Appalooza – The Emperor Of Loss

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · October 12, 2025

Appalooza is a three-piece band from Brittany, France. Formed in 2012, they mix elements of stoner rock, alternative metal, and heavy grunge. Their album releases include: 2018’s Self Titled, 2021’s The Holy Of Holies, 2023’s The Shining Son, and their latest, 2025’s The Emperor Of Loss. The band consists of Wild Horse on vocals and guitar, Lone Horse on drums, Black Horse on bass, and The Horse on percussions and backing vocals. The Emperor Of Loss was released on Ripple Music on September 12th 2025. It contains nine tracks at forty nine minutes long.

The write up on the Appalooza Bandcamp page describes the album as such: “The Emperor Of Loss is the direct follow-up to The Shining Son. It is a powerful and visceral concept album that explores the psychological depths of emotional captivity, domestic violence, and the mourning of one’s identity. Through a circular narrative, where the end meets the beginning, the album portrays the tortuous journey of a woman grappling with Stockholm Syndrome, caught in the grip of her persecutor, a figure both tyrannical and deeply internal. Each track serves as a chapter in this descent into the self, a kind of mental odyssey where trauma, confusion, and rebellion collide with a longing for deliverance, and even rebirth. This is a tragic and cyclical work, staging a persecutor, The Emperor, at war with no one but himself, causing collateral damage on all sides. In the end, he is the true loser of the story. The album does not follow a classic, linear arc of liberation. It unfolds like a spiral: each attempt at emancipation is pulled back by the invisible chains of trauma. But within this spiral lies a raw truth—the struggle is real, it is spoken, it is denounced, it is lived. The music becomes a form of catharsis, a sonic manifesto for those who seek to break the silence.”

The Emperor Of Loss is my introduction into Appalooza, and I am inspired to share my thoughts. The clean and acoustic guitars strumming together at the start of “Grieve” connects with the busy drumming and rhythmic pummeling right away. The sound is doused in metal with elaborate components of rock, grunge, hardcore, prog, and everything in that heavy spectrum. The driving force of Appalooza counters around real heavy riffing with dynamic acoustic guitars and melodies. The vocals are mostly clean with moments of harsh throughout. The gruff vocal accents at the end of each verse of “Grieve” blends nicely with the clean singing. “Magnolia” is a hammering track of devastating percussion, raging riffing, and great vocals too. The song is a smasher and a head banging frenzy. The music is very dense and orchestrated to mess with your head. The art of playing out rhythms with heavy articulation is what this band delivers.

“Stockholm” is a pounding menace of fuzzy rhythms and heavy metal harmonies. It stretches in the melody with the mesmerizing vocals crooning over the bulldozing riffs. It’s a fantastic song and another hard hitter! The fourth track is one of my favorites on the album called “From The Cradle To The Grave”. It has an old Alice In Chains style haunting feel with sludgy doom riffs . They even incorporate some sparse death metal squeals to accent the crushing riff. The flow of the song is flawless as the music can shift into different parts with ease.

The next track called “Emperor” has a mellow start with charming guitars and soothing vocals. It then shifts into an ass kicking metal rage. The vocals keep the sound under control as the mammoth rhythms ascend. The band keeps the heaviness going with “Tarantula”. It has some screams and stomping riffs commanded by the vocal melodies in tact. The music is so dense and transcends from hard hitting stoner metal into heavy sludge rocking acoustic blues. The Emperor Of Loss is an album that requires multiple listens. There’s a lot happening in their music and new discoveries are observed during every time I hear it. Tracks like “Iscariot” have a very catchy vibe and keeps their sound expanding with more groove and sonic expression.

The last track on the vinyl version I presume is “Adios Marie”. It makes a lot of sense to have this song closing out a record album. The guitar jamming with tribal drumming as the vocals display nice tones and emotion are fantastic. Some of the guitar playing on this track would even make Santana smile. The musicianship is stellar on every song but the Spanish influences on this one are incredible.

The bonus track on the digital format is called “Matador”. It’s a hard rocking song and a great addition to include. Appolooza are really hitting me in all the right places. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it! It has a lot going on musically but once it all settles in, you’ll be hooked. Regretfully, I didn’t listen to it sooner to include on my top 10 list of the quarter. Appalooza has a pretty unique style and sound that is so refreshing to hear. I am really on board with this band and dig every track on this excellent album.