ALTAR OF THE FUZZ ~ COLOSSAL SUNN ENGULFED EARTH .... review

 

Canada's Altar of the Fuzz, Trey Graham (guitar); Caine Albright (bass/vocals) and Isaac McConkey (drums) are a relatively young band in terms of existence but in their short time together they have managed to put out a considerable output. Since their 2022  inception the band have managed to release three full length albums, "V" (2023), "Buffalo Haze" (2024) and "Their Skies Were Lost Gods" (2024), as well as a number of well received EP's and singles. Altar of the Fuzz have become chiefly known for jamming instrumental grooves of a spacious and heavy persuasion but their latest EP "Colossal Sunn Engulfed Earth" sees the band also experimenting with some vocal flavouring.

"Colossal" opens Altar of the Fuzz's latest musical endeavour and it could not be a better named opus, not only does it span a whopping eleven minutes and three seconds but it also sounds COLOSSAL. The guitar work here is a Gilmour-esque merging of searing drawn out notes, crunching riffage and spacious ringing arpeggios that is is backed by a superbly delivered mix of growly and liquid bass work and a truly impressive blend of thunderous and shimmering percussion. The song takes you on a journey in a way that all good instrumentals should, the music swelling to enormous heights one moment then flattening out to become a trickle the next, atmosphere is a must in music of this nature and this track is drenched in the stuff. Next up is "Sunn", musically this song comes across like a coming together of Elder, Pink Floyd and OM with the OM part of the equation mostly being found in the "weedian" like nature of its vocals which are delivered in a mantra like throaty gargle. The brief but intriguing "Engulfed" has a distant and otherworldly feel, the sort  of musical piece that could easily work as the soundtrack to a space horror movie, something in the vein of  "Event Horizon" or "Pandorum". For the albums penultimate number, "Earth", Altar of the Fuzz basically take Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" riff and give it a space rock makeover and maaaan do they make a good job of it, if this had been played at Ozzy's final gig it would have brought the roof down. The final song of the album "Ton 618" blends sampled space themed narrative and swirling bluesy guitar over spacious musical backdrops before fading out on a wave of hazy cosmic jive.  

Altar of the Fuzz's "Colossal Engulfed Sunn Earth" is everything you could possibly ask for from music pitched at the more cosmic end of the metal spectrum, a collection of spacious, heavy and atmospheric tunes that'll take your mind to places your body could never hope to visit. 

Check it out .....

© 2025 Frazer Jones

BORRACHO ~ OUROBOROS ..... review

We at Desert Psychlist were a little surprised when it was announced that Borracho, Steve Fisher (guitar/vocals); Tim Martin (bass,/'backing vocals) and Mario Trubiano (drums), were releasing a new album, to us it only seemed like five minutes ago we were lauding praise on their previous release "Blurring The Lines of Reality", however we soon realised that the reason we still thought of their last album as fairly recent was because it has been a staple on our playlist at Stonerking Towers ever since its release two years ago. This is the beauty of Borracho, they make albums that do not date and stay ever fresh in the memory, we've said it before and we'll say it again...these guys don't make bad albums. New album "Ouroboros" (Ripple Music) is no different, this is an album that will blow your mind on day one and will be continuing to blow your mind many years down the line.

Borracho come out of the starting gate ripped and ready to rumble with opening number "Vegas Baby" the song kicking off with chugging riffage interspersed with cool ear-catching guitar motifs and fills, the songs groove really starting to spark when the drums join in but then ferociously catching fire when the vocals enter, Fisher waxing lyrical on the draws and dangers to be found in America's gambling capital. Next we have "Succubus", things here start a little dissonant and swirly only then to proceed to get a little jagged and off-centred as the song progresses, there is nothing straightforward to be found here Martin's bass lines are a mix of spacious and growly, Trubiano's drumming often borders on tribal and Fisher's guitar work is a mixture of slurred power chords and dark off centred lead work, the vocals, an exquisite mix of throaty lead and grainy harmonies, are powerfully delivered and also share a similar element of slurriness. "Lord of Suffering" like its predecessor begins left of centre but then settles down into a groove that can only be described as throbbing and LOUD, vocally the song is a trade off of lead singing and backing shouts, musically the song is smorgasbord of thundering bass and guitar riffage driven by Bonham-esque drumming. Fourth song "Vale of Tears" sees Borracho mixing into their unique blending of riff heavy rock'n'roll and distortion drenched stonerized metal smatterings of bluesiness, shades of doominosity and essences of heavy psych while "Machine is the Master" finds the band going full tilt metallic but metallic with just a hint of alt-rock colouring. "Freakshow", meanwhile, finds Borracho in a playful mood with vocals delivered in the style of a fairground barker over a backdrop of gnarled groove that carries Clutch-like musical similarities, the vocals and lyrical content maybe playful here but the music kicks serious ass! Borracho bring "Ouroboros" to a close with "Broken Man" a song that blends together elements of stoner rock with elements of its close musical cousin southern metal and inserts into that blend swirling keyboard textures and off-the -grid lead work, a feisty finish to a damn feisty album.

 Being consistent and pleasing your fans while also trying to progress musically is no easy task but Borracho seem to have found  a way to balance the needs of their fanbase with their own need to progress musically. Each Borracho album released is a level up on the previous one and when you consider that each and every one of the bands albums is essential listening then that is some feat. "Ouroboros" is the bands best album to date but if they don't suddenly decide to call it a day and they carry on improving the way they have been up until this point you can guarantee it won't be their best album ever!

Check 'em out ....

© 2025 Frazer Jones

VVARP ~ POWER HELD IN STONE.... review

We at Desert Psychlist are very partial to doom of a more sedate and atmospheric nature, strident up-tempo grooves of course have a place in our hearts and we have much music lining our shelves at Stonerking Towers that meet that criteria but what really gets our blood pumping are grooves that lurch toward the finishing line rather than race to get there. Even better for us is if those grooves have an almost spiritual/ritualistic air about them and Australia's VVARP, Claudia Sullivan (bass/vocals); John Bollen (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Scott McLatchie (drums), make music that fits that mould perfectly. The band first came to Desert Psychlist's attention via their 2020 release "First Levitations" a release we described on their Bandcamp page as "thundering riffs counterbalanced by floating monastic vocals", while calling it in our full review "a must for fans of Windhand, Dead Sacraments and Chile's Heráldica de Mandra". The band return this year with "Power Held In Stone" (DHU Records), an engrossing and atmospheric tome they describe as "an imagined soundtrack for a folk horror film that exists only in our collective imagination".

Unaccompanied Gregorian-like harmonies announce the start of opening track "Druid Warfare" and are soon joined by bass, drums and guitar in a thrumming distortion drenched doomic groove that offsets its repetitive nature with subtle swells in volume and intensity, a trick that draws the listeners focus more towards the vocals than the music itself, the music in this case seemingly serving as more of a framework for the vocals with those vocals possessing an almost medieval quality. Swelling keyboards accompanied by droning guitar textures herald the arrival of "A Path Through The Veil", here the music and the vocals stand on an equal footing, bone shaking bass and pummelling percussion laying down a platform of dank groove for lilting dual harmonies and searing lead work to be launched from. Third track "Equinox Portal" sees VVARP  musically shifting up a gear into proto-doomic territory yet vocally still staying in that monastic occult-like pocket that has become the bands default setting, oh and keep an ear out for swirling Celtic flavoured guitar solo that proceeds the songs droning keyboard outro. VVARP go into full stoner-doomic mode for the pulverising "Iron Cloak" with guitar amps dialled to eleven and drums set to thunderous, the vocals sit a little deeper in the mix here but that does not detract from their impact, in fact the song benefits greatly from allowing the instrumentation to be pushed a little more to the fore. The stoner-doomic dynamics explored on the previous song remain in place for final number "Stone Silhouette" the vocal harmonies here are again floaty and monastic but the musical feel is one of intensity and heaviness, well that is apart from the songs deliciously dank and somewhat lysergic middle section where the vocals once again find themselves the full focus of attention.

Doom with a floating ethereal quality is what VVARP bring to the altar with "Power Held In Stone", songs full of intensity and heaviness offset with elements that at times border on folkish and otherworldly.

Check it out .... 

© 2025 Frazer Jones

RED MESS ~ HI-TECH STARVATION .... review

Red Mess, Thiago Franzim (guitar), Douglas Labigalini (drums) and Lucas Klepa (bass/vocals), started their musical journey in Londrina, Brazil but after what the band describe as "a decade of messing around" decided to relocate to Europe, the trio finally settling on Berlin, Germany as the base for their operations. A few of you out there will already be familiar with the band thanks to the EP's "Crimson" (2014), "Drowning In Red" (2015) and "Phantom Limb" (2022) as well as their full length releases "Into The Mess" (2017) and "Breathtaker" (2022), the latter of which we reviewed on these very pages. For those not up to speed with the band however Red Mess jam a blend of rock styles that has led the band to describe themselves as "not your regular alternative grunge psychedelic progressive sludge post-punk hardcore groove garage crimson crooked stoner rock band". This month (August 2025) sees Red Mess releasing their third full length album "Hi Tech Starvation" (Noisolution) a collection of tunes from a band who have a history of delivering ass-kicking groove'n'roll of real quality

"Huntress" kicks things off, a fuzz heavy opus that's part grungy metal and part off-centred desert rock with those grungy elements leaning more towards Alice In Chains than they do Soundgarden and the desert rock part of the deal coming more from a Queens of the Stone Age angle than a Kyuss one. Vocals over this song are delivered in clean and slightly cracked tones that although are not especially powerful are nonetheless both impressive and effective. Following number "Inexistant Colours" finds Red Mess for the most part operating in Nirvana-esque loud/quiet/loud territory around a similarly up and down vocal but then sees the band shifting into a more traditional rock groove for the songs final quarter, this section of the song enhanced with searing bluesy lead work. "Ransomware" is a song that straddles territory somewhere between punk rock and its close cousin hardcore, the vocals here a touch more visceral and raw, the guitar tones a touch more waspish and the rhythms a tad less pummelling, well that is up until just around the five minute mark when out of the blue things take a stoner-doomic turn and we are presented with thick slabs of dank riffage and pounding percussion supporting monastic flavoured vocal incantations. Next song "Intravenous" is an unusual but engaging blend of heavy psych and stoner/desert rock salted with totally unexpected elements of Oasis flavoured Brit-pop in its vocal inflections while its follow up "Xenon", an instrumental, is full on Kyuss worship. Penultimate tune "Kind Villain" is deliciously rowdy and rocking, this also carries a little Oasis styling in the vocal department. Final song, "Uncanny Valley" is a shapeshifting behemoth with grooves that constantly sway between stoner-metallic and grungy beneath vocals that one minute boast a throaty stoner-ish dynamic and the next are being delivered in a buoyant rap-like meter, as closing numbers go this is a MONSTER!

Banging from its opening note to its last Red Mess' "Hi-Tech Starvation" is a delightfully eclectic blend of raucousness, restraint and accessibility, an album that will delight "grungers" and "metalheads" alike...as well as all those who fall in-between. 

Check it out .... 

© 2025 Frazer Jones

FLORIST ~ ADRIFT .... review

 

Some may remember back in 2023 Desert Psychlist getting a little excited about "Contact" the debut release of Floridian groovsters Florist, an enthralling blend of stonerized metal and space rock that we described as being "music to skateboard through wormholes to". Well we are about to get excited all over again because Florist, Frankie Consoli (vocals/guitar,/sitar); Kevin Roy (bass); Mike Amador (drums) and Jer Dillow (theremin, synthesizers, percussion),  have just dropped their second album "Adrift" (Threat Collection Records), a release that takes those ideas explored on previous album "Contact" to the next level.

Florist kick off their second album with "432Hz" a thoroughly engaging instrumental that splices together eastern motifs and Hawkwind-esque whooshes and swirls over a groove that for large parts of its existence boasts an otherworldly reggae-ish feel but does in its last quarter wade through heavier waters. Next up is "Another Moon" and here we find Florist jamming a mix of stoner-ish and heavy psych grooves beneath clean easy on the ear vocal melodies, the space like whoops and whirls this band are so fond of utilizing still all very much in place but this time applied with a modicum of subtlety. "Out Of Space" follows and is classic space rock straight out of the Hawkwind for dummies manual, in other words hard driven rhythms supporting fairly simple chord progressions over which clipped clean and slightly punkish vocal melodies do battle with electronic synthesised weirdness, it is quite frankly SUPERB!  "Grow" kicks off slightly quirky and off-centred accompanied by an equally quirky vocal melody but then starts pulling into its spacious grooviness elements of the blues and classic rock, the band even sounding a little Deep Purple-ish in the songs closing stages, albeit a Deep Purple with Hawkwind's Michael 'DikMik' Davies on the keys. Last but one comes "Adrift (Part A)" a tome that finds the band sounding like a cross between Nashville's Howling Giant and 60's psychedelic cult legends Spirit, it is followed by "Adrift (Part B)" a song which sees the band donning black robes matched with lurid legwear to bring us an instrumental opus that is parts proto-doom and parts acidic rock and is totally on-point in both departments. 

Those out there holding a flaming torch aloft for the early space rock of Hawkwind and first album era UFO while also harbouring a deep love of 90's desert rock and mid 70's proto-metal will love what Florist bring to the table with "Adrift".

 Looks like its time to fire up the old "orgone accumulator" and jump aboard the "silver machine" because there are some new "psychedelic warlords" in town.

Check 'em out .....

© 2025 Frazer Jones

WITCH HOUND ~ STARTING A COVEN ... review

Witch Hound, JC (lead vocals); Wicked Willy (rhythm guitar/vocals); Jo-Jo (lead guitar); Sir Jay (bass) and Naeltag (Nate Driggs) (drums), cordially invite you to join their coven. We at Desert Psychlist are not quite sure what exactly this coven requires of its members but if activities are just restricted to listening to the type of dank dark stoner doomic noises that can be found on the bands appropriately titled debut EP " Starting A Coven" then show us where we sign.

Maybe we should be a little concerned about throwing our lot in with Witch Hound's new coven given that they kick off their EP with "At The Stake" a song that describes in some detail what will happen if you are exposed as a witch (warlock in our case), oh well we've signed up now and we have to admit that those deeply echoed vocals resounding over vibrant thrumming doomic riffage and powerful strident rhythms does seem to have stared something stirring in our blood. Having explained that being burnt is one of the perils of joining their club Witch Hound now ask us to "Face The Wheel" now what "facing a wheel" actually entails is not best explained but let's be honest it doesn't sound that pleasant. The actual song though does have its merits, its pounding percussion and low level growling bass lines support some seriously crunching riffage and dank swirling lead work and those gothic laced vocals telling us to expect not just "searing heat" but "searing heat with misery" are pretty damn impressive. Final number "Black Talisman" tells us that death might be the least of our worries and that having joined Witch Hound's cabal we can now expect to travel on "a path too dark to see", not exactly selling it are they, but having said that those thick monstrous refrains, those thundering rhythms and those reverberating monastic vocals are so damn good you'll be selling your soul before you can say "get behind me Satan"

     

As a recruitment tool Witch Hound's "Starting A Coven" could do with a little work, the prospect of being burnt at a stake, facing a nasty sounding wheel or losing your soul could possibly hinder membership numbers somewhat, however as a debut EP from a fairly new doom orientated band this three tracker takes some serious beating.

 

© 2025 Frazer Jones

STONEGAZER ~ THRESHOLD ..... review

Finland's Stonegazer, current line up Jussi Virtala (vocals); Juho Puusniekka (guitars); Lauri Lehto (guitars); Tomas Kurki (bass) and Jani-Matti Salmela (drums), have been knocking around the underground scene for a fair amount of time but first came onto Desert Psychlist's radar via their 2016 release "MDRM" a raw edged collection of songs that blended swampy southern sludginess with elements of heavy blues and grunge, a sound that came over at times like a weightier Mississippi Bones. Prior to "MDRM" Stonegazer had released "Volume II" and "Demo 2012", both releases containing some really good songs but both hampered by less than ideal production values. Things really started to come together for Stonegazer with the 2020 release "The End Of Our World", an album that saw the band really stepping up a level in the song writing and arrangement stakes as well as seeing them dipping their toes a little deeper into those grungier/bluesier pools they had began to explore on "MDRM". This year (2025), after a five year break from recording, Stonegazer return with a new release, "Threshold"(Kozmik Artifactz), a far better produced album that fully delivers on all the promise those earlier albums hinted at but just fell short of delivering.

"Threshold" opens with "The Feed" a brain-frying blend of sludgy metal and heavy rock that begins with guitar feedback screaming around a growling bass motif backed by solid steady drumming then segues into a thrumming blues flecked stoner groove, the song continuing in this mode for a full one minute twenty seconds before being joined by vocals. If you are a fan of big beefy vocals that are a little bit wearied and posses a gritty soulful quality then Stonegazer's man behind the microphone Virtala is your kind of singer, if you didn't know he was Finnish you would swear blind he was brought up on a diet of fried chicken and grits in one of America's southern states. "Next song "Unity" follows along similar lines to it predecessor with bassist Kurki and drummer Salmela laying down a barrage of ebbing and flowing groove for guitarists Puusniekka and Lehto to decorate with a mixture of crunching power chords and piercing lead work, Virtala delivering over this onslaught of bluesy southern metal throaty sermonizing that at times hovers close to the upper reaches of his range. Third track "The Machine" sees Stonegazer introducing into their heaviness subtle touches of psychedelic texturing, not enough to distract ears away from their core metallic bluesiness but enough to be noticeable. It's back to full on shock and awe for the excellent "Simulacrum" then along comes "Kairos" a song that for Desert Psychlist ticks more boxes than it leaves blank, its groove is throbbing and slightly proto-metallic, its guitar work is a blend of crunchy and swirling and its vocals are bold brash and forceful on the verses and grittily melodious on the chorus. Any bands experimenting with music of a southern rock flavour are almost duty bound to throw their hats into the "torch song" arena and Stonegazer are no exception but where most bands will gradually build their torch songs to a crescendo layer by gradual layer Stonegazer on "Dissolve" go from reflective tranquillity to face-melting intensity in one giant leap. Next song "Age Of Unreason" begins down home and bluesy then explodes into a blustering metallic stoner groove that features growling low end and busy percussion supporting fuzz soaked refrains and feel drenched bluesy soloing over which vocals are delivered in snarly bear-like tones. Final number "The Weight Of The World" comes out the traps furious and feisty then eases back a little on the volume to allow space for Virtala to deliver his wearied and throaty vocals, all well and good up to this point but the real highlight comes when the songs shifts from stoner rock(ish) to stoner doomic, a shift that sees the guitarists layering thrumming textures and piercing solos around a dynamically darker vocal.

Stongazer's "Threshold" boasts a sound that takes the heavy southern metal of bands like Pantera and Corrosion Of Conformity blends it with the mid-western swagger of bands like Mississippi Bones and Valley Of The Sun then sprinkles over the results elements of Seattle grunginess and 70's heavy blues rock. It's a huge sound that is made to sound even bigger thanks to it's vastly improved production values. Who would of thought a band from the frozen reaches of Northern Europe could sound so authentically American. 

Check 'em out ....

© 2025 Frazer Jones