For 8 years, I’ve considered Weedpecker’s III their opus, but after writing this review, I think V is a release that’s primed and ready to launch the band into orbit.
Release date: February 27th, 2026 | Heavy Psych Sounds Records | Bandcamp | Instagram
Despite the name and the connotations that come with stoner metal and psych rock, Weedpecker is very much music you want to experience the richness of life to. Whilst I love blasting it at home, the music really comes alive as god-rays burst through the clouds on a morning walk, or as the satin skies of a British winter close out the day on a drive home. The record is exceptionally diverse for the genre too, with everything from mellow, ambient psychedelic like Casua Sui through to the modern hybrid of prog and stoner-doom that is Elder and King Buffalo.
V is worlds away in production quality, too, from their last record IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts, which I think was hit by the lineup changes and COVID restrictions. Everything sounds absolutely massive on this record, and you can really feel the changes the new members from Dopelord, BelzebonG, and Major Kong have brought with them. Yet it’s fair to say that Weedpecker have managed to retain the sound from their earlier records too, with “Fading Whispers” showcasing flavours from II, so this certainly isn’t Weedpecker fully reimagined, more like sprinkling an ice cream cone with extra delights. There are some brilliantly creative binaural moments in the mix that really allow you to get lost in the melodic, ambient parts of the songs, whilst the heavy parts of the album sound clean and epic, reaching huge heights and getting your body moving.
The album is built really well, as evidenced by the first two tracks. The intro track is a really cool, yet quite intense at points, synth-focused track. Here, you get the first glimpses of the production value and the mood it can help to set. After this brief track, there is an excellent contrast in sound that follows. “Fallen Whispers” opens with a beautiful ambient-psych guitar riff, which clears all aspersions and concerns, letting you drift away in the upcoming soothing vocals. Weedpecker‘s progressive flair soon emerges out of the stoney-haze, though, and we’re met with the full emphatic sound and song-writing skills of the band. Yet what surprised me was after the heavy guitars kicked in, we still got flourishes of what I presume is electric-acoustic piercing the mix, winding the song back down from emphatic progressive heights. That said, there are so many amazing moments, motifs, and layers in this eleven-minute track that it’s almost hard not to word vomit and wax lyrical over every detail.
Thankfully for you, Weedpecker follow up with “Ash”, easily my first contender for this year’s Riff of the Year article, allowing me to divert my writing focus elsewhere. Again, opting for a whimsical, smoke-drenched introduction to the track, this time instrumental, it builds up a really introspective atmosphere, before the introduction of the main motif of the song. The tones of the guitars have that Boss Keloid emphatic bass to them, punchy, tight, yet overloaded with sound, and they are cleverly intersected with playful motifs during the first few minutes. The distractions allow subtle escalations in the overall soundscape, before massive drum fills take over and the track becomes a prog-epic, soaked in shoegazey vocals and psychedelic synths.
The track is absolutely captivating, and I think it’s a marked difference from the aloof writing in IV, which never really went anywhere. Of course, the insane production quality on this record really helps as well, with the climax of “Ash” arguably surpassing Elder‘s last two records, which have really captured that modern epic prog/psych-rock sound.
The production quality really shines on the next track as well, which is a nice ambient reprieve after the scale of the previous track. Again, bringing out that acoustic sound, paired with rippling layers of proggy synths, you get swept up in the lofty aura of the track. Straight after this, you’re back into a heavy prog track with “Mirrors”, with those doomy flavours pairing off against the proggy guitars, with time signatures flying all over the place. I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the third single they release off the album, as it will definitely appeal to a wider audience, especially when it begins charging towards its finale. The squealing guitars remind me of a bit of Motörhead, but coming kind of out of nowhere, it made it even more fun.
And I think that really sums up this album as a whole, it’s just a bloody good time start to finish. Whenever it gets a bit intense, there’s a soft puddle of synths and soothing vocals to fall into moments later. Capping it off is the stunning “The Last Summer of Youth”, which again starts with tons of hazey-gaze, before building into a prog masterpiece. The guitar solo that shreds through the track is absolutely unbelievable, making you feel like sunshine is bursting out of your ears. I really hope that on one of the dates I plan to catch them in Europe this year, I get to hear the whole composition live, because it really is a feast for the senses. Again, the mix and mastering here shine, as the gradual escalations really help to build the epic nature of the track, and close off the album perfectly.
Now I’ve written this all out, I can firmly state that V is their best album now, bringing together all their best sounds from their illustrious history and presenting it in a package that not only hits the progressive/psych-rock zeitgeist perfectly, but does so whilst sounding fresh and unique. I’d expect this at the top of many lists come the end of the year.
