This is my 51st article for MetalTalk, and I have been the site’s unofficial stoner/doom writer for the last four years. I am also 62 and still listen to Styx, Supertramp, The Eagles, and other “uncool” bands religiously and without irony. With my East Indian background and my job as a math educator, I like to give off the vibe that I am a clichéd Boomer whose understanding of rock music is passive.
Important to note, while I often watch old videos of these kinds of bands in their prime, I would rather have 17th-century dental procedures performed on me than see any current incarnation of these bands on tour. The energy is synthetic, relying too much on light show/visuals – you are not Pink Floyd – and the fullness of arena/stadium crowds.
The elephant in the room? After a few songs/moments, it is boring. It is safe rock ‘n’ roll marketed as edgy/rebellious. My generation and the previous one gave birth to some of the best music ever created. Now they are subjecting themselves to the death rattle of these bands, just to cling on to any residue of those memories.
A weekend with ‘Bernie’ would be more lively.
So, while I do listen to the sappiest of ’70s rock, my interest in it in a live form in 2026 is minus 273 degrees Celsius. Absolute zero. Forget the profanity. Absolute fucking zero. There is not even a hint of contradiction here. The reason I fell into the stoner rock/doom rabbit hole over 30 years ago was that I was lured by the indestructible energy of rock ‘n’ roll.
It is pretty simple, folks. Go where the energy is, and it is not at a Guns N’ Roses show. This is where you go to lose energy. The energy is in venues and festivals that are showcasing the newest generation of stoner/doom.
Rock ‘n’ roll is measured by energy and not by anything fucking else. Currently, it is being co-opted by many of the same bands that gave it that initial energy. Paging Mr Shakespeare.
Some more context for this article. I have written scholarly books in both ‘heavy’ mathematics and heavy music. However, I would probably bite through my lip if you started throwing the word ‘expert’ around with either of these leisure pursuits/excursions.
Curiosity is inversely proportional to ego. If you devote time to standing around admiring what you have done, you are basically fucked. You are going to create echo and ego chambers of self-absorption vs self-reflection.
Eddie Trunk is the consummate jackass for that title. My 85-year-old mother knows more about 21st-century rock music, and she read my book.
There are tons of people who deserve credit for me being directed to the deepest parts of this scene over the last 30 years. Sure, I am curious as hell, but come on. You need other obsessed folks to reinforce your musical journey and exploration.
I think if I ever had tried to be ‘cool’, to jettison the commercial music of my youth for only focusing on underground stoner/doom, I, ironically, probably would not have found the stuff I did. And I would not enjoy it as much if I did not know that, after listening to something like Italy’s Ufomammut, Breakfast In America could comfort and soothe my pummeled ears.
This is just a modest slice of my musical whiplash that I have imposed on myself for over half my life. These lyrics from the 1994 song Nothing by Son Of Otis, which are reprised over a dozen times with pummeling force, sum it up all too well:
“I live my life different way”
The music I have been discovering for the last four decades is a gift given to me from the universe of personal choices and personal connections. One of those choices is that I could not give a fuck what people think of the music I listen to and/or write about.
So, let me ‘pay it forward’ with 50 of what have been the most important albums from this scene that were released after 1999. A collection that not only illuminates my underground journey, but also comments on the musical, chronological, and geographic diversity of our beloved community.
The best part of this list is that it could have easily expanded to 250, and so many others could have created different lists. Our community is expanding at a velocity that I simply cannot keep up with anymore. Luckily there are tons of Debbie Lees in our community who can. But what I can offer, which I believe not too many people can, is a look back at a treasured past that many people missed and need to discover/rediscover.
But to start, we only need to go back a few months.
50. MOTHERTOMB – DYING TO LIVE (2026)
I knew a recent album was going to be slotted here. But this album is so emotionally piercing that I had to review it for my 50th article. The band is symbolic of the birth of new talent and the quality of debut albums in this scene. Capturing the emotional and infinite magnitude of the life-death cycle in forty minutes on your first album is magically unique.
49. KIND – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (2024)
An album that integrates ’90s angst, gritty hooks, and some timely revving of the muscle car engine for some welcomed desert acceleration. So many moments of all these elements coming together to create one masterpiece album.
48. ATP – FULTON HILL (2004)
The creative peak of this band that expanded its sound into some psych terrain without losing any of the Southern sludge that made the band such a favourite in the early days of the scene. The final song, Struggling For Balance, is the South’s response to Zeppelin’s Kashmir.
47. CLEEN – EXCURSIONS (2024)
One of the most cohesive debut albums in the scene in terms of narrative/song structure. The whole album feels whole and connected right from the get-go. Pushes musical boundaries with timely insertions of melody/groove that could be lifted off an ’80s dance floor. That said, the riff in Sultane Of Sand is gigantic, gritty, and gnarly.
46. DIXIE WITCH – INTO THE SUN (2003)
A gold standard for introducing Southern attitude into the stoner scene. Trinidad’s vocals soar throughout, and the urgency to their delivery never dissipates. It was one of the gold standards for Southern stoner back in the day.
45. FIVE HORSE JOHNSON – FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT (2000)
One of the early bands that emphasised heavy blues but still grooved with stoned-out bliss. The song Sermons In The Yard is a bloody banger, with the harmonica action making you want to drink moonshine until you go blind.
44. BLUE HERON – EMULATIONS (2025)
Opens with a cover of Fudge Tunnel’s Grey and never looks back in forging thick slabs of sound with well-timed moments of melody, screams, and smears of blues/psych. Think Clutch driving a bulldozer through the desert at night.
43. PSYCHLONA – PAOLO VERDE (2022)
This album drips deep into the mind with its trippy vocals and the well-crafted ebb and flow of the songs. It’s heavy psychedelia, strutting guitars, and confident songwriting. An easy access point for music fans not familiar with this genre.
42. SOLACE – 13 (2003)
A band that was rightfully mythologised for their live shows. Nobody would dare take the stage after them. This album is a glorious mess of stoner, doom, punk, and trippy guitars. Their cover of Forever My Queen has been the gold standard ever since.
41. LAMONT – THUNDER BOOGIE (2002)
Unpretentious and trashy as fuck. If you aren’t breaking shit up by the time One White Line is finished, your music tastes are not as unsanitary as you would like to believe.
40. KAL-EL – DARK MAJESTY (2021)
Few albums and their opening songs have lifted me off the ground like this Norway quintet. The one-two punch of Temple and Spiral are the booster rockets to lift the doom-psych heaviness into the heavens and beyond. While all their albums have this magic, this album, released during the pandemic, hit a deep nerve of adoration.
39. VOLUME – JOY OF NAVIGATION (2024)
Rightfully rereleased for a generation that might have missed this critical album. It just oozes the core fuzz, garage, and psych that so much of the scene has been built upon. It simply does not get more honest in getting to the core history of this music.
38. HIGH DESERT QUEEN – PALM READER (2024)
If Soundgarden would have veered into more stoner/desert territory around 1994, you would have birthed this album. The comparison is not lightly made. This includes the GOAT vocals of Chris Cornell. The whole band moves in sync in pushing this gritty narrative of ’90s alt giants driving through the “high desert”. As good as this album is, live is where this description blasts off.
37. SHADOW OF JUPITER – BONES (2026)
It only took their sophomore release to concoct a magical cocktail of blues, psych, and melodic doom that had this album an early candidate for AOTY. The myriad of influences are both subtle and in your face, swinging wildly between the decades from which they are passionately mined.
36. SPACESLUG – LEMANIS (2020)
If you want to feel like you are boarding the final spaceship that is leaving a doomed planet and need a soundtrack for the celestial departure of no return, this album is it. Heavy and moody is the vivid soundscape that is carved here.
56. NASHVILLE PUSSY – UP THE DOSAGE (2014)
Truthfully, I could have easily inserted any of my three favourite albums from this band whose notorious vice-filled rock ‘n’ roll of Bon Scott-era AC/DC with the stench of booze and sweat has left a permanent imprint on 21st-century rock ‘n’ roll. But I went with this one only for one of the most truthful songs about.
34. BABY WOODROSE – CHASING RAINBOWS (2007)
This Danish band permanently camped out in the sounds of the late ’60s garage and psych right from their first release. It’s permanently the Summer of Love 1967 with a slight pop/punk delivery.
33. ELECTRIC CITIZEN – SATEEN (2014)
Female vocals in this scene have always gotten my attention, as I am attracted to that energy which is trying to add wild feminine spirit to stoner riffs and grooves. This album just oozes attitude, charisma, and charm for ’70s hangouts in basements and parking lots.
32. LOW ORBIT – CRATER CREATOR (2024)
Crushing space rock that balances psychedelic nods with heavy riffs. The perfect album to play for meteors crashing on distant planets. The album cover speaks the truth. New album crashing later this year!
31. SASQUATCH – FEVER FANTASY (2022)
Honestly, get a die and roll it. Whatever number shows up from 1 to 6 is a Sasquatch album that is guaranteed to be filled with ass-kickin’ rock ‘n’ roll, fusing Soundgarden hooks with plenty of desert inspiration. Their live shows are legendary.
30. KADAVAR – ABRA KADAVAR (2013)
This album is deliriously filthy, like it was dragged through the detritus of historic music festivals of the late ’60s and early ’70s. The riffs and attitude feel like they are the product of such residue. You just want to listen to this album in The Black Forest with these Berlin dudes. Mushrooms are optional.
29. VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY – AGE OF AQUARIUS (2019)
Greece, one of the oldest civilisations, has been throwing their hat in the rock ‘n’ roll ring since the early/late ’60s with bands like Socrates Drank The Conium. Yes, I feel bad for leaving 1000mods off this list. This album not only cements the contribution of this Mediterranean country in the scene, but the Pink Floydesque moments with traditional Greek instruments/arrangements make the album feel ancient and wise. Age of Aquarius is also my soon-to-be-added 13th chapter to my book Sonic Seducer.
28. SOLARIZED – NEANDERTHAL HIGHWAY (1999)
One of the bands that made me set the starting date for this article to 1999. The impression when I first heard this album in 1999, courtesy of Man’s Ruin, was like my brain getting hit with a heavy narcotic. The dirty and funky grooves that run amok on this album sounded like the gates of heaven to my ears back then and still do.
26. MILLIGRAM – THIS IS CLASS WAR (2002)
We are getting into that part of the list that if you do not hail these albums, your ‘membership’ to the stoner/doom scene will be revoked. Okay. Many of you might not have heard of this Boston underground band, but go listen to this album. This is the music of bar brawls and alleyway fights. Punk as fuck, but there is plenty of desert sand in those clenched fists.
25. SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT – LONG DISTANCE TRIP (2010)
Another German treasure that sadly disbanded in 2020. But the legacy they left behind is one that cannot be denied by any serious fan of the music. The blues infusion was deep, and it merged with the psychedelic trips as a co-pilot, not a passenger. This album hits you to the bone.
24. JOSIAH – NO TIME (2007)
Unbelievable authenticity for the hazy riffs and melodies of the ’70s. Grand Funk Railroad, Uriah Heep, and Black Sabbath influence aplenty here. But the way this UK band forged them into their own sound is why their music is elevated in the scene for me.
23. 500 FT. OF PIPE – DOPE DEAL (2001)
If Fu Manchu revved up their ’90s catalogue to some serious RPMs with heavy Blue Cheer nods, you would have this Detroit outfit. This album throttles up from the start. There is no gearing down. Prepared to get blown away.
22. WO FAT – THE BLACK CODE (2012)
Wo Fat deals from the same deck of uncanny consistency as Sasquatch. And so, picking which one of their seven studio albums to insert here was not easy. But I went with this one. It just commands this majesty with its uncompromising fusion of psych and Southern badass.
21. YURI GAGARIN – YURI GAGARIN (2013)
Yuri Gagarin was the first astronaut in space. And as such, it makes sense that this instrumental band from Sweden has always been the go-to in this genre for all things spacey and transcending. Put on headphones, and, as the liner notes in Welcome To Sky Valley command, listen without distraction. As spiritual and heavy it can get, folks.
20. ARTIMUS PYLEDRIVER – ARTIMUS PYLEDRIVER (2005)
Imagine Bon Scott vocals fronting a punk Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose only mission is to play bars, drink dangerously, and fight like they are fans of the Millwall soccer club from the ’80s. This was the only album they put out. Frankly, they probably had no more energy to do any more.
19. THE GLASSPACK – POWDERKEG (2002)
A runaway freight train of Stooges cool and Southern charm. Was fortunate to have seen them way back in the day. Explosive is the best way to describe them and, of course, this album.
18. NATAS – CIUDAD DE BRAHMAN (1999)
Just as vital as Kyuss in expanding on the desert sound with their South American flair. Heavily underrated and perhaps even forgotten, given their masterclass discography. This is as good a place as any to fully dive into the band.
17. BLUES PILLS – BLUES PILLS (2014)
One of the best debut albums from this century. Coming out party for the band and their Swedish lead singer and its heart and soul, Erin Larsson. The guitar work on this album is, quite frankly, astonishing, especially considering Dorrian Sorriaux was only 16 at the time. I debated between writing about this and their stellar, more pop-driven 2024’s Birthday.
16. RUBY THE HATCHET – FEAR IS A CRUEL MASTER (2022)
Jillian Taylor is a force of nature. Stevie Nicks-like vocals with early Vince Neil stage physicality. However, there is an incredible group of players who can create a sound that is both retro and modern. Drummer Owen Stewart released his own debut album that incorporates some of the ’70s vibe, groove, and aura that haunts some of the songs on this album.
15. KING BUFFALO – ACHERON (2021)
One of those rare bands in the scene in which they sound like nobody else. Sure, it is easy to mine for the psych and trippy influences, but the band, as subtly intimated, is bigger than the sum of their parts. I like to think of it as music for the deepest parts of when you are sleeping, dreamy, heavy, and seductive. You almost could start anywhere, but I would start here.
14. NEBULA – ATOMIC RITUAL (2003)
On 27 May 2004, my 40th birthday, I left for Youngstown, Ohio, to go to my first multi-day festival in the wonderful dive bar Nyabinghi. One of the CDs I played, about an hour from my final destination, was this one. When the second song So It Goes came on, it was one of my favourite music moments in life while driving. Considering my life changed forever that weekend, it made sense my road trip music was just as overwhelming and spiritually awakening.
13. FU MANCHU – CALIFORNIA CROSSING (2004)
No surprise that the band that helped birth Nebula in the late ’90s is on this list. Gone was some of the heavy fuzz, but in its place was some refreshing melody and hooks. The signature Fu sound was still there, but there was this bounce and accessibility that gave this album lasting endearment for me.
12. WINDHAND – ETERNAL RETURN (2019)
I went back and forth between a few albums from this band of romantic doom. In the end, I had to go with this one. It simply is beautiful, breathtaking, and brutal all at the same time. Dorthia Cottrell is the vocal siren that leads the journey through this heavy and enchanting landscape.
11. BLACK RAINBOWS – HAWKDOPE (2015)
The Italian giants who eventually started their own label (Heavy Psych) literally make music that succinctly describes their music. But if you want to get more wordy, and I do, this album showcases that the psychedelia can be heavy with guitars blasting or not. Every song feels like it is part of a whole transcending experience of mind, body, and soul. Easily one of the most important bands on the planet right now.
10. MONSTER MAGNET – MINDFUCKER (2024)
For me, the most important band ever in this whole scene. Nobody in the history of music has ever penned lyrics like Dave Wyndorf. And he can talk about a year like 1973 with vivid detail because he went to shows like Sabbath, Bowie, and Roxy Music. This album has teeth and more fuck you garage/punk than bands many years younger. Monster Magnet will forever remain ahead of their time.
9. 7ZUMA7 – DEEP INSIDE (1999)
Superfan and one of the matriarchs of the scene, Debbie Lee, wrote a great review of this album recently for her first blog for Ripple Music, which rereleased this vinyl in 2026. I still have my Man’s Ruins CD, albeit heavily scratched from repeated play. Few bands have made as exciting and lasting music as this Dutch band. They hit gold when they fused glitter, glam, and grit to make their unique sound. Only band in this scene to take on a disco cover, Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff. All their live performances were like T. Rex on steroids.
8. MONOLORD – NO COMFORT (2019)
This Swedish outfit has become one of the best bands in the scene. Slowly bleeding out more melody and well-crafted vocals with each album. But this album, ever since I heard it, seeped deep into my soul. The lyrics, the atmosphere, and the heaviness just tattooed my listening experience. The guitar outro in Last Leaf is one of the best of all time. I have shed a tear or two with just that. Emotionally crushing and restorative at the same time.
7. COLOUR HAZE – COLOUR HAZE (2004)
I want to think they are The Beatles of our scene. Supremely talented and influential. When the first time I heard Mountain from this album, I kid you not, but I wanted to cry when the song’s heavy riff comes back at the end. The whole album is a classic testimonial and calling card for what the best of the stoner/doom scene can and will always offer.
6. UFOMAMMUT – IDOLUM (2008)
You do not listen to this Italian trio. You feel them. Your skin, bones, and nerves are all affected by this often punishing doom. The experience is like hot yoga for your musical soul. You are exhausted, but you know you are healthier for the experience.
5. LOWRIDER – REFRACTIONS (2020)
Twenty years after their first release, they only managed to release a second album that dominated so many people’s AOTY. One of the great stories in the scene, and the album, Ode To Ganymede made me weep inside for its keyboard parts, instantly conjuring up all things Jon Lord and Deep Purple.
4. DOZER – DRIFTING IN THE ENDLESS VOID (2023)
I could have slotted few other Dozer albums here. That is how consistently stellar these Swedish lads have been since the late ’90s. But I chose this one because ‘older’ bands might not have as much energy and creativity left in the musical tank. The mileage often catches up. Not Dozer. This album shows a band still peaking and demonstrating with no uncertainty that the Dozer sound will always be relevant and transcending.
3. DOMKRAFT – SONIC MOONS (2023)
No band causes a warm numbing sensation of the body, mind, and soul with their hypnotic and transcending doom like this trio from Sweden. There is just this alchemy of guitar, bass, and vocals that creates a tsunami of sound that both overwhelms and soothes. This album is the band at their peak, flush with songs that rip you apart physically and emotionally. By the end, your soul has been awakened to a level of heaviness that is nothing short of spiritual.
2. THROTTLEROD – EASTBOUND AND DOWN (2000)
In my opinion, one of the greatest debut albums in rock music. Sounds and feels like a runaway train of Southern badass and Motörhead attitude that is only stopping for stolen liquor and bar brawls. This album will eternally offer ‘Hold My Beer’ for those that profess to rock out with their balls out. Simply the gold standard for unvarnished, unapologetic and unrelenting rock ‘n’ roll this century.
1. HIGH ON FIRE – SURROUNDED BY THIEVES (2002)
A piece of art that transcends its genre. It meanders with menacing energy of battles that only Tolkien could imagine. You simply cannot enter this scene without listening to open wounds and scars of this War Metal album. Every song feels like a battle cry from Middle Earth. It will remain timeless for its raw brutality and rite of passage for all those who enter and have entered this underground scene.
