US Christmas - Cannibals of Unaka (2025)

Seems good things also can happen in 2025. Like a new US Christmas album, fourteen years after the previous one. Cannibals of Unaka is another masterpiece in psychedelic drone rock. Somewhere Earth, Neil Young (think the original Soundtrack of Dead Man) and Neurosis could meet. Not sure I'll do a best of year list, but if I do, this one will be in it. Highly recommended.

 

The BC page. 

 

Psychic Lemon - The Unheimlich Kingdom (2024)

I'm discovering Psychic Lemon with their fourth album The Unheimlich Kingdom (and thanks to a blog called The Fragmented Flâneur). Their music could be described as a dark and kraut side of psychedelic drone rock. Nothing about oriental melodies or flower power here, the music is trippy in a minimalistic and repetitive way and the mood is more evoking anguish and weirdness than happiness. Excellent stuff!

 

The BC page. 

 

 

 

Dark Brown - American Instrument (2024)

Well, there's really a lot to say about this album American Instrument. The instrument there is the drum set, the drum set having been invented in America and the album is a kind of tribute to drumming by drummer Bryan Lee Brown, playing here as Dark Brown. But don't be mistaken, it's a treat for drummers, but shouldn't be reduced to an album for drummers. It's an excellent psychedelic rock album, with a minimalistic feel, bordering drone or krautrock repetitive patterns at times. Recorded over 13 years in 9 studios it features some famous other drummers (John Stanier, Jon Theodore, Brad Wilk, Dave Catching), but there's also Eric MacFadden on guitar, and
you sure will also notice the legendary surf guitar pioneer Dick Dale. Highly recommended!

The BC page.

 

 

Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska - Sounds of a Forming Planet (2023)

While Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska's previous album was more focused on their epic space rock / Hawkwind side, on Sounds of a Forming Planet it's their drone/doom element that is more stressed. The result is less "catchy", but excellent anyway, it takes longer to get into the songs, but repeated listens are rewarding. Strong stuff again.

The BC page.

 

New Age Doom & Lee "Scratch" Perry - Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide to the Universe (2021)

This collaboration is Lee "Scratch" Perry last album and testify that he experimented till the very end. New Age Doom is a (somewhat) "free drone rock" band (built around the core of Eric J. Breitenbach and Greg Valou) that had previously released two interesting albums. This time they were joined not only by Lee Perry but also by Donny MacCaslin, a leading figure of the new generation of forward-thinking sax players, Dahm Majuri Cipolla of MONO on drums and gong, and a few others. The result, Lee "Scratch" Perry's Guide to the Universe, is a nice piece of droning and psychedelic fusion jazz / dub mix. Recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

 

The Body & OAA - Enemy of Love (2022)

At first I've been disappointed by this album, we can distinguish the somewhat glitch/jungle electronic of OAA in the music, but overall Enemy of Love sounds very close to the bleak industrial doom The Body are doing on their own. But after a few listen the tracks get into my head, and even if it's less different than some of their other collaborations, I have to admit that it produced a good album, and I enjoy it as such. Not their most interesting release but a good one nevertheless.

The BC page.

 

Dead Neanderthals - Click (2022)

Click is the fourth albumin a raw as a drums/synth duo for Dead Neanderthals. Seems Otto Kokke is not inspired by his sax any more these days, at least with DN. But that's OK since they keep on releasing good albums. Click is a long and hypnotic piece of kraut/noise/drone with a dark/disturbing feel (their previous album Metal with its drums/synth atmospheric black metal was interesting as well). Good stuff as usual from Dead Neanderthals. 

The BC page.

Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska - Interstellic Psychedelic (2022)

In a better world I would have reviewed some Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska a long time ago, but a least their new album Interstellic Pysychedelic will be an excellent one to start with... Definitely influenced by the space rock of Hawkwind (especially the epic feel, the vocals...), krautrock, drone/doom, and probably what runs in the water in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (also inhabited by Mike Vest, also in a similar musical universe). Epic and trippy to say the least. Interstellic Pysychedelic confirms Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska is one of the best psych bands around.

The Bandcamp page.

 

Puce Mary - You Must Have Been Dreaming (2022)

You Must Have Been Dreaming is more ambient/cinematic than what I usually post, and also less industrial/noise than some other releases from Puce Mary (producer Frederikke Hoffmeier from Denmark). But it is truly excellent : an immersive piece of dark and mysterious ambient, ending on a more noisy note. Subtly and finely crafted.

The BC page.

 

Dead Neanderthals & Aaron B. Turner - Corporeal Flux (2021)

Corporeal Flux, released in December 2021, is a collaboration between free jazz/noise duo Dead Neanderthals (René aquarius on drums as usual, and Otto Kokke this time doing synths / organ) and post-metal pioneer Aaron Turner (guitar / vocals). The result is a 25 minutes track of drone/doom : heavy, trippy, and noisy at times, and good all the way. Recommended stuff. 

The BC page.

 

Richard Pinhas - Reverse (2017)

Reverse, is an album released in 2017 by French avant-garde guitarist and composer Richard Pinhas (known for his music with the band Heldon, but not only). Playing on the albumis an impressive crew of talented musicians : guitars  by Pinhas and Oren Ambarchi, drums by Arthur Narcy, bass by Florian Tatar, Masami Akita (yes the one doing Merzbow) plays analog synths, Duncan Nilson-Pinhas digital synths, and William Winant percussions. The result is a mix of prog/space/kraut rock, drone, and electronics. Droning guitars, free drumming, synth soundscapes, forming weird and futuristic trippy atmospheres. Awesome album, really recommended!

The BC page.

 

 

Dead Neanderthals - Twin Sister (2020)

Dead Neanderthals is built around René Aquarius on drums and Otto Kokke usually playing saxophone with a noise/free jazz result, but album after album they change who is playing what (changing instruments and musical style). On this album, Twin Sister, it is René Aquarius on the drums, the only permanent element, and like on the last three releases Otto Kokke plays synths/keys and they are joined on bass by Jason stoll. The music is a kind of drone / doom, the keys being used for droning / textures and not for melodies. Not as slow, dark and heavy as their more recent drone/death album Blood Rite (with vocals for the first time), but in my opinion more interesting and better, thanks to a more dynamic songwriting I'd say. Twin Sister is both an interesting try and a good album. 

The BC page.

 

Dead Neanderthals - Ghosts (2019)

On this new album called Ghosts (again with Utech Records) Dead Neanderthals teamed with Scott Hedrick, guitarist in the metal band Skeletonwitch (but don't expect riffs). The two long tracks composing the album are both exclelent. Bone Hill is repetitive drumming and we could say drones from the sax and guitar (the sax sounding a bit like ghosts moaning, or at least I can imagine that) slowly accelerating and going crescendo until the final climax. A captivating track. Death Bell starts more quiet but also has a more intense ending with the sax howling. Another really good tracks also a bit different from what they did before. Possibly their best release since Womb of God (but everything they did is worth checking).
Recommended.

The Bandcamp page.

Lovely Wife | Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska - split (2018)

Newcastle is maybe UK's capital of psychedelic heavy rock and this split between Lovely Wife and Snakes Don't Belong in Alaska is another proof. On their track LW are more on a drone/noise exploration whereas SDBIA on their two tracks are a bit more melodic (for the guitars and the vocals) and dynamic. Both are deep in the heavy psych stoner sound and takes you on a nice trip. Good stuff.

The Bandcamp page.

King Midas sound - Solitude (2019)

On their new album, their third, called Solitude (the central theme is a meditation about loss), King Midas Sound is just Roger Robinson doing spoken words (and the words are excellents) and Kevin Martin (Techno Animal, The Bug, etc.). The music is even more minimalistic than their usual and the ambient electro dub is actually often getting closer to drone than to dub, and the tone is quite bleak. But it's beautifull. It's really good and my favourite KMS album up to now. Quiet music rarely get as addictive as this.

The BC page.

Ancient Lights - Ancient Lights (2018)

Ancient Lights is a doom trio formed by Adam Richardson (11 Paranoias, Ramesses), Ben Carr (5ive, INTRCPTR), and Tim Bertilsson (Switchblade), they released this year, with Ritual Productions, their first, self-titled album. Their doom is of the slow, mostly instrumental, quiet and psychedelic kind, not really heavy (ok, sometimes it is actually! heavy feedback droning guitars), not really groovy, but highly trippy and hypnotic, closer to Bong or Earth than to Blask Sab' or Electic Wizard. It also sound more original than most psychedelic doom album, sometimes sounding a bit like post-rock or shoegaze played with a doom rhythm section. Maybe it's just because their molodies are not just the usual recycling of Sabbath riffs. Anyway it's an excellent album you'll enjoy getting lost into.
Recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

Dylan Carlson - Conquistador (2018)

Conquistador is a solo album from Dylan Carlson, the guitarist/composer of Earth and, guess what, it sounds like... the guitars parts from Earth! No surprise at all then, but it's ok since it is so good. The atmospheres created by these five instrumental guitar tracks have a kind of "dark western" feel that reminds earth's Hex album. One of my favourite so that's good. If you like Earth you'll enjoy this album, if you don't know Earth, well, you really should know Earth you know...

The Bandcamp page 

Bong - Thought and Existence (2018)

Mike Vest (from Newcastle, UK) is one of the best and most prolific guitarist in the heavy, slow and psychedelic rock music (he's also doing 11 Paranoias, Blown Out, and other bands), Bong is its slower and more drone inclined band. The new album to be released in May with Ritual Productions and called Thought and Existence is about "the inward expansive nature of the mind and our senses". By now you probably know what to expect. It is indeed very slow, repetitive, trippy and immersive music, and on this albums the trio has been highly sucessfull in achieving that and making it a really strong and enjoyable listening experience. Maybe their best album. I really like it.

The Ritual Productions BC page.

Skullflower - The Black Iron That Fell From The Sky, To Dwell Within (Bear It or Be It) (2017)

The Black Iron That Fell From The Sky, To Dwell Within (Bear It or Be It) is a new vinyl release from Skullflower (Matthew Bower and Samantha Davies) and it is an excellent one. The noise / psychedelic /drone duo (noise / drone made mostly with two guitars and a saturated synth) found a really good balance between the noisy element and the melodic one, the noise is quietly droning and trippy, also charged with a feel of anguish and terrible things coming, the melodic element is subtle and infusing a sense of mystery and exploration. Great stuff to get lost into it!

The Bug - Concrete Desert (2017)

Concrete Desert is a collaboration between Kevin Martin (The Bug, Techno Animal, etc.) and Dylan Carlson (Earth) is released under the name The Bug and by the techno label Ninja Tune but actually it is closer to the most minimalistic Eath albums (like Hex), it sounds more like Dylan Carlson guitar drone / americana / ambient soundscape fearturing Kevin Martin adding some noise aelements and a few discreet beats. I would have liked more of the heavier dub / industrial elements from the Kev Martin musical world but anyway it is still a really good ambient album. I enjoy it like it is for now... but hope in the future another collaborative album, maybe this time with a different dosage.

The Bandcamp page.