Heavy Underground Band & Album reviews: My favorites in Riff rock/ fuzz/ stoner/ doom/ sludge/ heavy psych/ hardcore & metal
Elefus is an alternative stoner/ progressive/ psych rock band from Australia. They consist of Scott Cook on lead guitars and vocals, Matt Augustyn on drums, Mark Matthews on rhythm guitar, and Dan Eldano Brown on bass. They just released their debut full length album entitled Time To Bend on April 17th 2026. It contains nine tracks at fifty minutes long. ...
Stepmother is a Melbourne, Australian punk and hard rock trio, consisting of Graham Clise on guitar and vocals, Lee Parker on drums, and Robert Muinos on bass. The band’s releases include 2022’s Self Titled debut EP, 2023’s Planet Brutalicon, and their latest sophomore album, 2026’s Absurdus Manifestus. Graham Clise was the guitarist for underground legends, Annihilation Time, and Stepmother’s music...
Abrams is a heavy rock band from Denver, Colorado, with mixed elements of post-hardcore, shoe gaze, grunge, and noise rock. The current lineup consists of Zach Amster on vocals and guitar, Taylor Iversen on bass and vocals ,Ryan DeWitt on drum, and Graham Zander on guitar. Abrams formed in 2013 and their debut EP entitled February came out in 2014....
Demons My Friends is a heavy rock/ post-punk/ stoner doom band from Mexico. The trio consists of Lu Salinas on bass and vocals, Tarro Martinez on drums, and Pablo Anton on guitar and vocals. They released their debut album, Demons Seem To Gather in 2023. They just recently launched their latest sophomore album, entitled Survive/ Yourself on April 17th 2026,...
The Lords Of Altamont are a Los Angeles, California based hard rock/ garage/ punk/ psychedelic rock band. Formed in 2000, they have many releases including: 2002’s To Hell With The Lords Of Altamont, 2005’s Lords Have Mercy, 2008’s The Altamont Sin, 2011’s Midnight To 666, 2014’s Lords Take Altamont, 2017’s The Wild Sounds Of The Lords Of Altamont, 2021’s Tune...
Spirit Adrift is a heavy metal band formed in Messa, Arizona by Nate Garret. The multi-instrumentalist performs and records all the instruments in the studio (vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano, and synth). The live line up also features Tom Draper on guitar, Sonny DeCarlo on bass, and Michael Arellano on drums. Formed in 2015 and now residing in Austin, Texas,...
Myar is a stoner doom/ heavy psych band from Lille, France. They consist of Nina Hirsch on bass, Julien Scymaniak on drums, Victorien Guy on guitars, and Paul-Antoine Vinchent on guitars. Myar just released their debut album called Bleak Mountains on April 4th 2026. It contains six tracks at thirty six minutes long. “As A Line” begins with a fuzzy...
Masheena is a hard rock band from Bergen, Norway. They are known for their crunchy desert riffs and ginormous melodies. They consist of Luis-Alberto Salomon on guitars and vocals, Tarjei A Heggernes on bass, and Bård Heavy Nordvik on drums and percussion. They have released their debut album in 2023, called West Coast Hard Rock. The band has returned with...
Sea Of Snakes is a stoner/ doom metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed around 2020, the band consists of Jason Busiek on vocals, Jim McCloskey on guitar, Greg Noriega on bass, and Chris Lowbridge on drums. Their releases include 2021’s World On Fire EP, their debut album, 2022’s The Serpent & The Lamb, and their sophomore, 2024’s Bow To...
Bronco Forte is a four-piece heavy rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band consists of Chris Klepac on guitar and vocals, Sako Injaian on guitar and vocals, Jen Glomboski on bass and vocals, and Geoff Summers on drums. The band released their debut Self Titled EP in 2023 and most recently their debut full length album entitled Lightening Scars...