Top 5 On Friday – Planet Desert Rock (the latest 5 bands announced, so far!)

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published May 16, 2025 · Updated May 16, 2025

Welcome to the third installment of the Top 5 On Friday’s Planet Desert Rock series. Last week (posted here), I discussed the five bands that confirmed my decision to go. The bands are: The Atomic Bitchwax, The Heavy Eyes, Saturna, The Well, and Phantom Hound. Two weeks prior, I discussed the initial bands that got me excited about Planet Desert Rock (posted here). Those bands were: Throttlerod, Isaak, Mooch, Huanastone, High Desert Queen, and Freedom Hawk. In today’s post, the latest five bands announced has very excited. A few of the bands, I am just getting into now and two of them are favorites already.

1. SAINT KARLOFF

The Norwegian three-piece band Saint Karloff sounds great! They formed in 2015 and have released 2018’s All Heed The Black God, 2019’s Interstellar Voodoo, 2019’s Coven of the Ultra-Riff (Split with Devil’s Witches, and 2021’s Interstellar Voodoo – Live in Oslo. The current lineup consists of: Mads Melvold on guitar and vocals, Adam Suleiman on drums, and Nico Munkvold on bass. The music is mix of heavy psych and stoner rock. They have a great sound that has a little proto-metal vibe happening with solid heavy riffing. I just started getting into them and I am looking forward to seeing them play live.

https://saintkarloff.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/share/16bXQmniXs/?mibextid=wwXIfr

2. THE DEVIL AND THE ALMIGHTY BLUES

The Devil and the Almighty Blues has caused some big excitement since they were added to the Planet Desert Rock Festival. The also Norwegian based band are fantastic! They play a very organic delta blues hard rock style that will blow your mind. They have three albums out including: 2015’s Self Titled, 2017’s II, and 2019’s TRE. The five-piece band features Arnt O. Andersen on vocals, Petter Svee on guitar, Torgeir W. Engen on guitar, Kim Skaug on bass, and Kenneth Simonsen on drums. The rumor is that they sound excellent live. I can’t wait to see them! I am really enjoying all three of their records.

https://thedevilandthealmightyblues.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/share/1ZyNFNvysG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

3. BONE CHURCH

I have been a fan of Bone Church for several years now. Their 2017 Self Titled album really impressed me. The heavy rocking riffs, electrifying leads, and soaring vocals are fantastic! The band’s 2020 release, Acid Communion was equally awesome! Last month, I finally got to see the band perform live as part of the Hopsmokerfest in Braintree, Massachusetts (review here). They were incredible live and had just been added to the Planet Desert Rock lineup, prior to that show. They have a new single out called “Electric Execution” that rips and they are releasing a new record later this year too. The current 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. I was very happy to hear that they will be joining the already stacked lineup at Planet Desert Rock.

https://bonechurch1.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/share/19Lkw6mmrm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

4. KAISER

When it was recently announced that Kaiser would be returning to Planet Desert Rock, I was beside myself! This was a band that I have been following since last year, when I heard their debut album, 2018’s 1st Sound. This prompted me to check out their 2022’s Split release with Captain Caravan, from Ripple Music’s Turned to Stone: Chapter 6 release. I was totally blown away with this band! They have a great sound that is heavy and varied and carries the stoner rock sound to a new level. Their second full length, 2nd Sound (review here) dropped this past March and was my top pick for albums released in the first quarter of the year. Both myself and Dan Sierras from the Heavy Desert Podcast (episode here) picked 2nd Sound as our number one album of the quarter. Kaiser features the multi-talented Otu (who just released his solo project Apocalypse/ Apocalypse Aftermath Double EPs in April-review here) on guitars and vocals, Riq on drums, and Pex on bass. Kaiser is definitely an outstanding band that I am extremely excited to see live.

https://kaiserfuzz.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/share/12CpQ5z769p/?mibextid=wwXIfr

5. FUZZ SAGRADO & SURYA KRIS PETERS

Unfortunately, Swan Valley Heights from Germany had to drop off the bill. In their place is Fuzz Sagrado & Surya Kris Peters (from the classic Samsara Blues Experiment). This excerpt post was released a couple of weeks ago on Facebook: “NEW LIVE BAND Simply because I can’t contain my own excitement any longer. The new FUZZ SAGRADO live band consists of a number of legends from the German Heavy Psych – scene … With me are Steffen Schneider (formerly of SPACESHIP LANDING on additional guitar duty), Charlie Paschen (also drummer of COOGANS BLUFF) and young gun Raphael Nigbur (bass). All three also play as BLACKBOX MASSACRE (new album coming soon). On a personal note: We already had this band in 2023 – but the last few years have brought some confusion. A proposed former band name can and will no longer be used. We will continue as FUZZ SAGRADO for now, being very aware of my own musical heritage and the wishes of so many fans. In short, among new songs we will continue to play a few SBE songs too. In a way, this is the long awaited sequel and we are all very excited about it!” This is definitely an interesting and exciting addition to the already super stacked bill.

https://electricmagic.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/share/16VYW5zPF4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I hope you enjoyed this little mini series on the Planet Desert Rock Weekend extravaganza. I would encourage everyone to order tickets now, if you haven’t already. I’m pretty certain this event will sell out because John Gist wants to keep it fairly intimate, and will not change it to a bigger venue just to sell more tickets. From my understanding of past Planet Desert Rock Festivals, it’s like a big family reunion of sorts from the fans and bands involved. The camaraderie, from what I hear, is incredible! It features a lot of the same people and friendly atmosphere that Ripple Fest Texas (which I haven’t attended yet) brings. I am really looking forward to this event! The dates again are January 29th – February 1st, 2026. For more information, go to this link (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planet-desert-rock-weekend-vi-in-las-vegas-jan-29-feb1-2026-tickets-1254021715709?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios