Best New Releases September 2025
After a rather languid, sluggish summer, I feel like I'm getting back into my groove when it comes to this new release stuff. In fact, I'm having to re-learn how to keep up with everything after becoming contentedly lazy, but I'll get there. There's plenty to motivate me, as September was a busy month here in the heavy underground, and it's looking like October and the rest of 2025 is set to rock our worlds with a slew of new albums from both familiar and newer names. For now, let's focus on the last month of the broiling summer season: September. I found ten albums that spoke to my soul on some level, and here they are in descending order:
Crypt Monarch has a knack for relaying the fantastical tales usually reserved for the traditional or epic sub-genres of metal over a crushing and viscous backdrop of sludge-laden doom. The vocals hold absolutely nothing back, skillfully drawing out the emotions that were certainly felt by the characters in the band's mystical narratives. All of these elements combined create a most immersive listening experience, the brutal, unapologetic intensity providing a very specific type of catharsis for the listener.
Favorite Track: Terror from Above
9.) SuperCollider - Soundwaves
Danish stoner rock trio Supercollider calls their sound "no fuss fuzzy stoner rock" and, while there is some truth to that, their music contains infinitely more dimension that their description gives them credit for. The band builds upon a base of coarse and massively fuzzy stoner/desert rock, loud enough to rattle your bones. In spite of its obvious weight, Supercollider's sound has a noticeable smoothness brought upon by wisps of psychedelia, atmospherically spacey tones, and echoing vocals and harmonies that communicate a sense of airy vastness floating over the dense foundation of gritty stoner. I can confidently say that fans of both the heaviest and lighter sides of the stoner rock spectrum, as well as everyone in between, will find themselves contentedly riding the "soundwaves" of Supercollider's debut EP.
Favorite Track: Flee
8.) Marmalade Knives - Paradigm Lost
Marmalade Knives is a bicoastal psychedelic rock band from the U.S. who is known for their sound that is simultaneously amorphous and methodical. Their long-awaited sophomore album Paradigm Lost bears a noticeably heightened intensity and innovation from the band. On this release, Marmalade Knives' progressive rhythm and structure materialize into spacier, more futuristic tones. The driving krautrock influence prevents these atmospheres from becoming too gossamer, soulful jazzy notes and peals of electric guitar embody passion, and waves of groovy proto metal provide a warm energy. Paradigm Lost is as riveting as it is hypnotic, synchronously providing the listener with both an infusion of vitality and a soothing mental getaway.
Favorite Track: Invocation
7.) Polly - Death Drive
Death Drive, the debut album from Berlin-based garage psych trio Polly, is like experiencing a fever dream that I don't want to wake up from, its flow moving very naturally between loud and quiet, darkness and light, reality and illusion, and hope and despondence. While Polly's sound is certainly flavored with a healthy dash of trippy psychedelia and acid rock, their garage rock base instinctively conjures up an equal amount of indie rock, dream pop, and surf rock aromas. These elements are countered by the louder side of the garage coin: unpredictability, energy, and fuzzy density, resulting in an incredibly vivid and hallucinatory mood.
You can read my full review of the album here.
Favorite Track: Daze
6.) Electric Jaguar Baby - Clair-Obscur
On their new album Clair-Obscur, Parisian garage/fuzz rock duo Electric Jaguar Baby concocts a truly electrifying fusion of garage rock, heavy psych, acid rock, and fuzz rock, with undertones of grunge, punk, and stoner groove. In short, this is a band that confidently does whatever feels right. Electric Jaguar Baby's sound has a very raw, uninhibited feel, even by garage rock standards, and is always deliciously noisy. However, in spite of the massiveness of the tones that exude from Clair-Obscur, it has a strikingly graceful flow, fluidly slinking about in a near sensual manner, much like the animal the band is named for.
Favorite Track: Anything
5.) Carson - When Gods Know Why
Carson is a Swiss stoner/alternative trio known for their ultra-immersive, energetic sound that dances with emotionally raw and relatable lyrics. Their third full-length album, When Gods Know Why, is their most vibrant yet, leaning harder into the alternative rock energy the band is known for. However, the scenes do flicker between these live wire jams and moodier, darker sentiments, often within the same song. Regardless of temper, each and every track is fortified by Carson's trademark wall of sound, a bulwark that frequently pulsates with fervid bursts of intensity that beautifully underline the band's unfettered emotional expressiveness.
Favorite Track: The Itch
4.) The Great Machine - Working Class Anarchist
The Great Machine has been blasting their loud, sweaty, uninhibited sound for more than a decade. Known for their explosive music that doesn't fit neatly into any one genre, The Great Machine's tones tend to vacillate among punk, metal, stoner rock, and psychedelic tempers. However, you can always count on the mood the band generates to be gritty, amplified, and ever-changing. The band's new album Working Class Anarchist surprised me in the best way by possessing a certain artful darkness throughout. It's a bit reminiscent of the post punk movement, an era that makes its mark on the album in several places. The Great Machine's typical punky delivery is now more in line with a garage punk style, which fits in perfectly with the moodiness at hand. Noise and garage rock also take a front seat, with intense distortion, dense fuzz, pulsing drums, and unfettered vocals in full effect. Stoner/desert rock shows up too, primarily in two of my favorite songs, Neu and Desert Ledge. Don't be fooled, however...Working Class Anarchist isn't The Great Machine going "soft" or being pretentious in any shape or form. In fact, the band is as tumultuous and bold as ever, just in different, sophisticated shades...ever a true chameleon.
You can read my quick review of the album here.
Favorite Track: Desert Ledge
3.) Nepal Death - Pilgrims and Psychonauts
.jpg "Nepal Death Pilgrims and Psychonauts Album Cover Photo")
Nepal Death is a seven-piece band from Sweden who, under the guidance of Kali the Death Goddess, creates a hypnotic blend of psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and kraut rock. The band has a keen fascination with the hippie movement of the 70s, an era that saturates their music with colorful storytelling, contagious optimism, and heartfelt equanimity. Their new album Pilgrims and Psychonauts excitedly grabs you by the hand and invites you on an immersive journey along the Hippie Trail in 1972. It's a powerfully spiritual expedition, filled with "love" and "chaos", ultimately culminating in an explosive "cosmic rebirth" The listener will certainly notice the mesmerically smooth flow of the album, as each mystical song feeds organically into the next, drawing you deeper and deeper along the Hippie Trail. However, my favorite aspect of Pilgrims and Psychonauts is the unbridled love and passion Nepal Death possesses for this time in history, the geographic area along the Hippie Trail, and for the life-altering spiritual lessons that could be gathered along the way. For me, this results in a contagious joy that I experience each time I push play.
You can read my quick review of the album here.
Favorite Track: Freak Street Blues
2.) Warcoe - Upon Tall Thrones
Warcoe's earliest work won us over with its perfect balance of doom and heavy metal. Their sophomore album A Place for Demons went on to pique our interest by waxing more acidic, leaning into trippier occult and psychedelic tones. On their latest album Upon Tall Thrones, Warcoe continues to draw upon these sounds, playing them louder and with more energy than ever. The band also uses their proto metal influence to break up some of the more dismal or serious auras brought about by the weightiness of doom, while also incorporating in some well-developed instrumental interludes. This adds a very noticeable amount of dimension to Warcoe's sound and naturally sharpens their storytelling ability. The scenes the band builds are more vivid than ever, and a captivating saga bursts through the album with striking clarity. It's safe to say that these developments make Upon Tall Thrones Warcoe's most heavy hitting album yet, a release on which both sound and substance are bigger and bolder than ever before.
You can read my full review of the album here.
Favorite track: Octagon
1.) Fish Hook Smile - (self-titled)
Fish Hook Smile got their start in St. Louis, Missouri in 1991. This was an era during which a healthy amount of skepticism and angst were fueling the budding grunge movement, a byproduct of the post-hardcore uprising of the early 80s. Fish Hook Smile harnessed this energy, imbuing their sound with a combination of murky, thoughtful tones and an unapologetically loud, hard rocking attitude. The band split a year and a half after their formation, but all members readily agreed that the ride had ended too soon. Now, Fish Hook Smile is back with not only the same lineup they left off with back then, but with a new full-length album in tow. This self-titled release features eight fiery, passionate tracks that serve as commentary on some of the most pressing issues that plague our world today. A palpable, renewed vigor is heard in every note as the band releases their frustrations in a raw and unfettered manner. And, while the grunge, post-grunge, and hard rock sounds emanating from this group will certainly hearken you back to the 90s, they will also implore you to stop and think.
You can read my full review of the album here.
Favorite Track: Fields of Green
That's it for September! I hope you enjoy these albums as much as I did!
Make sure to check out this month's Doom Chart where there are forty albums waiting for you to discover, and as always, show your favorite heavy underground artists some much-deserved love!
Check out Screaming from the Heavy Underground on YouTube!
Best New Releases of September 2025, Video Version
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