New Age Doom featuring H.R. - Angels Against Angels (2026)

Angels Against Angels is another dub flavoured album from New Age Doom, this time teaming with Bad Brains singer H.R. And it's no less good than the awesome one they did with Lee Perry and Donny MacCaslin. But of course different. Again psych/jazz rock infused with a lot of dub, but this time with a rawer feel and a glorious punk assault in the middle of the album. And cool vocals by H.R.Truly addictive stuff. One of  my favourite album this year so far.

 

The BC page. 

 

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. 

 

Goat - Goat (2024)

As is spot on for a self-titled album, this new Goat album sounds very Goat, and I feel that, more than on the previous albums, it put the emphasis on what made the specificity of the Goat sound : the inclusion of afrobeat/world music in heavy psych music, sounding like Black Sabbath, The 13th Floor Elevators and Fela Kuti jamming together, and making a very cohesive and catchy music out of it. Goat is an album as good as it is quintessential Goat! 

 

The BC page. 

 

The Young Gods - Appear Disappear (2025)

Yes, The Young Gods sounds eternally fresh, neither from the past nor in the present, but in their own time dimension. And every album is a new variation in their blend of industrial rock/metal and psychedelic rock, and... their own stuff. On their new one Appear Disappear we get more nice songs with heavy guitars, grooves, but also plenty of subtle atmospheres, melodic and/or trippy in their own special way. With good vocals either in French (they're from Switzerland) or in English, with poetic lyrics. Strongly recommended, as usual!

 

The BC page. 

 

The Shits - You're a Mess (2023)

We had The Stooges, and needless to say they were awesome, then came Brainbombs, and they are still awesome, and now we also have The Shits, who are awesome as well. Thank the mad deities of wild and twisted rock'n'roll, listen to You're a Mess, and rejoice!

 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. 

 

 

 

Ramleh - Hyper Vigilance (2025)

Hyper Vigilance, the new Ramleh album keeps the psychedelic noise rock formula of the two previous albums, but is also enriching it with new elements and more diversity overall. The main new thing is the use in several songs of acoustic guitars, bringing a somewhat neofolk feel at times, with also more vocals, and on the other hand there are some harsher industrial/noise moments, making it maybe the most interesting of recent Ramleh albums. In any case, it's another awesome addition to their fantastic discography. One of my favourite album for this first half of the year. Totally recommended!

 

The BC page. 

 

Erection House - Feels of Correction (2023)

Sounding like a mix of The Stooges at their most psych/noise and Brainbombs, Feels of Correction, released in 2023, is Erection House (from Copenhagen) excellent first album. Time for a second one guys, I'm looking forward to it! 

The BC page.

 

Saturnalia Temple - Paradigm Call (2024)

Released one year ago, Paradigm Call is Saturnalia Temple third album, ten years after the previous one (the also excellent To The Other). And one thing is clear : they lost nothing of their ability to craft quality psychedelic doom. And like previously, they lean on the more epic heavy metal side of psych doom, with parts getting closer to High on Fire than to Sleep. Paradigm Call was worth the wait, thank you !

 

The BC page. 

 

Kesem - Wander (2024)

On one hand I regret the near punk energy of their more rocking first album (the awesome Post-Terra), ont he other hand I like when bands are not replicating the same album and bring something with a different mood. And that's what Kesem did with Wander, an album more on the quiet side of progressive rock, evoking at times King Crimson, sometimes Porcupine Tree, but keeping some heavy psych rock moments as well. In any case it's another excellent piece of progressive/psychedelic rock. Recommended stuff!

The Bc page.

Aluk Todolo - LUX (2024)

 

It's great to have Aluk Todolo back with a new album, eight years after the previous one. And LUX is again a very fine piece of free rock with a dark ritualistic vibe, in their own very  special style. And maybe that's what we can regret, sticking maybe too much to their style, without really bringing in new elements to it. That won't prevent me from enjoying it, but after eight years I would have expected something more surprising, not sounding so much like a "disc 2" of their previous one. Or maybe listening to it some more times will reveal some changes I didn't get at first? In  ny case they are already so different from other bands that just another typical and good Aluk Todolo album is maybe already enough.

The Bandcamp page.

My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket (2021)

I've been liking My Morning Jacket for close to a quarter of a century, and their latest, self-titled, one is probably my favourite. So I think we can say they really earned their review on Blasting Days... In the meantime their music evolved from indie rock/americana to indie/soul/progressive/psych rock (now evoking band like Pink Floyd or Yes at times, and the quality remained and even improved. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp 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.

 

 

Brother Dege - Aurora (2024)

The news of the death of Dege Legg known as a musician as Brother Dege really came as a shock to me. Not only because I liked his music (and I loved his music! Still do). I spent a large part of last year translating from English to French his book, Cablog (released in French as Cabdriver) and Dege music was something like the soundtrack of my life at that time. I admired him as a man and as an author as much as I admired him as a musician. I was looking forward to at last meet him at last during his European tour scheduled after the release of Aurora, his new album. He will really be missed. Now, is Aurora living up to the expectancy? Yes, definitely, his garage/blues/psych/southern rock got more personal and emotional, and it's as good and maybe even more memorable than the previous excellent albums. At least Dege left on a very high note. Thank you for that and for all the rest, brother...

The Bandcamp page.

 

The website. 

 

Night Beats - Rajan (2023)

Night Beats music can still be described as somewhere beetween The Black Keys and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, but on their sixth album, Rajan, their garage psych rock leans more on the psychedelic side, while keeping a pop/rock song structure. In any case it coudl be their (well, Night Beats is mostly Danny Lee Blackwell) best album yet. Laid back and groovy, fillled with memorable riffs and songs. Good stuff.

The BC page.

 

The Cosmic Dead - Infinite Peaks (2024)

Infinite Peaks is the ninth album from The Cosmic Dead, and even if it's maybe not the highest summit in their discography (I'd say their previous two albums sounded more personal), its two long tracks of instrumental space rock are still a masterclass in sounding very far away and trippy and being as well very heavy and rocking hard. Good stuff !

The BC page.

 

All Them Witches - Baker's Dozen (2023)

When reviewed All Them Witches first album twelve years ago (already on Blasting Days, yes!), I wrote that they were : "A promising new band that could craft a very good magic if they find how to add more of their own voodoo to their already good music". Well, I'm happy to say the promise has been kept, and they did a good job in finding their own voodoo and make it flourish. Their sixth album Baker's Dozen is proving it once again, with enjoyable doses of their usual garage/heavy blues rock sound, but we also get to hear them at their most psychedelic in some songs, and at their most traditional blues in some others. At the same time deep-rooted in American music traditions and experimenting. Good stuff! I hope I'll review them again in another twelve years!

Their website.

 

Goat - Oh Death (2022)

Goat might not be the greatest band of all time, but they definitely are a strange and intriguing beast. The music of this Swedish band is mixing heavy rock psychedelia with elements of afrobeat, folk, free jazz and whatnot. And each of their albums have a different twist. They release "Medicine" in 2023, one of their more traditional psych/folk album, a good album, nicely trippy, but more classical than the rest of their discography. That's why I prefer reviewing the previous album Oh Death, my favourite Goat album. Oh Death could be described as their "Voodoo bayou funk rock" album, an addictive mix of Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, Dr John and The Meters. Shorter song, more rocking, funky and nervous than their usually more progressive stuff, but with a dark and mystic feel. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

 

Big Blood - First Aid Kit (2023)

Big Blood is one of the band I really should have reviewed a long time ago... But their new ambum First Aid Kit is definitely a good occasion to do it, since it's an excellent one. We could say they play a special kind of psychedelic folk/rock. But what they do is so different it seems more fitting to say they play "weird folk" or "freak folk". Not weird like some frantic and noisy free jazz, you could (almost) play it at your Christmas family gathering, and First Aid Kit is among their more melodic albums. But it's melodies that have an uncanny feel, sounding a bit like from another dimension. But I'll stop wasting my time trying to describe the undescribable. Just listen to it, and to their older stuff. You won't regret. Oh, and the two singers are mother and her thirteen years old daughter, the father playing the instruments. Isn't that nice? 

The Bandcamp page.

 

Teeth of the Sea - Hive (2023)

As usual, Teeth of the Sea manage to surprise the listener with its new album Hive (inspired by a Frank Herbert story). This time their synth driven progressive rock with trumpet (yes, trumpet. Think Miles Davis or The Mars Volta, not mariachi...) goes again into Pink Floydian and krautrock territory, but also totally synth-wave moments, and even a NINesque track. Awesome stuff. Heavily recommended!

The BC page.