CRYSTAL SPIDERS (Raleigh, NC | Ripple Music)
Raleigh's own Crystal Spiders deal in fuzzed-out riffs, thundering drums, and smoky, dynamic vocals — a potent blend of stoner doom, sludge, and heavy psych that hits like a slow-motion freight train. Fronted by bassist/vocalist Brenna Leath (Lightning Born), the band has built a devoted following in the underground doom scene with three albums on legendary imprint Ripple Music, including their latest Metanoia (2025). Pulling from classic rock dynamics, punk intensity, and bluesy swing, Crystal Spiders forge their own path through the heavy psych wasteland — and they're absolutely crushing live.
crystalspiders.bandcamp.com
INSOMNIAC (Atlanta, GA | Blues Funeral Recordings)
Atlanta's transcendent post-doom architects INSOMNIAC coalesce onto our plane like a third eye opening into the beyond. Like-minded explorers of sound and mind writing songs in the frequency of the earth. Featuring members of Deceased, Brass Knuckle Surfer, and The Buzzards of Fuzz, the outfit's transcendent, mind-expanding psychedelic heaviness casts light on the magic and strange beauty, balanced between unconsciousness and dreams. Om Moksha Ritam (2025, Blues Funeral Recordings) is a brooding, heavy, and psychedelic journey. Every spin reveals another layer. Don't sleep on it.
insomniacvibes.bandcamp.com
EVIL EYE (Chapel Hill, NC)
Hometown heavy! Formed in Chapel Hill in late 2023, Evil Eye is a powerhouse trio delivering fuzzed-out, riff-worshipping rock and roll rooted in the golden era of heavy — think Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, and Black Sabbath. Their debut album Wizard War I is a love letter to 1970s heavy rock, spanning flat-out motorcycle rock to laid-back stoner grooves. They've wasted no time making their presence known in the NC underground, and catching them live is not optional.
evileyenc.bandcamp.com