavy blues headbanger. And standouts “Head Honcho” and “Solar Rain” extend past the nine minute mark. Palm Reader is an instantly memorable album that just gets better with each listen.
~ Mitch Kline (DoomyRiffs.com)

1. BLACK PYRAMID – THE PATHS OF TIME ARE VAST / NEW!
16752 Points
Stoner/Doom, Heavy Metal
Northampton, Massachusetts
Totem Cat Records

The Paths of Time Are Vast defies generic descriptions of any kind. This is an exceptionally powerful album, and BLACK PYRAMID is clearly up to the task. None of the concepts are above their ability to play, and their concepts are as vast as the title suggests. I can’t help but think that the Universe insisted that this album be made: exactly when, how, and why seems like an epic tale I’ll never get tired of hearing.
~ Scott Spiers (CleanAndSoberStoner)

The Doom Charts Mixtape…

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

Adam Walsh (Earmunchies); Andy Kovalcik (Bandcamp-NYP-Hard&Heavy); A.S. Van Dorston (Fast n Bulbous); Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard); 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); Chris Beck (Doom Tomb Podcast); Chris Tighe (The Mighty Decibel); Clint Willis (Hand of Doom Radio); Damien Regnauld (Stoner Freaks Anthology); ‘The General’ (Stoner Rock Army); Edouard Dubuisson (Les chroniques d’Eddy); Eric Crowe (Doomsayer Records / Halo Of The Goat Radio); Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist); Günther “Doktor420” (Stoner HiVe); Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture); James Sweetlove (CaveDwellerMusic); JC Cansdale-Cook (The MotorFuzzin’ Ibex); Jim Thompson (Heavy in the Hills); Jipsy Froud (CleanAndSoberStoner); JJ “HP Taskmaster” Koczan (The Obelisk); John Gist, (Vegas Rock Revolution / The Doomed & Stoned Show); Jon Cosky (Gravitoyd Heavy Music); Jon McGough; Jonny Pirie (Hour of the Riff); Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe); Justin Wittenmeier (Metal Temple, DoomedForMetal); Kyle SB (Good Boy PR, Stoner HiVe); Lee Edwards (The Sleeping Shaman); Marc-Eric Gagnon (Stonefly Effects); Mats Florstam (Ozium Records); Matthew Thomas (Taste Nation); Matthew Hartnett (Heavy Galaxy); Mel Lie (Sunday’s Heavy Tunes); Mitch Kline (DoomyRiffs.com); Mr Stone (More Fuzz); Nick Pipitone (The Third Eye, Monster Riff); Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker (The Ripple Effect); Stevie Reek (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); Rod Reinhardt (Captain Beyond Zen); Ryan Foster (Slightly Fuzzed); Ryan Hilton (Black Throne Productions); Scott Spiers (CleanAndSoberStoner); Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground); Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun); Steve Woodier (Anointing The Sick); 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).

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.