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Released: 2024 Genre: Black metal, Doom Sounds Like: Alcest, Agalloch Homeland: Denver, Colorado What makes Nature's Cadence elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? The latest album by The Flight of Sleipnir is a stunning fusion of Black metal and majestic doom. It's rare to hear such a remarkable combination of these two classic metal genres in a single album. The album begins with the bold 11:50 minute track 'North,' which is certain to captivate fans of Black metal and progressive doom.. The contrast in vocal styles between David and Clayton is incredibly impressive. The transition from black metal angst to clean doom is unparalleled. Nature's Cadence is filled with such a rich variety of metal layers, it's essential to own it on vinyl. Track Listing: 1. North 11:50 2. Madness 8:32 3. Vingthor 6:54 4. The Woodsman 4:41 5. Wanderer 6:50 Dive deeper into Nature's Cadence with our Q&A with The Flight of Sleipnirs' guitarist/vocalist Clayton. OHMs Peak: Congratulations on the release of yet another brilliant album. Nature's Cadence is such a complex and comforting blend of Black Metal and melodic doom. There is a plethora of wonderful nuances and heavy changeups found throughout this album. Can you provide a glimpse into your unique writing process? Clayton: Thank you for the kind words! Our writing process is pretty straightforward. Sometimes a whole song is brought in for review, sometimes there are parts of songs and riffs that we work on as a band, and sometimes there are even jam-like sessions. Occasionally David (Csicsely) and I will trade files over the internet as well. Then there are always some embellishments once we get to the studio. Everyone in the band has input, it typically works out well. OHMs Peak: We absolutely love the multitude of different styles carried throughout this album. From the slide guitar breakdown on 'Madness' to the folk themed 'Woodsman'. What musical backgrounds does each member bring to the table to create such diverse metal? Clayton:  We all have pretty wide tastes in music, and our shared history includes many styles of metal- black, death, doom and grind mostly. But we listen to a lot of different things, and elements seep in from all over the place. Most of our experience is from playing in various groups. I also studied music in school. OHMs Peak: The vocal contrast is absolutely stunning when shifting between black metal scowls and clean melodic doom styled vocals. What backgrounds do you have as singers to display such raw emotion? Clayton:  For the most part, we just kind of went for it at the very beginning of the band. David seemed to find his method with ease... I had done some singing in garage bands in high school but I didn’t learn how to properly sing until much much later. The rough vocals were a result of some experimentation over a year or so near the very beginning (around 2007). OHMs Peak: How did the name The Flight of Sleipnir come about? Would love to hear, and is it tied to Norse mythology? (apologies we are not rich in knowledge here) Clayton:  Yes, it is Odin’s horse in Norse mythology. He is the eight-legged steed, the best of all horses. David came up with the name, and in general it is a nod to the spirit of the band which is to operate without many restrictions. We also incorporate a lot of the mythology into the lyrics as well. OHMs Peak: The album art is wild and so engaging. Who created this masterpiece cover? Clayton:  David Csicsely does all of the artwork for the band. He is immensely talented. I think we are lucky to have such a rich visual history for The Flight of Sleipnir. OHMs Peak: The Flight of Sleipnir is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to? Clayton:  We were just in Germany playing a few dates, and in the car the album that got the most reaction was Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” - so I am going to go with that. The Flight of Sleipnir are: David Csicsely - Drums, Vocals, Percussion Clayton Cushman - Guitars, Vocals, Pedal Steel, Keyboards Dave Borrusch - Bass Jeremy Winters - Guitars Follow The Flight of Sleipnir: Bandcamp / Facebook / The Flight of Sleipnir Grab some The Flight of Sleipnir Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Doom, Heavy Psych Sounds Like: Belzebong, Dopelord, REZN Homeland: Poland What makes Weedow elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? The debut album from Poland's heavy psych trio is remarkably impressive for a new band. Their relaxed, fuzz-infused sound is both seasoned and highly captivating The trippy, chilled vocals and voice overs seamlessly integrate with the immense stoner sounds, creating a perfect blend The production solid and deep, with each instrument finding its own space to shine Weedow is one of this year's best doom albums to grace our speakers Track Listing: 1. Nothing 8:24 2. Weedow 5:34 3. Delusion 7:37 4. Funnel Vision 5:12 5. Empowerment 7:28 6. Threnody 9:28 7. Mourn 8:24 Dive deeper into Weedow with our Q&A with the heavy psych trio. OHMs Peak: We cannot take this out of rotation, your debut is absolutely cathartic and mesmerizing. You hit majestic heights as this album encompasses the perfect blend of doom and heavy psych. Patryk Wójcik delivers with some impressively chilled vocals. We would love to hear more about the band’s background and how you started. Were you in other projects together? Any insights to your formation we would love to hear? Maciek: For a few years, Patryk and I had been close friends, we even shared a home. Sometimes we jammed together and/or with other pals. Personally, I was more interested in other music and projects at the time; I already had some experience, and my sounds were 90s alternative, punk, and hardcore (which are still close to me, though they vary now naturally). Patryk has never performed in a band before, therefore this is his first effort, and the band was founded entirely on his initiative. Weedow's foundations were most likely laid in the fall of 2021, when we began playing more stoner themes together. Patryk was playing riffs on the guitar at the time, and I started playing along with him on the fly (Patrick's "JUST PLAY SLOWER", lol), and I became hooked. After a while, we felt that we wanted to augment the riffs with a melody line, so we tried playing with several guitarists, but it wasn't until we met Tomek that we found common ground. Patryk placed a post on a local Facebook group for musicians, we met and played a few times, liked each other, and that's how it all began. OHMs Peak: Your debut has a different feel than many of the psychedelic doom albums we encounter. Your work is one that takes the listener into this expansive heavy psychedelic journey. Take us through the writing process and setting in making this album? Patryk: This could be a result of our diverse musical interests. As he previously stated, Maciek played a different kind of music that was aggressive too but faster. As a drummer, this undoubtedly affected the band's overall sound. Tomek, on the other hand, played a lot of classic blues in many projects and jams. I, from another side, preferred to play slow, thick, and fat riffs. This is where Maciek's violent, tremorous rhythms meet with Tomasz's blues individuality, and all this pulled by a big mammoth combined with a roller and a combine harvester driving through a forest of people, lol. It's meant to be heavy and thick. When it comes to the writing process, a major portion of the record was formed during one of the jams when we were still playing with Maciek as a duo. One evening we went to a rehearsal space and just had a great time, lol. The whole thing was recorded on the phone, then Maciek took it and cut the 2-hour jam into pieces and composed a few tracks with it. We didn't have a wider plan for it; it just occurred to us organically (Nothing, Delusion, Weedow, Funnel Vision). "Mourn" is essentially a single riff by Maciek, who was playing with sounds at home in the meantime. Tomasz brought the intro and main riff for "Empowerment" to one of the jams, while "Threnody" is the result of jamming from scratch. Recording and production are our own work, done in the privacy of our home and rehearsal space, with numerous sessions and wonderful fun. In addition to running around with cables, lol, Maciek was in charge of the mixing (with our combined monitoring and corrections). It is interesting that many solos were recorded one-take, when Tomek recorded them quickly before leaving when he was in a hurry to catch the tram, leaving us with our jaws on the floor, lol. This was undoubtedly done for "Funnel Vision" and "Mourn". For "Threnody" we thought that spoken word would be a good fit, our friend Wiktoria Kowalska came to help and wrote and recorded a poem (thank you!). OHMs Peak: What bands over the years have influenced your sound? We hear hints of Belzebong and Dopelord, but only splashes. Tomek: We didn't really intend to mimic or so the sound of any particular band; we just performed whatever came to mind. For all of us, REZN is undoubtedly a major source of inspiration. Maciek: Yes, I truly enjoyed REZN. I found it easy to navigate where many of the songs had a straightforward structure that brought back memories of my roots. Next to Dope Smoker and Windhand, it served as a sort of introduction to this genre for me. Listening to music with Patryk helped me learn more about these bands and stoner doom overall. Tomek: My main inspirations include Tool, Om, and Kaz Bałagane. All of this mixed with blues, lol. Patryk: Instrumentally, it would be a blend of Dope Smoker and Electric Wizard, with REZN on vocals and lead. Maciek: I'd also add that probably everything we've heard throughout the years has left a lasting impression on us. OHMs Peak: There is not a flaw on this album but if we had to pick favorites they might be either "Weedow" or "Funnel Vision." These two songs hit with such highly addictive and fuzzy rhythms and the vocals blend in perfectly to the psych doom. Take us through the concept and making of these tracks Tomek: Maybe because they are the catchiest and most "pop-oriented" on the album, lol. They have a timeless structure and are undoubtedly highly catchy. Maciek: Yes, I think my roots have a hand in this when I was cutting and arranging this jam, lol. Simple music is often the most expressive. These are also some of the first songs we created, so no wonder. Patryk: We didn't have a plan for it, we just jammed it out, I only knew there had to be a riff, it had to be thick, and the rest came out in the wash, lol. The entire record was really a test of our ability to perform this type of music. OHMs Peak; The album cover is so fitting to your sound. Who created and drove the artwork? Patryk: The cover is the product of our collaboration; Maciek assisted me later with technical difficulties, but I designed it myself. However, the idea for the name, cover, character is actually mine. This also holds true for the original cover variations for the singles Empowerment and Mourn. OHMs Peak: Weedow is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to? Tomek: Dope Smoker - Legalize It , lol, that would be crazy as fuck, lol. Weedow are: Patryk Wójcik: bass/vocals Tomasz Raszewski: guitar Maciej Budzowski: drums Follow Weedow: Bandcamp / Facebook / Weedow Grab some Weedow Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Stoner rock Sounds Like: Greenleaf, Queens of the Stoneage Homeland: Bradford, UK What makes Warped Vision elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Psychlona's most recent album is incredibly engaging, filled with abundant cosmic fuzz and smooth stoner rhythms. The trippy, chilled vocals seamlessly integrate with the immense stoner sounds, creating a perfect blend. The production is crisp and powerful, with each instrument finding its own space to shine Psychlona has solidified their place in our rotation with their highly addictive blend of stoner rock. Owning this on vinyl is essential. Track Listing: 1. Jasmine 5:14 2. Let's Go 5:55 3. Smoke 5:57 4. Cut Loose 5:44 5. Topanga 6:01 6. Kaleidoscope 5:24 7. Split 06:17 8. Magic Carpet 5:07 Dive deeper into Warped Vision with our Q&A with Psychlona. OHMs Peak: Congratulations on the release of Warped Vision . Psychlona has been a staple in our rotation since the very beginning. Your music has such a unique fluid heaviness that seems effortless. Can you give us a glimpse into the songwriting process? Psychlona: It's very simple. Somebody has a riff or chord progression or sometimes a complete song they bring down to the jam room. We usually toss it around and add individual parts to it and if we all dig it then we'll take it further. Lyrics are usually the last part of the song to get written. OHMs Peak: We noticed two new members have joined the band for this album. The music sounds as crisp as ever. How has this transition affected the band? Psychlona: Only in positive ways. Martin and Izak have both been around the block a few times and are seasoned musicians/band dudes so know the score. They both fit in musically and equally important on a personal level too. We knew them both for a long time before they joined the band so there were never any concerns. OHMs Peak: How did the name Psychlona come about? It's a unique band name that fits your music perfectly. Psychlona: I think it was myself (Phil) and Martyn tossing ideas around when we used to work together a few years ago. We were called Too Many Chiefs back then and wanted to change to a more unique name. No real story behind it but we sometimes wish we'd found a name that was easier to spell!!! There was one festival t shirt in particular a few years ago with a seriously bad typo... OHMs Peak: The tracks 'Smoke' and 'Split' have a calming and heartwarming feel that resonate with us. How did these songs come to form? Psychlona: 'Smoke' is a song I initially wrote over 10 years ago for another band I was playing in. It never seemed to work out but I knew it was a song that I wanted to re visit at some point with the right group of musicians. Now seemed about right and I'm very happy with how it's worked out. 'Split' is another one I wrote some time ago and decided it wasn't right for the band at the time. It's a tough one to perform lyrically as it covers grief and loss of loved ones so very unlikely to ever be played live. OHMs Peak: We absolutely love your vibrant album covers. Who is the artist for Warped Vision and what does it represent? Psychlona: All four of our album covers have been done by a guy called Kyrre Bjurling who is from Norway. I can't remember how we initially made contact with him but he just 'gets it' when we pitch him an idea. We have no plans to ever let anybody else do our album art. The new album cover is his visual interpretation of 'warped vision' with the guys head kinda exploding due to the audio he's got playing in the headphones. Notice on the rear cover the headphones are off. OHMs Peak: Psychlona is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to? Psychlona: Very easy question to answer as it's only me here doing the interview. The album would be 'London Calling' by the Clash as it's the greatest album of all time. Follow Psychlona: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Psychlona Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Math rock, Punk Sounds Like: These Arms Are Snakes, June of 44 Homeland: Chicago What makes To All Trains elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Shellac has revolutionized and solidified what is math rock. Spanning 30 years we have been blessed with their caustic and impactful ways. Needless to say we were saddened to hear of Steve Albini’s passing just a few months back. Arguably one of the biggest pioneers of heavy music, his involvement to expand heavy rock and off kilter viewpoints is vast and game changing. While tragic as can be the light here is to celebrate what he and the amazing embodiment of Shellac. 6 studio albums , 3 EPs and two live albums of brilliance. Most astonishing is their sound just keeps getting fresher and alas we welcome in their 2024 release To All Trains ’ a fucking pinnacle of their work. Encompassing 10 songs that span 28 minutes. Envision chaos blending beautifully in a concise tight way hitting wild angles testing the efforts of your speakers. We are amazed at how much Shellac can capture in a 2 minute track. Their off tempo brilliance can engulf the listener quicker than any other band. Take the opener 'WSOD,' Albini’s abrasive melodies attack immediately and meld so well with Trainer and Weston’ epic undercurrent. Much akin to the Jesus Lizard, Weston and Trainer drive some of the most innovative jaw dropping tempos. From ‘Scrappers’ in your face anthem “we’ll be pirates” to the creeping ‘I Don’t Fear Hell’ looping in ‘baseball’ incoherence with “if there’s a hell I’m gonna know everyone” we ride the dark satiric perspective that has so shaped Shellac’s 30 year journey. To All Trains is just about as powerful a work that the threesome from Chicago have ever released. Steve Albini will be missed but his imprint on the math rock landscape will hopefully reverberate forever. Track Listing: 1. WSOD 2:24 2. Girl From Outside 2:45 3. Chick New Wave 2:22 4. Tattoos 3:08 5. Wednesday 3:17 6. Scrappers 2:20 7. Days Are Dogs 1:41 8. How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & bull) 4:08 9. Scabby the Rat 1:46 10. I Don't Fear Hell 4:17 Shellac are: Steve Albini - Guitar Todd Trainer - Drums Bob Weston - Bass Follow Shellac: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Shellac Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Stoner rock, Grunge, Progressive rock Sounds Like: King Buffalo, Tool Homeland: North Carolina What makes Hollow Ground elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Stonekind's newest release is completely immersive, featuring a plethora of progressive rock, grunge and stoner-influenced metal As a duo, they deliver a powerful surge of heaviness, showcasing unparalleled attention to detail Drummer Jeff Ayers' vocals exude a soothing vibe reminiscent of Jerry Cantrell, blending seamlessly with the music's style The production of Hollow Ground is excellent, capturing a brooding, trippy, psychedelic vibe that makes it a must-have on vinyl Track Listing: 1. Storyteller 3:55 2. Glass of Hours 3:17 3. Hollow Ground :59 4. Masters of Man 8:18 5. Dune 4:57 6. Veda 1:45 7. Dressed as Man 9:48 8. Echus Chasma 2:20 Dive deeper into Hollow Ground with our Q&A with Stonekind. OHMs Peak: Hollow Ground your third release since 2019, is in our opinion your best work to date. We find seamless connectivity between each of the eight tracks. The landscape is filled with rich fuzz-filled blues that sprawls over some dark landscapes. Take us through the evolution of your songwriting and what makes this album different from the prior two releases. Stonekind: Thanks so much! It’s a great feeling to know folks are digging it. Our music has definitely evolved over the years, but our process for writing the songs has basically stayed the same. The initial song structures (drums and guitar) usually come together pretty quickly and organically. Davis usually brings in some riffs and rough song structures to rehearsal in the home studio, we hash it out until we have some basic drums and transitions figured out, and then hit record. This roughest demo gets plenty of car playback, and Jeff works his magic spicing up his drum parts. We’ll rehearse and tighten things up before hitting the studio to officially track drums and rhythm guitar. Additional guitars, bass, and finally vocals (when Jeff finally gets around to it haha) are tracked in the good ol home studio. We have shared lyric writing duties throughout all three albums although Jeff wrote the majority of lyrics for Hollow Ground. We had a vision of connectivity between songs, so the song order was partially thought out before tracking so the ending of one song and beginning of the next would make sense when blended together. We’ve always loved albums with continuity between tracks so everything flows together almost like one epic song. Both Hollow Ground and Spirit of the Void were mixed by Davis in his studio which really allowed for his perfectionist tendencies to take the reins. It’s been quite a learning and rewarding experience for us both, but can feel painfully slow at times. Hopefully it won’t be another 3 years before our next release! This album is quite a bit heavier and darker than our previous material but the blues vibe lives strong. I don’t think we intentionally tried to make a heavier album when writing the songs, but that’s how it turned out. The context of what’s going on in the world around us over the past few years with wars, the pandemic, and social / political madness was surely a factor in the heaviness and lyrical content. OHMs Peak: The fullness of your sound as a two piece band is astounding. Are there enhancements within the studio album that just can’t be recreated live? Would love to hear more about the approach live vs studio in your case. Stonekind: We are still trying to figure this one out haha. Our approach thus far has been to make records that sound huge, memorable, original, and emotionally meaningful. In our attempts to do so, there are lots of layers of guitars and vocals in the mix, and Davis recorded the bass tracks. So yeah, there are plenty of enhancements that cannot be recreated live with just the two of us. With that said, we are currently looking for a bass player… Anybody? OHMs Peak: What current band would you love to tour with? That would most compliment your sound? Stonekind: There are so many great bands in the scene making heavy music these days… we’d be honored to share the stage and hang out with any of them. Some of our favorites recently are King Buffalo, Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows, REZN, Ritual King, and Valley of the Sun. OHMs Peak: Interestingly 'Masters of Man' and ‘Dressed as Man’ are our two favorite tracks and we often use the names confuse them or use them interchangeably. Take us thru the concept or interplay between these two tracks that lay forth almost a prehistoric reference perhaps? Stonekind: The idea behind the lyrics were pretty much the same. Thinking about people that can pull certain strings in our society, or have certain influence on people. Watching things move with a heaviness of the soul while we are stuck here figuring the shit out. A lot of the lyrical content on this album came out of frustration - almost a non belief of how ridiculous people of influence can be. We confuse ourselves with these names also haha. We actually didn’t officially name them until they were mixed. They are probably the two most complex songs in our catalogue, with “Masters” being our favorite off this record. OHMs Peak: We love that your sound evokes memories of some raw early 90s grunge bands and also morphs into wild progressive work at times. What bands form the 90s have most influenced your sound? Stonekind: Alice in chains, Tool, Kyuss, Soundgarden, STP to name a few I was a big Soundgarden fan and still am. I stole a lot of tidbits of Matt Cameron’s playing. I feel like Davis and I are a good combination of progressive mixed with groove. Davis will often times bring these really amazing guitar arrangements where I have to really sit back and think, “ok how do I lay a groove to this and simplify the rhythm a bit?” Maybe that’s not the best way of putting it haha - Davis is definitely the brains and I’m just the caveman that wants to dance to it. OHMs Peak: Stonekind is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to? Stonekind: Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs This was the first vinyl record I ever got. I was 13 and the dad of a good friend of mine knew I was diving deep into guitar so he gave me a copy of Bridge of Sighs. I had never heard of Robin Trower and my mind was blown spinning it on my dad’s old zenith turntable. It’s such a soulful album, and the lush guitar tone/performance is so damn good I could never get tired of it. “Too Rolling Stoned” would sound right at home on a deserted island. - Davis What’s funny is my dad turned me on to this album. I was digging through old records of his and he suggested it. He loved James Dewar and I feel the same. Absolutely incredible album. Stonekind are: Jeff Ayers, Jr.: Drums, Vocals Davis Templeton: Guitars, Bass Mastered by Jay Matheson at the Jam Room in Columbia, SC. Follow Stonekind: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some Stonekind Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Stoner rock Sounds Like: Kal-El, Sasquatch, We Hunt Buffalo Homeland: Texas What makes Palm Reader elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Palm Reader impresses with its bold and crunchy fuzz, hitting all the right notes and offering a plethora of tremendous hooks Vocalist Ryan Garney exudes a powerful yet relaxed vibe that complements the music perfectly The production is spot on, showcasing HDQ's craftsmanship to create this stoner rock classic. It's a must-have on vinyl The production is spot on, demonstrating HDQ's skill in crafting this stoner rock classic. It's essential to have it on vinyl Make sure not to overlook their ongoing North America tour, as they are emerging as one of the top heavy bands to experience live Track Listing: 1. Ancient Aliens 5:24 2. Death Perception 4:23 3. Head Honcho 9:07 4. Palm Reader 4:40 5. Time Waster 4:52 6. Tuesday Night Blues 5:34 7. Solar Rain 9:01 Dive deeper into Palm Reader with our Q&A with vocalist Ryan Garney of High Desert Queen. OHMS Peak: Congratulations on the release of Palm Reader , it is a terrific follow-up to Secrets of the Black Moon . Upon first rotation, we instantly hear that signature High Desert Queen brand of stoner rock. You play with such raw emotion and every track hits with fuzzy grooves that stick with you. Take us through the making of this album and your psyche in putting such a heavy hitter together. Ryan Garney: Thank you. We are very happy with how the record came out. We went into the studio after touring Europe for 6 weeks with the legendary Fatso Jetson. We were working on songs like 'Ancient Aliens,' 'Head Honcho' and 'Solar Rain' a lot live getting those down. We decided we wanted to record the album live, not to a click track and with as few overdubs as possible. We took 6 completed songs into the studio and had 3 other ideas we were going to finish. However, the first day in the studio while we were setting up and getting levels, we wrote 3 songs that ended up making the record and we never got around to tracking some of the songs we were planning to. 'Palm Reader,' 'Death Perception' and 'Tuesday Night Blues' were all created in a few hours and we decided to track those to continue to give the album a "raw" and "live" feel to it. Another huge factor in this album was these are the first songs we wrote as a full band with this lineup together. The first record was more or less Rusty (guitar) and myself sending ideas back and forth and having Phil track drums and a friend of mine track bass. OHMS Peak: The vocal prowess of singer Ryan Garney is strong and distinct. How do you belt out such impressive notes while containing a chilled vibe? Ryan Garney:   This is a great question! Answering for myself will be difficult but I think it stems from the passion I have for the music. I am in no way an angry person and feel music is a great way to spread love and great vibes. Music is about emotion and I get very emotional about ideas I sing about. Sometimes those call for more aggressive notes even though I'm not an aggressive person. If art doesn't cause you to have an emotional response, it's not art. I'm the same way when I'm listening to other bands. I get very animated when I listen to music I enjoy. Luckily I really enjoy the music HDQ is creating too. OHMS Peak: The music on this album is thick and hits with so many ear worms. What backgrounds do you have as musicians that bring out this high level of talent? Ryan Garney: We all have different backgrounds. As far as myself, I've sung in several different bands in college but actually haven't had the chance to perform or jam with a band in over 15 years before HDQ. Life just kind of happened and I thought that part of my life was gone. I'm very glad it's not. Rusty has played in bands for decades. He's a big 80's metal guy and it shows in how he shreds, but we love that he's able to come up with some monster heavy riffs. Morgan is Rusty's daughter and has been raised with music. She may be the young one of our group but shes a music encyclopedia and more knowledgeable than the rest of us. She's been playing with School of Rock all through her life which has allowed her to be as skilled as she is. Phil has an extremely eclectic musical background. He's played in death metal bands, prog bands, doom bands, funk bands, country bands and everything in between. He does a lot of work in the studio as well. He's the one that gives us our groove. OHMS Peak: ‘Death Perception’ could be one of the best stoner rock duets we have heard. How did this collaboration with Gaupa vocalist Emma Naslund form? Ryan Garney: We love how this song came together. We met Emma and the rest of Gaupa when we played Fuzz Fest in Sweden. They are amazing people. We then got to hang out again when we both played DesertFest London. I got to talking to Emma and told her we were going to record when we got home and it would be great if she added vocals. She was excited to be a part. I had an idea to have her sing on a song we were taking into the studio. However, we wrote "Death Perception" in the studio and we immediately decided to send the song to Emma. She's too talented to make a "guest appearance" and she needed to be featured. It didn't take long for her to send back a vocal melody. She was just singing notes and not saying words. I however wrote words based on what it sounded like she was saying. Then we went back and forth to have the lyrics make sense as I already had the title and chorus written. I had so much fun working with Emma on that song. I hope we get to work together again in the future. OHMS Peak: The OhmsPeak team is excited to see you play Desertfest New York in September. As a performer, how do you compare playing in collaborative festivals versus your own intimate venue? Which band are you most excited to see while you’re not playing at the 3 day gala? Ryan Garney: We approach and perform every show the exact same way. It doens't matter if there's 20 people or 20,000 people. We all have the stroies of "I saw ____ in a room of 15 people and they brought it!" Those were some of the best moments as a fan and we keep that in mind. We will only be there for the day we play so I hope I get to see our good friends Hippie Death Cult. Plus we will watch Dozer who we will be on tour with and will want to check out Acid King, True Widow, Spaceslug, Gozu, Truckfighters, and whoever else we can find time to see! There will be some tough choices! OHMS Peak: High Desert Queen is a great name for a band, how did this come about and what does it represent? Ryan Garney: I actually created the band name with my brother Shay. You might know him as the Evil Band Manager in several of our music videos. I was brainstorming ideas and actually combined a few names I like together. He and I go out to the High Desert all the time. It's a magical place. The "Queen" signifies Mother Earth and who would rule over the High Desert. I'm just in love with that part of the world. I'm amazed life exists in a place where it shouldn't OHMS Peak: The album cover is very unique and colorful, we love the spaced-out neon sign theme. What was the inspiration for the artwork? Ryan Garney: We took more inspiration from the desert. We wanted something that reminds us of a hotel or casino you randomly see in the middle of nowhere after driving for hours on end. Our artist PabloRR (72826) nailed it. We also loved the colors. We figured those aren't colors you usually see from bands in our genre. OHMS Peak: High Desert Queen is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album do you ultimately agree to? Ryan Garney: I don't think there is any way we could just do one record! We all come from such different musical backgrounds. It's even a struggle in the van picking music everyone will agree on! So I will say for purposes of answering the question, that we would take our new record "Palm Reader" because it's something we are very proud of and each of our styles and influences comes out on the record. High Desert Queen are: Ryan Garney – Vocals Phil Hook – Drums Morgan Miller – Bass Rusty Miller – Guitar Follow High Desert Queen: HDQ.com / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some High Desert Queen Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Post-rock, Progressive rock Sounds Like: Hum, God is an Astronaut, Caspian Homeland: Sweden What makes All Things Shining elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Oh Hiroshima has returned with an impressive masterpiece showcasing immense brilliance in the realm of Post-rock Jakob and Oskar, as a duo, exhibit remarkable chemistry and patience, resulting in a beautifully heavy yet peaceful album All Things Shining is an album that appears to improve with each listen. It is filled with subtle nuances and intricate arrangements that help maintain its freshness The production is extensive and flawlessly embodies their vision. Owning it on vinyl is essential to fully appreciate the artistry Track Listing: 1. Wild Iris 5:15 2. Holiness Movement 5:36 3. Swans In A Field 5:23 4. Secret Youth 4:25 5. Rite of Passage 7:18 6. Deluge 4:18 7. Leave Us Behind 4:16 8. Memorabilia 7:08 Dive deeper into All Things Shining with our Q&A with Oh Hiroshima. OHMs Peak: Congrats on your 5th album, All Things Shining ; it is a post-rock juggernaut. This album continues to showcase your expansive sound and break the mold in the genre. We find this album gets even more pensive and melancholy. How has pairing the band down to the brotherly duo of Jakob and Oskar changed your process and the new landscapes you paint? Oh Hiroshima: Thanks! As this is our second album with just me and my brother behind the wheel, things actually felt familiar. Our first three albums were created with different band constellations. This album was also a continuation of the sound we explored with our previous record, Myriad , but pushed further. Of course, it’s different to write music as a duo. You have to work more with demos from home to properly arrange the tracks. OHMs Peak: We'd love to hear more about the name 'Oh Hiroshima,' how it came about, and what it represents. Oh Hiroshima: Our former guitarist, Leif Eliasson, who started the band as his solo project before inviting me early on, named the band. I think he just wanted something that felt emotional and dramatic, something that would match the sound we were interested in. It’s not just a lament over the bombing of Hiroshima, but over all human technological “progress” and actions that lead to great suffering. OHMs Peak: We noticed that Kristian Karlsson and Magnus Lindberg of Cult of Luna were involved in some of the album production. Are you very close with the band, and have you toured together before? Oh Hiroshima: We’ve never toured with them, but as a big CoL fan, I got in touch with both for the recording and mixing/mastering of our previous record, Myriad , as they are both very familiar with our kind of music. They are both really great at what they do, and Myriad turned out very well, so it was an easy choice to ask them to be part of creating All Things Shining as well. OHMs Peak: The cover art is beautiful and fitting for this album. The orange and greyscale waves are striking. Who is the artist, and is there a story behind this artwork? Oh Hiroshima: It was made by a guy named Wilson Trouvé. We just stumbled upon the artwork while writing All Things Shining and felt that it would be a very fitting cover for the album. So, we got in touch with him and bought it. It was kind of nice to have the front cover before we’d finished all the writing. I think it helped us a bit with direction. OHMs Peak: 'Rite of Passage' is such a powerful song with such dark angles and beautiful patience. It's the track that took the album to elite status for us. Take us through the meaning behind this track. Oh Hiroshima: The lyrics are a retelling of the short story Father and I written by Swedish author Pär Lagerkvist. I was reading a collection of short stories by Lagerkvist during the writing process and was very struck by the imagery of it. It was very personal. It’s a story about growing up, losing your innocence, and perhaps realizing that you are in charge of your life and how to make sense of it, which can be a harsh but necessary experience. OHMs Peak: Oh Hiroshima is stranded on an island with only a solar-powered turntable and majestic solar-powered Bluetooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album would ultimately be selected? Oh Hiroshima: That would be a tough one. I don’t know if we’d be able to make a decision, but I’m going to go ahead and say By The Grace of God by The Hellacopters. Some great, catchy, pick-me-up rock 'n' roll tunes. I think that would be the best kind of record for a desert island. Oh Hiroshima are: Jakob Hemström: Guitar/Vocals Oskar Nilsson: Drums Follow Oh Hiroshima: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some Oh Hiroshima Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Post-hardcore, Math rock Sounds Like: The Jesus Lizard, These Arms Are Snakes, Pissed Jeans Homeland: Colorado What makes Terrain elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Almanac Man return with a brilliantly layered album that catapults them into one of the top new math rock/post-hardcore bands today Innovative and heavy melodies with richly driven angled rhythms keeps this album churning and fresh Almanac Man are incredibly tight and cohesive, further showcasing thier unusual vision and chemistry The captivating and highly contagious vocal battle between Dooley and Picco continues to impress. The bass-work from Sean Dove feels influenced by the great Jesus Lizard and really elevates the album Track Listing: 1. Lotusland 4:13 2. Terrain 4:06 3. Smoke Signals 4:06 4. Grief Pool 4:49 5. Arrakis 3:28 6. Blue Gold 4:15 7. Unnerving 5:13 8. Until our creatures last light 5:19 Dive deeper into Terrain with our Q&A with Brian, Sean and Scott from Almanac Man. OHMs Peak: What a tremendous sophomore release. Terrain travels on a diverse mix of surfaces and we experience the expansion of your sound.  Terrain branches out into more melodic tones and elaborate contrast. We see a little softer side along with some more exploratory angles of Almanac Man here. Take us through your process on this album if you could. Brian: Several things with the world and the band changed after our first record “for your cause”.  Both the external influence of exiting a pandemic and the internal influence of adding a new friend and musician to the group.  A lot of the melody balance in the music came from those influences and exploring new tones and tunings.  Vocally, Scott and I, as a part of writing the vocals to two of the more melodic songs in the studio for “for your cause” felt like we stumbled on something that really stood out.  With the writing of Terrain we knew we were going to approach it that way from the start and explore our dual vocal attack further.   Sean: I’ve primarily been a guitarist before this band so this album was my first real experience writing and performing on bass. It was a fun challenge to be developing a style that suited me while also figuring out how to blend into the band’s existing sound. A major benefit of being a three-piece is having space to stand out so I mostly wanted to focus on giving Brian and Scott a foundation to go to different places with their instruments and voices. I’m a huge fan of bands like Torche and mclusky who are able to balance their heavy/noisiness with catchy melodic parts so I think I helped drive things in that direction a bit - there aren’t a lot of bands in the space we operate in who are going for “hooks” so it’s free real estate. Scott: I couldn’t agree more with Sean and Brian’s comments here. I would add that in previous bands I’ve always written the lyrics and vocal melodies in full and had them practiced to the point where I could drum and sing live before recording. I made an effort to try a lot of different melodies and phrasing with demo recordings while not playing drums to allow for a more focused attention to the vocal melodies and phrasing. I also leaned into harmonies and backups. Roughly 2/3rds of Terrain was recorded in full before I ever attempted to learn playing and singing the vocal parts at the same time. For me at least this was a major departure to how I’d approached this in the past. Brian and I also discussed approaches more per song and leaned into the twin vocal approach even more with this record. OHMs Peak: ‘Blue Gold’ Is our favorite of the lot with its anthemic harmonies and innovative math rock angles. Take us through the meaning along with the ‘water’ references ? Scott: The writing of the song was all music first. This song became the perfect vehicle for something I’d always wanted to do with a heavy, mathy rock song: to sneak a traditional ¾ waltz beat into a song! Luckily the rest of the guys were on board with it and this kind of led to all the other unique time shifts in the song. To me it ended up being quite different but doesn’t sound forced jumping between the time signatures. When it comes to the vocals and lyrics I usually start out with a general topic and then build from there. Perhaps it was moving to Denver in 2019 from Chicago and just getting a different perspective of how critical water is but that awareness living in a high desert + climate change led to me extrapolating out in time imagining a world in which water is the most critical possession. It for sure has a dystopian slant but to me it's really not too far fetched. I also felt it was an interesting juxtaposition to have a relatively catchy song, with almost dancy rhythms at points with a pretty heavy, bleak topic . OHMs Peak: What band would you love to tour with that would most compliment your sound ? Brian: We love to tour with all of our favorite bands we have the privilege of playing with each year.  All of our lifelong music friends that influence and compliment our sound and lives ! OHMs Peak: We so love the simplicity of the album name and also the prehistoric album art. Who came up with the artwork and what was your process of evaluation ? Sean: Morgan Robles (@MxMorgan) is a Seattle-based artist who I've followed for a while. I saw a tattoo commission they did a while back and reached out to see if they had any interest in doing album art. Morgan happened to like our music and was totally on board with working with us so I told them we'd reach back out once we were further along in the process. A few months later we were in the studio and started looking through their portfolio for some existing art that might fit the vibe when they happened to post that smilodon as a new piece. We were already circling the title and lyrical themes at that point and it just fit so well - gloomy and evocative without being generically “metal.” Morgan was very cool about adapting it and extending it for the back cover. It's a great piece and we've already gotten a ton of compliments on it. We really lucked out. Credit also to Scott’s wife Carly for handling the layout and presentation of the cover/sleeve. Brian: The simplicity of the name expanded beyond what was the second song title on the record.  Terrain to me represented something vast and open representing the sonic approach and the lyrical themes of the record fit an overall idea that we all share this vast, complex, crumbling land, and the art as Sean stated showed up in their portfolio and it was just perfect. OHMs Peak: You have amazing chemistry. How did Almanac Man come to form and how has Sean Dove assimilated with the team ? B rian: Almanac man came to form, when my previous band Laurium, was on its last legs.  Scott had moved to Denver and I knew of him from attending a prf event in chicago.  I asked him to start jamming to see if I wanted to start something new.  It evolved from Laurium disbanding eventually and became something entirely different.  I think the chemistry with us started from two “band dads” states of mind where we had the right amount of experience to let something grow organically.  Then with covid occurring it sort of made it this thing that was allowed to evolve without added distractions of trying to play out fast, which was a positive to improve the song writing.   Sean: I met Brian and Scott through our mutual friend Cory, who is the drummer for the excellent Moon Pussy. I had recently picked up bass to fill in on another friend's project and inadvertently started to really enjoy it. Cory and I had jammed a few times and he threw my name out when these guys were looking for a replacement for (previous bassist) Nick, who relocated after recording the last album. They obviously had an existing songwriting dynamic that I was happy to take a backseat to but this really was one of the most egalitarian, ego-free collaborative experiences I've ever had. There was a lot of overlap in our tastes and reference points so it felt like we spoke the same language from the jump. Scott: I’ll add that within 1-2 practices I could feel that tangible connection with drums and bass which is more chemistry than skill. Sean fit right in and it was pretty effortless at least from my point of view . OHMs Peak: We would love any insight behind the selection of your name and its origin . B rian:  Man you won’t love this answer but I bet I'm not alone.  I hate naming bands and ive actually never been in a band that i actually named except maybe high school, i forget, shout out Profane.  The name was given to me by my label partner in Bobby Johnson (TGIC RECS).  He had it stored around a while and told me to make something with it.  Since I'm a man of science and theory I figured cool enough let's go.  It now has sort of a fun context since our current lineup was all born the same week of the same year.   Scott: I’ll add that I simply came from the point of view of “Oh it's not already taken and it sounds ok off the tongue and isn’t too long? Let’s do it”. OHMs Peak: Almanac Man is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to? Scott: This is a near impossible question. I generally don’t love any band, album, or even musical style to make that selection the only thing I listen to forever.With that being said, we talked it over as a band and based on our tour listening rotation we would have to go with “My Dick’s Double Full Length” by the band My Dick based out of Ohio. Google it and enjoy the delectable ear worm that crawls into your brain oh so smoothly! OHMs Peak: Thank you for recommending My Dick... earworms galore! Almanac Man are: Sean Dove: Bass Scott Picco: Drums/Vox Brian Dooley: Guitars/Vox Follow Almanac Man: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Almanac Man Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Stoner rock, Heavy Psych Sounds Like: Kal-El, Psychlona, Sargeant Thunderhoof Homeland: Montreal, Quebec What makes Volume II elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Sons of Arrakis return with a euphoric album loaded with progressive riffs and scifi themes The production is precise and open, capturing their unique weight and creativity Frederic Couture's vocals lead the way with his clean and powerful hypnotic tone Volume II is filled with an abundance of technical stoner fuzz and features a variety of tempos that are constantly changing, providing a continuous stream of fresh heaviness Track Listing: 1. Scattering 3:47 2. High Handed Enemy 4:24 3. Beyond the Screen of Illusion 3:50 4. Interlude I 1:08 5. Retaliation 4:29 6. Metamorphosis 4:20 7. Blood for Blood 5:09 8. Interlude II :50 9. Burn Into Blaze 3:56 10. Caladan 1:30 Dive deeper into Volume II with our Q&A with Sons Of Arrakis. OHMs Peak: Volume II is an amazing follow-up to your debut and just keeps getting better each listen. What resonates with us most on this album is the anthemic sci-fi thickness. The melodies and depth are inspiring and never tire. Take us through some of the new approaches on the sophomore release and the tie-ins with Dune. Sons Of Arrakis: Thank you! For Volume II , we really wanted to take our sound further into that atmospheric sci-fi realm. Our debut laid the foundation with its heavy riffs and thematic nods to Dune, but with this album, we leaned more into world-building through sound. We incorporated more dynamic shifts, layered textures, and even introduced elements like slide guitar and synths to evoke a sense of space and vastness. Dune remains at the core of our concept—its themes of power, fear, and destiny resonate deeply. Tracks like "High Handed Enemy" and "Burn Into Blaze" explore the psychological aspects of those themes. We aimed to dive deeper into the themes, balancing both the epic and the personal aspects. We hope that this combination of scale and emotion gives Volume II its distinctive character . OHMs Peak: ‘High Handed Enemy’ has everything we want in a track. Brilliant contrast and heartfelt melancholy desperation layered with amazing fretwork. Take us through the meaning behind the track that touches upon mental anguish and near death . Sons Of Arrakis: "High Handed Enemy" is one of those tracks that came from a very introspective place. Lyrically, it delves into confronting deep fears and the struggle to push through dark mental states. The "enemy" in the title is really the internal one—the voice that amplifies doubt and despair. Musically, we wanted to mirror that emotional journey with mellow, haunting verses that build into explosive, harmonized choruses. The slide guitar, courtesy of Francis Duchesne, adds that haunting, almost otherworldly tone that really underscores the tension between melancholy and determination. It’s a song about finding reason amidst chaos and holding on to clarity when things feel overwhelming . OHMs Peak: What band would you love to tour with that would most complement your sound ? Sons Of Arrakis: There are a few bands we feel would really mesh with our vibe. A dream scenario would be touring with someone like Mastodon—there’s a similar love for combining storytelling with heavy riffs and intricate melodies. Elder would also be an amazing fit; they balance heaviness and atmosphere in a way that really aligns with what we’re doing. Of course, we’d never say no to sharing the stage with legends like Sleep, High on Fire or Gojira, who have been huge influences . OHMs Peak: We see the album art was created by Alexandre Goulet. The landscape is so fitting with your sound. How involved were you in the process, and did he listen to the album in advance ? Sons Of Arrakis: Alexandre Goulet is a master at capturing atmosphere through visual art, and we knew right away he’d be perfect for the task! We were involved in the process, discussing our vision and how we wanted the artwork to reflect the dark, imposing energy connected to the vibe of the album and the Dune universe. Alex is extremely knowledgeable about Dune—he’s read all the novels—so he understood the nuances we wanted to convey. I sent him the album before he started working on the artwork, and the result truly captures the mood of the music ! OHMs Peak: How did the name Sons of Arrakis come about? Would love to hear, and is it tied to the novel Dune? (apologies we are not rich in knowledge here) Sons Of Arrakis: Absolutely, the name is directly inspired by the Dune universe. "Sons of Arrakis" reflects our fascination with the grand scope of Frank Herbert’s work—the epic themes of power, survival, and the inevitability of change. Arrakis, the desert planet in Frank Herbert’s universe, is a symbol of harshness and resilience—a place where only the strong and resourceful can survive. We try to bring that spirit into our music. The name also carries a personal connection. My father was a huge fan of Dune and played a big role in helping me come up with the name when I started the project . Even if you’re not familiar with Dune, the name carries a sense of storytelling and struggle that we aim to reflect in our music OHMs Peak: Sons of Arrakis is stranded on an island with only a solar-powered turntable and majestic powered solar Bluetooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album would ultimately be selected ? Sons Of Arrakis: That’s a tough one! If we had to agree on just one, I think it would probably be Master of Reality by Black Sabbath. It’s a timeless record that still holds so much power and atmosphere, and it’s a foundational influence for us. The album's massive riffs and thick grooves perfectly capture the essence of heavy music, and there’s a primal, earthy vibe to it that would resonate perfectly in an isolated, raw environment like a deserted island. Master of Reality keeps us connected to the roots of everything we love about heavy music . Sons Of Arrakis are: Frederic Couture - Rhythm guitar & Vocals Francis Duchesne - Lead guitar & Keys Vick Trigger - Bass Mathieu Racine - Drums Follow Sons Of Arrakis: Bandcamp / Facebook / Sons Of Arrakis Grab some Sons Of Arrakis Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Hard rock, Stoner rock Sounds Like: 1000Mods, Howling Giant Homeland: Denver, Colorado What makes Blue City elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Hailing from Colorado, Abrams return with a euphoric blend of heavy technical riffs and shoegaze rock The production is precise and clear, perfectly capturing their vision and unique heaviness The harmonies between guitarist Zach Amster and bassist Taylor Iversen's vocals remain flawless, bringing their brand of heaviness to new heights From beginning to end, Blue City captivates and maintains its momentum. Its quality improves with each listen, almost becoming addictive. Before long, you'll discover yourself delving into their previous albums. Track Listing: 1.Tomorrow 4:20 2. Fire Waltz 4:14 3. Etherol 3:22 4. Lungfish 4:03 5. Wasting Time 4:38 6. Death Om 4:31 7. Turn It Off 3:18 8. Narc 4:40 9. Crack Aunt 5:06 10. Blue City 4:22 Dive deeper into Blue City with our Q&A with Abrams. OHMs Peak: We must say we didn’t think you could top In The Dark , yet Blue City turns into this absolute fucking masterpiece that we cannot get out of rotation. You play with such sincerity and every track has so much depth and comfort. It’s truly a therapeutic work of art. Can you take us through the making of this album and your psyche in putting such a beautiful piece together ? Abrams: Thanks for the kind words. With every record, our goal is to not repeat ourselves. We want to create something different while still keeping our natural "Abrams sound". It all happened pretty organically as we don't force ourselves to write a specific sound. Another way we changed it up was by going to a different producer/engineer. For Blue City we were lucky enough to record with Kurt Ballou and Zach Weeks at Godcity Studios . OHMs Peak: The OHMs Peak team is excited to see you play Desertfest New York in September. As a performer, how do you compare playing in collaborative festivals versus your own intimate venue? Which band are you most excited to see while you’re not playing at the 3 day gala ? Abrams: Festivals are a great way to play in front of potential fans who aren't familiar with us. So we always love the challenge. Also, just the guaranteed size of the crowd is comforting. Our headline shows across the country are hit or miss, naturally. While its fun to play in front of 30 people in a tiny dive bar, we like the big stages! I am most excited to see High on Fire. I am bummed to miss True Widow and Acid King since they are the next day but we have another show elsewhere . OHMs Peak: While every track delivers in a big way, there’s something within 'Lungfish' that really hits home. It is such an emotional and melancholy track builds to inspiration. We would love to hear more about the meaning behind the track and how it came about . Abrams: Lungfish just missed the cut for In The Dark as it was written right before we hit the studio for those sessions. I think it was kind of a blessing since we got to develop it a little bit more and we really love how it turned out from the Godcity sessions. I am a sucker for slow burn songs that just build and build. I think this song does a great job of that. The title was selected because the initial guitar riff reminded me of the DC Kraut Punk band Lungfish would play. It provides a really cool imagery that captures the vibe of the music . OHMs Peak: The simplistic title in ‘Blue City’ and equally peaceful album cover are so fitting. Is it a Colorado based photo? How did this peaceful aesthetic come together ? Abrams: We have worked with artist Samantha Muljat for a couple of records and she absolutely nails it. I would send her the album with the lyrics accompanied with a short description of the theme and she just comes back with perfection. She lives in the PNW and took the shot at an abandoned army base ! OHMs Peak: How did the name Abrams come about and what does it represent ? Abrams: Nothing honestly. It was the only thing we could agree on . OHMs Peak: Abrams is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album do you ultimately agree to ? Abrams: Love this question. Bubblegum by Mark Lanegan gets played a lot in the van. BUT if it were one song, it'd be the greatest song of all time In 'The Fade' by QOTSA off of Rated R. Abrams are: Zach Amster - Guitars and Vox Taylor Iversen - Bass and Vox Ryan DeWitt - Drums Graham Zander - Guitar Follow Abrams: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some Abrams Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Stoner rock, Psychedelic rock Sounds Like: Slomosa, Mammoth Volume, Howling Giant Homeland: Germany What makes Tempest elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? The trio from Germany delivers a cutting-edge album that transports us to the stoner rock era of the 90s, while incorporating a modern psychedelic vibe The production of Tempest is not overdone and has somewhat of a live studio sound The vocals are mostly clean and gritty with terrific harmonies, complementing the music beautifully The last two songs 'Burst' and 'Xanadu' bring a more stoner punk vibe to the album. Reminiscent of the late 90s stoner band Chrome Locust, it's a great subtle shift in direction Track Listing: 1. The Path 5:04 2. Hypnosis 4:54 3. Wait 6:37 4. Confined 5:16 5. Tempest 7:35 6. Glow 5:56 7. Burst 2:34 8. Xanadu 6:09 Dive deeper into Tempest with our Q&A with Guitarist / Vocalist Mateusz Pietrzela from Juke Cove. OHMs Peak: Tempest delivers in a big way. You guys infuse so much detail and diverse angles that you appeal to punk and stoner/doom fans across the board. Take us through your process on this album and how it branches from the brilliance of Remedy ? Mateusz: Thanks, that’s cool to hear! True, we all have different musical backgrounds and influences. Maxim likes garage rock, surf rock and sludgy doom, Dima more psych and 70s rock and I (Mateusz) am into hardcore/punk and grunge so all those influences come out and try to get into the music during our writing process. So we’re not aiming at imitating any band, just bringing our ideas, jamming on them and trying to make the best out of them together. In comparison to Remedy , we put more effort into finalizing the songs and the recording process. Whereas previous albums we recorded DIY, this time our friend Arvid (who’s playing guitar and singing in an awesome band called “War") helped us out with recording and production . OHMs Peak: The title track ‘Tempest’ is an absolutely impeccable track. The soothing intro and built up fury and punk hardcore influences really resonate. Take us through the meaning behind the track and it being the central theme . Mateusz: Imagine that you’re on a small ship on an open sea when everything gets silent, air pressure drops and you see majestic dark clouds approaching. What do you do? What do you do in the middle of the storm? What happens when things start getting out of control? So, on the metaphorical level this song deals with the role of chance and random or chaotic events in our lives and how we can deal with it. In the context of the whole album we decided that “Tempest” fits also well with the chaotic and energetic character of our songs. So, there are clouds approaching, rain, wind, lightnings, clear-ups and all the related feelings throughout our album and Tempest as the album title encapsulates it all. It’s also probably the most outstanding song . OHMs Peak: What band would you love to tour with that would most compliment your sound . Mateusz: It’s different for each of us. If we talk about bigger names, Maxim would like to tour with Belzebong or Weedeter, Dima Weedpecker or Motorpsycho, for me it would be probably Fu Manchu or Lowrider. We can all agree though that Red Mess, War, Aptera and Tønda are a couple of awesome bands based in Germany that would be a great fit for us for a common tour . OHMs Peak: We see the album art was created by Groppler and Van Rein of Doomed Creations. The intricacies and detailed beautiful color scheme so fit with your bands aura. How involved were you in the process and selection ? Mateusz: In 2022 we played a show in Rostock in North Germany. It was a really awesome crowd and atmosphere. After our show a couple approached us to chat a bit and buy some merch and it turned out they were the poster designers for the show. We all loved the poster so we asked right away if they wanted to design our next album cover and they agreed. So working with Doomed Creations was an awesome process in which we were involved from the beginning. We are really satisfied with the result and of course recommend Doomed Creations to all the bands seeking help with artwork for their next album or merch ! OHMs Peak: How did the name Juke Cove come to form and what’s the meaning/background ? Mateusz: It was by chance! We were sick of coming up with names so we just drew two words at random and it turned out to be juke and cove. We liked how it looks and sounds and thought that it actually fits pretty well with the vibe of our music . OHMs Peak: Juke Cove is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to ? Mateusz: Toke - Orange Juke Cove are: Mateusz Pietrzela - Guitar/Vocals Dima Ogorodnov - Bass/Vocals Maxim Balobin - Drums Guitar solos on "Confined" & "Xanadu" by Phil Follow Juke Cove: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some Juke Cove Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Progressive Metal, Sludge Sounds Like: Third Rail, Hypergiant, Mountainwolf Homeland: Vancouver What makes To Slow Death and Fast Riffs elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Members of Astrakhan unleash a new concept in Brugada, with contributions from Kevin Keegan of Dead Quiet and Jeff Radomsky of Neck of the Woods Speedy fretwork layered with thick sludge make for a unique and engaging album that heats up with each listen Exceptionally diverse vocals throughout with the perfect blend of echo and ferocity The closer ‘Superfish’ hits the pinnacle of beauty, just an epic onslaught of sonic bliss The album hits elite stature for its intricate riffs and absorbing melodic ways. From a Banger entrance to the wild vision of ‘Sniper’ and ‘Bossfight’ Track Listing: 1. Bangar 18 4:01 2. Return to Bangar 3:36 3. Bossfight 3:03 4. Spaceman 3:11 5. Sniper 4:28 6. Chuck 3:24 7. Skin and Blood 4:18 8. Over the Hill 2:01 9. A Nod to Process 2:58 10. Superfish 6:58 Dive deeper into To Slow Death and Fast Riffs with our Q&A with Brugada. OHMs Peak: Your debut album has absolutely floored us from start to finish. Just incredible from all aspects of fretwork to percussion and vocals. The chemistry you folks have is very apparent. Tell us a little bit about your history and prior bands. We reviewed Astrakhan back in 2018 and we’re big fans as well? Brugada: That's good to hear! Adam and I were founding members of Astrakhan. We started working on Brugada pretty much right after our the last show. Kevin, our drummer, is from an awesome tech death band called The Hallowed Catharsis. We had a shared jam space and figured we'd ask him to mess around on this project. Kael and I had spent years in a previous project that didn't do much as far as output beside some touring/gigging, and an obscure EP. OHMs Peak: 'The album title To Slow Death and Fast Riffs speaks volumes to the beauty of contrast. While the album is heavy and intense, there are so many different elements, change ups and variety throughout. What other bands do you get your influences from? Brugada: I was pretty influenced by 80's thrash, and more techy sort of punk stuff. Megadeth, Metallica were big ones. Propaghandi, NOFX, A Willhelm Scream some others. Then also mathy stuff like Battles, Redneck Manifesto, And So I watch you from Afar. Also sludgy stuff like Mastodon, High on Fire, Neurosis, Baroness, Isis. A blender of that. OHMs Peak: 'Superfish’ is an incredible track, and perhaps one of our favorites off the album. The first minute takes us back to the early 90s with one of our favorite bands, Last Crack, then morphs into absolute intense brilliance. We would love to hear more about the meaning and theme of this song. Brugada: My concept for this record was creating something cohesive based on lyrical lines lifted from Steven Speilberg films. I began the writing process of each song by choosing a line I liked from one of these films then contextualizing and seeing where that led. The line I used for Superfish was from Close Encounters of the Third Kind ("the sun came out at night, and sang to him" is the line specifically). The song concept examines the rift between Cain and Abel in the bible and places God's influence and meetings with them in terms of an alien presence like in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It's also an allegory for the break up of Astrakhan, as well as just general conflict between people that evolves from a misalignment of integrity. OHMs Peak: The collaboration on 'Skin and Blood' with Dead Quiet frontman Kevin Keegan is a terrific addition. Can you tell us how this came about? Brugada: Keegs is one of my best buds. I love his voice, and writing, so just wanted him to do something on the record, cause why not. All the features on the records are friends, and singers I like in our scene! OHMs Peak: Your album cover is certainly eye-catching with its suggestive image. We would love to hear more about the creation of the cover? Brugada: I wanted to take something super not metal, and make it feel metal. Subvert the concept of a metal cover. Fruit doesn't seem metal, so that's what I went with. I guess it just looks like genitalia, but that wasn't intentional haha. OHMs Peak: Brugada is stranded on a remote island with only a solar powered record player and a boatload of fruit. You can only choose one album to play during your entire stay. What album would the band collectively choose? Brugada: Hopefully this Brugada album hahaha. I don't think we could decide on one mutual album that we all like. I think our tastes go in pretty diff directions. Brugada are: Rob Zawistowski Kevin Emms Adam Young Mikael Koltek Guest Vocals: Twitchy Claire Carreras on 'Return to Bangar' Devon Motz on 'Spaceman' Kevin Keegan on 'Skin and Blood' Jeff Radomsky on 'A Nod to Process' Follow Brugada: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Brugada Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Stoner rock, Heavy psych, Doom Sounds Like: Red Scalp, Pallbearer, Kataonia Homeland: Switzerland What makes Lucifer Giant elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? The debut of Lucifer Giant is truly timeless. This exceptional piece of work will guide you on a soothing exploration of expansive heavy soundscapes The vocals have a soft and ethereal quality, reminiscent of the soothing tone of Katatonia's lead singer, Jonas Renkse Each song possesses a similar tone and vibe, creating a vast and immersive journey into doom The impressive album cover encapsulates the essence and complexity of the album, inviting you into their heavy psychedelic world Track Listing: 1. Lucifer 6:17 2. Monuments 10:22 3. Acid Dream 7:05 4. Miles Deep Well 9:14 5. Crimson Curtains 7:43 6. Ghost 8:33 Dive deeper into their debut album with our Q&A with Lucifer Giant. OHMs Peak: We can’t get this out of rotation, your debut is absolutely cathartic and healing. You hit majestic heights as this album encompasses the perfect blend of heavy and beauty. Sigrist and Flury deliver one of the best vocal performances of the year. We would love to hear more about the band’s background and how you started. Were you in other projects together? Any insights to your formation we would love to hear? Lucifer Giant: First, many thanks for all the words of praise. We are overwhelmed by the positive reactions we are getting, mostly from abroad, to our release. The mixture of heavy and beauty that you mentioned most likely stems from our diverse musical backgrounds. Although we've all known each other since we were teenagers, we've always been active in different bands, some of which couldn't be further apart in terms of genre. When we started writing music together five years ago, Sigrist and Remo had been in a band together since they were teenagers. Avi and Matt, who also had their first band together when they were 14, were jamming together again after a long break and Andy, who they have all known since they were teenagers, played bass in a local rock band. OHMs Peak: Your debut has a different feel than many of the psychedelic doom encounters we have. Your work is one that catapults the listener into this expansive heartfelt atmosphere of despair. It conjures so many beautiful images of mountainsides and open air. Take us through the writing process and setting in making this album? Lucifer Giant: Perhaps these images come from the fact that we all grew up in the idyllic Bernese Oberland, on Lake Thun, surrounded by mountains. The nature here is truly beautiful and certainly has a great influence on our creative work. Despite all this beautiful nature and idyll, we are no strangers to setbacks, losses, physical and mental illnesses. They are part of life and as far as Sigrist and Matt's songwriting is concerned, they both dive into the dark abysses of life again and again. The mixture of these probably led us to the sound we play now. Most of the time our songs start with a riff, an idea or a concept from Sigu or Matt, which the two of them then work out together and then play with the full line-up in the loop until the whole thing takes shape. Not to forget Remo Häberli from Hidden Stash Studio in Bern, who gave our sound the finishing touches with his production. OHMs Peak: What bands over the years have influenced your sound? We hear hints of Red Scalp and Katatonia, but only splashes. Lucifer Giant: Our songwriting is influenced by many bands from different genres. All of us like bands like Rezn, Elder, Elephant Tree or Masters Of Reality. But we try not to force ourselves into a frame and basically just play what is right for us. OHMs Peak: There is not a flaw in this album but if we had to pick a favourite (gun to our heads) it might be ‘Monuments’. It’s ten minutes of epic songwriting and solemn synth. The vocals and how you accentuate phrases is so powerful. Take us through the concept and making of this track. Lucifer Giant: When Matt started writing Monuments, his idea was to write something epic sounding with a driving melody that pulled straight forward. Initially the song consisted of three riffs that we jammed repeatedly, which was so much fun that the rest developed organically on its own. At one point the song was even over ten minutes long, so we cut it down again and only kept the essential parts. Our concept is not to co-curate the instruments with the vocals but to embed the vocals into the overall picture in a similar way to the instruments. That's why the lyrics are repeated like the riffs in the song. OHMs Peak: The album cover is so fitting to your sound. Who created and drove the artwork? Lucifer Giant: All our artworks so far are from our longtime good friend Philippe Jeanquartier. Shortly after he heard us for the first time, he had already illustrated and printed a shirt design for us on his own initiative, which we all really liked. From the very beginning we had the feeling that he absolutely understood how to capture the idea of our music visually. The reference to the cover artwork was created during a rainy hike in October and shows the black monk. A mountain that is in the bernese jungfrau massif. It quickly became clear to us that this image suited our music, and that Philippe was the right person to visualize it. OHMs Peak: How did your name come about? Any story behind the selection of Lucifer Giant? Licifer Giant: It may sound boring, but the name came with the music. We had some songs and recorded them in our own studio with an old tape machine. Under influence of some substances, we then decided to name the band Lucifer Giant. We chose Lucifer because it is a tragical figure, got banned from heaven and created his own hell. He made his choices and had to live with the consequences, like we did in our lives. The Giant we chose, because we loved the vision of a big and slow giant living in the mountains, listening to our sound. OHMs Peak: Lucifer Giant is stranded on an island with only a solar powered turn table and majestic powered solar blue tooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album to you agree to? Licifer Giant: That’s a tough one to answer, because we have such different influences in music. There are so many great records that changed music for us and for everyone. But Lucifer Giant was born while listening to Sleep, so maybe that’s a sign. Lucifer Giant are: Simu Sigrist - Guitar, Vocals Matt Flury - Guitar, Vocals Remo - Synth, Backing Vocals Avi Moser - Drums Ändu Feuz - Bass Follow Lucifer Giant: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Lucifer Giant Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Punk, Hardcore Sounds Like: Terror, Sick Of It All Homeland: Birmingham, UK What makes We Need You To Bleed elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Flesh Creep deliver the perfect dose of punk hardcore in just under 20 minutes with this latest release The 10 tracks blend perfectly as the UK natives infuse a wild flurry of varying tempos and creative melodies Further we get a pleasant surprise as 'Insect Politics' treats us to a collaborative performance with short straw and Evie Thresher Do not let this dark album cover fool you, It actually drew us into the band. For anyone who fancies bands like early Norma Jean, Terror or Sick of it All, this is right up your alley Track Listing: 1. Gold 2:02 2. Heads Will Roll 2:06 3. Like Dogs 1:50 4. Bleed Out 1:59 5. False Flag 1:58 6. Insect Politics 1:33 7. Turf War 1:40 8. Yellow Tape 1:06 9. Video Nasty 2:00 10. Wetwork 2:16 Dive deeper into We Need You To Bleed with our Q&A with Vocalist Tom Bienkowski of Flesh Creep. OHMs Peak: We Need You To Bleed is 18 minutes and 37 seconds of punk brilliance coated with pure adrenaline and doses of classic hardcore angles. Would love to hear more about your recording process and vision for the creation of this album? Tom: The record was recorded over the course of a month or so at KK’s Steel Mill with our long time collaborator and good friend Thom (of the excellent band The Big Hell). People who are more interested in marketing than actual music will often tell you that it’s a ‘singles market’ right now and that albums are irrelevant, but quite frankly: creating something long form was what we wanted to do at the time and I think I speak for everyone when I say we value satisfying ourselves creatively than any kind of ‘strategy’. OHMs Peak: Tell us about the history of the band. How did you form and would love to hear more about your background in other bands prior to Flesh Creep? Tom: I used to play guitar in a band called Dutch, Our bass player Jack was in a rock band called Dead Slow, and our guitarist Sam (and now our new drummer Jim) played in hardcore punk act Golden Deathmask. We used to play shows together and once they was a gap in all of our schedules we decided to join forces on something raw and dramatic. Matt and Dan (guitarist and drummer, respectively) both joined without us having heard them play but the chemistry was undeniable from the first practice. OHMs Peak: What bands over the years have influenced this rhythmical fueled punk train that is Flesh Creep. Tom: This is an answer that could and would differ greatly depending on who in the band you’d asked. In light of this I’ll answer only for myself. My biggest lyrical influences in the hardcore sphere are Sam McPheeters of Born Against and Chris Colohan of Left for Dead/Cursed/Sect etc. Both manage to present nuanced arguments that are at the same time hard hitting and poetic. Outside of that, I consider REM’s ‘document one’ to be one of the most incisive political records of the 80’s without trying to be ‘brutal’ like more typical punks of the era. OHMs Peak: ‘Insect Politics' stands out with the collaboration with shortstraw and Evie Thresher. It's an amazing tune that has us yearning for more. Can you provide a glimpse into how this song came about. Tom: We first met Evie and Erin when we opened for The Chisel in 2021 and since then I’m proud to say they’ve become some of my closest friends. I’m constantly amazed and inspired by both of them and when it came to making this record, it wouldn’t have felt complete without ‘em. OHMs Peak: The album cover portrays an almost uncomfortable feel. Not sure what is going on in the photo? Can you elaborate on the creation of album art? Tom: Again, The cover is a collaboration between our friends Niamh and Kayleigh, both of whom were super proud to know, let alone be in a position to work with. The band photo on the back of the sleeve was taken by our pal Tom also, so the whole layout feels like a celebration of the amazing talent we are surrounded by in our circle. OHMs Peak: Flesh Creep is stranded on a desert island with only a solar powered turntable and majestic solar powered speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album… what album would it be? Tom: This is very much easier said then done so I’ll be diplomatic… one of our fondest band memories was getting a call to open for Terror with a few hours notice (and I myself was coming home from holiday so had to taxi straight from the airport to the venue) but we still managed to pull off a set we were all very proud of. So I’ll choose their debut ‘lowest of the low’ as a reminder of some good times. Flesh Creep are: Tom: Vocals Matt: Guitar Sam: Guitar Jack: Bass Dan: Drums Follow Flesh Creep: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Flesh Creep Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Heavy rock, Stoner rock, Progressive Sounds Like: Baroness, Heavy Temple, Familiars Homeland: Dortmund, Germany What makes Perception elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? The latest offering from Germany's heavy psych trio is one of the more original albums to bless our speakers this year Perception is a complex and tight album. The music transitions effortlessly from borderline doom to stoner and progressive rock. It's a whirlwind of different genres that come together perfectly. The chemistry between all three members is flawless The duet compositions between guitarist Ben and bassist Linda is incredible. It's something you do not hear very much or at all in heavy music Scorched Oak are progressing with each release. Their brand of heaviness is very unique as we look forward to where they are heading Track Listing: 1. Delusion 8:21 2. Mirrors 7:28 3. Relief 4:50 4. Echoes 5:52 5. Reflection 5:13 6. Oracle 8:00 7. Wizard (Bonus track) 5:50 Dive deeper into Perception with our Q&A with Guitarist / Vocalist Ben from Scorched Oak. OHMs Peak: Your prowess in delivering some of the best duet compositions heavy music has ever seen is enthralling. We find it comforting and the back and forth banter rivals any Kenny Loggins or Kenny Rogers duet. Tell us about how you construct such great harmonies and unique chemistry within your song structure? Ben: We put a lot of time into fine tuning. So while we are writing we record all the ideas and try different variations until everyone is satisfied. This is kind of a golden rule too, if some of us is not satisfied with any part it will be reworked. For now in the end it was always worth the effort. So it‘s quite a lot trial and which takes some time. OHMs Peak: The album seems to touch upon dark, fantasy dream-like sequences. Where do you get your creative influences from? Ben: We love to keep our songs very dynamic, therefore you find a lot of up and downs in our songs in several variants. Like one instrument pauses, the tempo or the volume varies or both. In our opinion this keeps the quite lengthy songs still interesting. Fun fact, we are not able to write just simple straight forward songs. We tried it several times but always ended up with longer, more complex songs. So this was kinda the prologue for your question… For the creative influences though I can mainly speak for myself though we write most of the songs together, where everyone puts his ideas in. For me, I listen to music all the time, in the car, at home or at work and I love and need variety. When I‘m at work I prefer to listen to instrumental music which helps me to focus. Often this will be a movie soundtrack which I think has often an influence on the stuff I‘m writing and the ideas I get since soundtrack music is composed quite different compared to rock music. The other thing that gets me going is hiking. I don‘t know exactly what it is but it works almost every time getting some ideas out there. OHMs Peak: What's behind the bonus track 'Wizard?' We noticed it has a more playful and different vibe than rest of the album. It definitely is an earworm. Ben: The reason that Wizard sounds different is, that is was written in a time when we were a 4 piece with two guitars. The song was part of our first EP which was released in 2018, so I think we wrote it around 2016/2017. The whole EP sounds quite different compared to our full length Albums. So I think the main factors here are the early stage of the band and the two guitars. Adrian had to leave the band at some point because of health issues (don’t worry he is fine). Though we wanted to keep this song and had to rearrange it slightly. And here we are. OHMs Peak: Can you provide a glimpse into the name of your band (Scorched Oak)? It's unusual and a cool name? Ben: Even if the answer might be a bit disappointing or boring, but there is absolutely no fancy story behind it. We needed a name and tried to avoid the super cliché ones in the scene. OHMs Peak: The album cover is very unique. Would love to get more insight behind the creation? Ben: As you may have noticed this is a bit of a concept album. It works best for us to have a golden thread while working so we can build everything around this. Not to tight so, since we still want to flexible especially for the musical part. So since every song is more or less a part of Perception we wanted to have this shown in the artwork as well. So we asked our designer Maciej Kamuda to add some optical illusions and referenced the Maurits Cornelius Escher Stairs to him and that‘s the result. But we are lovers of much detail so we wanted the back different but still fitting to the front. You might see some similarities to Howl‘s Moving Castle here. OHMs Peak: Scorched Oak is stranded on an island with only a solar powered record player. The entire band must agree to only 1 album to have during your stay… what album is it? Ben: I think we all agree that this would be the self titled album of Red Fang. This thing is just one of the greatest ever. Scorched Oak are: Linda-Bass, Vocals Ben-Guitar, Vocals Freed-Drums Written and arranged by Scorched Oak Produced by Scorched Oak and Robin Stirnberg Engineered by Ben Plochowietz and Robin Stirnberg Mixed by Robin Stirnberg Mastered by Esben Willems at Studio Berserk Cover artwork and layout design by Maciej Kamuda Follow Scorched Oak: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some Scorched Oak Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Heavy rock, Stoner rock, Metal Sounds Like: Witchskull, Saint Vitus Homeland: Australia What makes House of Solomon elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? We will follow Marcus De Pasquale to our graves. His vocal style is brilliantly distinct and entrancing and has pioneered two of our favorite bands in Looking Glass and Witchskull Pasquale continues his winning workaholic ways with Hekate, another Australian gem. The band’s second release House of Solomon is a warhorse of an album loaded with anthemic power-chords but also containing a rich heartfelt underpinning of warmth and texture This release amps up the production from start to finish. ‘Cold’ pulls us in with its despair and slurred angst, but we are floored by the crisp bass-work the song delivers.‘Trip Wire’ takes things to a whole new level with its grinding anthemic riffs, Pasquale is angelic on this track What ensues is unwavering excellence in every track up through the chilling closer in ‘Arctic Tern’ painting a powerful landscape of sonic bewilderment House of Solomon is a mighty impressive piece of work making our quest to get Marcus De Pasquale performing within the United States in any form all the more essential. As Desertfest New York City continues to round out its lineup in the coming months we implore you to please give this album a listen and all that Marcus De Pasquale has done. These folks need a direct flight to share their brilliance with the United States of America. Track Listing: 1. Intro 0:14 2. Cold 3:46 3. To the River 2:36 4. Trip Wire 3:10 5. Goat of the Sabbath 5:03 6. Cordelia 4:46 7. For All Your Sins 4:14 8. House of Solomon 2:53 9. Arctic Tern 6:07 Dive deeper into House Of Solomon with our Q&A with Guitarist / Vocalist Marcus De Pasquale from Hekate. OHMs Peak: Would love some additional insight behind the innerworkings behind your name ‘Hekate’. Our understanding is that ‘Hecate’ spelled a bit differently connotates the goddess of witchcraft. Was this intentional as an extension of Witchskull? Where does all the intrigue behind the occult and witchcraft stem? Marcus: The name is used by a few different artists, we don't care though, it's a name I've had in my mind for a long time. I like it with the K. because the word Heka is Ancient Egytian , God of Magick, primordial God from the Old Dynasty. So I like that little fusion. Hekate is such a cool Goddess. I have a theory that The Statue Of Liberty is actually Hekate, or something very close to her in representation. Apparently the guy actually got the design from a necropolis in southern Eygpyt, Nubia. And Hekate is the Goddess of Necropolis'. But this all speculative. OHMs Peak: House of Solomon is a tremendous follow-up to Sermons to the Black Owl both are beloved by our team here and constantly in heavy rotation. We noticed this release pulls in more vivid production and more biblical references. Take us through the concept and creation.? Marcus: The concept as always was to deliver a well rounded, full palette various textures and dynamics and approach only what the song requires devoid of any superfluous baggage. It's hard to please everyone. We're massive Sabbath and Vitus fans, but what is required in high art is the bypassing of conscious thoughts, and to get close to the psychic reactor where instincts and reflexes originate. Sabbath is in our DNA so that aesthetic is always going to be prevalent. Music that grooves and flows, with a high emphasis on vocal melodies and strong choruses. Being aware of when and when not to play, and what volume were playing at in any given moment, allowing it be breath and become buoyant. I kept thinking I want lush purple tinged grooved based sounds, really intense. I thought the guys absolutely did exceptional jobs recording it. Ash and I live in Canberra and Nathan and Jay live in Sydney,  so we have to travel a lot, which shows a good commitment,  we all live to play music. We used to bring full demo songs in. But lately we've just let the song slowly grow through jamming and trying to be minimal and fully focus on the groove aspect. The overall vocals with melodies come  pretty quickly, for me I need a good melody first and then try and smooth it out and bring a strong dream like narrative. We don't rush the process. We just let the song slowly appear. I had the title for a while in my mind. OHMs Peak: ‘Trip Wire’ is one of our favorite tracks. Tremendous grinding riffs and 70s Sabbath reflection. What is the meaning behind this track? Such despair, we were wondering the connectivity with “when the trip wire’s calling its color blue” in particular. Marcus: Man thank you all so much!. Trip Wire is a lot different from anything we've done before. The dynamic from the tension,  release, is a strong fundamental of it. The vocalist needs to be vulnerable and real. And i like that aspect of it. I kept thinking, it's about people saying goodbye to each other. Or it's like the Trip wire is connected to an explosion and it's one of those landmine situations. I like things vague and have the option of being interpretated in different ways, which are personal to each listener. OHMs Peak: Any plans to tour the United States? How far out has Hekate branched? We would love to get you in some venues within the Boston/New England area. Marcus: Yes would love to come over sometime!! That would be a dream come true. Hopefully in the future we can map something out. OHMs Peak: Loving the artwork on both of your albums. Who created? Would love to hear more about the selection and temptress profile? Marcus: It's our good friend Lisa Engeman. She's done both album lay outs. She is extremely gifted with her Art and approach to Life. Amazingly beautiful and inventive person. and she is a real practising Witch. Who is deeply involved in the work. OHMs Peak: Hekate is stranded on a desert island with only a solar powered turntable and majestic solar powered speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album… what album would it be? Marcus: It's not a hard choice.. it's Paranoid!. Hekate are: Marcus De Pasquale: Vox, Guitar, Keys Ashley Byron: Guitar Mal Lloyd: Bass Nathan Millett: Drums Follow Hekate: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Hekate Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Psychedelic doom Sounds Like: UFOMAMMUT, Russian Circles, Domkraft Homeland: Berlin, Germany What makes Hush elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? The return of Germany's heavy psych duo hits with 16 mind numbing tracks of trippy industrial doom The production on Hush is unique. It has this overlaying echoed industrial feel, almost as if it were recorded live in a well or dungeon. The bass and drums have this grand spacious sound The sludge fueled vocals blend in beautifully to the music, almost sounding like another instrument Sabine and Jan have such amazing chemistry. Listening to previous albums and this new masterpiece, GRIN seem to progress and explore new boundaries for the doom genre Track Listing: 1. Hush 3:33 2. Calice 3:03 3. Gatekeeper 2:54 4. Midnight Blue Sorrow 1:20 5. Talons 1:37 6. Portal 3:45 7. Neon Skies 2:57 8. Vortex 1:45 9. Silver 3:05 10. Pyramid 1:38 11. Deathbringers 2:18 12. Nothingness 2:19 13. Venom 2:16 14. Eyes Like Daggers 3:31 15. The Tempest of Time 2:11 16. Torre del Serpe 2:17 Dive deeper into Hush with our Q&A with Guitarist / Vocalist Jan Oberg from GRIN. OHMs Peak: Your past albums have been an onslaught of psychedelic sludge. With Hush, it seems you injected industrial and black metal influences into the mix. It's a refreshing direction and impressive range for the band. Can you provide a glimpse into the writing process and recording behind Hush? Jan: We actually always write the bass lines first and don't really think about the direction in which the songs should develop beforehand. On "HUSH" we also have 6 songs from the "BLACK NOTHINGNESS" EP, which at the time had no guitars, just drums, bass and vocals. And it's really interesting how the mood of these reworked songs changes instantly just by adding some spacey guitars. In the end, we simply look at what goes well with the songs or what is still missing, that's how we do it every time. This industrial influence wasn't that obvious to us, but in retrospect we notice it a little too. OHMs Peak: 'Venom' is otherworldly. The tribal rhythm offers a unique landscape. Where did the inspiration to create this song come from? Jan: VENOM was written last and with the track we wanted to break out of the typical pattern in the doom/sludge genre, just like with the title track HUSH. Plus, the drums were actually already finished for all the tracks and I was too lazy to mike everything again, haha. So we came up with this beat on the congas and thought it could work and now it's one of our favorite songs on the album and it also works great live.. OHMs Peak: 'Neon Skies' and ‘Vortex’ are perhaps our favorite tracks. 'Neon Skies' with its warm melodies and Type-O-Negative vibe. Vortex pulls us into post-rock territory. While these two tracks are on the shorter side, we encourage you to bleed them together live. Take us through the creation of these gems. Jan: Type-O-Negative was definitely one of my favorite bands back then and that probably still shines through sometimes. On our last album that was mentioned a few times, but it's not really intentional on our part. Merging these two tracks live is definitely an interesting idea. OHMs Peak: The album cover is very unique. Would love to get more insight behind the creation? Jan: Mirkow Gastow, an artist from Berlin, is responsible for the artwork. He had several suggestions for us and that was the design that actually visually perfectly reflected what our album sounds like. He did it incredibly well. The design, the choice of colors, the oversized logo, that really makes it an eye-catcher. Good job again Mirkow! OHMs Peak: Grin is stranded on an island with only a solar powered record player. The entire band must agree to only 1 album to have during your stay… what album is it? Jan: That's a very difficult question, but we would take Tom Petty - Wildflowers with us. A fantastic album from start to finish and it suits the desert island very well, if also a few bottles of Pina Colada washed up on the beach we could stay there for a while. GRIN are: Sabine Oberg – Bass Guitar Jan Oberg – Drums, Vocals, Guitars, Soundscapes Guitar solo on PORTAL performed by Caspar Orfgen (DAEVAR) Produced, mixed and mastered by Jan Oberg at HIDDEN PLANET STUDIO / Berlin Artwork & Layout by Mirkow Gastow Follow GRIN: Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram Grab some GRIN Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Hard rock, Grunge, Sounds Like: Melvins, Gruntruck, Paw Homeland: San Francisco, California What makes Garden Creatures elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Disastroid's latest graces our speakers with an unusual blend of heavy rock and raw grunge Garden Creatures takes us back to the early 90s when bands like Jesus Lizard, Paw and Gruntruck were on the scene. While Disastroid may have these influences, they provide their own brand of refreshing off-beat heaviness Musically, Garden Creatures is masterful. Check out the bass work from Travis on 'Hold Me Wrong,' it is so fucking absorbing The vocals from Enver possess a raw energy that complements the music perfectly The last track 'Jack Londonin'' throws some punk fury into the mix, what a brilliant way to end an album Track Listing: 1. Garden Creatures 5:57 2. Stucco Nowhere 5:07 3. Figurative Object 6:56 4. Backwards Sleeping 4:10 5. 24 5:36 6. Hold Me Wrong 4:32 7. Light 'Em Up 6:19 8. Jack Londonin' 2:03 Dive deeper into Garden Creatures with our Q&A with Enver and Travis from Disastroid. OHMs Peak: Your sound evokes a harkening back to the early 90s for us. A comforting time where vocals were unfettered and energy, pure, and raw. Where did you get your inspiration for Garden Creatures and who would you say are your biggest influences? Enver: I always loved the 90’s for that reason and made a point to lean into the vocals more on this album.  If I grabbed one influential band in this era that encompasses this approach I would say Soundgarden. Beyond their big hits, they had a lot of variety of songs and sounds – and of course unreal singing. Travis: It’s funny how your influences just kind of emerge whether you want them to or not! I’m not sure there was ever a deliberate decision to say, “hey, let’s sound like a band from the 90s!” but we all have a deep love for many of the bands of that era, so when we write and play together I guess some of that just comes out naturally. I think all three of us gravitate towards the noisier, more experimental 90s bands like Melvins, Drive Like Jehu, Unsane, Jesus Lizard. And that carries through in our listening today, we like heavy bands that are unconventional in terms of songwriting, or are exploring unusual sounds and tones. Braden and I also both have a deep love of prog and experimental metal, and we're always trying to play really complicated stuff (Voivod is one of my all-time favorite bands), so between the three of us a lot of strange time signatures often show up in Disastroid songs. OHMs Peak: You guys have such tight chemistry and your sound keeps evolving while you stick to your signature heavy style. Can you provide a glimpse into the band's creative process? Enver: I’ll bring in some riffs or part of a song and we all collaborate on it and try it a million different ways until it becomes something we like. On this particular album we tried to focus on the best riff and trim a lot of the extra. Some of these riffs have hung around the space for years before we were finally able to make something of them. Travis: Enver is a riff machine, he’s constantly generating great guitar parts on the spot while the rhythm section follows along, so most of the hard work is trying to shape the raw ideas into fully finished songs. We have a backlog of recordings from our practice space of all these riffs and textures that we haven't used yet, so raw material has never been a limiting factor! I think we’ve become better at polishing, and that's the tougher part – refining a song’s structure, trimming the fat, and adding all the little details. Eventually we’ll pull out the whiteboard and sketch out the song with weird little symbols and letters, so we have a map. We also have a habit of adding small complications to different parts, to keep things interesting and keep the listener off-balance a bit; like adding an extra unexpected note, dropping a beat or two in certain phrases, or shifting a riff to an odd meter. Some of those little details get added late in the process. The very last thing is usually locking down the vocals and harmonies... Enver is an amazing improvisational singer and he experiments with different melodic shapes and different lyrics for a long time, right up until we finally set it in stone for the actual recording. OHMs Peak: 'Figurative Object’ has such a dark story to tell we would love to hear more about the meaning and background behind this track. Enver: Ultimately it’s about a man who is in love with a mannequin, or his perfect idea of one, and he puts one together from different scavenged parts. But he’s also haunted by his own obsession. It’s meant to be a reflection of a deeper, unhealthy lurking obsession society has with bodies and the perfect match. OHMs Peak: ‘Backwards Sleeping’ features an onslaught of blissful tempos and unique angles. We get the feeling this track may have close ties to your everyday lives we would love to hear more about its meaning and influence? Enver: The endless churning of monotony and daily anxiety! Brought to you in a lovely little number about the futility of sleeping when you just toss and turn all night. I wish I could say it was about putting your feet on the pillow and your head under the sheets. Travis: I’m really glad that Enver doesn’t write songs with conventional, cliche rock-and-roll lyrics. It’s all existential dread. So much more fun! OHMs Peak: The album cover is so unique, like nothing we have seen. Would love to get more insight behind the creation? Travis: I’m usually responsible for the art that goes on our albums, and over the years I’ve done a lot of show posters and t-shirt designs and whatnot too. I work entirely digitally but I love trying to give things sort of a screenprinted look so I keep it as graphic as possible and limit my color palette, try to think about it as if I was actually overprinting inks. I often create collages of various things, but in this case the album cover is just an illustration. For the subject matter I usually try to avoid being overly literal, and rather create some kind of an image that feels like it vibes with the album title, or one of the song titles. With “Garden Creatures” – for whatever reason – my brain went to the image of eyes growing on plants, like the plants in your yard are watching you. OHMs Peak: Disastroid is stranded on an island with only a solar powered record player. The entire band must agree to only 1 album to have during your stay… what album is it? Enver: I would choose Mahavishnu Orchestra “Inner Mounting Flame.” We might all be able to agree on McGruff the Crime Dog’s “Smart Kids” album. Travis: Mahavishnu Orchestra rules! We all tend to put on slightly different things in the van, but we all vibe with each other’s choices, which has been great for long drives. Braden usually goes for some obscure old prog album, or possibly some yacht rock if we’re really lucky. I’m usually putting on a newer stoner metal album by Red Fang or Anciients or something like that, or some soothing tropicalia. If we could only bring a single record to the island? I don’t know if we’d ever be able to decide… but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being a thrash metal classic, maybe Slayer or Anthrax. I guess I haven’t actually answered the question but I’m not sure there’s any single record we could listen to indefinitely (unless we were blasting it really loud to try and get help from passing ships.) Disastroid are: Enver Koneya Vocals - Guitar Travis Williams Bass - Guitar Braden McGraw - Drums Follow Disastroid: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Disastroid Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2023 Genre: Garage rock, Psychedelic rock Sounds Like: Osees, Slift, The Steams Homeland: Vevey, Switzerland What makes Ominous Prominence elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Fomies hailing from Switzerland, deliver their best album to date with 10 fantastically raw cuts of sonic bliss The album is loaded with everything a garage rock enthusiast would desire. Fuzz-static brilliance, across-the-board as the album meanders through coves of experimental punk to inclines of beautiful Shoegaze and under dwellings of psychedelic fretwork Our favorite track ‘See’ is filled with swirling fretwork and uptempo keyboards that delight. The track is addicting to the core thanks to its inviting melodic guitar/keyboard accompaniments blending down jazz inspired percussion Inner Light’ features crisp and vibrant guitar melodies that pop into quirky off-kilter tones delivering a beautiful awkward Fomies are blessed with tremendous range, chemistry and diversity. Much akin to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard it feels like their flow of music abilities could have infinite boundaries Track Listing: 1. Glass Pyramid 4:24 2. Lakeside Fever 4:40 3. See 7:55 4. The Seeker 4:03 5. Time Trial 3:15 6. Inner Light 3:18 7. Barren Mind 3:34 8. Confusion 4:20 9. The Eyewall 1:54 10. Chernabog 2:17 Dive deeper into Ominous Prominence with our Q&A with Fomies. OHMs Peak: Your sound is so engrossing with that old school punk and 70s psychedelic influenced vibe yet layered with heavy chaos. Can you take us through the creation, vision and setting where Ominous Prominence was created? Fomies: The creation starts with a lot of jamming, recording whatever sounds cool and deleting whatever sucks. Little by little, songs start to emerge and then we do our best to turn that into something we believe is cool. Everyone gets his own vision of what this album means, but the setting was in Leysin with our good friend and sound engineer Benoît Erard, which worked with nice people such as Allah Las, L'Éclair or the Mauskovic Dance Band. OHMs Peak: Fomies is a unique name for a band. Can you provide a glimpse into the meaning behind this name? Fomies: It's a play on words between a foamie (surfboard) and homies, which represents how bad we are at surfing but good at just being together. OHMs Peak: How did you guys form the band and what were your prior musical endeavors. Fomies: We formed the band in 2017 as a bunch of friends wanting to play music together. Patrick our synth player has a also a project called Tremingo, our drummer Laurent plays for a project called Eckhart and our bass player has a band called Jean l'Asticot and plays for another band called Chacho. OHMs Peak: Loving the wide array of creepy yet intriguing album art you have. Who put together the vivid arms raised piece for Ominous Prominence? Fomies: This is the work of Jesse Fillingham. You might know him for his great artworks for the L.A. band Hooveriii. We reached out to him and he accepted to create this mysterious and cool piece. OHMs Peak: Fomies is stranded on an island with only a solar powered record player. The entire band must agree to only 1 album to have during your stay… what album is it? Fomies: Sleep - Dopesmoker Ominous Prominence credits: Artwork: Jesse Fillingham Visuals: Loris Briguet Recording, mixing: Benoît Erard @ Ritmo Studio Label: Taxi Gauche Records All songs by Fomies Follow Fomies: Bandcamp / Facebook Grab some Fomies Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)

Released: 2024 Genre: Psychedelic rock, Progressive, Jazz Sounds Like: The Budos Band, Pink Floyd, All Them Witches Homeland: Moncton, New Brunswick What makes Elephant Wizard elite and sit atop OHMs Peak? Elephant Wizard is by far one of the more creative albums to hit our rotation in quite some time. It's impossible to connect them to one particular genre as they flawlessly blend progressive rock, heavy psych and even jazz/lounge into this masterpiece Les Moontunes display tremendous vision on this album. One moment your in a chill state of mind with songs like 'Fallen For You' and 'Midnight Magic' than they hit you with the psych weirdness of 'Gallop in the Jungle' and 'Beyond the Mountain' This album is very refreshing and puts us in a totally different frame of mind when exploring new heavy music Do not sleep on their 2021 debut release, it may not have the heavier tilt this album has, but it's well worth your time Track Listing: 1. Elephant Wizard 3:13 2. Syntherlude 1 0:36 3. Enchanted Tusks 04:11 4. Fallen for You 4:48 5. Syntherlude 2 0:43 6. Midnight Magic 4:07 7. Gallop in the Jungle 3:18 8. Syntherlude 3 0:27 9. Wizard Universe 5:05 10. Beyond the Mountain 4:46 11. Syntherlude 4 1:02 12. Planet Metal 4:36 13. Syntherlude 5 0:52 14. Dorian Sunrise 3:57 Dive deeper into Elephant Wizard with our Q&A with Les Moontunes OHMs Peak: Elephant Wizard is one of this year's most exploratory albums to hit our collection. It's a psychedelic trip of proggy jazz, heavy psych and lounge. Can you give us a glimpse into the creative writing process that went into this album given seven band members? Les Moontunes: The Elephant Wizard album came about during the thick of the pandemic – our singer/pianist Miguel thought the idea of a character that was an elephant wizard could be cool, and it took off from there as far as the album’s concept goes. As far as the music goes, we had a few songs that were already written, we knew we wanted to move towards a heavier direction, so we kept that in mind while writing the songs. We had a few riffs or ideas that we really built on and developed into songs together during a residency in rural NB in the summer of 2021. OHMs Peak: This album displays a heavier feel from your debut. Is this a direction the band is heading towards? Would love to get into the band’s psyche here? Les Moontunes: For this album, for sure, it was a conscious decision, where all members have been influenced by heavier bands in the past, and we thought it would be cool to dive into tones and sounds that reflected that. Especially having 2 drummers, we really wanted to take advantage of that, and then add on the more soul/jazzy elements of our sound, it was really fun to explore that territory together. As far as what’s next for us, we will have to wait and see, but we definitely have been enjoying headbanging during our shows lately! OHMs Peak: There is such a wide variety of genres you touch upon and flawlessly make it work. Where does Les Moontunes draw inspiration from and how did you all come together? Les Moontunes: We all met growing up, we attended the same school in Dieppe, New Brunswick. Everyone eventually connected through their love of music, and we started jamming from there which led to us being a band. We draw inspiration from a bunch of different genres, we’re all quite open to listening to a wide variety of sounds so that plays into how we create our own. For this album, we drew inspiration from old school bands that were heavy such as Black Sabbath, as well as King Crimson for their experimental flair. We also really like bands who play with horn sounds such as the Budos Band, so you can expect some of that in our latest album. OHMs Peak: The album cover so unique, like nothing we have seen. It appears Miguel created the concept? Would love to get more insight behind the creation? Les Moontunes: At first, Miguel drew a draft for what we would like the concept album to look like – we wanted something that would reflect the stoner metal/doom band aesthetics, and we really liked what he ended up doing for the draft so he built on that. We wanted the Elephant Wizard to be undeniably epic-looking, so Miguel drew the character on its native land, Planet Metal, a place that we invented and developed with the album, surrounded by thunder and mountains which we thought looked badass. We were all very happy with the result. OHMs Peak: Take us through how you came about the name Les Moontunes and what does it represent? Les Moontunes: That’s a bit of a funny story – we had booked a gig before having a name, and so during the very last rehearsal before our gig, we were really in a rush to settle on a name. We literally wrote down just a bunch of ideas on a board and chose Les Moontunes from there, since we liked the fact that it’s in chiac (the Acadian dialect we speak), and that it reflected the space-y sound we were making at that time. It ended up being really fun to play around with space-related concepts from there on, so that worked out! OHMs Peak: Les Moontunes is stranded on an island with only a solar powered record player. The entire band must agree to only 1 album to have during your stay… what album is it? Les Moontunes: Everyone in the band agreed that if we were limited to one album, it would have to be The Dark Side of the Moon! Les Moontunes: Miguel Dumaine: Vocals, Pianos, Organ, Synthesizers, Vocoder Patrick Gaudet: Electric Guitar Samuel Frenette: Electric Guitar Jeremie Poitras: Alto Saxophone and Synthesizers Monica Ouellette: Bass, Trumpet, String Synthesizer Martin Daigle: Drums and Percussion Marc-Andre Richard: Drums Producer: Mike Trask Recording Engineers: Thomas Stajcer at Fang Recording (drums, bass, piano & organ) Mike Trask at Vallée Recording (guitars, vocals, synths, horns, percussion) Assistant Engineer: Sam Mallais at Vallée Recording Mixing: Thomas Stajcer assisted by Mike Trask Mastering: Jay Lapointe at Archive Mastering Artwork: Miguel Dumaine Follow Les Moontunes: Bandcamp / Facebook / LesMoontunes.com Grab some Les Moontunes Merch Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)