Capacopter is a stoner rock band from Mannheim, Germany. Formed in 2021, the four-piece features Hannes on lead vocals and guitar, Andi on guitar, Jan on bass and vocals, and Jon on drums. The quartet just released their debut Self Titled album on January 9th 2026 on Nordic Wolf Studios. It contains eight tracks around forty minutes long. The album...
Live at The Usual Place in Las Vegas, Nevada USA *January 29th – February 1st 2026* As I reflect back on the Planet Desert Rock Weekend extravaganza, which took place from January 29th through February 1st 2026, I can’t help but wonder how this was even possible. Twenty one bands total, including acts from all over the world like Sweden,...
Otu Suurmunne is a super talented musician and producer based in Helsinki, Finland. Running his vast and diverse music under his company Moonic Productions, Otu can mimic countless styles of music and artists with great depth and creativity. He is the guitarist and vocalist for the stoner metal juggernauts Kaiser , and his own style is as introspective and diverse...
I am a big fan of heavy instrumental rock music. The heavy underground has a decent amount of these types of bands, each honing in on their own style. There is a big variance from heavy riff rock to atmospheric and psychedelic tones. I enjoy it all! I wasn’t exposed to as much heavy instrumental music this year compared to...
Lowrider is a Swedish stoner rock band from Karlstad/ Stockholm. Formed in 1996, the lineup consists of Peder Bergstrand on bass and vocals, Ole Hellquist on guitar and vocals, Niclas Stalfors on guitar, and Andreas Eriksson on drums. The band released 1999’s Nebula/ Lowrider Double EP split that put them on the map. Their debut full length album entitled Ode...
The year 2025 has been a massive year for new music, all erupting out of he heavy underground. After 150 plus album reviews for this year, I doubled my production for listening and reviewing bands. I am continually amazed at the surmounting number of releases coming out every single week. I participated in the grueling year end list with Dan...
Dan Sierras and I just recorded a podcast for our top 25 favorite albums of 2025. The Heavy Desert Podcast episode can be found on either or both, Apple and Spotify. Have yourself a listen and please subscribe to the show for all the latest interviews and discussions that Dan has with artists and people from the scene. I have...
The Death Wheelers are a Canadian hard rocking instrumental band from Quebec City, Quebec. The group consists of founder Max “The Axe” Tremblay on bass and all instruments in the studio, Hugo ‘Red Beard’ Bertacchi on guitar, Sy ‘Wild Rye’ Tremblay on guitar, and Richard ‘The Bastard’ Turcotte on drums. Formed in 2015, they have released five EPs including: 2015’s...
Palm Desert are a stoner/desert rock five-piece from Wroclaw, Poland. Active since 2008, the band consists of Kamil Ziółkowski on drums, Jan Rutka on bass, Piotr Łacny on guitar,Wojciech Gałuszka on vocals, and Wojciech Kuczwalski on guitar. They have released 2009’s Dawn Of The Burning Sun (Demo 2009), 2009’s The Highest Fuel Level, 2010’s Falls Of The Wasteland, 2013’s Rotten...
As I close out this series on the Planet Desert Rock Weekend Festival, I have six final bands to highlight. In order to not leave out any bands, this top five on Friday segment will have six. As the final days are approaching, I can’t express enough about how excited and pumped up that I am for being able to...
