Broadslab – The Fifth Essence

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · July 15, 2026

Broadslab is a stoner rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Playing a blend of heavy rock with southern fried riffs, the band explores doom and heavy psych ingrained into their sound. The six-piece features Johnny Jernigan on vocals, Cody Patrick on guitar, Sarah Patrick on keyboard, Robby Rodwell on bass, Eddie Watkins on guitar, and Peter Lemieux on drums. Their releases include 2006’s Black Cat Bones…And Graveyard Dirt, 2007’s Shine Demo, 2014’s Ritual Movement, 2024’s Smoke Sessions, vol 1: Futilely Numbing the Temptation of Sobriety EP, and their latest, 2026’s The Fifth Essence. The Fifth Essence is the band’s first new album in nearly twelve years and it was released on June 26th 2026. It came out on Electric Desert Records and contains seven tracks at thirty five minutes.

Their Bandcamp page describes Broadslab as such: “Hellacious southern stoner soul metal from Raleigh, NC.” That’s a great description overall because this band is killer! The opening track “Animal Divinity” is a great representation of what this varied sounding band is all about. The off-kiltered tones and hypnotic vocals when the song begins, has a retro-esc vibe with the striking keys and raunchy guitar tones. The music is adventurous and engaging throughout this monstrous, nearly six minute rock excursion. The creeping bass and drum pattern sets the rhythm and the esoteric guitars and emotive vocals carries through. The band really gets the rhythm rocking on the end sequence and jams with soaring leads and tapping keys. The vocals have a full range of pitches with just this first song.

The second track, “Leslie” is a more direct hard rock song with a southern twinge. I like the simplicity and catchy groove throughout with this one as it’s a solid scorcher. They do some cool drum fills and the guitar leads are on fire! “Alienation” is a short instrumental prelude that strums some nice clean sounding guitars with subtle percussion. Broadslab breaks into “Shameful Really” next. It starts off with a rocking rhythm with squealing guitars akin to Slayer and then breaks into a more metal thrashing rhythm. The vocals are more aggressive and go great with the chugging riffs. The heavy stoner grooves are excellent and this song will make you move. As the lyrics state “keep fucking around and you’ll fucking find out!”, this song is a rager! The heavy slamming riffs at the end layered with the keys is terrific.

One of my favorite tracks is the fifth one called “Keep On Rollin’”. The shuffle rocking fuzz is groove-laden and catchy. The song has a bulldozing drive and powerful paint-peeling leads and just pummels with a fury of energy throughout. They never let their foot off the gas pedal with this one and it’s a beautiful thing. The band shift gears and take us on a majestic journey with “Quintessence”. It’s an insightful and divine mellow instrumental song that has a radiant glow and calming effect. After the three minute musical meditation session, Broadslab cranks into their final piece on this amazing album. The nine minute masterpiece entitled “Constellations”. This track has it all! They dive into some great jamming movements and slower psychedelic elements with amazing interplay between the guitars and keyboards. This is such a massive and impactful song to close out The Fifth Essence. The smooth rhythms and head tripping melodies are really resonating with me.

I have to admit, if I would have heard this recording in time, it could have very well slipped onto my top ten of the second quarter. I must also note that Mike Dean, the legendary former bassist of Corrosion Of Conformity, recorded and mixed this recording, ensuring it to sound amazing. Broadslab are excellent and The Fifth Essence is a no skip album with seven, high quality, and sonically brilliant musical passages.