The Top 10 Stoner Rock Albums of 2024

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 the year. 2024. The very fact 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, 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 2024

10-Gnome -"Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome." 

his band from Belgium is a bit of an oddity,. They have an upbear jammy vibe. Though they pack a punch here and there and even throw in harsher vocals in places.  They do not shy from bouncy riffs to compliment their fantasy lyrical theme. They have prog tendencies but are brought about by bong-beaten tales of the strange. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/november-is-doom-gnome-vestiges-of.html

9-Hot Garbage+"Precious Dream" 

There is a sonic heaviness to it, but it's not metal. Oddly mutated garage rock that is being attacked by the effects pedals of a shoegaze band. The more surf rock influences do not emerge until a couple songs in which the female vocals are not unlike the self-deprecating moan of Kim Gordan. At other times the music feels like Link Wray jamming with the Stooges.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/hot-garbage-precious-dream.html

8-Black Sky Giant -"The Red Chariot" 

Instrumental Music is not normally my thing, but this album felt worth working my way through once I was two songs into it. There is a hazy stoner vibe underlying the drifting landscape this band from Argentina paints for your ears. There are great guitar tones captured here, that are played in a manner that is very melodic owing more to a David Gilmour style of playing rather than being a shred wank-o-thon. The fact they can keep my attention with what they do speaks highly of them

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/black-sky-giant-red-chariot.html

7-Castle Rat - "Into the Realm" 

 Come for the chain-mail bikini, stay for the Coven-like proto-doom that is nicely doused in psychedelic trappings. Not far removed from the vest metal occult rocking bands from 2010. They are about the songs and work best with inhaling and taking you on a journey to the 60s. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/castle-rat-into-realm.html

6-Slomosa-"Tundra Rock" 

There is an interesting increase in stoner rock coming from northern Europe. A case in point is this band from Norway. They are on the doomier side of the genre. Mellowed-out vocals coast over fuzzed-out guitars, which creates a nice juxtaposition. It also gives the band a more original sound rather than just being another Black Sabbath tribute band.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/november-is-doom-slomosa-tundra-rock.html

5-Orange Goblin- "Science Not Fiction" 

This band was one of the first stoner rock bands to blaze the bong in their Camaro across the desert. There is more beef this time around, The vocals have more of a gritty growl, though they are upfront in the mix and hung out to dry with little effects on them. There is more in common with Motorhead here, than Black Sabbath, the riffs have a 90s grunge tinge at times. Though used to think of them as more stoner rock, this album insists they are stoner metal and draws a pretty clear line in the sand about it. Though we throw stoner metal in with the rock for this list so it doesn't matter. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/orange-goblin-science-not-fiction.html

 

4-Fu  Manchu - "The Return of Tomorrow" 

This is the band's 13th album and vocalist Scott Hill has stated it's a double album because they wanted to include mellower songs in the second half. They rock out with an intensity similar to their peers in Atomic Bithc Wax, who we are also known to cover here. The fuzzed-out bong-worshipping grooves amble with vigor. Compared to Queens of the Stoneage, they are rawer to the point of being a garage rock band. The drummer is really killing it on this album, which makes everyone else keep up. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/fu-manchu-return-of-tomorrow.html

3-High Desert Queen - "Palm Reader"

 This  Texan band blends of desert sounds and grunge grit to their cathedral of bong worship. It was the relaxed vocal melody that was able to flex into a more belted bellow when called for, and the grooving riff that sold me on checking this album out. There are of course jammy guitar solos to go along with this. This is the band's second album and the first to have the guitarist's daughter playing bass on the album, she also lends her voice in places. An album that has all the elements of stoner rock you could want. . 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/november-is-doom-high-desert-queen-palm.html

2-Sunnatta -"Chasing Shadows" 

They moved up a spot after their last album earned them 2021's Top 10 Sludge Albums list. The fuzzed-out rough sludge edges were smoothed out by more psychedelic vibes on this album, earning their transition to this list.  The Polish band continues to push their sonic boundaries but with less aggression. In fact, it feels, more like grunge at times, as the droning baritone vocals remind me a little of Mark Lanegan this time around. It sounds great so I am not going to complain about this not being as metal as past releases since it has progressed in a very organic manner, and the intensity is more hushed.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/sunnata-chasing-shadows.html

1-REZN - "Burden"

The new album from Chicago's Sonic Sorcerors found them expanding their minds and sound The dark groovin' drive that lurks as the heartbeat of this album, might not be metal, but it is aggressive enough to get the point across.  The plea of the vocals echoes out into the expansive place they have created here. It feels darker than the previous album, but darker in a more hazy moonlit manner. When it comes to making melancholy stoner rock that is heavy on the atmosphere this year these guys can not be beaten. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/rezn-burden.html

 

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Hot Garbage : "Precious Dream"

 When the first song hit, I was not sure what I was being hit with. There is a sonic heaviness to it, but it's not metal. I had to get into the first song before I could discern it's some sort of oddly mutated garage rock that is being attacked by the effects pedals of a shoegaze band. The more surf rock influences do not emerge until the second song. Female vocals that are not unlike the self-deprecating moan of Kim Gordan, are on this mic this time around. Once they begin to drive down the dark road that is "Lowering" the album takes a turn in a tense more post-punk direction, that has a more jammy feel. While this is cool and sounds great live I am sure, that when it diverts several songs in a manner that feels like it's turning the album into one long jam, I begin to question things like songwriting. 

It took a few listens to really dissect what was going on here and separate the songs from the sound. The riff shifts into more of a surf punk thing that sounds like Link Wray jamming with the Stooges. The nature of what they do here is more simplistic, but to their credit it works for me here more than when I have heard other bands do something similar. There is more going on with "Tunnel Traps" sonically but the riff is similar though the vocals dripping with effects and being drugged out. This is not the album's first psychedelic moment, but the drugs are kicking in harder here for sure. "Sarabandit" is more of a 60s-like take on garage psych. 

There is a trance-like element to the more woozy sounds swirling in "Blue Cat". In some ways it drones in others it reminds me of Stone Roses. 'Traveller/ Caravan' finds the trippiness going in the more predictable manner that is more commonplace with this sort of thing. "Erase My Mind" does this with a smooth-sailing motion as the song drifts into the night. It is darker which works better for my ears. I will give this wild wonderland a 9, it took turns I did not expect. 

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