Bogwife - From Ashes

Four years after the release of their second album A Passage Divine, Danish stoner rockers A Passage Divine return with a brand-new record, From Ashes, and a refreshed sound, one that leans far more into bluesy stoner rock. The arrival of new guitarist Michael Nielsen may very well have influenced this shift; while their earlier releases relied on monolithic, slow-tempo doom riffs, the new material embraces groove, blues-driven lines, and a more laid-back, psychedelic feel. It’s a direction that genuinely enriches their sound and adds new dimensions to their identity.

I, for one, really enjoyed this new approach and couldn’t stop headbanging to the likes of “Light of the Day” and “Ashes,” with their upbeat, infectious grooves that recall the finest moments of Clutch and The Sword. Elsewhere, tracks like “Shivering,” “No Church,” and especially “Heavy Burden Blues” show the band fully embracing a blues-infused stoner rock path, the kind of music that feels tailor-made for watching the sun dip below the horizon while cruising down empty roads.

All in all, Bogwife have evolved into a finely tuned stoner rock as their sound now moves fluidly between blues, doom, stoner rock, and grunge, making their new material feel both dynamic and genuinely exciting in a live setting.

Majestic Mountain Records 

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Pia Isa - Dissolve

Norwegian doom drone artist Pia Isa, also known for her role in the band Superlynx, has returned with a new full-length album, "Dissolve." This album marks another significant step in her solo journey, following her debut album "Distorted Chants" in 2022 and the "Burning Time" EP earlier this year.

According to Pia Isa, "Dissolve" delves deep into themes of falling apart and reassembling, both on a personal and global scale. As a result, this album is darker and more melancholic than its predecessors, revealing her remarkable ability to blend heavy, droney riffs with sorrowful landscapes and forlorn melodies. It’s a rich tapestry of layered vocal harmonies, heavy distorted guitars, and dark tones, reminiscent of the more depressive side of Alice in Chains at times, while also recalling the atmospheric depth of bands like Windhand.

The collaboration with Gary Arce, known for his work with Yawning Man and Fatso Jetson, and Ole Teigen of Superlynx and Dødheimsgard, adds depth and texture to the album. Gary's guitar tones and Ole's drumming and sound work are integral to the album's atmospheric and emotional impact.

Overall, "Dissolve" is a powerful and emotionally charged album that showcases Pia Isa's growth as an artist. It is a must-listen for fans of dark drone rock and anyone looking for music that explores the complexities of the human experience with depth and sincerity.

Argonauta Records 

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Miss Lava - Doom Machine

It's time to introduce you to Portugal's best kept secret in the stoner rock genre, Lisbon-based quartet Miss Lava. With a career spanning over ten years, Miss Lava now return with their fourth full-length album "Doom Machine" and if you're not familiar with the band yet I urge you to pick up previous albums "Red Supergiant" and "Blues For The Dangerous Miles". 

Shrouded in a deep emotional load divided between feelings of loss and joy. "Doom Machine" is their best effort to date and sees the four-piece perfectly balancing heavy, fuzzy and infectious riffs with psychedelic and shamanic ambiances.

Beggar - Compelled To Repeat

Emerging from the underground like an acrid swamp creature comes "Compelled To Repeat", the debut from London-based four piece group Beggar, who's turning quite a few heads with their sludgy and massively groovy riffs. Beggar really worship the power of the riff and what really sets this album apart from others, are the massive hooks guitarists A. I. Whitworth and J.W. Leyland lay down throughout these nine tracks.

Satyrus - Rites

Italians Satyrus bring an aura of darkness and occultism to a rather heavy and groovy doom rock on their debut album "Rites". The band straddle the fine line between the heavy doom of Black Sabbath and the occult rock of someone like Danzig throughout these five tracks, merging some mammoth-sized riffing with a nice melodic grit. It's on tracks like "Stigma" that Satyrus reveal this mastery by offering some catchy and groovy riffs that has the warm familiarity of Toni Iommi.

Hell Obelisco - Cyclopian

Italian sludge rockers Hell Obelisco are back with a new EP featuring  five brand new songs, including a cover of ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” and their mission is practically the same, to churn out some sludgy and heavy riffs, infectious rhythms and raspy vocals. That's exactly what you get on this new EP, mammoth-sized, swampy and distorted riffs that will make your head bang, groovy rhythms that will make you boogie and some whiskey-drenched vocals that complements everything quite nicely.

Monkey3 - Astra Symmetry

Throughout the fifteen years of their respectable career, Switzerland’s psychedelic/stoner-rock band Monkey3 have been seeking a balance between galloping, heavy and sludgy riffs and psychedelic, trance-like moments. However, this new effort, “Astra Symmetry,” sees them firmly anchoring their sound on the hallucinatory psychedelic quality of acts like Hawkwind, Pink Floyd and Ozric Tentacles, in detriment of the fuzzy, heavy riffing of Fu Manchu and Karma To Burn.

Dope Smoker - Vol​.​4

“Vol. 4”, as the title suggests is the fourth album from Dope Smoker, a Wales-based three-piece group that plays a blend of doom, stoner, sludge, psychedelic rock and a few other subgenres involving distortion pedals.

Let me just point out that this is their fourth album released in just two years, so basically they have been releasing a new album every six months, which is something that might explain why “Vol. 4” is just a weak and uninteresting collection of songs based around rudimentary riffs. Perhaps it would it more advantageous for Dope Smoker to invest more time on the songwriting and maybe release a new effort once a year or every two years than just record every riff and ideas and came up at the rehearsal room without much care for arrangements or details.

Godsleep - Thousand Sons Of Sleep

Could Greece be the new California? During the last few years I’ve discovered a great number of stoner rock groups from this country and I confess I was truly amazed by the quality and groove of some of these artists like 100Moods, Planet Zeus and Craang just to name a few.

We can now add Godsleep, an Athens-based quartet, to that growing list. Not only their debut “Thousand Sons Of Sleep” displays a stunningly groovy and infectious combination of sludge, stoner and psychedelic-rock, it sounds as if it was forged in the heart of New Orleans or Palm Desert such is the influence that bands like Down, Crowbar and Kyuss have over the Greeks. They surely made no effort to camouflage their influences and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if we’re talking about stoner rock and we know that everything circles back to Black Sabbath, it’s inevitable.