November is Doom - the Top 10 Stoner Rock Albums of 2025

Living in Florida reminds me why I do not like reggae. It's too happy, and it all sounds the same. I am here to bring the news that you do not have to get stoned to music that sucks. In fact, here are ten examples of albums you can break out the bong to. After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of  2025. The very fact that these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album; there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day, what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, and you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list, and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway, here are the top 10 Stoner Rock albums of 2025

10-Christian Mistress- "Children of Earth." 

It's been 10 years since we reviewed their last album, "To Your Death". They were heading in a more 80s metal direction then, and away from the retro-proto vibes that found them lumped in with the other female-fronted stoner rock bands at the time. The more aggressive guitar attack carries a more Judas Priest-like feel at times. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/christian-mistress-children-of-earth.html

9-Leafblower- "Burn Cruise." 

 This kind of sludged-out doom has been prevalent since the mid-2000s, with bands like Mastodon rising to mainstream success. This raises the question: What are these guys bringing to the table that the other bands are not? The guitar melodies are more notable, but the true selling point comes in the more frantic psych-rock, where they set themselves apart from the pack. They go into a more shuffling rock boogies and flirt a little more with stoner rock.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/leafblower-burn-cruise.html

8-Miss Lava- "Under a Black Sun." 

Melodic vocals that carry a trippy drone as they ride the bass line are a staple of their sound, while kicking up a fuzzed-out stoner rock rumble with some Sabbath infused weight behind it. This makes me think of bands in the '90s that came out after grunge who struck big, who might have been on the more metallic side of things, so they merged doom with the loud-to-soft formula that Nirvana made popular. The Portuguese band finds itself in good company in this approach. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/miss-lava-under-black-sun.html

7-Bog Wife- "From Ashes." 

To hail from Denmark, this band summons up a deep friend vision of swamp rock.  It is their third album, so they have had plenty of time to perfect it. Yes, it does fall under the banner of stoner rock, so maybe it is the magic plant medicine that takes them to this blues place you might think could only come from the Southern regions of America, but they pull it off with conviction.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-is-doom-bog-wife-from-ashes.html

 

6-Castle Rat-"the Beastiary." 

 Despite the gimmick, they are capable songwriters. There are some odd production choices on this album, and the hype machine is churning even harder behind these guys as they gain more recognition."The twin guitar attack provides a respectable version of traditional metal, but with a deliberate Black Sabbath like groove. Her voice helps to avoid Sabbath comparisons. Riff-wise, they really get into more "Vol 4' sonic places during their guitar solos.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-is-doom-castle-rat-bestiary.html

5-Blackwater Holylight- 'If You Only Knew"

The Portland shoe-gazers take things in a more organically jammed direction. There is a brooding underbelly to the verse that finds them taking off in a more stoner rock direction. The dreamy vocals counterbalance when they dig and go into more aggressive riffs that steer toward a more metal direction. But one heavy riff does not make a band metal. There is a brighter, almost 90s glaze to sonic denseness this album unfolds. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/blackwater-holylight-if-you-only-knew.html

4-Hollow Leg- "Dust and Echoes." 

This band is made up of former Bloodlet members, with the exception being guitarist Brent Lynch. Scott's vocals are what have changed the most, as he sings more the the guttural hardcore bark that commanded their old band. It's still pretty gruff, but capable of at least holding a Clutch-level melody at times. The riffs are less pounding and have some rock swagger to them, but the overall songwriting is infectious. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/hollow-leg-dust-echoes.html

3-Year of the Cobra -"s/t." 

The first obvious thing about this duo's 3rd album is that Amy's voice has come a long way. Her performance on the opening track has more nuance. They lumber into a darker depth of doom than I recall from their first two albums. Her time in the Doom Slayer tribute Slower allowed her to hone her pipes further.  She creates a witchier vibe at times here that hones the hooks of these songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/year-of-cobra-st.html

 

2- 16 - Guides for the Misguided." 

This album came about during the mixing of the previous album, so it picks up where they left off with an aggressive sludge-tinged attack. Though a grunged blues shuffle similar to Corrosion of Conformity drives the bulk of this album, the vocals howl with renewed purpose. The vocals are more nuanced than even past efforts, making this album stand out. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/16-guides-for-misguided.html

1-Dax Riggs - "7 Songs For Spiders" 

Sadly, this album slipped between the cracks, overshadowed by the reunion of his other band, leaving Dax without the chance to promote it at all. It had been 13 years since his last release. This time around, Dax is backed by a three-piece band of grooving Cajuns, who slither with a melancholy pulse that takes things back to his darker roots. Touching on 90s grunge in the bong-laden grooves, it might be mellower than Agents of Oblivion, but more rock than his other solo work, and perfect songwriting as you can expect from him..

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/dax-riggs-7-songs-for-spiders.html

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Miss Lava : "Under a Black Sun"

You never know where your next favorite new band might be hiding, so I try to check out at least one track from every band in my inbox, so give fate a chance. The "Under a Black Sun" track hooked me in the first few minutes, so I decided to check this one out. Melodic vocals that carry a trippy drone as they ride the bass line are a staple of their sound. The chorus kicks into a fuzzed-out stoner rock rumble with some Sabbath infused weight behind it. This makes me think of bands in the 90s that came out after grunge who struck big, who might have been on the more metallic side of things, so they merged doom with the loud-to-soft formula that Nirvana made popular. The Portuguese band finds itself in good company in this approach. 

The throb of "Neon Gods" is catchy and sets the stage for the groove that possesses the verse for the vocals to drip Alice In Chains-like harmonies over. The vocals belt out more aggressively for the chorus to make the most of the dynamics. "Eye Evil Eye of a Witch" finds the vocals beginning to create a uniform feel to this album, and putting the band in a position where they need to switch things up a bit in this regard to keep my attention. Granted, you could argue there are bands such as HEALTH or REZN, who have one made of vocalist that defines their sound as well, but I think the vocals for those bands are more of an atmospheric layer that provides perhaps more of a hook. In other words, it's not what you do but how you do it. 

The minute and fifteen seconds of "Chaos Strain" is a more punk moment, but when a band veers greatly from their sound into something like this that feels out of character, it always makes me wonder what the point was. It seems that the drummer wanted the momentum to carry over into "Woe Warrior". This song, however, has more going on than flows from the whole of what they do. "The Bends" is not a Radiohead cover, but a song that is more like a grunge version of Queens of the Stone Age. You think that would be Kyuss, but this comes across differently. The darker, palm-muted tension of 'Fear in Overdrive" makes it one of the album's best songs.

The Alice In Chains comparisons grow stronger on "I Drown". The album is also produced in a way that captures more of a '90s sound. "Blue Sky in Mars" moves a little differently, and the guitar melody is not your typical Alice in Chains minor key ambiance. It feels more like "Load" era Metallica to me. 'Elara" is more of a song than an interlude, even though it features female vocals and is only a minute and a half. Then we know the title track that closes this album is a banger, as it's the reason I decided to check out this album in the first place. I will give this album a 9, it's a solid grunge grunge-tinged album that would be great for long sessions of bong worship. 

 

 

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