Cowboys & Aliens - Finis Temporum

 

 

Cowboys & Aliens - Finis Temporum 
Polderrecords - 2026 
Stoner 
Rated: ****¼ 

To be honest: despite Hank Vanhee being one of my favorite singers in stoner rock, I've never been a huge fan of Cowboys & Aliens. I liked their 2002 album 'Love Sex Volume' best, but even that one lacked a bit of consistency in the songwriting department - some being a nice smack in the face, while others were kind of middle of the road. That's why I didn't expect much of their new album 'Finis Temporum', but man did they prove me wrong! 

It opens right away with a high octane one-two punch ('Life Tree' and 'Rabbit Hole') that leaves you speechless, searching for ways to hop in your rundown car and gather some speeding tickets while chasing your own ghost on a dark and busy highway, headlights off, sunglasses on, driving in the wrong direction, trying to avoid the traffic coming at you at about 80 miles per hour. 

Guess the speeding will work by attaching a rocket engine to your rusty old friend. Anyway, this is the way to start a record and after miraculously being able to come out alive at the other side of your fantasy, you notice the pace has dropped slightly during the next three tracks where even some grunge influences come seeping in. Not without risk, but it works perfectly. The songs are well written and lure you in with lots of bravado, virtual chest pumping included. Not in a cocky way, but with modesty and confidence that surpasses outward appearance. Check out 'Ordinary Bliss' for example - how the guitar melody detaches itself from the rhythm section to create an undertow, dragging you under and letting you wander through all the intricate parts, every nook and cranny, not leaving a square inch untouched.
 
And then there's that surprising ending. A splendid reworking of 'Asteroid Blast' that sends the best song of their 2000 album 'A Trip to the Stonehenge Colony' into an orbit around the earth, shaking hands with extraterrestrial life while looking down on that beautiful city of Bruges where four guys are celebrating the 30th anniversary of a band befittingly called Cowboys & Aliens with by far their best release to date. And how they are, despite the title being Latin for the end of times, still very much alive - hell, even more so than ever before.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)
 

Check out the first three singles right now and get ready for Friday the 13th... Cause that's when the new Cowboys & Aliens album Finis Temporum goes live! 



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Cowboys And Aliens – Sandpaper Blues Knockout 

 

Beaten By Hippies – Sidetracked In El Paso

 

Beaten By Hippies – Sidetracked In El Paso
Polderrecords – 2025
Rock, Stoner, Alternative
Rated: ***

Out on the scorched plains, where genres blur like a shimmering heat mirage, it does not matter at all what name you give to a dust storm. Beaten By Hippies rides again! Using their mix of alternative rock genres to spur Sidetracked In El Paso through that blistered territory. After their debut album back in 2019, Belgian foursome Beaten By Hippies released two singles before finally introducing us to their new full-sized record Sidetracked In El Paso. They sure took their damn time, but that’s what you get when you get Sidetracked In El Paso. Or covid. Or life in general. Or the four members innate wish to do whatever the hell they want… That might cause for a collision or two when writing songs. Perhaps? Perhaps not and all that happened was El Paso… 

Released back in May on Polderrecords they return, older, surer, their sound tempered like iron left in the desert darkness. Expertly mixing all sorts of alternative rock with a lot of fuzz, groove and stoner.  With an aloof kind of humor, a lust for nostalgia and storytelling, the lyrics go from elegant, beautiful to bordering on cringe and back in a just a few lines. Most of them wonderfully vocalized by Stephane Legat, who definitely grew as a singer. Touching a raw nerve when the songs call for it and uses a more velvet approach when we need something slick… 

We open with Know For Sure, the earlier single, a galloping thing, whose riffs strike like rifle cracks across the endless empty flats. Legat’s voice, rasped, weathered, limited like a man who has shouted too long at the horizon. The drums, charging forward, hitting like flint sparks all across the board, igniting the entire track. And then there’s The Fall, where we hear vocals that strain for nuance, a ballad ushered by strings that drift like windblow prayer flags caught on barbed wire. There is no reason this should work in this inhospitable territory, yet it does, haunting and human. Which is the same with the enigmatic and wonderful title track, ghostly campfire glow and carved slowly into sun whitened whale bone… 

The true sand storm happens when Roar comes on. Burning cosmic trails across the blackened desert skies, shooting forward, leaving nothing but dust and hoofprints in the sand. Born In The 80’s is fun, almost indie, or at least very catch. And for those of us that grew up in the era, filled with the memories that made it all tick. You almost start missing the Walkman and the cassette tapes. Final track Filter made me put on The Cable Guy soundtrack after having this album on repeat, one of my all time favorites. Thundering, whipping around like stonerized blues and nineties nods, it’s a three minute send off that leaves a lingering taste for more for hours… 

Beaten By Hippies is back, doing whatever the hell they want to do, not reinventing anything, not showing the way to the promised land. But hidden, in the grit of all these songs, and in their stubborn swagger that shows an unashamed love for dust and fuzz, lies something very simple. Something that should be the core of every freaking album. Good songs make a good album and it takes a good band to produce them. The four from Leuven, Belgium, might have gotten Sidetracked In El Paso, but they know their way around now and they know which desert to claim as their own… 

(Written by JK)

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Hedonist - Eat Thus

 

 

Hedonist - Eat Thus
Polderrecords - 2025
Stoner, Metal
Rated: ****

In the eyes of the ignorant neighbor I am, I always had and have the impression that bands from Belgium give every kind of underground music their own little twist, which makes the good stuff that little bit more interesting (and often better). But there are exceptions to the rule. Bands that don't fuss about and aim straight for their goal without any frills or unnecessary bits and bops. One of those bands is Hedonist, who don't hesitate to let you know that they have been put on this earth to let you know they mean business.

'Eat Thus' is their third full length (released almost nine years after its predecessor 'The Collapse') and grabs you by the throat as soon as thunderous opener 'Dirtscraper' bursts through the speakers and rips the essence of your being apart. Telling you it's built around a monster groove would be a huge understatement. It's stoner metal at its very best, supported by a heavy, in your face production that sounds like a freight train running over you at full speed.

As you might expect after the introduction above, Hedonist consistently roams around in the blurry no man's land between stoner and metal. If they weren't aware of that the way they obviously are, boredom and monotony could be lurking around the corner. Not in this case. The attention and emphasis shift constantly, which means at times the stoner side comes to the forefront, like on the aforementioned 'Dirtscraper' and 'Just Start Kicking', while at other times metal is the dominant ingredient, mainly in the triple attack of 'Golden Voodoo Witch', 'Warrior' and 'Helvete'. And then there's a song called 'Beaumont', which wanders off the beaten path with its slightly slower pace and its extensive instrumental part that could best be described as post alternative doom rock. But like all good things, the best is being saved for last. The epic, balanced stoner/doom/metal hybrid riff fest called 'Kryszty C' ends things on a high note with lots of variation and the raw, yet pleasant vocals of Frank Homolka taking center stage. That's what I call coming back with a bang after an extended period of silence.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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Your Highness – Under The Weight

 

 

Your Highness – Under The Weight
Polderrecords – 2024
Metal, Sludge, Stoner
Rated: ****

These Belgian mothersludgers have been releasing albums since 2011 and their new, fourth one, is called Under The Weight. We’re talking about Your Highness and their sludge and stoner metal is this time colored with a huge variety of majestic touches. A bit of blues here, some Americana and roots there, a bit of oriental and only a bit of their older influences like punk and hardcore. Well, a bit, they’re always there of course. Ever since releasing Cults ‘n Cunts back in 2011. But they’ve grown so much since then, and the way they’re now able to stretch the tension, to build the arcs and tell their story is stunning. The way opening oriental, Hindustani intro track Agni, calling up the Hindu god of fire, transitions into that crushing second track and single Fire To The Storm. Crushing, but always with a second line of melody flowing underneath or on top, so beautifully done, offsetting the theme of destruction that runs through the album with sheer perfection. Absolute stomper Above The Odds, feels like a crackdown on your senses, setting fire to your nerve endings, clenching your every muscle, howling your doom. Celestial Burst sees Your Highness returning to the thing they did on Fire To The Storm. A miniscule timelapse towards the intro so it seems, relentless chugging ensues and enters that rootsy and bluesy americana sounding guitar. Intense and with more emotion the vocals remain harsh and gruff and somewhere a bit buried in the mix there seems to be a second voice screaming along. It adds to the atmosphere and it adds to the weight of this track, immediately turning it into the focal point of the album. The sound running deep and makes you feel Your Highness has no use for anything narrow, it’s incredibly wide and huge, and seems to be meant for the ages. Like granite. And when the whistling starts, you feel the devil standing behind you, urging you forward, towards the blaze. And blaze it does, the entire forty minutes of Under The Weight, feels like a fire that can fuel itself for a thousand years…

(Written by JK)

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Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Hi my fellow heavy music fiends! It’s been awhile… A while since we did a Quick Fire Friday segment! And with the new Doom Charts Peroration post coming online later on, there will be tons of music for everyone to dig into! Can you handle the deluge? Well, we’ll keep the amount of words about the list below to a minimum. And we know… There is so much out there, so much good and heavy stuff, and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. But here it is… Another Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday! And it burns hot like molten lava!

Orme – No Serpents, No Saviours

And all those times I visited Hertfordshire, I never knew it was bristling with all this heavy underground talent! But Orme (not the Toulouse, France one) is yet another outfit from that area, and they bring you ten ton heaviness in glorious form! The form of a one track, almost twenty-five minute long, death-doom No Serpents, No Saviours. Coming out on August 23rd, this is one big droning extravaganza that will decimate and leave you weak and weary. The unholy whispers being the only respite keeping you from the absolute end of your tether…

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Aten – Aten

Australian experimental metal with a droning edge, sludge tones, grindcore and post-metal influences. That’s the Aten project that releases it’s  debut album through Lint Music. Which is only logical since the man behind this project is Brad Hayne the founder of Lint Music founder and Cell Temple. Not to be confused with the death metal outfit Aten from Iceland or the other death metal one from Albania. A lot of Aten, and this Aten is a lot! Not completely wasted by listening to Orme yet?  Well, dive into Aten and be totally obliterated…

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Vibravoid – On Empty Streets

Out. Just now! The new single and video On Emptry Streets by psychedelic stalwarts Vibravoid! Taken from their new We Cannot Awake album out August 23rd through Tonzonen Records. It’s their own tasty mixture of neo-kraut and psychedelic rock, urging beats with an eighties touch and signals coming in from a not too distant future or neighboring dimension, dystopian and estranging. But very captivating!

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Ghost Frog – Shadow Club

More dystopia for you all! This time coming in from the Portland four named Ghost Frog! The first single Shadow Club for their Galactic Mini Golf album coming out November 5, 2024. A bit of grunge and that lazy nineties alternative, some psych and high fidelity head nod that will surely make you buy multiple copies of this single.

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Volume – Joy of Navigation

Patrick Brink (Fu Manchu), Ed Mundell (Monster Magnet), Mike Amster (Nebula, Spoon Benders), Dave Catching, now there’s a list of names that will run a fever instantaneously! It’s Volume and their new single Joy of Navigation of the album with the same name. It comes out November 1st through Golden Robot Records and Kozmik Artifactz. Recorded at Rancho De La Luna it had that desert punk vibe as much as nods back to the sixties. Infectious and kicking out every kind of jam!

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In Ashes – Burned & Disposed

Guadalajara, Mexico seems to be a well of inspiration and a cesspool of gritty doom. In Ashes is a new four piece founded in 2023 and Burned & Disposed is their debut two-track release. A filthy atmosphere filled with despair, portrayed by traditional doom and always metal toned. And then they suddenly add this otherworld guitar part in Arson. And open up with all their abilities even more during the majestic Day One track. I need to call Rob Hammer to get him to nail this down!

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Your Highness - Fire To The Storm

Out for a month or two, it naturally escaped out attention cause we were on an off grid holiday! But luckily, Your Highness always finds a way to crawl back into your blood! And Fire To The Storm will not just set fire to the storm, but also your blood and soul! Stoner metal, hardcore elements, sludge toned and absolutely wonderful. It’s the first single to the new album Under The Weight, coming out October 11th on Polderrecords.

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Mould - Pull & Repulsion

 

 

Mould - Pull & Repulsion
Polderrecords – 2024
Metal, Doom, Sludge
Rated: ****

It is heartbreaking from time to time. The Doom Charts Contributors do all their work on their personal sites and for the monthly Chart with love and a heart bursting with admiration for the albums they cherish. And then the charts are published, 40 of the usually 200 plus albums that received votes that month. And right there, on number 41 or 42 or 44, is that album you loved so hard and hoped would end up higher. It is heartbreaking. But the amount of amazing releases, every month again, is insane. We said that many times before and we can keep repeating it. One such album that suffered this fate, is Pull & Repulsion by Dutch five-piece Mould. Their debut album came out on Polderrecords on May 17th and even if they did not make the published Chart, it did get some of the love and attention it deserves. Reviews and features popped up here and there. But as usual, it deserves more. Mixed by Matthijs Kievit and mastered my Pieter Kloos, the six tracks on the Pull & Repulsion album can be viewed as the now classic interpretation of doom metal. The classic version filled with grand gestures and a female vocalist that has the power to enchant. The added layer of harsher male vocals from time to time, ensures that every lyrical melody reaches its full potential. Sonic Doom and Epic Sludge they state on their bandcamp and there is a lot of truth in that statement. For the doom involved, although downtuned, seems to grow and billow and constantly move into mushroom cloud proportions. The sludge tones, with overtones of something progressive, droning and equally building towards something larger than the sum of their parts manages to enthrall constantly. They don’t always go for that detonation though, and shying away from the explosion you feel lying in wait, feels like a band that dares to take a different route. Second track Face The North might be one of the best examples for this, opting to include a more fragile guitar line during the middle part and only then when the coldness of that riff has set in does the track move towards a thunderous end, where the double vocals serve as lightning strikes among the crashing drums and booming riffs. They namedrop quite a few bands as influence on their bandcamp site; and those inspirations can definitely be heard here and there. Dool is another one that is not named but can certainly be felt. And when you follow that amazing Face The North song with the incredibly strong Age Of Obsidian track you cannot but help fall in love with Mould and their Pull & Repulsion debut. The musical push and pull, like waves, like tides in that one track seems to define what Mould meant to achieve with their debut album. They focus on the dark, the shadow, the cold and the weariness, but show you there’s always that other side, that spark of light, ice that reflects and a sun that manages to reach even the deepest recesses of the cave. Pull & Repulsion is one hell of a debut, one that seems to flourish in the shade and grow with every bone chilling listening session.

(Written by JK)

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The January 2024 Doom Charts – 40 to 26

 

 

The January 2024 Doom Charts – 40 to 26

This is what we normally do on our little Facebook page during the weekend after the new regular edition of the Doom Charts goes online. We count down from 40 to 26, and try to type in a few words about that album or ep that makes sense to us. It’s not a review; but usually a miniscule blurb, a little sentence to entice, to hype. A Stoner Hype… Well, we collected them here to post for you in one nice little post on the blog… And in this way, we will try to spread the good word about them on Instagram as well.. 

HEAVE BLOOD & DIE – BURNOUT CODES

"How can anyone not immediately fall in love with that opening track Dog Days! Just go play Heave Blood & Die's new Burnout Codes album... Forceful post punk, alternative rock, a bit of kraut energy and psychedelic touches make this eight-track album the kind of album to kickstart the new year and send it into overdrive! Amazing, start to finish!"

HUNDEN – A CALMING PRESS 

"A Calming Press gives you this vibrant, gritty stoner metal sound, that touches base with grunge and punk and even noise and makes this Hunden debut a definite bite and bark!" 

CHEDDAR – PSYCHE

 "Cheddar, Psyche... You would assume they're Brits, but now, this is a Spanish quintet... Proggy, world wide melodic influences, psychedelic, metal and these floating and flying female vocals... Crossing boundaries and ripping out border posts... You can never go wrong with a good piece of Cheddar!"

MOHAMA SAZ – MÁQUINA DE GUERRA

"I love it when I see albums like M​á​quina de Guerra by Mohama Saz appear on the Doom Charts... The mediterranean, middle eastern psych and folk rock, sits on an entirely different side of the heavy underground, but one that deserves every bit of your attention as well... Kraut influences or trance rock, turns their sound into something very organic almost tribalistic and very dream inducing!"

 
SCAVENGER MT – FERAL

"Looking for some Feral metal? Look no further! Scavenger MT, brings you all that brutish and burling metal, stoner, sludge, drifting towards classic, heavy or prog sometimes, but always with this wild and savage energy! Indeed Feral!"

RED SUN SERMON – QUEEN OF SWORDS

"Red Sun Sermon is here to provide audience with the Queen Of Swords... Offerings of southern touched blues, by way of doom, metal, hard rock and stoner. Diesel powered and extremely soulful!" 

 DUST MICE – ROOM WITHIN A ROOM

"The high flying Dust Mice turn their classic sounding rock into a space odyssey one moment and into vintage progressiveness the next... Sometimes very jam oriented flare outs and then turning inwards with more garage rocking, Room Within A Room feels like a Russian doll..."

 

 
TEEN MORTGAGE – TEEN MORTGAGE

"Teen Mortgage... Post-punk and punk adorned with some stoner influence, garage, noise and even a tiny hint of surf here and there. It’s so good, you will want to sell your house and buy every Teen Mortgage record available!" 

GOZD – UNILATERALIS

"The Heavy Underground in Poland is on fire!! We managed to listen to that cool Unilateralis album by GOZD yesterday as well! Doom, stoner, metal, but also something gritty, gnarly and grimy. Like there's some punk blood underneath it all! Love it!" 

 

GUHTS – REGENERATION

"And GUHTS's Regeneration also made these walls buzz with excitement... So many layers, and so many genres all merging into one beautiful, yet often melancholic or anguished piece of art..." 

 

 

 HEXEREI – NIHIL I CELANDUM

"Today we continue on with Hexerei and their Nihil i Celandum release... Doomy grunge, grungy doom, seventies inspired rocking, stoner trucking and a lot of proto energy! These seven tracks will surely cast a spell on you!" 

 

 
MOON WIZARD – SIRENS

"Moon Wizard, straight out of Salt Lake City, deliver that occult and doom touched heavy rock, classic styled and proto loving. You know that good stuff, that stuff that we love from bands like Green Lung. But then with female vocals, funkier drumming and more progressive guitar work… Over the moon over here, listening to their third album Sirens!"

 
SPECTRAL SORCERY – DUNGEONS OF DOOM

"And yes! It's Monday now... But we still managed to get groovy in the Dungeons of Doom yesterday! The three track Spectral Sorcery debut EP spell out their lust for darkness, and decay, and dungeons and doom... Classic doom for all you haze loving freaks!"

 
BAGUAL – INHVMAR

"And Bagual was there as well, providing that stoner metal, sludgy goodness. Sure, Inhvmar starts out very doom, but soon turns metal, stonerized and with sludge tones. Even a bit of black comes into play here and there, and then there are those moments when it opens up into more post metal and atmospherics... This is some really good stuff!"

 TANGLED HORNS – LIGHTER

"Tangled Horns's new Lighter album has been on heavy rotation over here and was high on my list of votes... The Belgian quintet excels in delivering emotive grunge, stonerized and melodic, but always gritty and with a tension that constantly seems on the verge of exploding! Out on Polderrecords this is one of the books!"

 


Tune in next month when we do this Stoner Hype again for the number 40 to 26 of the February Doom Charts... But for now... Go listen to all of the 40 of January if you haven't already! 

Polderriffs - Volume II

 

Polderriffs - Volume II

We've been honored to write the small blurb for the Wheel Of Smoke track Hallucinations of the awesome Polderriffs Volume II record by the equally awesome Polderrecords... And hey, there's more... Cause Shasta Beast and Reek of STOOM wrote one as well! Three times the HiVe cozying up to Bucky, Martin and Marc-Eric... We're truly honored!

 

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 Wheel of Smoke

 

Atomic Vulture – Moving Through Silence

 

 

Atomic Vulture – Moving Through Silence
Polderrecords – 2021
Stoner, Instrumental, Space, Psych
Rated: *****

I’ve just ordered the Atomic Vulture album Moving Through Silence on vinyl through the Polderrecords shop. We’re unfortunately too late for the Die Hard version, but we still managed to get our grubby little hands on that Intergalactic Orange edition. It had to be done, we could not miss out. For the three amigo’s from Brugge, Belgium have produced an amazing instrumental stoner rock album. And yes, here it comes, it will be one of the very best of the instrumental stoner rock albums you will hear in 2021. With overtones of space rock and psych, the eight tracks meander through all of the stoner related universes. Eclips serves as a proper lift-off track, destined for the outer reaches of space. Follow-up Mashika Deathride will put set you down on a distant planet and ground it all into submission; with a spooky, eerie middle part that slowly picks up speed again and then pounds it all to dirt. Amazing track! And then Coaxium starts its motif, and you cannot help but immediately fall in love with it. Three tracks in and you are shocked and awed by the three that is Atomic Vulture. Another five tracks to go on Moving Through Silence and each and every one of them is a righteous instrumental stoner rock adventure of majestic proportions. And we’re not even gonna mention that cathedral track, the closing, twelve minutes long, Astral Dream, we will just let that one transport you into whatever dimension you are needed…

(Written by JK)

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Motsus – OuMuaMua

Motsus – OuMuaMua

Polderrecords – 2018

Rock, Stoner, Metal, Sludge, Instrumental

Rated: ****

Instrumental stoner sludge straight out of the bleak and swampy fields of Oudenburg, Belgium. There, near the seaside town of Oostende, the three brethren called Motsus have crafted a masterpiece called OuMuaMua. Heavy on every front, the riffs take center stage and drag you along before you can lock in with the rest of the rhythms. It’s that ‘anti’ thing that the Melvins are known for; suck you in first, freak you out second and then level the playing field by turning into something massive. It’s big, bad and bold. Just listen to Exploder (Part I) for instance. The way they rumble on and pound away is simply majestic. You will be treated to bloody dirges and stomping, dragging rhythms that are bursting with fantastic breaks and changes over which the bass chops away angrily. Riffs that dizzy like air-wielding motorchains and rousing guitar-lines that drag you along towards the abyss. Their brutish, boorish, bison atmospheres become instantly legendary and it is all there… On OuMuaMua… Motsus! A wild monster that will stomp on the terra and most people will fear it. And rightly so. For when the beast lurches in your direction, it is already much too late to start running…

(Written by JK)

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