Atomic Peat – Demons And Other Friends

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · March 12, 2025

Atomic Peat is a stoner metal/ riff rock power trio from Osnabrück, Germany. They released their debut album Octophobia in 2016 and just released their latest album, entitled Demons And Other Friends on February 20th 2025. The current lineup is Igor Stahl on guitar and vocals, Timo Klück on drums, and Daniel Meier on bass. Demons And Other Friends contains nine tracks and is forty two minutes long.

“Like A Primitive” explodes right out of the gate with a riff rocking fury of how modern day stoner rock is done. Atomic Peat cranks up the amps and release a bomb of fuzzy riffs and thunderous drumming. The mid pace rocker sets the tone for what the band have been doing for the last nine years since their debut. Heavy stoner metal rhythms ignited with scorching guitar leads and aggressive, yet melodic vocals. The band are not just a cookie cutter stoner rock band however. They have their feet firmly planted on heavy metal soil too. As is the case with the second track, “Ignite”. Heavy chunky riffs with lead guitar melodies are what’s in store with this one. The vocals are powerful and harmonize nicely on this track. “Her Black” dials back a bit on the heaviness and Atomic Peat show another level to their music and are not content with sticking to just one style.

The fourth track “Use Your Tongue” begins with the drums and the bass soon follows. The guitar fades in and strums along in simple rock essence. It’s got an angst edginess in the vocals and the music has a nice rocking groove throughout. The next one was the first single from the album entitled “Demons Coming Home”. This was my introduction to Atomic Peat and it’s a great song! The band flexes the heavy stoner groove in the riff department, on this one. The vocals are dynamic and the chorus is catchy too. Midway through the song, right after the guitar solo, the heavy bass fuzz kicks in before the last chorus part. It’s a great nuance to the track that adds a little extra depth to the song. The sixth track “Nature Boy” was the second single from Demons And Other Friends. It has a stampede style riffing that brings out the metallic tones and excellent leads in a monstrous way. The heavy groove is infectious with this one.

“Frenemy” starts out with clean guitars and soft lush vocals. It goes from heavy to light and transitions between both intensities elegantly. Atomic Peat are on top of their game with the seamless execution of both levels, so flawlessly. The eighth track entitled “A Part Of The Crown” is one of my favorites from the record. It has a colossal doom riff that begins the song and just drives with a devastating groove throughout. The vocals are powerfully composed with good melody in all the right combinations. The songwriting on this song is superb, with infectious leads and musical variability. “The Way” has a doomsday twist with the beginning and chord riffing that’s established. The vocals of “is this the way you want to live?” and “is this the way you want to die?” are pretty heavy lyrical concepts. The band states that the meaning of the song is “about the arrogance of people who think they can conquer the world and the hope that one day, they’ll realize we’re all connected and dependent on each other.” It has a weighty musical score that fits the message in such an impactful way. The song ends with the guitars strumming the rhythm by themselves into its finale.

Demons And Other Friends is a big album! Atomic Peat does a fantastic job mixing in their musical repertoire with great precision. The band has a good range of music that covers stoner rock and heavy metal, with a melodic diversity of effectual sounds that work their magic. The production of the recording is excellent and really allows these songs to thrive in a sonically satisfying way. Great song crafting plus great sound quality equals a gold standard album.