An interesting week of new music this time, as it spans all different types of genre. Check it out with us!
Powerwolf: Interludium
The German power metal titans are back with their first album since 2021. We’ve been doing this for a while now, as evidenced by the fact that we reviewed their last one too! Call of the Wild got a 7.5 from us, how will this one fare in comparison?
Honestly, it’s just as good as their last album, if not better. It’s power metal through and through; fast drums, big riffs, catchy hooks from the vocals and strings and an overall huge, epic feel. ‘Sainted By the Storm’ and ‘Alters of Fire’ are my personal favourites of the album. Don’t get me wrong, none of it reinvents the wheel, it’s very similar. It would have been nice to have had a change of pace somewhere on the album, but overall it’s a solid power metal offering. It’s another 7.5/10 from me!
P.S. Shoutout to the deluxe, three disc edition. The second disc of other bands covering their old track is genius, especially when one of them is Electric Callboy. Meanwhile disc three is an orchestral version of the album, which is also phenomenal. The deluxe boxset gets 8.5/10
Mudhoney: Plastic Eternity
Seattle’s grunge/alt rock outliers Mudhoney are back with their 11th studio album. It’s… oh it’s weird. Like, early Soundgarden weird, which tracks. However, it also has that 90s swaggering edge to it, a touch of Ugly Kid Joe, while also feeling like it has a bit of modern indie in there, think IDLES. Heck, ‘Flush the Fascists’ is Dead Kennedys in every way, as well as a little Lou Reed. It’s a hodgepodge of A LOT styles, a lot of which the band had helped pioneer or start across it’s lengthy career.
That doesn’t mean it’s good, though. Because, at least to my ears, it’s not. Heck, the band even have a track that perfectly describes the album, ‘Cascades of Crap’. Ironically, ‘Cascades…’ is one of the better tracks on the album, too.
All joking aside though, I wasn’t a fan of this. As I said before, there are a lot of different styles and sub-genres involved here, from alt to grunge to punk, and I didn’t feel like they pulled many of them off very well. ‘Move Under’ was about the only track I’d happily have on semi-heavy rotation. If you liked this, more power to you, but I couldn’t get into it at all. They’re probably good at what they do, but what they do isn’t for me. 4/10
Cursebinder: Drifting
Max: So this album is okay. They know what they want to do and they certainly do it. Whilst listening to the album, I couldn’t find anything that I thought was notable, either in a good way or a bad way. However there was one part that I couldn’t quite work out what happens. In ‘no dreams’ there is a strange low frequency noise and I am not sure whether it was intentional from the band or if it was a mix issue but I know it was not a comfortable sound at all. Overall 6/10
Wednesday: Rat Saw God
Hey look, more weirdness. It’s got a lot more indie in there than Mudhoney did, but heavy indie. Unfortunately, it comes across very much like Wet Leg in its execution. In fact, it very much feels like a slightly heavier clone of said band. As you can probably tell, I’m really not a fan of Wet Leg. So, you can probably ascertain that I’m not really a fan of this either. The whole messy guitaring and honestly really grating vocals made me want to turn it off just two tracks in. I powered through but it didn’t get any better after that. I couldn’t find anything appealing about this, so will give it a 3/10. However, if you liked it, that’s great!
Covet: catharsis
One of the shortest albums we’ve ever covered on New Music Mondays, this is only 8 tracks and 28 minutes in length. To say the band make the most of their time, however, is an understatement. In such a brief time period, the band show that they are some of the most talented musicians currently active. Yvette Young is one of the best guitarists possibly ever, and it’s so evident on tracks like ‘firebird’ and ‘lovespell’. She is beyond underrated, and I cannot get enough of the music. Considering it is 99% instrumental, too, the emotion on display from the instrumentation is incredible. Honestly, if you have a spare half-hour to kill at any time, whack this on, you won’t be disappointed. 8.5/10
Sunrot: The Unfailing Rope
Max: This album was quite fun to listen to. It is aggressive and has lots of energy which is exactly what you want in an album like this. The features are all great and really add to the album rather than subtract from anything. Throughout the album there were guitar sounds that I haven’t heard used in this way before and it was good fun to hear. Consider that this only their second album, I hope that this picks up far more tractions as I would love to hear what they will do in the future as they continue to develop their craft. 7/10
Ian Munsick: White Buffalo
Time for the first of a few country albums this week. Ian’s sophomore album, a follow-up to 2021’s Coyote Cry, is apparently ‘the most me my music has ever been‘. If that is true, he’s very good at making music. Right from opener ‘From the Horse’s Mouth’, it’s clear it’s a modern take on country americana music, filled with catchy vocal melodies and a huge, open sound. He’s got a very bro-country voice, but the music and lyrics are a little more traditional country, which was is a cool combo. Tracks like ‘Arrowhead’, ‘Neon Brightside’ and the emotional ‘Little Man’ are all big highlights of the album. As is the norm now unfortunately, it’s about 2x longer than I feel like it should be, but honestly I’m sick of saying it. There are some good tracks throughout, and a good few tracks that could have ben left on the cutting-room floor. 7/10, good stuff!
Ruston Kelly: The Weakness
More country, and this time a normal length album (praise the lord!). Ruston’s fifth album walks the line between country and indie pretty closely, too. It took me a little bit to get into it, but honestly it’s just a great album to put on and chill out to. Tracks like ‘Hellfire’, ‘Michael Keaton’ and ‘Holy Shit’ are all highlights, but honestly the whole album is a simplistic, relaxed collection. It’s all a little samey by the end, but the lyric writing is so good it held my attention throughout. 7/10
Lurk: Aegis
Max: Right. I’ll be honest, I did not like this album at all. I could find much value in listening to it which I understand seems harsh but it is my honest opinion. Every song felt relatively the same and the same as every other standard song of this genre. I so see that all of the musicians are quite talented so I really hope that an album in the future will be better and will push them in to their own area where they can actually shine. 4/10
Jake Worthington: Self-Titled
More country and, thank god, another normal length album! The Texan’s debut album has been anticipated for a while as his singles and EPs have generated one hell of a buzz around him. Tracks like ‘Single at the Same Time’, ‘Honky Tonk Crowd’ and ‘Night Time is My Time’ are all highlights of an incredibly impressive album. Jake plays very traditional, honky tonk style country, but still manages to add a modern sheen and edge to it. He’s going to be a huge, household name in a matter of years, mark my words. For now, 8.5/10!