From the very first note of All The Devils Are Here, Mugshot throws you into the fire. There’s no slow build, no tentative step forward, it’s immediate, a full-on confrontation that grabs hold of your senses and won’t release them until the final track fades. This is a record that thrives on tension, rage, and precision, and it shows a band utterly confident in the power of their sound.
The album is compact but punishing: twelve tracks in just over twenty-five minutes, each one a concentrated burst of anger and energy. Die In Fear kicks things off with distorted bass, screaming vocals, and sharp, jagged riffs that set the tone for what’s to come. There’s an immediacy here that’s both thrilling and slightly unsettling, you feel like you’re inside the room with the band, pressed close enough to catch every nuance of their ferocity.
Tracks like Afore A Waking Nightmare and Shame showcase Mugshot’s ability to combine brutality with precision. The riffs cut cleanly through the mix, while the drums hammer with a relentless, almost ritualistic energy. The band knows exactly when to let the song breathe and when to strike again, creating a dynamic tension that keeps you off-balance. It’s aggressive but never chaotic, every note and breakdown feels intentional, like part of a larger narrative of frustration, defiance, and dark humour.
Ringo Waterman’s vocals are a standout, visceral and expressive. Whether he’s delivering guttural shouts or high-pitched screams, his performance carries the full weight of the lyrics. The emotional intensity isn’t just heard, it’s felt, echoing through your chest and lingering long after the music stops. There’s a physicality to his delivery that matches the band’s instrumental onslaught, making the record an almost tangible experience when played on speakers, and a microcosm of detail when heard on headphones.
One of the album’s strengths is its pacing. Despite its brevity, it never feels rushed. Songs like The Abyss Stares Back and Sick And Tired are constructed with careful attention to tension and release, alternating between bursts of sheer aggression and moments where melody sneaks through the cracks. It keeps the listener engaged, providing relief without diluting the intensity. Each track is a statement in itself, but together they form a cohesive, punishing journey.
Production-wise, the album balances clarity and rawness perfectly. Every drum hit, guitar riff, and vocal scream cuts through cleanly, but the mix retains the grit that gives Mugshot their edge. You can feel the room in the recordings, the space between instruments, the weight of the bass, the sting of the guitars, all contributing to an immersive listening experience.
All The Devils Are Here doesn’t just play loud; it plays smart. It’s angry, aggressive, and confrontational, but it’s also carefully crafted. Mugshot have taken the intensity of hardcore and metalcore and polished it without losing any of its bite. The result is an album that’s impossible to ignore and impossible to shake off. It’s a bruising, cathartic listen, and a reminder that punk-infused metal still has teeth. 9/10
Warcoe - Upon Tall Thrones (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]
Italian doomsters Warcoe are back with album number three, their first with Ripple Music, and I could not be more excited for the record, titled Upon Tall Thrones. Album two, A Place For Demons, from December 2023, was extremely well received, placing at number two for that month and 37th overall for that year on the Doom Charts, which is a pretty amazing feat for the trio from Pesaro, Italy. Now with album three, can Stefano and the boys deliver and live up to these new lofty expectations?
The answer is a resounding yes, as Upon Tall Thrones is some truly killer stoner doom that flat out rocks. The opener, Octagon, has a great riff and is some nice chunky proto doom. A perfect starter. The Wanderer continues the doomy theme of this journey, giving off some early Trouble vibes and where you start to hear Stefano’s love of NWOBHM stuff bubbling to the surface. I really dig when Warcoe picks up the tempo some, and this is what you get on I've Sat Upon Tall Thrones (But I'll Never Learn). This is one of Stefano’s best vocal performances up until now as well.
So, yes, the third Warcoe record lives up to the self-created hype they got for releasing such a killer second album that did so well on the Doom Charts. Upon Tall Thrones is their best, most fully realized, most diverse, and best sounding record so far. This band has just gotten better in better in just a short period of a couple years. Upon Tall Thrones is a must listen for all doom aficionados out there today. 9/10
Haraball – Fear The Plow (Fysisk Format Records) [Spike]
Haraball’s Fear The Plow is a fevered, disorienting ride, a record that hits like a distorted reflection of reality, bending absurdity, dread, and sheer noise into a chaotic, thrilling whole. From the opening track, Pink Tiles the album grips you with a strange, uneasy energy, a collision of dystopian tension, raw punk aggression, and twisted melodies that feel entirely their own.
The band’s penchant for unpredictability is immediately apparent. Songs surge forward, retreat, and then lunge again, never settling, never polite. Fear Of The Plow the title track, embodies this with a narrative that feels simultaneously fantastical and oddly intimate, while The Squatter threads paranoia and unease through sharp, jagged riffs and unsettling tonal shifts. You feel the chaos in your bones, the music pressing against you like a living, breathing entity, yet there’s always a logic beneath the bedlam, an unspoken sense that each twist and turn is deliberate.
The album thrives on contrast. Haraball can go from moments of abrasive, almost violent noise to passages where melody sneaks through the cracks, sometimes tender, sometimes menacing. It’s the kind of record that rewards careful listening: headphones reveal hidden textures and details, while speakers in a room allow the physicality of the sound to hit, the bass and distortion rattling through the body in ways that feel almost tactile.
Lyrically, there’s a dark humour threaded through the chaos. Aging, absurdity, and existential anxiety surface in odd, warped narratives that make you laugh, wince, and occasionally shiver. The band uses these themes as a lens for the bizarre landscapes they construct sonically, and it works brilliantly, the music never feels distant or abstract, but strangely personal, like glimpsing someone else’s fever dream and finding echoes of your own.
Production is sharp without sanitizing the madness. Each instrument occupies its space, the drums cutting with punchy precision while guitars swirl and collide over jagged bass lines. The rawness remains, but clarity ensures the intricacy of the arrangements is always perceptible. It’s controlled chaos, a hallmark of Haraball’s craft.
Fear Of The Plow isn’t an easy listen, and it shouldn’t be. It’s a record that refuses compromise, demanding full attention and rewarding it with a strange, thrilling sense of immersion. Haraball have created a world that’s dangerous, funny, unsettling, and beautiful all at once.
The album is compact but punishing: twelve tracks in just over twenty-five minutes, each one a concentrated burst of anger and energy. Die In Fear kicks things off with distorted bass, screaming vocals, and sharp, jagged riffs that set the tone for what’s to come. There’s an immediacy here that’s both thrilling and slightly unsettling, you feel like you’re inside the room with the band, pressed close enough to catch every nuance of their ferocity.
Tracks like Afore A Waking Nightmare and Shame showcase Mugshot’s ability to combine brutality with precision. The riffs cut cleanly through the mix, while the drums hammer with a relentless, almost ritualistic energy. The band knows exactly when to let the song breathe and when to strike again, creating a dynamic tension that keeps you off-balance. It’s aggressive but never chaotic, every note and breakdown feels intentional, like part of a larger narrative of frustration, defiance, and dark humour.
Ringo Waterman’s vocals are a standout, visceral and expressive. Whether he’s delivering guttural shouts or high-pitched screams, his performance carries the full weight of the lyrics. The emotional intensity isn’t just heard, it’s felt, echoing through your chest and lingering long after the music stops. There’s a physicality to his delivery that matches the band’s instrumental onslaught, making the record an almost tangible experience when played on speakers, and a microcosm of detail when heard on headphones.
One of the album’s strengths is its pacing. Despite its brevity, it never feels rushed. Songs like The Abyss Stares Back and Sick And Tired are constructed with careful attention to tension and release, alternating between bursts of sheer aggression and moments where melody sneaks through the cracks. It keeps the listener engaged, providing relief without diluting the intensity. Each track is a statement in itself, but together they form a cohesive, punishing journey.
Production-wise, the album balances clarity and rawness perfectly. Every drum hit, guitar riff, and vocal scream cuts through cleanly, but the mix retains the grit that gives Mugshot their edge. You can feel the room in the recordings, the space between instruments, the weight of the bass, the sting of the guitars, all contributing to an immersive listening experience.
All The Devils Are Here doesn’t just play loud; it plays smart. It’s angry, aggressive, and confrontational, but it’s also carefully crafted. Mugshot have taken the intensity of hardcore and metalcore and polished it without losing any of its bite. The result is an album that’s impossible to ignore and impossible to shake off. It’s a bruising, cathartic listen, and a reminder that punk-infused metal still has teeth. 9/10
Warcoe - Upon Tall Thrones (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]
Italian doomsters Warcoe are back with album number three, their first with Ripple Music, and I could not be more excited for the record, titled Upon Tall Thrones. Album two, A Place For Demons, from December 2023, was extremely well received, placing at number two for that month and 37th overall for that year on the Doom Charts, which is a pretty amazing feat for the trio from Pesaro, Italy. Now with album three, can Stefano and the boys deliver and live up to these new lofty expectations?
The answer is a resounding yes, as Upon Tall Thrones is some truly killer stoner doom that flat out rocks. The opener, Octagon, has a great riff and is some nice chunky proto doom. A perfect starter. The Wanderer continues the doomy theme of this journey, giving off some early Trouble vibes and where you start to hear Stefano’s love of NWOBHM stuff bubbling to the surface. I really dig when Warcoe picks up the tempo some, and this is what you get on I've Sat Upon Tall Thrones (But I'll Never Learn). This is one of Stefano’s best vocal performances up until now as well.
When I spoke to Stefano for the Rich & Turbo Heavy Half Hour, I told him how I loved the instrumental track Gather In The Woods. He said he really enjoyed including an acoustic interlude on the record and it really helped to bridge the songs and the story Upon Tall Thrones tells. I could not agree more as it is an excellent change of pace and a great way to transition to the back half of the record.
That back half grabs you with an OG doom vibe in the form of the instrumental track, Flame In Your Hand. Love the addition of the synths too. Spheres has a fun little riff at the beginning and has this cool funkiness (for Warcoe) going on while Deepest Grave is some more straight up proto doom goodness. The last two songs may be my favourites on the record. Brown Witch has this spooky, low end bass line and drums that lets the rhythm section shine and is all sorts of wonderful NWOBHM worship. My favourite track is the closer, Dark Into Light. The song starts with a riff right from the first two Danzig records and has this great breakdown that makes this song pop. Love it.
So, yes, the third Warcoe record lives up to the self-created hype they got for releasing such a killer second album that did so well on the Doom Charts. Upon Tall Thrones is their best, most fully realized, most diverse, and best sounding record so far. This band has just gotten better in better in just a short period of a couple years. Upon Tall Thrones is a must listen for all doom aficionados out there today. 9/10
Haraball – Fear The Plow (Fysisk Format Records) [Spike]
Haraball’s Fear The Plow is a fevered, disorienting ride, a record that hits like a distorted reflection of reality, bending absurdity, dread, and sheer noise into a chaotic, thrilling whole. From the opening track, Pink Tiles the album grips you with a strange, uneasy energy, a collision of dystopian tension, raw punk aggression, and twisted melodies that feel entirely their own.
The band’s penchant for unpredictability is immediately apparent. Songs surge forward, retreat, and then lunge again, never settling, never polite. Fear Of The Plow the title track, embodies this with a narrative that feels simultaneously fantastical and oddly intimate, while The Squatter threads paranoia and unease through sharp, jagged riffs and unsettling tonal shifts. You feel the chaos in your bones, the music pressing against you like a living, breathing entity, yet there’s always a logic beneath the bedlam, an unspoken sense that each twist and turn is deliberate.
The album thrives on contrast. Haraball can go from moments of abrasive, almost violent noise to passages where melody sneaks through the cracks, sometimes tender, sometimes menacing. It’s the kind of record that rewards careful listening: headphones reveal hidden textures and details, while speakers in a room allow the physicality of the sound to hit, the bass and distortion rattling through the body in ways that feel almost tactile.
Lyrically, there’s a dark humour threaded through the chaos. Aging, absurdity, and existential anxiety surface in odd, warped narratives that make you laugh, wince, and occasionally shiver. The band uses these themes as a lens for the bizarre landscapes they construct sonically, and it works brilliantly, the music never feels distant or abstract, but strangely personal, like glimpsing someone else’s fever dream and finding echoes of your own.
Production is sharp without sanitizing the madness. Each instrument occupies its space, the drums cutting with punchy precision while guitars swirl and collide over jagged bass lines. The rawness remains, but clarity ensures the intricacy of the arrangements is always perceptible. It’s controlled chaos, a hallmark of Haraball’s craft.
Fear Of The Plow isn’t an easy listen, and it shouldn’t be. It’s a record that refuses compromise, demanding full attention and rewarding it with a strange, thrilling sense of immersion. Haraball have created a world that’s dangerous, funny, unsettling, and beautiful all at once.
By the final track, you feel like you’ve been through something alive, messy, and exhilarating, a record that leaves its pulse behind long after the noise fades. A dense, exhilarating, and uniquely Haraball experience, Fear Of The Plow is as chaotic and compelling as the band themselves. 9/10
Doomsday Profit - Self Titled (Self Released) [Rich Piva]
As I have mentioned in a number of reviews lately, North Carolina has an amazing heavy underground scene. This time, we have the new record from a band out of Durham, Doomsday Profit, back with their new, self-titled, filthy dirty second full-length record that exists to destroy you.
You get riffs galore, chunky, doomy stoner sludge physic metal over the full 43 minutes on Doomsday Profit. The vocals may be a deal breaker for some, but I don’t consider it to be a death metal growl, more of a sin eating bark that emanates from lead singer Bryan Reed’s black soul. I love how the opener, Crown Of Flies, has this almost Black metal guitar part towards the end and how the band brings just enough psych to be dangerous to this and the other nine tracks.
Doomsday Profit - Self Titled (Self Released) [Rich Piva]
As I have mentioned in a number of reviews lately, North Carolina has an amazing heavy underground scene. This time, we have the new record from a band out of Durham, Doomsday Profit, back with their new, self-titled, filthy dirty second full-length record that exists to destroy you.
You get riffs galore, chunky, doomy stoner sludge physic metal over the full 43 minutes on Doomsday Profit. The vocals may be a deal breaker for some, but I don’t consider it to be a death metal growl, more of a sin eating bark that emanates from lead singer Bryan Reed’s black soul. I love how the opener, Crown Of Flies, has this almost Black metal guitar part towards the end and how the band brings just enough psych to be dangerous to this and the other nine tracks.
The sludgy Stargazer kicks ass and has this melodic guitar part that partners perfectly with the big chunky riff. A few of my favourites are the six-plus minute dirge The South Will Sink, the overflowing with riffs sludge of Terror Cycle, and the Crowbar vibes of Sin Eater. It is almost 100% great when a band has a song named after a self-titled album on said record, and Doomsday Profit is no different, as this song is pure evil psych doom awesomeness.
Doomsday Profit really impressed me on their spilt with Smoke, so I had high expectations for this one going in, which the band smashed in multiple ways. Doomsday Profit is killer and keeps the streak of awesome bands from North Carolina alive with their self-titled, heavy as hell, new record. 8/10
Doomsday Profit really impressed me on their spilt with Smoke, so I had high expectations for this one going in, which the band smashed in multiple ways. Doomsday Profit is killer and keeps the streak of awesome bands from North Carolina alive with their self-titled, heavy as hell, new record. 8/10
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