This is Gozu's world, we're just living in it. Given that it has been five years since the Boston quartet dropped themonstrous Equilibrium, returning with Remedy is one hell of a way to make sure that everyone — whether previously familiar with them or otherwise — realizes that they are perhaps the most badass of American rock bands, for they have taken everything to the next level.

With one album and four EPs under their belt, RESTLESS SPIRIT has been carving a path of their own in the underground US metal scene. While the band claims influences as wide as Black Sabbath, Type O Negative and The Sword, there is no shortage of ferocious riffs and indelible hooks to be found in their music. Though they fit right in with the doom and stoner rock scene, the band trades a strict diet of fuzz for a more varied, melodic approach. On the follow-up to ‘Lord of the New Depression’ (2019), the trio finds themselves experimenting and adding a cohesive narrative throughout a towering 39-minute of pummeling heavy, written over the course of a month in a rehearsal space in their hometown of Long Island, New York. Featuring brooding artwork from famed painter Frank Frazetta, ‘Blood of the Old Gods’ weaves grandiose sonic landscape and haunting atmospheres to be remembered. – Claire Bernadet

Unto the Earth is a four piece metal band out of Chicago, straddling the lines between stoner, desert, doom, and sludge, with shoegaze and heavy psych influences. Formed in 2019 by guitarist Mike Yoshida and bassist/vocalist/instrumentalist Simeon Papacostas, two long-time friends who first started playing together back in the mid-90s, along with lead guitarist Jed Jacobs, the group added another longtime friend and former bandmate Brant Maze on drums to complete the lineup. Together they have embarked on a musical odyssey that combines driving drums, melodic basslines, layered guitars, and evocative lyrics, while paying tribute to the influences of their youth. Inspired by a diverse group of influences like Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, Kyuss, Hum, Elder, and others, as well as giants such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd, Unto the Earth writes songs that feature heavy riffs, soaring guitar harmonies, and droning, melodic vocals, interspersed with atmospheric interstitials and psychedelic interludes that all combine to take the listener on a cosmic journey.