A pretty heavy week of NMM this time, but still with some great lighter country and indie and blues stuff thrown in for good measure too. It’s a fun one, so let’s dive in and check it out!
Also, while it’s technically a covers album so I won’t cover it in the list (see what I did there?), shout out to the new Slash record. It’s easily the most I’ve enjoyed an album Slash has put out in over a decade at this point, which says a lot about the GnR guitarists songwriting these days… Everyone he worked with sounded awesome, fit the songs, and they all really made them their own. It’s a fun listen and I’d recommend it to anyone!
Now, on with the list…
Kerry King: From Hell I Rise
The Slayer guitarists much anticipated solo album is finally out, and sounds almost exactly what you’d expect it to. Evil riffs, lightening-quick drums and some very fitting lyrics. While Mark’s vocals are mainly a bit more harsh than Tom’s were, there are times where they have almost the same delivery and sound eerily similar. The main difference, thank god, is that Kerry’s soloing is 10x better than it was in Slayer. It’s no longer a wall of high, whammied screeching, but actually has something to it, even if half the time it’s very Kirk Hammett.
But I actually enjoyed this album a lot more than I was expecting to. Kerry always felt like the weak link of Slayer, in my opinion, but this is a solid thrash/death metal record. Tracks like ‘Idle Hands’, ‘Crucifixion’ and ‘Toxic’ are awesome, but I really enjoyed every song on it. It’s a great album from front to back, and I’ll certainly be spinning it again a good few times over the next few weeks and months, I’m sure. Kerry very much still has it and it’s just made me wish we had more Slayer releases towards the back portion of their careers. They’ve won me over with this album, and I’mma have to see them at Graspop now! 7.5/10
Don McLean: American Boys
The fact that the American Pie legend is still putting out new music on a semi-regular basis is crazy. The fact that it’s still pretty high quality is even more insane. It’s so very old-school country, with a healthy dose of blues rock on top, and is a fantastic summer chill-out album. Even when it address some pretty heavy topics like George Floyd, it does so with style and swagger (if it’s a little blunt). But songs like ‘Thunderstorm Girl’, ‘Truth and Fame’ and ‘I Shall Find my Way’ are all personal highlights, but if you’re into the style I’d wholeheartedly recommend the whole album. Don still sounds excellent and his band work their asses throughout. It’s made me more excited to see him at The Long Road in August, so it’s done it’s job pretty well indeed! Traditional country fans will love this, as will old-school blues fans, so check this out if you fall into either category! 7/10
Cage the Elephant: Neon Pill
The US alt/indie band are back with their first new music in half a decade, their longest dry spell between albums. I’ve known the name for years, but haven’t ever really checked them out aside for ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’. However, I know plenty of talented musicians from Bowling Green (mainly country, admittedly) so I’m sure it’s good.
Good it certainly is! Don’t get me wrong, it’s very different to the single from their debut album, but of course a band are going to evolve across 16 years. It’s a lot more electro-based than what I was expecting, more resembling Twenty-One Pilots’ music. Then again, that’s kinda how indie in general has gone the last five plus years or so, so they’re just changing with the times. Still, I enjoyed it, and songs like ‘Rainbow’, ‘Neon Pill’ and ‘Ball and Chain’ are all massive highlights. Still, it’s a good album overall, too. I had it on while cooking and fit the mood pretty perfectly. It’s not 100% my sort of thing, but they constantly kept it interesting with funk, pop, rock, indie, hip-hop and other influences blended together in a great melting pot. If you’re into vaguely indi-rock infused pop, check this out, you won’t be disappointed! 7.5/10
Elvellon: Ascending in Synergy
We’ve already checked this album out! Find our review of it here!
Marty Friedman: Drama
The best guitarist Megadeth ever had (and that’s barely a contentious point, sorry to the others) is back with another of his completely different solo albums. This one is a bit more what you’d expect from the virtuoso than some of his solo work, him showing off his insane talent, soloing over the top of classical piano and soft rock. As a semi-aspiring guitarist, I cannot help but love, yet be massively jealous of, his work here. Not only his playing, but his songwriting and crafting and producing is all on point. And at times, it’s truly beautiful. The highlight track for me is ‘Triumph’, a reimagining of his 1992 hit from album Scenes. People may be familiar with it, as it itself is a reimagining of ‘Thunder March’. However, this is far and away my favourite take on the piece. Then straight afterwards, he changes things up and we get another highlight in the straight-up rock song, ‘Thrill City’. Then you have the one track with English lyrics on the album, ‘Dead of Winter’ featuring Like a Storm. It’s another great track, an almost power/symphonic metal ballad.
Of course, this album won’t be for everyone. When 80% plus of it is instrumental, a lot will surely judge it immediately and not listen. Both ‘Dead of Winter’ and the Spanish ‘2 Rebeldes’ are incredible songs with lyrics though, and are well worth checking out if you can’t do instrumental stuff. But then, if you are a musician in any way, or like more classical composition, you have to check out the rest of the album too. It’s SO GOOD. This man is such an incredible, underrated force within the music world, and I can’t given this album any lower than a 9/10, unheard of for an instrumental one on this site!
The Avett Brothers: Self-Titled
This is a real mixed bag of an album, both in my personal preference and in style overall. One track can be folk, the next punk, the next indie, the next rock, and sometimes it makes for quite a jarring transition. The opening track is admittedly weird AF, but then we headed into the almost Barenaked Ladies/NOFX combination of ‘Love of a Girl’ and I got excited. Then it drops back down into slow folk again immediately, and I nearly got whiplash. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the hell out of a band that can play and blend multiple different styles, but my issue is that at times this doesn’t even sound like the same band. And I’m not even against their folky, indier stuff, either. Songs like ‘Cheep Coffee’ and ‘Same Broken Bones’ are just as good as their random, upbeat country song, ‘Country Kid’. But as an album, it’s a very strange collection of nine tracks. It may grow on me more with more listens, and I’ll certainly be listening to it again, but for now it gets a solid 7/10 from me!
Mutes: …Buried Where You Stand
The Birmingham post-punk trio are back with album number four. While individually each track isn’t especially my sort of thing, the album as a whole is really damn good. It reminds me a lot of early Placebo, in all of the best ways. It also gives slight Mother Mother vibes, especially when that band turns to their heavier side. The guitars are grungy and distorted to high heaven, giving it an almost dangerous edge and making the songs drip with attitude. And, despite the distortion to the vocals too, there is still plenty of catchiness and great hooks throughout, especially with the backing-vocal-filled choruses. And yet the band can switch up in an instant into a more calmer, indie-folk feel and back again at the drop of a hat, showcasing their playing and writing talent perfectly.
Songs like the opener, the grungy ‘Another Moon Song’ and ‘Great White Nothing’ are all big personal highlights. However, as I said before, if you listen to this album as a whole, it really shines brightly. If you’re into all things psychedelic, indie or even desert rock, this may be the album for you! The band’s talent is off the charts, so even though it won’t be a regular listen for me moving forward, it’s an easy 7.5/10
Cognative: Abhorrence
The fifth album from the tech death New Jerseyans came out last Friday, and is a full-on assault on the ears from the first second to the last. And, of course, I mean that in the best possible way. It’s technical death metal at its very best, and really builds upon what the band have put out so far in an excellent way. The guitaring is an insanely massive highlight of the album, but that’s not to take away from everyone else in the bad, who work their ass off throughout. Tracks like ‘Insidious’, ‘Ivory Tower’ and ‘Savor of Suffering’ are all huge highlights on an album stacked full of them. It’s certainly not an album for the faint of heart, but if you’re into the heavier side of metal, I’d certainly recommend checking this album out in full! It’s certainly one of the better albums I’ve heard in the genre, not that I’ve checked out many so far! 8/10
Troy Redfern: Invocation
This is an awesome heavy blues rock album. Troy’s seventh studio release is so very Love/Hate in all the best ways. It’s just as much sleaze as it is blues, and packed full of awesome riffs, blistering soloing and some really catchy vocal hooks. It’s like all eras of Slash’s career blended into one sound, it’s amazing. Songs like ‘Getaway’, ‘The Calling’ and ‘All Night Long’ are personal highlights, but honestly this whole album is just hit after hit.
The NWOCR scene has such a talent on their hands with Troy, and this could very well be the album that helps break him out into the massive star he deserves to be. The fact that this is his fifth album in four years, too, and the songwriting and playing is still to this high quality is insane. I’mma be spinning this a lot going forward, and would recommend the whole album to anyone! It’s a very easy 9.5/10 from me!
Devitalized: State of Agression
The deathcore band’s debut album goes hard. It has more of a hardcore and metalcore edge to it than the big bands of the genre these days, which I loved just as much as the power metal-infused likes of Lorna Shore. The riffing is heavy and awesome, the drummer goes HARD throughout, and the screams fit perfectly and sound awesome over the top of it all. Heck, even the clean vocals on tracks like ‘Karma Sutra’ sound great and fit amazingly, causing the contrast between the two to make the screams even heavier! And of course the ever-imressive Tom Barber kills it on ‘Godslayer’, giving off instant Darko vibes in the best ways.
It’s hard to even pick highlight tracks, partially because they’re all awesome, and partially because in my new-to-deathcore ears, they all blend together and sound kinda samey. That’s hardly a complaint, though. The album as a whole is a great listen and certainly worth checking out in full if you’re a fan of the heavy stuff! 8/10, this is sick and I have to see it live!