We are all at the unforgiving whim of life’s extremes. For every moment of overwhelming sorrow, there’s another of indescribable bliss. For every death, there’s a birth. For all of the darkness, there’s just as much light.

Deathchant have never shied away from extremes. Their sound seamlessly oscillates from high-octane rubber-burning riffs and gravelly chants to purring feedback and melodies as expansive as the desert at night. After gathering millions of streams, earning enthusiastic acclaim, and an endless string of packed shows, the Los Angeles, CA quartet—Thomas J Lemieux a.k.a. TJ [guitar, vocals, keys, bass], Doug Stuckey [guitar, vocals], Quinn-George Camacho [bass], and Nick “Joose” Mcdonnell [drums]—explore life’s highs, lows, and everything in between on their fourth full-length LP, 'KOVA' [RidingEasy Records].

Named after their late friend Davey Kova, it’s simultaneously a raucous send-off worthy of a Viking, an introspective look at manhood, and a dyed-in-the-wool badass barnstorming hard rock record.

“To me, Deathchant means very intense brotherhood and friendship,” observes TJ. “I have a truly safe place to express every facet of myself. Even though we’re really heavy, this is also a vehicle for me to explore softer sides of music and wear my heart on my sleeve. For the last nine years, it’s allowed me to be a raw nerve. It was often brutal, because we lived our lives in the world of motorcycle culture, drugs, and partying. At the same time, I always had space for reflection. We implicitly trust one another. It’s rare for a friendship—let alone a four-way working relationship. I recently became a new dad, went through a divorce, and experienced serious loss. All of these massive shifts fed into the music, making it angrier, but more revealing and intimate.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Enemy
2. Red Sun
3. Funeral Pyre
4. Reverie
5. Worshipper
6. Ruin
7. Kova
8. Forgiveness
9. Requiem

Elements of the past, present, and future coalesce within the spell cast by Early Moods.

The Los Angeles band channel the sludge-born spirits of seminal doom metal and beckon them to attack even faster with a jolt of NWOBHM guitar-craft and a twist of thrash attitude. The quintet—Alberto Alcaraz [vocals, keys], Oscar Hernandez [guitar], Eddie Andrade [guitar], Elix Felciano [bass], and Chris Flores [drums]—transfix with otherworldly transmissions of cosmic and catchy heaviness.

After years of meticulously shaping a signature style, they clearly and confidently perfect their vision on 2026’s 'Ready For The Grave' [RidingEasy Records].

“Our sound is more honed,” notes Elix. “We’ve found our identity. I think it takes a couple of albums for most bands. This record isn’t too far removed from what we’ve done in the past, but the songwriting has certainly matured. You can hear the chemistry. You can feel the mood changes in specific songs and all of the dynamics. It’s really alive.”

Originally formed by Alberto and Eddie, the musicians unlocked an uncanny balance between heavy and hypnotic on the self-titled Early Moods in 2022. The sound further crystallized on 'A Sinner’s Past' [2024]. Along the way, they incited the applause of Angry Metal Guy, The Obelisk, and more. Hitting the road, the group shared stages with the likes of High On Fire, Candlemass, Pentagram, Coven, Lucifer, Pagan Altar, and more in addition to joining the bill of Desertfest.

During 2026, they recorded 'Ready For The Grave' at Cyan Sound Studio with producer Toshi Kasai [Melvins, Tool]. He invariably inspired them to level up.

“It was our first time working with a producer who gave us a little extra input to the music,” recalls Elix. “We thought a lot of the songs were complete, but he brought another perspective to what we were doing. He understood the direction we wanted to take and what songwriting means to us. It was invaluable.”

Right out of the gate, the album catches your attention. A head-nodding rhythm underlines punchy riffing and dramatic drum fills during the opener and lead single 'Ready For The Grave'. The crunch of power chords complements the twists and turns of the refrain’s lament, “Dark forces calling out my name. Forever ready for the grave.” The fuzz and fire bleed into the stunning call-and-response of dueling solos.

“It has a doom vibe, but it’s got a faster pace,” he continues. “You can hear the influence of Budgie and Dehumanizer. We all agreed it was a great way to introduce the record. It’s about getting put into a grave.’

On 'Inquisition', the hulking beat holds the groove in its airtight grip. Palm-muting creeps and crawls along the edges of this core rhythm, increasing tension. Feedback resounds, percussion reverberates, and the words resonate, “Who’s to say my gods aren’t real? You choose to bear the cross, which means nothing…It’s time to burn in hell.”

“It’s a different vibe from ‘Ready For The Grave’,” he continues. “At the time, a lot of the ICE stuff was happening, so this was our version of ‘Run To The Hills’. Settlers are coming in and taking over.”

Then, there’s 'Ashes of the Damned'. Nearing the eight-minute mark, it unfolds as a dyed-in-the-wool doom epic accelerated by a thick bassline and hummable guitar. It spirals towards the embrace of a melodic bridge before picking back up with another conjuration of poetically executed elite riff-ery.

“It was one of the last songs written, and it ended up as the closer,” he continues. “It just came together in the studio, and we felt like it was so killer that it had to be the outro.”

Ultimately, Early Moods deliver a body of work befitting of their energy on stage. It’s powerful enough you’ll feel like they’re in the room with you.

“I want this record to reflect how you would hear us live,” Elix leaves off. “Sometimes the show is a very different experience, but this album is the closest we’ve gotten to the live experience. We’ve gotten that energy onto a record and made it massive and dynamic. This is what we’ve always wanted Early Moods to be.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Ready For Grave
2. Inquisition
3. Thy Eternal Grief
4. The Prowler
5. When The Light Fades
6. Her Wicked Spells
7. Ashes of The Damed

By now you’re probably familiar with our wildly popular Brown Acid series of rare, lost and unreleased proto-metal and stoner rock singles from the 60s-70s. In the endless pursuit of those glorious gems, we often uncover equally brilliant rarities from the late-70s to late-80s Golden Age of Heavy Metal that also just must be heard, but they don’t fit the series’ aesthetic. Scrap Metal, Volume 1 collects some of the greatest unknown and lost Heavy Metal tracks, long buried beneath the avalanche of the era’s classic output.

We all know the old adage that history is told by the winners. But sometimes the losers tell the best stories. And while none of these bands found fame and fortune, this artifact and the volumes to come are testament to the enduring power of heavy music. You can hear the blood, sweat and beers that went into each of these singles. The recordings may be low budget, but the inspiration and talent is immutable. Not only are the amps turned up to 11, the boyish sexual innuendo is cranked to 69. You can hear the convergence of influences — NWOBHM, thrash, glam metal, doom, etc — colliding at once as the era birthed a wellspring of subgenres.

Many of these singles are self-released and were thus limited to a small run of copies. Those that remain are hoarded by collectors and sold for exorbitant amounts. We’ve collected the best of the best for you here. As with Brown Acid, all of these tracks are licensed legitimately and the artists all get paid. Because it’s the right thing to do.

TRACK LISTING

01. Rapid Tears “Headbang” 
02. Air Raid “69 In A 55” 
03. Hades “Girls Will Be Girls” 
04. Resless “The Power” 
05. Don Cappa “Steel City Metal” 
06. The Beast “Enemy Ace” 
07. Dead Silence “Can’t Stop” 
08. Hazardous Waste “Danger Zone” 
09. Czar “Iron Curtain” 
10. Real Steel “Viking Queen”

That’s right, we’ve reached a toker’s dozen editions of brilliant long-lost, rare, and unreleased hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal tracks from the 60s-70s. Clearly this has become a bonafide archaeological movement as each new installment leads us to more exciting new discoveries. Like we’ve done throughout this series, all of these tracks were painstakingly licensed legitimately and the artists were paid. Make yourself comfortable and prepare for yet another deep, deep dive into the treasure trove of dank, subterranean, wild-eyed and hairy rock ’n’ roll.

The Waters start this Trip off right with swampy fuzz- and phaser-soaked dueling guitars oozing from the grooves of their 1969 single “Mother Samwell.” The Louisville, KY trio somehow failed to make much of a splash however, only issuing two 45s, one in ’68 and this rocker the following year, before eventually evaporating in ’72. The bassist went on to play in Hank Williams Jr.’s band for a couple of decades, so the band’s fortunes weren’t entirely sunken.

Hamilton, Ontario launched the Village S.T.O.P.’s freak-out heavy psych marauding, but it was after frequent trips to NYC that the Canadian band really learned to let their freak flag fly. Sometimes the band played with their faces painted black & white, other times draped in fluorescent ink & blacklight, with strobe lights and the whole nine yards of theatrics… occasionally even adding a few extra inches of male nudity. Musically, their 1969 track “Vibration” is a bopping number nodding to Frank Zappa, Hendrix and some really brown acid doses.



White Lightning’s blazing double-kick drum, sizzling melodic riffs and Jim Dandy howls on “1930” is a power metal rocker from 1969 that perfectly epitomizes the raison d’être of this series. The Minneapolis, MN band formed by guitarist Tom “Zippy” Caplan after he left garage psych heroes The Litter, later shortened its name to Lightning. The group only issued one proper album before disbanding in 1971. However, with the late 1990’s reissues and revival of The Litter, Lightning’s bevy of unreleased recordings also surfaced as a self-titled LP and Strikes Twice 1986-1969 CD compilation.



The blues runs deep in the veins of “Woman (Don’t You Go)” by Bay Area rockers Shane. The biracial group may have borrowed its heavy syncopated groove and lead singer/organist aesthetic from locals Sly & The Family Stone, but their troglodyte fuzz riffs and beastly drums owe just as much to blazing proto-metal hellfire. Sadly, they only released this 1968 single before these men decided to go.

Ace Song Service probably thought they were pretty clever with their risqué acronym name, but it’s their B-side “Persuasion” that really kicks A.S.S. Rollicking, relentless drums, walking bass, staggering guitars and shimmering Hammond organ shake the foundations while crooning blue-eyed soul vocals remind you that this is still the late-60s. The Dallas, TX band only issued this lone (star) 2-song single before crawling back up from whence they came.

Opus Est’s strange 1974 headbanger “Bed” has a bit of “Hocus Pocus” by Focus style mania — and we mean that in the best lunacy inducing way. However, it’s the Belgian trio’s heavy panting and squealing vocals in the amorous breakdown that nods to a particular whole lotta nub that gives this song its, um, thrust. After just two singles, Opus Est came and went.

The Mopptops’ heavy riff of “Our Lives” starts of sounding like Greg Ginn’s frantic guitar work on Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown, before wah-wah and high harmony vocals turn it into more of a Blues Magoos-meets-Iron Butterfly tune. This Hawaiian Islands based quartet took its inspiration more from the British Invasion than local traditions and were quite popular for their gritty long-hair R&B but remained isolated from the world at large. They did however release a handful of 45s between 1965 and the early 70s. This 1968 banger on Fantastic Records is, well, fantastic.



Youngstown, OH artists Artist weren’t too creative with their band name, instead saving that energy to create meaty midwestern rock’n’roll like “Every Lady Does It.” Harmonized guitar leads and driving cowbell power their hook-filled lone 1977 single. Not much is known about the obscure band, other than singer/guitarist Al Tkach later fronted something he called Reality Rock.

Rural hard rock bar band Stagefright hailed from Carthage, MO and their 1980 album D-Day is a highly collectible selection of landlocked rippers. Album opener “Comin’ Home” is a barnstorming romp led by vocalist/drummer Jim Mills who somehow smoothly sings while simultaneously playing wild Keith Moon style drum rolls.

Dickens “Sho’ Need Love” / “Don’t Talk About My Music” 45 is one of those record collector’s Holy Grail type of releases. The 1971 single only exists as a demo, printed as a white label promo pressing for Scepter Records. Dickens were, essentially, a mockery of the era’s hard rock shenanigans, comprised of NRBQ’s road crew and some band members all playing instruments they didn’t know how to play. This recording happened essentially by accident when studio time became available after Gomer Pyle actor and balladeer Jim Nabors cancelled a session. The group quickly cut a few songs, which an enthusiastic A&R man had pressed up, before the label president nixed it and fired the VP for allowing such nonsense. It’s believed that only about 50 copies survived. It’s a shame, since this Flipper-before-Flipper dirge-metal freakout was way ahead of its time.

That’s that for this edition of Brown Acid, but the hits keep on a-bubblin’ up from the primordial rock’n’roll sludge. So, stay tuned for more as we continue to find wilder and weirder treasures from the underground comedown.