Restless Spirit – Self Titled

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · June 8, 2026

Restless Spirit is a stoner/ heavy metal band from Long Island, New York. The trio consists of Paul Aloisio on vocals and guitar, Marc Morello on bass, and Jon Gusman on drums. Formed over a decade ago, their releases include: 2015’s Tardus Mortem, 2016’s Harvest EP, 2017’s 1922 EP, 2019’s Lord of the New Depression, 2020’s Clarity EP, 2021’s Blood of the Old Gods, 2023’s Afterimage, 2024’s The Doomed And The Dead… Live, and their latest, 2026 Self Titled. The Self Titled album was released on May 8th 2026 on Magnetic Eye Records. It contains eight tracks at forty minutes long.

“The Burning Need” kicks things off with a rocking roar of heavy metal glory! Restless Spirit waste no time dishing out the heavy riff storm of crushing rhythms and scorching leads. Paul Aloisio has a great voice that sounds both aggressive and melodic. The music doesn’t let up with “Hallowed” creeping in next. Like a high speeding freight train barreling down the tracks, Restless Spirit flood us with massive riffs and proggy accents. The drums on this song are bombastic and bode well with the fuzzed-out guitars and the swamp-heavy bass tone. “Red In Tooth And Claw” doesn’t let off the gas and floors their sound to come close to flying off the rails. The driving scourge of metal of these first three tracks sets the stage for what the rest of the record has coming.

“Desire Lines” begins with the guitars and the sound scales things down momentarily. Once the full band joins in, the heaviness sets in and the metal rage presumes thereafter. Restless Spirit has an immediacy and angst with this album and they go full on metal with a song like “Desolation’s Wake”. They have a catchiness to most of these tracks and even utilize some cool vocal melodies with this one. They go into an acoustic passage, giving the listener a little break from the fuzz and heaviness. “Ember” acts as an interlude of such, lasting only a minute and a half.

The next track, “Time And Distance” carries on with more menacing riffs and progressive overtones. They carve out an eerie but enchanted tone with the bass settling in with the lead. The interesting resonance is a welcomed addition to an already crushing record. The album concludes with the epic “Phantom Pain” as the closer. The longest track on this Self Titled behemoth is fifteen seconds shy of nine minutes. The song has a lot of meat and some very engaging parts that incorporates classic metal, doom, prog, and some heavy psych elements too. Restless Spirit has unleashed a monster of a new record and fans of all things heavy with be pleased with the results. I can definitely see this album being a favorite for many because it’s a damn killer! No filler tracks, just an onslaught of stoner metal rhythms that are heavy and fuzzy to the core, laced with melody and the whole enchilada. This record is a modern day masterpiece, and gets better with each and every listen!