Following up this post from last week, we here at Valley of Steel HQ are pleased to present to you ANOTHER article about ANOTHER new (well, it was new last year) album from a band we’ve written about a bunch of times, who ALSO will be playing at a festival at the end of the week (in addition to a few stops through southern California leading up to it). It’s like déjà vu all over again.

 

Borracho – Ouroboros (Ripple Music, 08 August 2025)

 

 

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“Crushing grooves, haunting hooks, and riff-worship that never dies,” in the band’s own words, are pretty much exactly what we’ve come to expect from D.C.’s Borracho. From the first notes of opener “Vegas Baby,” the combination of hard-rocking riff and hermetically-tight rhythm section, powerful vocals and multi-pronged guitar solo, shows that the veteran trio are back and they mean business. However, while Ouroboros may be presented as “a straight-up, take-no-prisoners hard rock manifesto” that minimizes “the psychedelic explorations” found throughout much of their catalog, their usual undercurrent of social consciousness remains interwoven throughout these heavily-fuzzed stoner grooves.

The grumbly bassline that introduces “Lord of Suffering” is definitely a highlight, but so is the wah-centric guitar that emerges in “Vale of Tears” (proving that the psychedelia has not been expunged ENTIRELY). Overall, you can’t go wrong with any of the tracks from this “riff-driven assault on the cycle of societal decay” — all of them are built with a musical foundation to get your head bobbing, alongside thematic content designed to get your head thinking about “machines that keep turning no matter who gets caught in the gears,” revolving around the central idea of the mythological symbol which here represents the idea that “humanity is devouring itself.”

 

 

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Find Ouroboros here in digital/CD/vinyl formats, or check here for additional options including a variety of merch bundles.
 

 

Borracho – Bandcamp | YouTube
Ripple Music – website | Bandcamp | store (US) | store (EU) | YouTube

 

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• TONIGHT (Wednesday, 18 March 2026): Los Angeles @ The Escondite – don’t miss a one-time-only reunion with the band’s original vocalist, who stepped down after their very first record nearly a decade and a half ago!
• Thursday, 19 March 2026: San Diego @ The Tower Bar – the band’s first time playing in this city.
• Friday, 20 March 2026: Yucca Valley @ Mojave Gold – part of Mojave Experience (more info below).

 

 

Mojave Experience: “Forged In Dust..Driven By Sound”

 
20 March 2026 | 7:00pm (doors 6:00)
Mojave Gold, 56193 29 Palms Hwy, Yucca Valley CA
 
21 March 2026 | 12:30pm (gates 11:30)
Joshua Tree Lake and Campground, 2601 Sunfair Rd, Joshua Tree CA

More Details: website | tickets

Friday lineup features Borracho with The Rubber Snake Charmers Feat. Sean Wheeler, The Freeks, Arthur Seay & the Riffkillers, Insomniac, SoftSun

Saturday lineup features Earthless, Dead Meadow, John Garcia, Acid King, Yawning Man, Hippie Death Cult, Nick Oliveri’s Death Acoustic, Ecstatic Vision, Howling Giant, Early Moods