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These are the Playgroundz Rocks picks for the October 2026 Doom Charts, in ranked order:
Watch the video version: all 12 picks, 30 seconds of each.
STEAK - STEAK
HUMULUS - SMUGGLER'S CAVE
ROBOT GOD - CURSE OF THE DRIVEN
VALLEY OF THE SUN - THE BLACKLIGHT SESSIONS
GRAVEYARD - FEVER
THE MACHINE - ANOTHER SUN
SNAKE MOUNTAIN REVIVAL - THE DIVIDE
BOSS KELOID - FLOAT & APERTURE
GOAT MAJOR - DEATH COMES TWICE
LACERTILIA - TRANSCEND
KANT - ECHOES OF UNFORTUNATE TIMES
STONED JESUS - SONGS TO MOON
On the published chart, 11 of these 12 made the Top 40. Graveyard - Fever took #1, and Steak - Steak landed at #4.
Full chart: doomcharts.com
Steak hits heavy with that sludgy weight, kind of like Tool but wrapped in atmosphere. There's a hazy, almost shoegaze cloud over the riffs, and it feels thick and immersive without trying too hard. It's the kind of record that sounds cool in the room and sticks with you after.
Stoner Rock, Desert Rock
London, UK
Ripple Music / Stickman Records
Song pick: Dust
Five new heavy releases from this week, streaming in full right here in the post. Press play and dig in.
Watch the video version: five picks, 30 seconds of each.
Sonic Moon - In Lack Of Clarity (Ripple Music)
Sonic Moon are a five piece from Aarhus, Denmark. In Lack Of Clarity is their second album and their first for Ripple Music. The seven tracks lean heavier and darker than their debut, with stoner doom riffs, hazy psych parts, and strong vocals on top. Start with Weightlessness.
Autumn Tomb - Autumn Tomb (Spaceflight Records)
Autumn Tomb is a new trio made up of Steve Moore from Zombi and Bryan Richie and Santiago "Jimmy" Vela from The Sword. This self titled record is their debut. It has five long tracks of slow, detuned doom with dark synth underneath. Start with Crumbling Thrones.
Konvent - Firesky (Napalm Records)
Konvent are a four piece from Denmark. Firesky is their third album. It has five tracks of death doom, slow and very heavy, with black metal edges in places and clean passages that open the songs up. Start with the title track, Firesky.
Electric Valley - Echo (Small Stone Recordings)
Electric Valley are a power trio from Madrid. Echo has seven tracks and was recorded live in the studio. The sound is stoner doom at the core, with psychedelic and atmospheric parts and a space theme running through the record. Start with Gata.
Hypno5e - Trame Noire (Pelagic Records)
Hypno5e come from France and play cinematic metal that mixes prog and post metal. Trame Noire has five tracks and runs about 39 minutes, which is short for this band. Three of the tracks run close to ten minutes. Start with Lost Fires.
That's the week. New recommendations every Friday. If we missed one, tell us in the comments.
Five new heavy releases from this week, streaming in full right here in the post. Press play and dig in.
Enslaved - Mið (Nuclear Blast)
Enslaved come from Norway and have been at this for 35 years. Mið is their 17th studio album, eight tracks that mix their black metal roots with prog and folk parts. Johan Sara Jr. guests on I Am Ice, and Kevin Kicking Woman guests on Spirit Helper. Start with Solar Will.
Dream Unending - Certain Uncertainties (20 Buck Spin)
Dream Unending is the duo of Derrick Vella and Justin DeTore, and Certain Uncertainties is their third album. It is death-doom that moves slow and leaves a lot of open space in the songs, so the heavy parts hit harder when they come. Six tracks total. Start with the single, Strained Sincerity.
Cirith Ungol - All The Shadows (No Remorse Records)
Cirith Ungol formed in California more than 50 years ago, and they still sound like no one else. All The Shadows is their seventh studio album, eight tracks of epic heavy metal with a doom edge. The cover art is by Michael Whelan. Start with the title track. Player below is the label's official full album stream on YouTube.
Laser Dracul - Hin Håle Blues (Majestic Mountain Records)
Laser Dracul come from Borlänge, Sweden. Hin Håle Blues is built on slow riffs and bluesy groove, with the Sabbath influence right up front and quieter, psychedelic stretches in between. Six tracks total. Start with Come To Me Witches.
Queens of the Stone Age - Perfecth (Matador)
Queens of the Stone Age started in Palm Desert, California, and Perfecth is their ninth studio album. Josh Homme and Michael Shuman produced it. The nine tracks include a new recording of Sunday, the Iggy Pop song from 2016. Start with Insignificant Other.
That's the week. New recommendations every Friday. If we missed one, tell us in the comments.
Quick note first: this is not a heavy underground record. But every band on this site exists because of Tony Iommi, so when he puts out his first solo album in 21 years, it gets covered here. Call it the godfather exception.
From The Dark came out October 23 on BMG, his first solo record since Fused in 2005. Jorn Lande sings the whole thing and co-wrote all eight songs. Becky Baldwin plays bass, Karl Brazil plays drums, and Brian May adds a guest solo on Death Wake.
There is no breakout song on it, and that is fine. What it has is good songs all the way through, and the whole record is a good listen start to finish. The songwriting does not sit in a simple repetitive loop. There is a progressive side to how the songs are put together, some of it leaning into doom, some of it leaning into sludge, all of it metal.
For me, the production is what grabs me. Mike Exeter and Andy Sneap mixed it, and the sound is great all the way through. The guitar tone is great, and there is an unpredictable streak in Iommi's playing that keeps the songs moving. Jorn's vocals sound great too. He changes the tone and the character of his voice from song to song, and it fits every one of them.
I have played it a few times now and I keep going back to it. No filler, no coasting. A really great album, and a surprise how much I am enjoying the sound of it.
Every Friday, Playgroundz rounds up the heavy releases from the week that are worth your time. Five new albums dropped today, and all five are streaming in full right here. Press play.
Snake Mountain Revival - The Divide (Ripple Music)
Snake Mountain Revival are a trio from Virginia Beach, and The Divide is their second album and first for Ripple Music. It stands out because the band doesn't stick to one style. The songs pull from psychedelic rock, surf guitar, and folk, and the mix actually works. The result is creative and fresh, but the songs still hit hard and stay catchy. If you want heavy music that tries something different, start here.
Goat Major - Death Comes Twice (Ripple Music)
Welsh trio Goat Major play doom with a rock and roll streak — big riffs and an occult edge. Death Comes Twice is their second album, following 2024's Ritual, and three singles led the way in. If Electric Wizard and Motörhead are both in your rotation, this one is aimed at you.
Boss Keloid - Float & Aperture (Church Road Records)
Progressive sludge from Wigan, England. Float & Aperture is Boss Keloid's sixth album, and their first since 2021, balancing heavy riffs with melody and space. Start with the single "Landslide," then let the whole record run.
Wolves In The Throne Room - Estuary (Relapse Records)
The Pacific Northwest band returns with Estuary, six tracks of atmospheric black metal built on blast beats, tremolo guitars, and long, shifting songs. It's the most extreme record on this week's list.
Earthbong - Salutations to the Cultivators (The Lasting Dose)
German trio Earthbong keep it simple: four long tracks of slow, smoked-out doom. Salutations to the Cultivators is their fourth album, and it does exactly what the name promises. Turn it up and let it roll.
That's the week. New recommendations every Friday — and if we missed one, tell us in the comments.
🔥Playgroundz Rocks - September 2026 Picks🔥
My top 8 heavy underground releases for September 2026.
Watch the video version: all 8 picks, 30 seconds of each.
1. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats — Shapes Of Midnight
2. Green Lung — Necropolitan
3. Mr. Bison — The Garden Of Forgotten Dreams
4. Saturna — Light and Shadow
5. Sleep — Hempispheres
6. Deaf Giant — Above and Below
7. Pelegrin — The Curse of Nephtar
8. Mississippi Bones — Maladroit Blues for the Colorblind
If you're into heavy rock, fuzz, stoner, doom, and psych, there's a ton of gold in here.
The Doom Charts bring together contributors from around the globe to pick the top heavy underground releases each month.
Thanks for being part of the journey. Full reviews at playgroundz.rocks.
Labels: Heavy Psych Sounds, Nuclear Blast, Ripple Music, Spinda Records, Discos Macarras Records, Third Man Records
🔥🔥FEBRUARY 2026 BEST NEW HEAVY ALBUM RELEASES🔥🔥
👉My vote submission to the Doom Charts and published on Playgroundz Rocks 👉
1. STAR BEAST - STAR BEAST II (BLACK THRONE PRODUCTIONS)
2. FATIMA - PRIMAL (BLACK ROBES RECORDS)
3. SUPLECS - HYMNS UNDER A BLOOD MOON SKY (RIPPLE MUSIC)
4. HERMANO - CLISSON, FRANCE (HERMANO)
5. OREYEON - THE GOTESQUE WITHIN (SELF RELEASED)
6. JACK HARLON & THE DEAD CROWS - INEXPLORABLE OPPOSITES (MAGNETIC EYE RECORDS)
7. STARGO - VIOLENT SKIES (SELF RELEASED)
8. LOW COUNTRY JAM MACHINE - OUTTA SIGHT (SELF RELEASED)
9. IZZY AND THE BLACK TREES - KISSES TO CHAOS (SELF RELEASED)
10. BORRACHO - ETERNOS - (REPETITIVE HEAVY GROOVES RECORDS)
11. WEEDPECKER - V (SELF RELEASED)
🤘Every month, from around the globe some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and reviewers from the heavy underground submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge, metal, stoner, psychedelic and heavy rock albums and submit them to the Doom Charts
STAR BEAST - STARBEAST II
Psych, Stoner, Doom
Toronto, Ontario
Black Throne Productions
Released February 27, 2026
As someone who came of age in the 80s and early 90s, moving from metal into the rise of alternative and indie, but whose foundation has always been rooted in the blues heavy rock of the 60s and 70s, Star Beast II hits a familiar but darker nerve for me. Where the debut carried a bit more immediacy, this record leans further into shadow, dialing back the pop edge and embracing a moodier, slightly more obscure character. The blend of classic rock depth with a 90s indie sensibility gives the album a darker, introspective weight, where the hooks are still present but wrapped in a moodier, more shadowed atmosphere. Star Beast does it again, awesome!!!
I LISTEN TO MORE GREAT MUSIC NOW THEN EVER BEFORE (FEBRUARY 2026)
New releases, upcoming drops, rediscovered gems, and recent finds.
Below is a curated list of albums, songs, and bands currently in heavy rotation. Dig in.