“I believe everything we dream
~ (misquoted Patti Smith)
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People have the power…”
Welcome to the October 2026 edition of the Doom Charts! Below, the Top 40, from a list of 200 albums that received votes… Showing us once again that… Voting maters! And… It’s what keeps this monthly chart going and we can’t think the Contributors enough for all the work they do and the fact that they turn in their lists every month… We hope the ones following along, follow those individual sites from time to time as well. Cause all those Contributors all do an amazing job on their respective sites. Dive in, find your new favorite album and vote for it, once those year end polls go live…
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, progressive 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. JERKY DIRT – BEDLAM / NEW!
39. DEADEYE NAVIGATOR – FEARNAUGHT / NEW!
38. FOREST HORSE – BOTANY / NEW!
37. PEGZILLA – DISOBEDIENCE / NEW!
36. BLACK ROYAL – ABYSSIAN / NEW!
35. WICKED TRIP – MODERN WITCHCRAFT / NEW!
34. PEACEPIPE – EMERALD FLOOD / NEW!
33. LASER DRACUL – HIN HÅLE BLUES / NEW!
32. GODZILLA IN THE KITCHEN – TERMINATION SEQUENCE / NEW!
31. GREAT FALLS – THE BITE THAT GROWS UP / NEW!
30. BUZZARD – HUSH NOW / NEW!
29. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – PERFECTH / NEW!
28. DREAD WITCH – CULT / NEW!
27. PLASTIC WOODS – MIRRORS / NEW!
26. KANAAN – KANAAN / NEW!
25. EARTHCASTER – ANTEDILUVIAN / NEW!
1152 Points
Stoner, Heavy Rock, Heavy Psych
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Morningstar Records
Upon first listen, the opening track ‘Water’ had me convinced this was an instrumental band. Turns out EARTHCASTER was warming us up with a drifting, space rock-oriented track. When the vocals are unveiled, they hit that certain sweet spot, matching the atmosphere of the instrumentation with plenty of character and a solid delivery. EARTHCASTER have a heavy rock identity rooted in heavy psych and 70’s hard rock inflections, and the album shifts through moods that incorporate various influences. The song ‘Too Big Gandalf’ has a raw hard-rock sound blended with an infectious punk-like backbone, whereas the track ‘Black Philip’ favors a slower tempo, leading to a more psychedelic excursion. EARTHCASTER have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, and Antediluvian is an excellent showcase of their versatility, one that Doom Charts readers should appreciate.
~ Jon McGough (Stoner Rock Army, Stoner HiVe, Outlaws Of The Sun)
24. EROSIONS / PSALM – EROSIONS / PSALM / NEW!
1284 Points
Doom, Stoner
Freeport, Illinois/Las Vegas, Nevada
Space Goat Records
The Inaugural release from the newly formed and right-off-the-bat awesome Space Goat Records, EROSIONS and PSALM bring it on each of their sides of this killer split album. The Illinois boys from erosions exist to bury you in a fuzzy pile of riffs and spliffs, and manage to get you covered neck deep with their three tracks that will buzz in your head for days, while the dudes in PSALM keep trad doom alive with their old school Trouble worshiping metal goodness, and the balls to cover Psalm 9, and kill it. Jason Doome and S. Patrick Brooks are onto something special with Space Goat Records if this is how they set expectations for what the label is all about.
~ Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip, Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
23. WITCHTHROAT SERPENT – DEMONS LEFT TO ROAM / NEW!
1422 Points
Stoner, Doom
Toulouse, France
Heavy Psych Sounds
French Doomsters WITCHTHROAT SERPENT serve up a heady and potent brew of sleazy Doom riffage and plaintive, wailing vocals on their HPS debut “Demons Left To Roam“. Soaked in psychedelic melancholy and unholy intent across 6 tracks, this is a grizzling, brooding monster!
~ Steve De Rique (Howls from The Hollows, Doomed & Stoned,Stoner HiVe)
22. SECRETS OF LOST EMPIRES – VELVET ABYSS / NEW!
1617 Points
Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Doom, Stoner Doom
Phoenix, Arizona
Self-released
I recently discovered SECRETS OF LOST EMPIRES with the release of their new album, Velvet Abyss. Even before pressing play, I was captivated by the artwork for this third LP from the Phoenix-based band which was created by Joshua Mathus, the band’s singer and guitarist. Inspired by that first visual impression, I surrendered to their music, letting it swallow me completely. The band’s long, progressive tracks took me on a dark yet comforting journey. Beginning on the shores of a misty, psychedelic stoner landscape, they gradually drew me deeper and deeper into the abyss, towards a resolutely telluric doom that never felt eerie. This is an album that arrived a little late to my playlist this month. Too late to make it into my monthly top picks, where it would have earned a solid spot, but not too late to encourage you not to miss out on this wonderful achievement.
~ Jay Baner (La Capsule Stoner)
21. EARTHBONG – SALUTATIONS TO THE CULTIVATORS / NEW!
1962 Points
Doom, Sludge, Stoner
Berlin, Germany
The Lasting Dose Records / Evil Noise Recordings
Slow, painful, crushing, and everything one needs to destroy an environment within earshot of this sonic monster. The vocals strain like a rabid beast on a diet of raw stone while the lumbering pulse of these songs stresses under their own tempo. At times, it feels suffocating. It is as if the beating heart is counting down to a final rhythmic tremor. Any fan of sludge/doom will welcome this resin-soaked behemoth with open arms. It certainly lands on my list of favorites from this month.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin, Inherent Records, Mystery Pick)
20. HEXECUTIONER – ASCENSION ROCK / NEW!
1980 Points
Hard Rock, Stoner, Doom
Seattle, Washington, USA
Sound Frequency Ritual
Fuzzmatic hypnotic state of groove doom HEXECUTIONER is blossoming their sound into a force of doom to be celebrated. The six songs on ASCENSION ROCK are calling for one to come to a live show because it seems the full bluntal expanse of sound they are producing on this album needs an audience to stand and nod along as their bones are rattled.
~ Turbo (Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
19. GOAT MAJOR – DEATH COMES TWICE / NEW!
2145 Points
Stoner, Doom, Metal
Haverfordwest,Wales, UK
Ripple Music
GOAT MAJOR‘s Death Comes Twice sees the band trading some of their raw, filthy, crushing heaviness of their debut Ritual for a cleaner, more melodic approach. Tom Shortt’s vocals are stronger and more refined. The songs feature greater depth, melody, and a faster pace. Although the polished production strips away some of the raw grit that made the debut so powerful, Death Comes Twice still showcases a band confidently expanding its sound and songwriting. Overall, it’s a step forward that highlights GOAT MAJOR‘s growing musical maturity.
~ Remco van Hattum (Riffsniffer)
18. TRAVO – WASTELAND / NEW!
2899 Points
Krautrock, Prog, Psychedelic
Braga Municipality, Portugal
Fuzz Club / gig.rocks! / Spinda Records
Prepare for a total meltdown. These tunes rip right through everything external to stare directly into your third eye. With a syringe full of adrenaline, they unlock the secrets of mankind, space, and mystery of the beyond. Imagine color and shape unlike anything on earth. This is the sound of becoming one with the unknown universe.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin, Inherent Records, Mystery Pick)
17. BOSS KELOID – FLOAT & APERTURE / NEW!
3047 Points
Stoner, Prog, Post Metal
Wigan, UK
Church Road Records
Back for their 6th album, BOSS KELOID present perhaps the most lush and cohesive version of their off-kilter stoner-prog yet with Float & Aperture. Splaying muscular, staccato riffing, angular arpeggios, and rhythms that refuse to comply across seven extended tracks, the band manage to sound wonderfully unlike anyone else in the heavy underground even as you hear them drawing from myriad influences. If you’ve heard BOSS KELOID before, don’t worry, the new one holds up. If you haven’t, this is a great place to start.
~ Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard)
16. MATERIALIZER – AS THE BODY FLIES / NEW!
3091 Points
Heavy Psych, Stoner
Nashville, USA
Self-released
MATERIALIZER is the new project of brothers Conner and Chris Poole, formerly of The Swell Fellas. Now operating as a duo, they deliver a seriously heavy dose of twisted riffs, psychedelic madness and crushing grooves. As The Body Flies keeps shifting between sheer heaviness and spacious, hypnotic passages, making it impossible to pigeonhole after just a few minutes. I’ve played this album countless times already, and it still sounds fantastic!
~ Marek (Dezarbuzator)
15. BIRDSTONE – IV / NEW!
3612 Points
Blues Rock, Heavy Rock
France
Harpyes Records / DesTours Records / Alter K
Some really good albums should have challenging parts for the listener. BIRDSTONE, with their fourth album aptly titled IV, is one of those albums. Recorded live in a country house away from the hustle and bustle each song is equally contrasting and complimenting with the rest of the album. And the band squeezes everything they can out of each of these songs. If you like your songs short, sweet and simple this may not be for you. IV could be likened to a Delta Blues artist playing everything they have to keep their soul from the Devil and BIRDSTONE makes you feel it on this album.
~ Turbo (Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
14. IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW – IMPERIAL FILTH / NEW!
4326 Points
Rock, heavy rock
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Pajama Party Records
This is a stacked batch of heavy rock jams! High-octane and ready to tap that ‘80s-era backyard kegger wide open. It gets heavier when it needs to, brings the chorus vocal style when it needs you to raise your fist in the air, and rips out some tasty thrash-style and twin-lead riffs when it’s time to slice you open. Everything about this album feels fresh while pulling elements from classics in the heavy music realm that we know and love. Imagine Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and REO Speedwagon splitting their DNA into an unstoppable clone of good-time party jams.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin, Inherent Records, Mystery Pick)
13. STONED JESUS – SONGS TO MOON / NEW!
4710 Points
Heavy Psychedelic, Stoner
Kyiv, Ukraine
Season Of Mist
STONED JESUS take a bold step into darker, more introspective territory with Songs To Moon, the second chapter of their ambitious trilogy. Blending crushing riffs, haunting melodies, psychedelic atmospheres and melancholic ballads, the Ukrainian trio delivers a deeply emotional and adventurous journey. From explosive post-metal passages to dreamy instrumentals and intimate acoustic moments, every track reveals a different shade of their evolving sound. Beautifully crafted and rich in contrasts, Songs To Moon is an immersive experience that rewards listeners from beginning to end. A captivating record that proves STONED JESUS have much more to offer than heavy riffs alone.
~ Edouard Dubuisson (Les chroniques d’Eddy, MetalUniverse)
12. FIREBREATHER – BLOOD THAT I SPILL TURNS TO FIRE / NEW!
4750 Points
Sludge, Heavy Rock, Doom
Gothenburg, Sweden
Heavy Psych Sounds
Ever get a call from an old friend asking for a favor and hopes you will travel across the country to help you out? Yeah, but only because I owned a truck. Thankfully, Swedes are really cool, and Tommy Hanning, who played with the band on the first album came through and captured the sound needed for FIREBREATHER‘S fourth album BLOOD I SPILL TURNS TO FIRE. A visceral heavy bludgeoning that flows through the album that helps drive the FIREBREATHER flow. Blood I Spill Turns To Fire is a feel it in your bones experience, that is a little more melodic and expanding sound for the band.
~ Turbo (Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
11. SNAKE MOUNTAIN REVIVAL – THE DIVIDE / NEW!
5330 Points
Dark Folk, Surf Rock, Desert Rock
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Ripple Music
SNAKE MOUNTAIN REVIVAL slithers the aural canyons by way of surfy desert shoegaze meets tribal psychedelic groove. The vocals glimmer with mesmerizing grit and the subtle southern hook blooms with flower child force.
~ Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect, Doomed and Stoned Countdown Show)
10. RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL – CA$H GRAB / NEW!
5408 Points
Stoner Rock, Groove Metal
Austin, Texas, USA
Permanent Teeth Records
After nearly a decade of making a truly one-of-a-kind style of music and melting the faces off of a sea of fans at their live shows, the release of Ca$h Grab is a very natural next step for RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL. The album is still as crushingly heavy as Big Dumb Riffs and as deceptively sweet as Doom Wop, but Ca$h Grab‘s real intensity comes in its immensely personal, unfettered songwriting. It’s an album that anyone can relate to on a deep level as it relays a lifelong journey of survival, challenging things, asking the tough questions, healing, moving on, and most importantly, finally choosing oneself.
~ Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground)
9. PHE – CLOSER TO THE SUN / NEW!
5590 Points
Heavy Rock, Stoner Rock, Heavy Psych
Helmond, Netherlands
Self-released
Some albums just have an indescribable power behind them, like a mystical force where everything comes together perfectly and the stars align. Well, PHE have accomplished this with Closer to the Sun. That’s pretty high praise and hype, huh? The album is full of hooks and grooves, but maybe even more importantly, there’s weight, substance, and meaning. The emotional depth of the vocal delivery creates a direct connection with the listener, making for an immersive experience. You don’t just hear the words; you feel them, and perhaps there’s a little magic sprinkled in as well…
~ Jon McGough (Stoner Rock Army, Stoner HiVe, Outlaws Of The Sun)
8. KANT – ECHOES OF UNFORTUNATE TIMES / NEW!
6528 Points
Psychedelic, Stoner
Germany
Sound of Liberation Records
The darkness German heavy psych wizards KANT unearthed on their previous album Paranoia Pilgrimage still formidably looms over their latest release Echoes of Unfortunate Times, just in a different form: existential dread. The sharper, more modern sound KANT utilizes around this grimness is the perfect sonic paintbrush with which to paint scenes of maddening tension, apprehension, and edginess – feelings that are often all too familiar in our chaotic, unstable world.
~ Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground)
7. VALLEY OF THE SUN – THE BLACKLIGHT SESSIONS / NEW!
7942 Points
Stoner Rock
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Heavy Psych Sounds
Truly a band that needs no introduction, VALLEY OF THE SUN has proved multiple times over their 15+ year career that they have a solid command of stoner rock (and its subgenres). On their new album The Blacklight Sessions, the trio energetically vacillates among barreling stoner riffs, blues-infused heavy rock soul, eclectic alternative, the melodic angst of grunge, and desert-baked psychedelic oases. More than anything, I’m elated to see that VALLEY OF THE SUN continues to merge jammy instrumental expanses with the infectious, punchy energy of shorter-form tracks, all graced by soaring, expressive vocals. In short: VALLEY OF THE SUN has done it again!
~ Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground)
6. MUSHROOM BEARD – MUSHROOM BEARD / NEW!
9139 Points
Psychedelic, Stoner, Doom Metal
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Pale Wizard Records
“I haven’t been this impressed by a (psychedelic) stonerdoom debut (that has clean vocals) since REZN released their first album in 2017 which ended up as my Album Of The Year!” was the text that I left on the bandcamp page of this English band which basically says it all. This is a BRILLANT debut that stood out in a week/month that was filled with fantastic releases. Time will tell if this goes down as a masterpiece, but it sure looks like that to me…
~ Rob Hammer (Rob Hammer, Doom/Stoner/Sludge/Psychedelic)
5. THE MACHINE – ANOTHER SUN / NEW!
10860 Points
Heavy Psych, Stoner Rock, Prog Rock
Dordrecht, Netherlands
Blues Funeral Recordings / Awe Records / Stickman Records
Another Sun, the 8th album from the Dutch band THE MACHINE, is tailor-made for fans of a brand of psychedelia that channels both the 60s-70s vibe (with its languid, drawling vocals) and the massive riffage of contemporary stoner rock. In short, this album is a gem, crafted in the purest psych-stoner tradition! You’ll find delightful instrumental jams, relentless rhythms, and hypnotic, repetitive motifs. All is perfect for nodding my head along to while sitting cross-legged in a cloud of smoke. The stereo guitar solos swirl around me like fireflies… or are they flaming moths? I can’t quite tell anymore cause the floorboards are softening, and I’m already sinking in up to my neck. Damn, you’re harsh! Please, let me take one last drag!
~ Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral)
4. STEAK – STEAK / NEW!
12167 Points
Stoner Rock, Desert Rock
London, UK
Ripple Music / Stickman Records
STEAK hits heavy with that sludgy weight, kind of like Tool but wrapped in atmosphere. There’s a hazy, almost shoegaze cloud over the riffs, and it feels thick and immersive without trying too hard. It’s the kind of record that sounds cool in the room and sticks with you after.
~ Michael D’Amato (Playgroundz Rocks, D’Amato Production)
3. HUMULUS – SMUGGLER’S CAVE / NEW!
12443 Points
Stoner Rock, Psychedelic, Space Rock
Brescia, Italy
Ripple Music
Everybody needs an album that is built for driving. If you don’t drive then whatever means of escape you may have. HUMULUS latest album SMUGGLER’S CAVE is one of those high octane albums that are perfect for the open road. With the classic stoner rock feeling and big on fuzz and atmosphere one might think HUMULUS is vying for an arena rock tour.
~ Turbo (Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
2. ROBOT GOD – CURSE OF THE DRIVEN / NEW!
16742 Points
Heavy Psych, Stoner Rock, Space Rock
Sydney, Australia
Kozmik Artifactz / Black Throne Productions
From the very first track of Curse Of The Driven, I am hooked by the high quality of the mixing and arrangements. ROBOT GOD crafts a soundscape rich in texture and crystalline in atmosphere. Cosmic electronic effects sit alongside massive guitars and traditional bluesy vibes. The sophisticated production never stifles the raw power that courses through the music. ROBOT GOD holds nothing back: superb basslines and the occasional harmonica inject an irresistible groove, while mysterious sonic creatures mingle with heavy, Sabbathesque riffs. Strength, authenticity, and dreamlike wonder come together in this brilliant album!
~ Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral)
1. GRAVEYARD – FEVER / NEW!
19888 Points
Heavy Rock, Psych, Blues Rock
Gothenburg, Sweden
Nuclear Blast
While 6 left some fans underwhelmed and looking for more hard rocking songs, Fever seems to pick up the slack with a heavier, hard-hitting approach. Still, GRAVEYARD are one of those bands that strike gold every time, and this latest offering is every bit as golden as the rest of their catalogue. Fever may be somewhat of a slow burner, but it’s a rewarding album filled with clever lyrics, irresistible melodies, and the signature retro groove GRAVEYARD are known for. In what’s been a very busy year for music within the heavy underground, Fever will still likely find itself in the end-of-year conversation.
~ Jon McGough (Stoner Rock Army, Stoner HiVe, Outlaws Of The Sun)
For those that cry Rock Is Dead (those of us that know, it never was) GRAVEYARD has arrived to slap them in the face. FEVER the bands seventh album is heavier and fuzzier with a distinct time to rock vibe. This is the type of music that puts that big smile on your face, makes you get up and move, and is the cure to dullness. FEVER is the definitive hard rock album of the year.
~ Turbo (Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
A smoky, fuzz-drenched fever dream that hallucinates in a dark cellar. It rolls in like velvet-clad thunder, trading all modern sanity for a direct transmission from a long-lost 1970s occult radio tower. Sweaty, soulful, and dangerously infectious.
~ Rod Reinhardt (Captain Beyond Zen)
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); Ben Bellum (The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard); Bob “Mr. Weird Beard” Baker (More Fuzz Podcast); Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin, Inherent Records, Mystery Pick); Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect, Doomed and Stoned Countdown Show); Chris Beck (Doom Tomb Podcast); Chris Tighe (The Mighty Decibel);Damien Regnauld (Stoner Freaks Anthology); Edouard Dubuisson (Les chroniques d’Eddy, MetalUniverse); Günther “Doktor420” (Stoner HiVe); Hugh Jones (The OG Metal Prophet, The Prophet’s Heavy Underground); Ioannis Valiakos (Desert Vulture); Jamie Laszlo (Sea of Tranquility); Jay Baner (La Capsule Stoner); Jon McGough (Stoner Rock Army, Stoner HiVe, Outlaws Of The Sun); John Gist, (Vegas Rock Revolution / The Doomed & Stoned Show); Jonny Pirie (Hour of the Riff); Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe); Jukka ‘Shrike’ Kolehmainen (Shrike’s Listens); Justin Wittenmeier (DoomedForMetal); Kyle SB (Good Boy PR, Stoner HiVe); Marc-Eric Gagnon (Stonefly Effects); Marek (Dezarbuzator); Matthew Thomas (Taste Nation); Michael D’Amato (Playgroundz Rocks, D’Amato Production); Mitch Kline (DoomyRiffs.com); Remco van Hattum (Riffsniffer); Remi VL (Remi Post Too Many Links); Rich Piva (Musipedia of Metal, FuzzDoomRip, Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour); Rob Hammer (Rob Hammer, Doom/Stoner/Sludge/Psychedelic); Roberto Fuentes (Red House Store); Rod Reinhardt (Captain Beyond Zen); Ronny Dijksterhuis (Stoner HiVe); Stephanie Zalta (DoomCakes, Screaming From The Heavy Underground); Steve De Rique (Howls from The Hollows, Doomed & Stoned,Stoner HiVe); Thierry “Pumpkin-T“ François (Metal Intégral); Tom Hanno (Tom’s Reviews); Tom Schmahl (Rock Circuz) & Turbo (Rich & Turbo’s Heavy Half Hour)
Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to all the Contributors 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 and your favorite albums.
