Some consider "classic rock" to be a term for a music linked to a certain time period, and in some respects that is true, but there is also an argument to be made for classic rock to be seen as not just a term but as genre in its own right, a music possessing a sound that is immediately identifiable, much like doom and heavy psych. We at Desert Psychlist are of the belief that classic rock has over the years become a sum of both of these theories, a music that most certainly has it roots in what has gone before but that is now spreading those roots into newer soils, a theory that brings us ni ..read more

The story behind Sarajah is that guitarist J.H. formed the band in order to play music inspired by his heroes Black Sabbath, Trouble and Saint Vitus but that also took its influences from nature and Nordic mythology. J.H. was joined in this venture by Magus Corvus (vocals) and H. Wizzard (drums), who also play in cosmic doom metal band Fimir, and Jeff Pekkilä (bass/guitar). 2023 saw the band enter the studio to record songs for an album the result of which is "Sarajah" (Argonauta Records) the bands self-titled debut. The song "Sarajah", which shares its name with both ..read more

Balancing work life with music life can be a struggle and it is one Italy's Black Capricorn have learnt to come to terms with over their tenure and they have done this by working gigs/tours and and time spent in studios around the jobs that give them the funds to carry on making the music they love, it is a struggle faced by many bands these days. Thankfully Black Capricorn are a resilient bunch of individuals and the recent announcement of a new album "Sacrifice Darkness... and Fire" (Majestic Mountain Records) is proof of that resilience, the recording of this album may not have been easy ..read more

Texas, such a small word for a place with a reputation for being BIG in everything. Given that reputation it comes as no surprise that bands working in the arena's of metal. stoner and doom will often possess a BIG sound and Fort Worth's Black on High are no exception to that rule. The band, Nick Forkel (guitars/vocals); Chris Mullins (guitar); Brian McCoy (bass) and Ben Harwood (drums), make a sound totally in keeping with their states reputation, a sound that blends together elements of stoner rock, sludge, doom and alt-metal while still maintaining the levels of swing and groove tha ..read more

Catalonian doomsters MELTEM might not be a familiar name to many out there but some of you, especially those who have a finger placed firmly on the pulse of the Spanish "underground" scene, may recognise one of the names to be found among the bands line up. Pep Carabante has provided drums for Cuzo, The Mothercrow and Wolfhead among others and with MELTEM he adds vocals and darbuka to his list of attributes. Carabante is joined in MELTEM by Daniel Pozuelo (guitar/effects) and David Giménez (electric bass and 12-string guitar) and for this, their debut, have percussionist Omar ..read more

Way back when social media was still in its infancy you would often have to join a forum to discuss anything music related and it was on one of these forums that a discussion started about what it was that prompted a person to check out a new release by an unknown band/artiste prior to actually hearing said release. There were various answers but the one that stuck in Desert Psychlist's mind, and we have since adopted for our own searches, was that if a releases artwork featured a muscle car or was predominantly purple and black then it was worth checking out. It was by using this method tha ..read more

It has long been our suspicion that Italian bands Witchsnake, Sonic Demon, Demonio. Wizard Master and Black Spell are the work of a small revolving collective of musicians, Desert Psychlist has no proof of this but it does seem like the same names (or variations of those names) keep cropping up again and again and the fact that all these "bands" seem to have connections with the same merchandise outlets and labels does add fuel to that theory. Whether our suspicions are founded or not does not really matter as each of these "bands" make a noise that is very pleasing to the ear, a fuzz f ..read more

Everyone's favourite Peruvian combo El Jefazo have been melting our faces with their instrumental grooves from as far back as 2014, admittedly the bands early releases, "Ensayo" and "El Jefazo" were a bit raw and a touch underproduced but you could hear the potential these guys had despite those short fallings. Then along came "Simbiosis" a far better produced album that showcased a mix of remixed/remastered songs from the previous albums plus a couple of new tunes, at last you could really hear these guys fly. After releasing a couple of one off tracks the band then put out "Tormenta Mental ..read more

  Those who follow these pages will know that when informing our readers of a bands line-up we usually write a musician’s name followed by the instrument/instruments he/she plays contained in brackets, well if we were to do that for today’s release we would have to write; Fred Dupré (everything) and that is because Fred Dupré IS Dunerider and Dunerider IS Fred Dupré. If you are a fan of music drenched in swathes of filthy fuzz and distortion then you are probably already familiar with Mr Dupré and his love of a fuzz pedal thanks to his previous Dunerider releases "RUIN" and "ASCEND TO T ..read more

For many of us the emergence of WyndRider as a musical force came as a bit of a surprise, one minute the band’s debut album "WyndRider" was just another new release in a list of hundreds of new releases on Bandcamp and the next it was being lauded across the underground scene's media outlets as some sort of new coming. The reason "WyndRider" garnered the attention it did was not due to some clever marketing or PR campaign it was because the sound the band made on that album resonated with all those who took a chance and pushed play. For us at Desert Psychlist its appeal stemmed from the fact ..read more