Best New Releases August 2024

It's the last month of summer. Many people are reluctantly returning from a much-needed vacation (lucky devils) and/or getting their last few hurrahs in before the dreaded return back to real life and responsibility. As a result, I feel like it's been a bit quieter in the heavy underground (aside from the undeniable roar coming from many music festivals still going strong). While I spent many a lazy (and still hellishly hot) summer afternoon in August scouring the music world for new releases that spoke to my heart and soul, I'm afraid I could only find four that accomplished just that. So, while I'm cowering before you yet again with a tiny little list clutched in hand, I implore you not to ignore it; what the tiny list lacks in size, it makes up for in power, chock full of heavy tunes sure to rock your world as you trudge back to work or wherever it is you go (I don't judge). 

Here it is, exactly what I submitted to the August Doom Charts in ascending order: 

1. Mammoth Volume - Raised Up By Witches

I absolutely love music that makes me think/involves a bit of mental effort to listen to. By that, I don't mean that the music is overly complex. Rather, it provides a myriad of stories, images, and certain combinations of words and instrumentation that lead me to think and wonder. Mammoth Volume does just that with their latest release, Raised Up By Witches. While thought-provoking words and sounds are par for the course when it comes to progressive rock such as that created by Mammoth Volume, I greatly appreciate this band's specific take on the genre. Mammoth Volume combines 70s prog and stoner rock, a fusion that, while often airy, soothing, and whimsical, delivers some weightier moments in all the right spots. The sepia-tinted retro sound works together with lovely vocals and harmonies, immersive storytelling, clever instrumental progressions, and a varied but flowing composition to provide a cozy but entrancing listen. Raised Up By Witches plays out a bit like a dream, and it's one you'll want to get lost in more than once.

Favorite Track: A Tale about a Photon 

   

 2. Supersonic Dragon Wagon - From the Deep

San Diego stoner/doom outfit Supersonic Dragon Wagon is back with From the Deep, a collection of both new and previously released tracks. If you're like me and From the Deep is your first time hearing about the band, this album is a great place to start. Supersonic Dragon Wagon plays a modern take on traditional doom that dances with fuzzy stoner and a whisper of psychedelic rock. This is delivered with ultra-powerful, often grunge-tinted vocals, in the vein of bands like Baardvader. From the Deep is both heavy and haunting, saturated with both power and feeling. Perhaps best of all, this is an album that reads like an epic journey, filled with all the rising, climactic, and falling actions one would expect and then some. 

Read my full review here.

Favorite Track: Riptide 

3. Aquanaut - (self-titled)

Aquanaut's self-titled debut has the band proving right out of the gate that they can adeptly play any style of heavy music you can imagine. The album begins on a massively energetic and heavy note with some scintillating representations of stoner rock, sludge, doom metal, and punk (often within the same song). Midway through, Aquanaut lays on a thick layer of psychedelic rock that is livened by a gritty stoner rock groove. The album wraps up with two melodic (but still undeniably heavy) stoner/alternative jams, a delightfully stark contrast to the sonic pummeling the first few tracks gave us. With that, I probably don't have to tell you that Aquanaut supplies an immense amount of variety here. However, my favorite element at play on the album is the impressive adaptability of the vocals, utilizing  husky croons, melodic howls, hardcore punky shouts, banshee screeches, and more, all without missing a beat. There's truly something for everyone on this spectacular debut. 

Favorite Track: Ivory 

 

 

4. Free Ride - Acido Y Puto

Spain really has an incredible and vastly underrated underground music scene, producing some very talented acts including Saturna, Green Desert Water, Arenna, and Wet Cactus. Free Ride is another phenomenal Spanish band who got their start playing generator parties on the outskirts of Madrid, and they've been releasing some out-of-this-world psychedelic stoner rock since about 2018. Influenced by the music of the 70s as well as early stoner and punk rock, the band vastly expands upon their repertoire on Acido Y Puto, their newest release. This album features not only a well-utilized surf rock influence, but it also delivers strong doses of garage, grunge, alternative, and psychedelic rock in and around the heavier stoner tracks, making it the perfect soundtrack for the end of summer. Furthermore, those early stoner rock influences really shine through, providing a certain sense of feel-good nostalgia as you listen. 

Favorite Track: Outsider

...

That's it for August! 

I really hope each and every one of you had a beautiful summer and are feeling refreshed and ready to take on life again. Prepare yourselves, though... September is shaping up to be one of the biggest months of the year for new releases, in both quality and quantity! Stay tuned! 

As always, don't forget to check out this month's Doom Chart where there are quite literally ten times more new releases for you to check out. Most importantly, go out there and show your favorite heavy underground artists some much deserved love!