Staten Island's The Budos Band Brings the Heavy (Archives)

With its 2014 record Burnt Offering, The Budos Band seems to have spent many hours listening to bands like Black Sabbath, Pentagram, or Deep Purple on endless repeat. Their riffs and grooves are way heavier, and still it's clear that the Afrobeat force is still with them. Here the ensemble leans towards scorched earth guitar distortion, some blistering brass, and the sinister droning organs, all of which conjures a far more ominous and raging vibe. While not wholly a reinvention, The Budos Band's progression feels like the logical next step from a group always looking to add something new to the mix. The nine-piece band plays some of their latest doomy instrumental funk, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2014.)