This past summer was a strong one for heavy music, with new releases that show just how wide the stoner rock spectrum can stretch.
From Austria’s Witchrider to Melbourne’s Droid, Chicago’s chaotic BRAINICE, and the combustible return of SPACEJUNK, the following records prove the genre still thrives on energy, invention, and volume.
Whether polished and melodic or noisy and unhinged, each of these new releases offers its own take on heaviness, and together they make for a stack of records worth turning up loud.
Here’s some stoner/punk/heavy psych I’ve been listening to lately …
Metamorph by Witchrider
Formed in Austria, in 2012, Witchrider took their name from the folklore of sleep paralysis, “riding the witch.” Their self-titled EP arrived in 2013, followed by a signing with Truckfighters’ Fuzzorama Records and the release of their debut Unmountable Stairs in 2014.
With drummer Bernhard Sorger joining and members Daniel and Michael experimenting with electronics, their second LP, Electrical Storm, showcased a more sophisticated approach. Around its release, the group parted ways with guitarist H.P., refining their live setup and continuing with a leaner, more experimental lineup.
Witchrider returned with Metamorph in August, an EP that balances accessibility with grit. Opener “Used to Be a King” channels clear Queens of the Stone Age vibes, while tracks like “Sound of the Presidents” and “Hold My Mind” spotlight frontman Dan’s knack for brooding, hook-heavy melodies.
The six tracks are tight, catchy, and made for the stage, suggesting Witchrider is best experienced live. Still, Metamorph works as both an entry point for newcomers to stoner rock and a solid fix for fans seeking something heavier than Royal Blood but more approachable than the doomier end of the genre.
The QOTSA comparisons are spot on, especially when the vocals slip into Josh Homme–like falsetto. But this leans toward late-era Queens—sleeker, more polished, even radio-friendly—rather than the grimy desert rock of their early years.
Eroded Forms by DROID
For a while, Melbourne’s Droid weren’t sure if they had another record in them. A rough 2018 demo seemed destined for the scrap heap until, on a whim, they dusted it off and heard a riff worth saving. That spark grew into “Resonator” and eventually reignited the band’s fire.
Older now, maybe a little wiser, Droid leaned back into what they do best: bludgeoning stoner riffs, but with sharper songcraft and an ear turned toward vocal melodies. The result is their first new music in more than five years, the four-track EP Eroded Forms.
Recorded completely in-house, the EP thrives on simplicity. No pedals, no tricks, just guitars plugged straight into cranked amps. The raw immediacy is then shaped by Brent Quirk’s mix and Brad Boatright’s mastering into something heavy yet articulate. It’s an approach that underscores Droid’s ethos: keep it stripped down, but make it hit hard.
The EP arrives as part of a vinyl split with Sweden’s I Am Low, jointly released by Majestic Mountain Records and Copper Feast Records. For Droid, it’s a welcome return after years in the wilderness.
Having survived lineup changes, including two departed drummers, they sound revitalized, channeling doom and stoner grooves with a confidence that suggests the hiatus did more good than harm.
BRAINICE (self-titled)
There isn’t much to read online about Chicago duo BRAINICE, which is fine. The music doesn’t so much speak for itself as it howls, shouts, and rattles the walls.
The debut self-titled album from BRAINCE thrives in chaos. Across its compressed runtime, the record lunges forward like a basement set on the verge of combustion. It’s noisy, jagged, and unrelenting, but there’s a strange discipline in how the duo pulls it off.
The bass, more weapon than instrument, skitters and claws its way through the mix with an anti-melodic logic that feels perversely intentional. Drums veer between surgical precision and gleeful collapse, snapping into lockstep only to careen off again seconds later. Over it all, the vocals arrive as anxious proclamations.
What’s striking is the record’s refusal to resolve. There are no cathartic breakdowns, no choruses to cling to, only the stubborn propulsion of noise and movement.
It’s a sound indebted to the punk lineage of Arab on Radar and early Shellac, but streaked with flashes of Melt-Banana’s speed-freak mania and the spikiest corners of mid-’90s Touch & Go. BRAINCE uses these influences as kindling, setting fire to any expectation of neatness.
This is punk by disassembly: restless, confrontational, and wired with the energy of a band that would rather push against every boundary than play by any rules. BRAINICE isn’t stoner rock, but they channel the same maniac energy, enough to earn their place on this list, if you ask me.
JUNK TIME by SPACEJUNK
When a band insists on all-caps, you expect the music to shout at you. SPACEJUNK doesn’t disappoint. Their third LP, JUNK TIME, is a blaring sermon to rock’s unruly gods.
SPACEJUNK has always thrived on barely-contained combustion: four chords and proto-metal riffage stretched to cosmic extremes, dual guitars and vocals locked in orbit while drums fire like meteor showers.
It’s a sound with one foot in Iggy’s nihilistic stomp, the other planted in Lemmy’s diesel-fueled grit. They play every show, whether to twenty punters in a Melbourne dive or a festival crowd, like the stage is already theirs to burn down.
Formed in 2013, the band cut its teeth on garage-punk and action-rock swagger, touring the Australian circuit and earning slots alongside Brant Bjork Trio, Magic Dirt, and Tumbleweed. Their first two LPs built a cult following and cemented their rep for “psychedelic punk rock” that veered between fuzzed-out guitars, acid-flecked vocals, and volatile energy.
With JUNK TIME, recorded at Cellar Sessions by Max Ducker and mastered by John McBain, SPACEJUNK finally sounds like they’ve captured the chaos in high definition. The riffs are sharper, the hooks dig deeper, and the drumming feels like it’s sprinting three songs ahead just to see if the band can keep up.
On tour with Sydney heavies ASTRODEATH, they earned fresh praise for their combustible blend of punk energy, metal riffing, and noise-rock abrasiveness. As LOUD put it, by the second song, SPACEJUNK had gone from “unknowns to party favourite.”
JUNK TIME is a blast of unfiltered chaos: raw, relentless, and unapologetically loud. Like BRAINICE, it skews closer to feral punk rock than stoner jams, but the sheer swagger and energy make it no less crushing.
**
That’s a wrap for now! Hopefully, these four records scratch your rock ’n’ roll itch. If you’re still hungry for riffs, fuzz, and heaviness, dive into the ever-evolving Third Eye Stoner Rock Madness Spotify playlist below:
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