Diaries of Doom

The inaugural edition of StoomFest has been announced for June 2023 in London. Say the festival:  Welcome to StoomFest - the music festival that celebrates the best in Stoner rock and Doom, Psychedelics, Sludge, and Heavy alternative. We believe in building a community of musicians and fans, and giving aspiring artists an opportunity to share a stage with established acts. At StoomFest, we're committed to creating a fair and supportive environment for all of our performers, with fair compensation and the respect they deserve. Those announced already include Black Rainbows, Witchrider, Swan Valley Heights, Wet Cactus, Psychlona, Witchthroat Serpent, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Ritual King, Old Horn Tooth, Regulus and more. The festival will take place in Hackney Bridge on June 23rd & 24th. Surely more bands TBA between now and the event. Doesn't it look ace? Tickets | Website MN

  Nottinghamshire rockers SYNCOLIMA have announced details of their second album, titled 'Wavelengths' . After a busy 2022, which took Syncolima to Breaking Bands, Mangata, Wildfire, Uprising and Bloodstock Festivals, the reverends of the riff have today announced that 'Wavelengths' will be released on April 14th. Following on from their first album, released in the autumn of 2021,  the new record continues to take on a wide range of musical influences, though Syncolima experiment with heavier tones and riffs across many of the tracks. The title track and first album single, on the other hand, shows Sycolima at their most cosmic and spacey, before bringing back the heaviness for a killer outro. Watch it below:  Over the next few months, Syncolima's live dates include: 10/02/23 - The Flapper, Birmingham 18/02/23 - The Fenton, Leeds 25/02/23 - Pentre Fest, Pentre 02/03/23 - The Hive, Rotherham 04/03/23 - The Chameleon, Nottingham 14/04/23 - The Old Cold Store, Notting...

Another trip around the sun and we find ourselves at a time of year for reflection, resolution and introspection - or for writers like me, a time of year where we scramble to get these lists out and hope to get a few shares. On a personal level, 2022 won't be a year I'll forget any time soon. I've been lucky enough to work at Desertfest London, Bloodstock Festival and Arctangent Festival with three different publications and in particular, I'm lately getting a lot of gig reviews under my belt with The Razor's Edge. I got to see Billy Idol the day before my birthday with a press pass. That was amazing. Through media, I've got to chat in-depth with plenty of the bands on this list about their own music. I hope that I'll be able to tick off more from this list as we go into 2023. Of course, most that know me as the Diaries of Doomer will know that I hold six-string duties in Alunah. At the start of the year, I still felt like the new guy in the band - no one el...

Formed in 2014, The Miser , based in London, have forged their dark and gloomy sound for around a decade. The name is taken from 14th century painter Hieronymus Bosch, and his painting Death and the Miser', a reminder that death does come for us all. Their upcoming EP 'Memento Mori' - which of course means that no one can escape the ultimate fate of death - will look at themes of horror, mental illness and loss within its lyrics. With that said, there's still an element of fun and entertainment within The Miser and what they do. Their newest single, 'House on the Hill', kicks off with a punky, Misfits-style vibe - appropriate considering that the track openly pays homage to B-movie horror films! There's some killer, groovy old-school doom/stoner metal riffing (think Church of Misery or Trouble) supporting a soulful vocal from Sean Crocker. The chorus is super catchy and sticks around in your head after the song finishes and his subtle harmonies illustrate th...

  The first edition of Slaughterhouse Festival has been announced in full for April 2023, presented by Counterstrike Promotions . To be held on April 29th and 30th at the Castle and Falcon in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, the main attractions are Red Method and Divine Chaos on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Wired THC, Hands of Attrition, Chaplain, Spawned from Hate, Embodiment and Second Cities are also high up the bill. Ticket link  (£10/day or £16/weekend) / Spotify playlist / FB event The Saturday afterparty will be at Subside from 11pm-6am, with half-price entry with a festival wristband. Devils Playground, Straight for the Sun, Dead Mob, The Mighty Wraith, Callous Hands, Kensei, Tumanduumband, Voidlurker, Thrashatouille, Monastery, Appocaholics, Black Water Fiend, Below The Stones, Born Zero, Senescent, Nameless, Solars, The Bloodthirsters, Hated by Design, Desecrator, Slump, Dead Mans Hollow, Inflictions and Bullhead complete the lineup. MN

  My first encounter with an early incarnation of Epimetheus was back in 2015, when at a university open mic night, a trio of musicians were playing amped-up classic rock covers and catchy twelve-bar-blues numbers, by far the loudest and heaviest band on the bill. Eventually, an 'originals' set began to materialise, and the band would unveil Mandalorian , a riff-heavy stoner rock outfit, at a show in the university student village. Still with an unapologetic classic rock flair, but with bigger riffs, catchy choruses and (even) more volume, it was a natural forward step from their covers act, finally with a firm lineup in place as groove-meister general James Jackson would take permanent residence on the drum stool.  The Machetezilla EP would drop in 2018. Led by emotive, bluesy guitar work from Cillian Breathnach, Jackson's jazzy stylings and a screeching, soulful heart from Ben Price's vocal performance, it now appears - purely in hindsight - to be the sound of a band ...

  Hardcore/sludge metal kings Battalions are back in town with their fourth album. Four years on from Forever Marching Backwards , Kingston upon Hull's Battalions have churned out a monolithic slab of hardcore punk-meets-sludge glory over the pandemic, full to the brim with stomping grooves and gut-wrenching savagery.  Though they've gone back to their roots musically, it's the end result of a season of change for the quartet.  As vocalist Phil Wilkinson explains,  'During the covid lockdowns, we underwent a personnel change, namely welcoming drummer Simon into the Battalions fold, so with this we wanted to go for a whole new production process. We chose a brand new studio to us, Nø Studio in Manchester with producer Joe Clayton (Pijn), as we wanted a new sound after using Chris Fielding (Conan) for all our previous efforts. King of a Dead World is us returning to our roots, big grooves rooted in a dirty DIY sludge and hardcore sound. In addition to this, we also cho...