Heavy Underground Band & Album reviews: My favorites in Riff rock/ fuzz/ stoner/ doom/ sludge/ heavy psych/ hardcore & metal
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 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 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 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 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...
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...
Blue Heron are a desert rocking stoner metal band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The quartet have released two full length albums, 2022’s Ephemeral and 2024’s sophomore record, Everything Fades. They also released a Split EP with High Desert Queen in 2023 called, Turn To Stone: Chapter 8 the Wake, on Ripple Music. The current lineup consists of Jadd Shickler on...
M.E.L.T. is a stoner/ fuzz rock trio from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band consists of Joey Troupe on guitar and vocals, James May on bass and vocals, and J.J. Young on drums, vocals, percussion, and theremin. They have released 2021’s Self Titled, 2023’s Replica of Man, and their latest, 2025’s Innervate / Obliterate. They also put out a slew of singles...
Warcoe is a three-piece band based in Pesaro, Italy. Formed in 2021, the heavy doom trio has released 2021’s Warcoe EP, 2022’s The Giant’s Dream, 2023’s A Place For Demons, and their latest, 2025’s Upon Tall Thrones. The lineup consists of Carlo on bass, Francesco on drums, and Stefano Fiorelli on guitar and vocals. Upon Tall Thrones is the band’s...
Carson is an alternative stoner rock band from Lucerne, Switzerland. The three-piece released their first Self Titled EP in 2012. They also released 2017’s Drown the Witness, 2017’s Three Point Split EP, 2022’s The Wilful Pursuit Of Ignorance, and their latest, 2025’s When Gods Know Why. Founded in 2010, the current lineup consists of Kieran Jones on guitars and vocals,...