Some people believe there’s an alien reptilian race which has been set lose on the world to subtly control the course of human events. Maybe you’re one of those people who believe those things or maybe you’re actually one of the reptiles. At any rate, on September 5, 2025, Stoner Psych band, BLACK MOON CULT, is dropping their debut album, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig), via Black Doomba Records. It’s about a reptilian race that returns to the Garden of Eden which they were so rudely cast out of. So, if you fit into one of those categories above, or if you just dig Stoner Pysch music, this might just be the album you’ve been waiting for.

Promo material says the album is “influenced by Lovecraftian cosmic horror, ancient Chinese mythology, and the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden.” So, way cool that. I love the diverse influences. I also love that this debut album is an entire narrative. A risky but admirable move. But not only is the storyline compelling, so is the actual music. Sometimes when a band follows single a narrative for an entire album, the songs come out sounding forced and plastic. Not so here.  

Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) comprises six tracks and spans a solid 78 minutes of runtime. That’s right—one hour and 18 minutes. Impressive. As I started to listen to the album, I first got the impression they were an instrumental power trio. I mean, no vocals for the first two minutes. And they have that instrumental vibe with well-orchestrated movements and complex rhythms. But as it turns out, not one but all three members contribute vocals. That was surprise number one. My second surprise came when I realized that for a lot of the album the vocals sound more like a Black Metal or Thrash band than a Psych Rock band. As a fan of Black Metal, I kind of dig that. Now I know a lot of people will be repelled by the Black/Thrash reference so you can just pretend I didn’t write that and instead think of the vocals as curiously raspy. I should also say there are some tracks where the vocals are mostly clean—specifically, “Sunfish” and, oddly, “At the Mountains of Madness.”

Like most Stoner or Psych bands, the music itself is fuzzy, groovy, and explorative, but there is also an intriguing mix of instruments with an electric sitar and a pipe organ working into the mix. My selection of standout tracks includes “Supernova” with its trippy cosmic vibe; title track, “Ophidian Future”; and “At the Mountains of Madness,” a solid heavy track invoking Lovecraft’s masterpiece.

Whether you’re part of the reptilian race from Saturn sent to destroy the human race or you just dig a good sci-fi/fantasy yarn or you’re a diehard Stoner Psych fan, Black Moon Cult’s Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) is a trip well worth the price of admission.