Heavy Underground Band & Album reviews: My favorites in Riff rock/ fuzz/ stoner/ doom/ sludge/ heavy psych/ hardcore & metal

Lacertilia – Transcend 

Lacertilia is a cosmic stoner rock band from Cardiff, United Kingdom. Formed in 2013, the South Wales five-piece consists of Matt Fry on vocals, Lucas Zalunski on guitar, Michael Young-Temple on guitar, Ed Hughes on bass, and Tom Lee on drums. They have released 2015’s Crashing Into The Future EP, 2016’s We’re Already Inside Your Mind, 2017’s Live at Hellfest...

REDWOOD – Cloud Colony 

REDWOOD is a heavy psych/ stoner rock solo project from Sheafer McOmber (Deer Lord). McOmber is a one man band in the California based REDWOOD and plays all of the instruments himself. He released the last album only eight months ago, this past February, called Sky Offering (review here). McOmber is a very talented musician who writes and records all...

Wino – Create Or Die 

Wino is a solo project from the legendary doom and heavy metal/ rock merchant, Scott “Wino” Weinrich. His work of musical art is iconic from bands like The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, Saint Vitus, Shrinebuilder, Place Of Skulls, Premonition 13, and many others. Last year he created the excellent Gilded Sorrow album with The Obsessed (review here). He...

Bentrees – Silver Veins 

Bentrees is a stoner rock duo from Iglesias, Italy. The band members consist of Riccardo Podda on guitar and vocals, and Mauro Cocco on drums. Formed in 2012, the band has been functioning as a two-piece since 2014. They have released three albums to date, including 2017’s Psychollage, 2021’s Two Of Swords, and their latest, 2025’s Silver Veins. The sound...

Bone Church – Deliverance 

Bone Church is a hard rocking five-piece band from Connecticut. The lineup consists of Jack Rune on vocals, Dan Sefcik on lead guitar, Pat Good on bass, Nick Firine on guitar, and Rob Sickinger on drums. They have released 2017’s Self Titled, 2020’s Acid Communion, and their latest, 2025’s Deliverance. Deliverance arrived on October 24th on Ripple Music and contains...

Honeybadger – Let There Be Light 

Honeybadger is a stoner rock quartet from Athens, Greece. They released their debut, The Rain EP in 2017 and their first full length called Pleasure Delayer in 2020. The band just released their latest album, 2025’s Let There Be Light. The lineup consists of Dimitris Vardoulakis on vocals, rhythm, and lead guitars, Vagg Oikonomou on drums and percussion, Dimitris Giannakopoulos...

Friendship Commanders – Bear 

Friendship Commanders is a two-piece band from Nashville, Tennessee. Featuring Buick Audra on guitar and vocals, and Jerry Roe on drums, bass, and synths, the duo play heavy yet melodic rock music. They have released the following recordings: 2016’s Dave, 2017’s Junebug EP, 2018’s Bill, 2020’s Hold On To Yourself EP, 2020’s Sonechild Single, 2021’s Altar/ Land Of Men Single,...

Verona Florrist – Self Titled 

Verona Florrist is a stoner rock/ doom band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 2024, the three-piece consists of Joe Narducci on guitar and vocals, Dan “Gonzo” Gonzalez on bass, and Alex Van Der Heyden on drums. They just released their Self Titled debut album on October 1st 2025 on Fuzzed and Buzzed Records. It contains seven tracks at thirty...

Soul Blind – Red Sky Mourning 

Soul Blind is a heavy rocking four-piece band from the Hudson Valley in New York. They consist of Cen on bass and vocals, Justin Sarica on guitar, Finn Lovell on guitar, and Steve Hurley on drums. They formed in 2018 and have released: 2018’s Willpower EP, 2018’s Untitled EP, 2019’s Promo 19 EP, 2021’s Third Chain EP, 2022’s Feel It...

Prong live 11/02/25

Live at Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester, Massachusetts USA *November 2nd 2025* I first discovered the band Prong in the early 1990’s. My buddy just bought the Beg To Differ cassette at a local record store and we both dug their sound a lot. I was mostly into a lot of heavy thrash metal back then, just before really getting...