San Francisco's Disastroid makes heavy music that isn't boring. Blending the vibes of 90s grunge with modern stoner, noise, and math rock, Disastroid sounds something like a lost band from the Amphetamine Reptile back-catalogue -- a mashup of odd, unpredictable time changes, sludgy riffs, and soulful vocals.
In 2024 Disastroid released their second album, “Garden Creatures", on Heavy Psych Sounds. Produced by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, Swans, Mr. Bungle, Neurosis), it trades some of the raw, angular vibe of their last outing, “Mortal Fools", for darker, moody textures and a denser, more layered heavy sound.
San Francisco veterans Disastroid have been serving up sludgy, grunge-infused stoner rock for the better part of a decade now, refining a sound that weaves heavy riffs together with angular guitar lines, odd time signatures, and hazy walls of fuzz. As influenced by 90's noise rock as they are by modern psych, doom, and post-metal, Disastroid delivers thick, satisfying stoner rock stomp while also embracing layers of tripped-out noise and unpredictable song structures.
Their latest, “Mortal Fools” is their heaviest and most expansive-sounding album to date. Produced by Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses, The Fucking Champs), it’s sonically focused on what Disastroid does best, laying singer/guitarist Enver Koneya’s deep vocals and fuzzed-out riffs on top of a relentless, pummeling rhythm section. At the same time, it’s loose enough that it takes some unpredictable twists and turns, conveying the band's rough edges, sense of humor, and noisy, experimental streak.
with Unsane and Seized Up
Buy tickets >
NOISEPOP 2023 Festival San Francisco
with Thunder Boys
Heavy Psych Sounds 2023 Festival
2 days of bands, outdoor stage at Thee Parkside in SF
Full lineup listing and advance tickets >
Winters 10th anniversary party
with Drown the Rat and Wet Meadow
"Both 'Love is What You Bring on Home' and its companion, the infectious, somewhat longer 'Gadabout' meld mathy impulses with overarching groove... precisely executed on a technical level. No huge surprise they pull it off as well as they do — Disastroid aren’t exactly newcomers with three albums out — but it’s a fierce approach anyway, as blinding as it is rhythmically exciting. See if you can keep up.”
"Imagine if The Minutemen listened to a bunch of Black Sabbath and put their albums out on Amphetamine Reptile. Or something like that. There are elements of stoner metal and punk and several other things that you can’t quite put your finger on... Spastic rhythms and shifting time signatures keep it from bogging down, and also keep the listener from getting too comfortable. These guys make challenging music, and it’s not going to be for everyone. If you’re the adventurous type, you should probably check out Disastroid’s Love is What You Bring on Home.”
"Bursts of frantic time changes, thumping bass, wicked riffing and just a hint of madness. Ok, more than a hint. Imagine the Melvins in a barfight with Primus while someone in the back is smoking weed and blasting Fu Manchu and you'll get the feeling.”
"Listening to San Francisco-based Disastroid requires a level of caution generally reserved for an encounter with the devil. The sludge-rock trio conjures wicked melodies and produces walls of fuzz that exude a sinister, magisterial quality: its music is loud and sadistically seductive.”
"Disastroid are great. They have a great name, some great art work, and they sound a little bit like Melvins gone math rock... Disastroid takes elements of sludge, noise rock, stoner, post-hardcore and fuzz, and successfully mixes these together to create a very attractive sound.”
"It's always fun to say an album's sound defied categorization, but this was the year's best example. Missiles struck a chord and nestled into my frontal cortex, forming memories I didn't realized existed. Steady and damn-near perfect, the shifts are never forced and the 90's morning wood never kills my buzz. It's sonic anesthesia peppered with sobering stoner-sludge, and every minute is devastating.”
"I received Disastroid’s newest album Missiles in the mail this week and though I had never heard of the band, their name immediately piqued my curiosity. So I put the record on. And again, and again, and now I’m a few days down the road and when I look around my house I see there’s nothing left standing. My chairs have been reduced to kindling, my ceiling decided to let itself go, I thought I had two cats but I only count one, and there’s a flame about the size of a pilot light burning in my left speaker.”
I really appreciate the 'free spirit' style that Disastroid exhibits musically. This band plays loose while still coming across as a tight unit... obviously produced quite well, while still maintaining a fun 'garage-style' atmosphere; which seems to be missing too often in the world of rock today. The vocals of Enver Koneya remind me of the legendary Chris Cornell.”
"...Fucking awesome. The perfect mix of Harvey Milk, Jesus Lizard, Melvins, nomeansno, and Danzig all while tuning it to their own unique sound. It was everything that has been good about rock music and what is good about rock music now. I highly recommend these guys and it was nice to be completely blown away by an opening band I had never heard a note from before.”
"If you ask Disastroid to describe themselves they may just shrug you off. Bring them your sludge-rock fans, metalheads, and jaded hipsters; they're not above or below any of you.”
