Steak’s ‘Acute Mania’ (released via Ripple Music in 2022) presented a brilliant dose of stoner rock. Just as important as sharing some great riffs, the album boasted the kind of production job that made the London based heavyweights sound even heavier. The guitars adopted a tone somewhere between doomy and fuzzy – often making the band’s Kyuss influenced roots more than obvious – and the drums punched through everything with a genuine intent. In stoner terms, it offered the kind of professional sound you’d expect from a major label band a quarter of a century earlier. In short, ‘Acute Mania’ was a contemporary stoner classic.

Their 2026 LP – a self-titled affair, clearly believing that no embellishment is needed and the band name speaks for itself, at least amongst those in the know – sometimes offers more of the same. This, obviously, is a good thing.

‘Cometh’ sets an ominous mood in place, first by sharing a cold riff that sounds like a cross between a desert rock mood-setter and something from a Dario Argento film score, before exploding into a slab of heaviness that blends doom metal weightiness with a stoner groove. The heavier aspects of the riff are of a classic post-Sabbath/Crowbar infused vintage, and their tried and tested style will be more than enough to reel in genre fans almost instantly, but this isn’t just a safe stoner workout. There are moments here where the uncompromising heaviness is offset by a siren-like lead guitar adding a layer of ominous melody, and others where the riff is joined by desert fuelled harmony vocals which owe more to bits of ‘Regional Theatre’ by The Fierce And The Dead than older recordings by the likes of Sleep, Kyuss and Eyehategod. It’s deeper and richer than parts of ‘Acute Mania’ whilst still retaining a signature Steak heaviness. Equally cool, but a lot more melodic, ‘Dust’ fuses a desert rock aesthetic with a faster rhythm, tapping into something that sounds like Queens of The Stone Age on the verses, before dropping into a heavier riff on a very direct chorus. The way the lead guitar is used to drop bluesy leads between the intense stoner grooves is very smart, creating a layered sound that is a cut above most stoner bands, while a repetitive hook goes a long way to making this track memorable from first listen. Extant fans of the Steak sound will almost certainly discover an instant favourite here.

Branching out a little further, following a clanky intro, the verses of ‘Aether’ inject a slightly proggy feel, taking the Steak riffs a tiny bit further towards a Tool-ish sound. It’s a bit of a red herring however, since once the chorus hits, the band settle into a perfect blend of metal and stoner riffs topped with a few twin lead guitar sounds and the odd bluesy lead. On a musical level, this offers a really full-bodied sound, long before the middle of the track descends into even heavier sounds, and a lead guitar break veers off into a proto-metal bluesiness that brings out the very best in Reece Tee’s playing. With more melodic vocal lines tapping into psych and desert rock influences, this is a track that manages to work most of Steak’s key influences in a really tight workout that clocks in at well under five minutes – wonderfully intense while retaining a strong sense of melody, on a track with absolutely no padding.

In contrast to a lot of mid tempo weightiness, ‘Knucklehead’ smashes forth with a few speed driven riffs, mixing stoner fuzz with a trad metal force, creating something that sounds genuinely exciting behind Kippa’s vocals. The speed is tempered by a more “typical” Steak chorus where the guts of Queens of The Stone Age are recycled with a little extra anger, and with everything done and dusted in a little over two minutes, it all results in the kind of track that will sound immense within the band’s live set. Dropping back into slower climes, a definite album highlight ‘Two By Two’ shares a world of clean vocals against a slightly hazy desert rock riff, creating something that will appeal to the stoner crowd without relying on a typical heaviness. This shows Steak’s most melodic side in full flow: the marriage between vocal and guitar is perfect, and the way the band rework elements of Team Sleep into something a little more desert-centric shows off a wealth of talents that understand that typical influences can be bent into familiar shapes that still seem vibrant, despite remaining somewhat predictable.

Stretching out even further, the deep psychedelics of ‘Short Arms’ work some superb guitar riffs – Reece remains busy without ever losing sight of a strong melody – and a clean vocal feeds even further into a swirling psych-y feel. The most important aspect of this performance, however, comes from Dean Deal’s taut drumming. Throughout the lengthy jam, he drops into a world of almost tribal grooves, offering complex rhythms that constantly push everything forward, facilitating a desert rock sound that’s more impressive than the genre’s typically “trippy” output. Again, fans will find much to enjoy here, whilst the track should offer first time listeners plenty of interest.

All of this enjoyable material is joined by a pair of pre-released singles which, although differing in approach, both help to paint a fuller picture of the Steak sound. ‘Luxury Junk’ works a slow, haunting melody at first, then breaks into a slab of alt-rock/desert darkness that occasionally plays like a more groove-oriented Awooga (a much missed band), all buzzing guitar lines set against soaring vocals. In terms of capturing the band’s blend of heaviness and melody, it’s very effective, especially in the way its mid tempo, heavy core allows Kippa plenty of room to present a more melodic edge. Then, at the point where the number reaches a natural climax and should end, the band go full on Josh Homme and drag it out with a somewhat unnecessary coda. That said, approached on its own merits, the last couple of minutes work well enough, pushing the tempo into something faster, allowing the drums to take centre stage. ‘Infinite’, meanwhile, takes Steak into a sppoky soundscape where echoing guitars go even more deeply into a psych/desert sound, and a crying vocal could just as easily work with a dark indie rock band. Even when this track delivers a heavier chorus riff, it’s a lot more commercial than a lot of Steak material (at least relatively speaking), and on that score would be a good first listen for the unfamiliar. Despite being lighter and more melodic, it isn’t necessarily as interesting or as exciting as the bulk of the material on this LP, but it plays an important role in showing how varied the band can be.

There are moments where ‘Steak’ (the album) and Steak (the band) serves up some fairly generic riffs, but everything is brilliantly played. When the album goes the extra mile to feel a little more adventurous (as per ‘Cometh’, ‘Short Arms’ and ‘Aether’), fans will experience a desert rock/stoner metal act capable of taking genre sounds just a little further than most, creating works that sound superb even after repeated listens. Whichever way you approach it, ‘Steak’ is one of the best metal-centric albums of 2026, and not to be missed by anyone with even the vaguest interest in stoner and desert-based riffs.

September 2026