This Top 12 Heavy Rock albums is the hardest list I’ve ever written. Doom. Post Rock. Heavy Metal. Sludge. I believe each of these albums could become iconic, and ranking them just seems wrong on so many levels.
As Reverend Fuzzcut pointed out, the difference between #12 and #1 is minuscule. Cosmic Reaper brought it every bit as much as the Oil Barons. Each of these albums showcases the best work that each band has done so far. Everything sounds fresh, original and powerful, which isn’t easy to do!
What a month!!!
The Top 12 Heavy Rock Albums of September
12. Cosmic Reaper: Bleed the Wicked Drown the Damned
MP3’s? I hate MP3s. But if that’s the only way I can hear Cosmic Reapers Bleed the Wicked Drown the Damned, then so be it. And my Charlotte, NC brothers have been honing their skills and beefing up their chops for one of the best Doom releases of the year. Low, slow, and a hint of Southern-fried badassness make this their most cohesive and yet adventurous outing so far. One of the truly underrated bands in all of Doom, this should knock ’em a few pegs up. Don’t believe me? I dare you to blast this beast and tell me otherwise.
11. Warcoe – Upon Tall Thrones
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here’s this video game series, the Horizon Zero Dawn games, that seem to be cursed. One of the greatest games ever, yet sadly released when huge AAA games come out at the same time. This is Warcoe, one of the best Traditional Doom bands on the planet, and this is their curse. Or, they’re just good enough to take it on and thrive! I think it’s the latter, and this Doom band with songs that are usually under 5 minutes long packs a lot into 37 minutes. This is a great, not good, slab of old-fashioned Doom without the bloat.
10. Black Moon Cult – Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig)
Led by guitar wunderkind Kaleb Riser, Black Moon Cult took hold in the Heavy Underground way before Ophidian Future was released. I haven’t seen a debut this hyped since Castle Rat, who we’ll get to in a bit. Kaleb wears his influences on his sleeve, from Frank Marino to Robyn Trower, and delivers the exact album to prove that rock ain’t dead, it’s just getting started. But this is also more than a Kaleb Riser solo album, as drummer Jeff Vandebussche and bassist Kevin Lewis match his intensity and musical vocabulary. Yeah, this one is as good as you’ve heard it is. Check it out for yourself:
09. Mystic Majesty – Ad Maiora Semper
Mystic Majesty is one of the most original bands in the scene, even with the references to early QOTSA. They always have a theme or concept, always produce high-quality work, and always write songs that hang with me for days. They’ve gotten a bit heavier but no less ambitious on Ad Maiora Semper, and the hooks are sharper than usual. One of the most criminally overlooked bands in the scene…
8. Slomatics – Atomicult
For thousands of us, the name Slomatics is all you need to hear. Same goes for Conan and Domkraft. If anything, Slomatics remains slightly more refined, with clean vocals that trend towards a Candlemass-style of drama without ever crossing over to cringe. I feel like this is their most subtle and refined album to date, which doesn’t take away from the crushing riffage as much as give it more layers. Time will tell, but this might be my favorite Slomatics album!
07. Appalooza – The Emperor of Loss
When a band starts an album with a song that’s immediately my favorite of theirs, I know I’m in for a ride. Grieve is the perfect opener for The Emperor of Loss, and it never loses momentum. Western Stoner is becoming a thing, and I’m thinking that thing was born in France. All of the atmosphere, pathos, glory, and heartbreak of the genre are wrapped up in one excellent album.
06. Coltaine – Brandung
Coltaine makes me want to move to Germany. Sure, the USA is a dark place right now, but that’s not why. I need to see bands like Coltaine, who take my breath away and leave me yearning for the LIVE experience. Brandung is bleak and beautiful and at times brutal, reminding me that Europe has seen far darker days than our weak bullshit. And if we can produce elevated art like this when things get back to normal, it will be worth it.
The Clean and Sober Stoner Top 5 Albums for September
Every month is tough. More than ever, though, these truly are my Top 5 #1 albums. I always rate things subjectively based upon how often I think I’m going to listen to an album over the coming years. A number one album for me is one that I’m going to go back to, time and time again. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong.
I have zero doubt whatsoever that each one of these albums is going to be on rotation for the foreseeable future. I love each one of them, and ranking them involves splitting hairs to such a degree it drove me nuts. Rev felt the same way, which you can see in the video below:
05. Dope Skum – Hollerwood
Heavier, meaner, and louder than ever. Hollerwood is the album that Cody and Dope Skum were born to make. It’s almost worth all the bullshit Appalachia has to put up with when a band can put out something this raw and real. Guitar and drums have never sounded better, and I don’t even miss the bass player. When I write that a band is overlooked, I always think of the awesomeness of Dope Skum. Damn, this album is THICK with the riffs!
04. Doomsday Profit – Doomsday Profit
I’ll never forget the first time I heard Doomsday Profit, and I wrote about it here. Their brand of “heavier than shit” Sludge/Doom blew my mind then, and over the past three years, they continue to do so. One of the stellar live acts in North Carolina, they get heavier and better every time I hear them. You can hear that on this recording. But be warned: these guys are seriously pissed off, and they are not gonna hide it. Heavy Resistance begins with Doomsday Profit.
Oh, and they have a great sense of humor, too…
03. Castle Rat- The Bestiary
Castle Rat has experienced a remarkable rise in 2025, marked by their debut on the Billboard charts, stellar sales on Bandcamp, sold-out tours, and a significant leap in production and songwriting. What’s even more surprising is that they’re only #3 on my Doom Charts submission.
Make no mistake- Castle Rat is the biggest band from the underground since QOTSA and High on Fire. Love it or hate it, they are a true force in hard rock and heavy metal overall. The Bestiary and their live show are why. Castle Rat has a vision, and they carry it out to near perfection. Only a slight lull in the middle of the album keeps The Bestiary from being truly transcendent. For now, it’s only great.
02. The Oil Barons – Grandiose
In a few ways, The Oil Barons share commonality with Castle Rat. Grandiose is a fully realized concept album, verging on rock opera. There are clearly defined characters, and the narrative feels like a combination of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower.
Where Grandiose truly excels is in the writing/performance/production department. This is as close to audiophile-quality as I’ve heard since Blood Lemon’s Petite Deaths and Faetooth’s Remnants of the Vessel. And yet it DOOMS, it PSYCHS, and it ROCKS harder than anything this side of Appalooza or Wovenhand.
Grandiose is one of those albums that completely blows me away and becomes an instant classic (in my mind, at least.) Too bad only three people have bought it on Bandcamp so far…
01. Faetooth – Labyrinthine
I swear, I can just feel it when a band achieves everything they want to in an album. Labyrinthine is both a departure and a progression from their first album. The audiophile quality is dialed back a bit, making room for more doom-gazey and ethereal passages that contrast with the oppressive heaviness of the material.
The writing and performance is on par with mid-career Opeth and even Agalloch as Faetooth refines their style of “Fairy Doom.” But what makes Labyrinthine more impressive is how easy it is to listen to, from song to song. There are no weak moments, there is no hesitation in the presentation. This is a true album, from beginning to end, with enough contrast in the tracks to make things consistent, but neither predictable nor boring.
Faetooth didn’t just deliver on the promise of Remants of the Vessel; they’ve eclipsed it. The sound of Labyrinthine is both heavy and delicate, thick and organic. The guitars are crushing, but the album isn’t a non-stop barrage of heaviness. Instead, Faetooth masterfully blends their doom and sludge with light, shimmery shoegaze moments that create a stunning contrast. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on the sound, a blanket of heaviness drops, and you’re plunged back into the intensity.
This, folks, is Fairy Doom.
One Last Thing…
Patrick Brink (Volume) is putting together a festival in Joshua Tree early next year. Tickets go on sale on October 3rd.
The Mojave Experience festival announces the dates of the first annual event taking place from March 20th-21st, 2026, in Joshua Tree, California. The festival is the brainchild of organizer and longtime High Desert native Patrick Brink, frontman of VOLUME and Superkool Booking.
Co-headliners Earthless and Dead Meadow are the first artists to be announced in the lineup, with many more of the 16 bands confirmed to perform over two nights. The lineup includes legends in explorative and countercultural music, as well as future ones now making waves.
The Mojave Experience takes place over two days at two different venues. Friday kicks off the festival at Mojave Gold in Yucca Valley, while Saturday will be an outdoor event in Joshua Tree, California at the Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground. Attendees are encouraged to make use of the camping, hiking and rock climbing in the area while taking in the vast beauty and mystery of the region that birthed the Desert Rock movement.
The Mojave isn’t just a backdrop — it’s the raw, unfiltered stage where music, art, and chaos collide. Out here, under endless stars and brutal sun, the desert strips away the fake and leaves only what’s real.
The Mojave Experience was born from that spirit. It’s not another sanitized festival in a city park, it’s a gathering for the wild ones, the wanderers, the true believers who know the desert doesn’t hand out comfort, only freedom.
This is where local desert legends share the stage with national heavyweights, weaving new stories into the myth of the Mojave. No velvet ropes. No corporate gloss. Just artists, misfits, and seekers coming together for a weekend that won’t be forgotten.
We bring the sound. You bring the fire. Together we’ll carve something into the desert that echoes long after the amps shut down. This is more than a festival — it’s a ritual. A pilgrimage into the heat, dust, and sound that will rattle your bones and rewire your soul.
Come ready. Come raw. The Mojave Experience isn’t here to entertain you — it’s here to change you.
THE MOJAVE EXPERIENCE 2026: 03/20-21/2026
Friday 3/20 Mojave Gold- Yucca Valley, Ca
Saturday 3/21 Joshua Tree Lake & Campground – Joshua Tree, CA
mojaveexperience.net Poster by @mattjadamsart
