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    Desert-Rock Top Albums of 2020

    2020 is over (finally…?), The time has come to present you the top of the best albums of the year for Desert-Rock.

    This ranking is the synthesis of all the opinions of the team, reflecting the variety of genres that you are used to finding with us. (click on each to read the detailed chronicle of the disc) :

    -1) Lowrider – Refractions

    Lowrider only took 20 years to give birth to the successor to Ode to Io. Producing an album of this quality in such a short time is a performance and naturally puts the combo in the lead this year (largely). The stoner with these chicks seems so simple and efficient.

    -2) Elephant Tree – Clothes

    A feat of finding the balance between heady melody and electric magma. Yet that’s what Elephant Tree has managed to do with this new album, proving to us that an Elephant can race ahead in front of a herd of wildebeest.

    -3) Sons Of Otis – Isolation

    8 years later Seismic, the most fuzzy Canadian trio on the scene returns and reminds the three forties who still listen to them that they are one of the best stoner groups still in activity. Too bad for all those who still have not understood it after 25 years of hammering it.

    -4) REZN – Chaotic Divine

    The Chicago quartet’s third album hits the nail on the head: Chaotic Divine does not only confirm their musical identity, a successful synthesis mixing deep doom and worked melodies; it also demonstrates the talent and maturity of a group that we have certainly not finished hearing about.

    -5) Tia Carrera – Tried and True

    The far too discreet Texan trio (rare vinyl releases, endemic tours…) remember us nine years (!) After their previous real album. Tried and True confirms that Tia Carrera is still one of the most exciting pure jam bands of our time.

    -6) Elder – Omens

    We expected him to crush the competition this year, but the group’s choices, demanding as always, have split – right down to our writing. More stripped, rich and worked, he surprised his world, while it would have been enough for them to eternally remake the same disc for ease. They have chosen audacity and movement, and when it comes time to take stock, Omens is indeed a high-end record.

    -7) Demonic Death Judge – The Trail

    Subtlety sludge, Demonic Death Judge inaugurates a concept with The Trail, an album of patience which does not open at the first low of the forehead. The plaque will have delighted listeners with the extent of its musical landscapes. To listen relentlessly and on all occasions.

    -8) Psychlona – Venus Skytrip

    In the middle of the year of space travel for lambda clampin, Psychlona succeeds in propelling a sound machine into the stratosphere. Heavy like the booster of a Titan launcher, the riffs of Venus Skytrip vitrify the sand of desert rock with the assurance of a machine that is no longer at its first attempt.

    -9) Patrón – Patrón

    The Loading Data leader’s solo project is coming out almost 4 years after being boxed. Unchanged influences, assumed even with a group of US musicians having bathed in the QOTSA / desert rock spheres, the record does not surprise… except for its quality and its often irresistible groove, which will have thrown several members of this editorial staff.

    -10) Huanastone – Third stone from the sun

    Our Swedish friends are running for the title of “legitimate son of Graveyard” this year, as their music that smacks of the seventies is of a quality comparable to their compatriots. A first attempt in the form of a masterstroke which, we hope, will not remain without result.

    -11) In the Company of Serpents – Lux

    Yet not partridges of the year, the Colorado trio takes a solid place in the leading pack of the young doom / sludge guard: offering a set of compositions as daring as they are rich, ITCOS will have taken many people by surprise with a great album.

    -12) Yawning Man – Live at Giant Rock

    This strange year has nevertheless given us some satisfactions, including that of having found Yawning Man for a generator party in the middle of the desert which will be a milestone. Shamanic, ethereal, powerful, melodic, bewitching, this end-of-the-world experience is a magnificent gateway to a new world.

    -13) Slomosa – Slomosa

    First album for the Norwegians, and full box, direct: Slomosa, the disc, is a pure stoner album as respectful of the fundamentals as it is exciting with its maturity, richness and ardor. An absolutely stunning success, and a real hope for the years to come.

    -14) Bismarck – Oneiromancer

    Still Norwegians, but in a more austere genre: Bismarck imposed his Oneiromancer in a doom landscape that is sometimes too deep in its classicism. Between fidelity to codes and rebellious audacity, the group is the spearhead of a new wave of classy and exciting doom.

    -15) ZOE – Back into the Light

    A winning return for the Frenchies with a solid album. If 6 years of waiting is the price to pay for getting your ears warmed like this then it was worth the wait. But let’s hope that the next one comes very quickly, especially at this level.

    -16) Kanaan – Double Sun

    Causa Sui’s stable partner, Kanaan does not lack in common with their elders: followers of psych-jam plans and never cautious at the prospect of prog or jazzy explorations, they nevertheless assert with Double Sun their own identity, through more polished titles, for an extraordinary experience.

    -17) Sigiriya – Maiden Mother Crone

    Six years after their second album, Mother maiden crone came out discreetly, but did not go under the radar of your servants: the doomy / sludgy stoner of the Welsh quartet (including former Acrimony) hit the mark and will have worn our decks well this year …

    -18) Black Rainbows – Cosmic Ritual Supertrip

    Disregard any objectivity, Black Rainbows is in the place. No need to reinvent yourself when you’ve found the right blend. The well-oiled cogs of the trio once again this year deliver a mystical-mechanical plate based on proven know-how and stamped with the stoner excellence.

    -19) Color Haze – We Are

    Sensitivity, experience, years spent on the roads skimming the scenes, these are the ingredients of We Are, this is what makes the identity of Color Haze. Between Jam and erudite compositions, the latest album from the Munich residents takes on feelings and cajoles the listener from start to finish. A sensitive piece as there are few.

    -20) Triptonus – Soundless Voice

    Last segment of a trio of all remarkable albums, Soundless Voice comes to confirm all the good that one thinks of this group / project of stoner / psych rock instrumental. Do not be fooled by the very present mythology of this triplet, it is the music that counts, and this record affirms it with force.


    We were forced to push the ranking up to 20, due to several records with equal scores, a sign of the quantity of qualitative albums that have emerged this year … Not to mention the records that are at the gates of the ranking, big templates in the image of Soldati, Tar Pond, Huntsmen, Ruff Majik, Slift, Humulus, Causa Sui, Siena Root, Black Tusk, etc … More than 66 records were cited by our team of 10 columnists in the best of this year! Like what, everything will not be thrown away from this year 2020!

    2021 is coming with its share of promises… and surprises to watch out for! To discover with us!

    Source desert-rock.com

    Translated from French

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