An absolutely stacked week for new music this week, featuring plenty of amazing albums! Let’s jump straight in!
Nightwish: Yesterwynde
The symphonic metal legends have finally returned! Well… kinda… the band haven’t done much since playing the European festival circuit in the summer of 2022, and this is the first album the band have put out since 2020’s HUMAN. :||: NATURE.. Holopainen has also stated the new album is not only a heavier successor to that, but completes a trilogy started with 2015’s Endless Forms Most Beautiful. However, weirdly, they aren’t touring it. They are on live haetus for a couple of years following this release. An odd choice for sure, especially with how big this album release will surely be!
What’s also a shame about it is that this is a damn awesome album. I’ve been a fan of the band for a good decade plus at this point, and I cannot get enough of this album this weekend. Just check out the one-two-punch of the opening title track into the epic ‘An Ocean of Strange Islands’ and tell me this isn’t amazing. And that’s just 10 minutes of the over-an-houe of greatness. Then you have awesome tracks like ‘The Antikythera Mechanism’, ‘e’ and single ‘Perfume of the Timeless’. Honestly though, the whole album is amazing, flowing together perfectly and there being no weak links. It’s over an hour of the very best symphonic-power metal around, and everyone involved kills it throughout. And it really does feel like it ties together the last decade of the band’s releases rather perfectly. From the strings to the synth to the heaviness, it’s all the perfect finale to the last two albums to this. We even get the rather standard symphonic metal thing of having orchestral versions of each track too, which was a nice touch and let’s the listener hear it all in a completely different light.
If you’re a fan of the band, the genre, or any adjacent styles, check this out, you’ll love it just as much as I do. There’s a reason they’re one of the biggest bands in Europe, and when they finally decide to return live, it’ll be MASSIVE, and I’ll be eagerly anticipating plenty of this release! It’s impossible to give this album any less than 9/10
Keith Urban: HIGH
The Australian stadium country megastar is back with his first album in four years. Anyone who’s familiar with his music will know exactly what to expect from this, good or bad. I know he’s a rather polarising name among country fans, but I honestly didn’t mind it. I’m not the biggest Urban fan, but I find his music inoffensive and generally enjoyable, despite being one of the catalysts for a lot of ‘pop-country’ these days (heck, I don’t mind any of that either!). The opening track is good, as is ‘WILDSIDE’, ‘HEART LIKE A HOMETOWN’ and ‘LAUGHIN’ ALL THE WAY TO THE DRANK’ Plus, his voice works so good with Lainey Wilson’s on ‘GO HOME W U’, another banger. There isn’t a bad song on the album, however. Plus, the album is arranged pretty well, the slow and rockier tracks are spread out and the dynamics mean it’s hard to get bored or burnt out. It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but if you’re a fan of country music you should check this out, you might be pleasantly surprised! I’m sure going to be spinning a few of these songs a lot moving forward! It’s an easy 8/10 from me!
Seether: The Surface Seems so Far
The grungiest post-grunge band around are back with another album. I have to admit, outside of their big tracks, I can’t say I’ve really had the time/pleasure of listening to that much Seether. I love their old singles, and a couple of their more recent songs. However, I feel like without that nostalgia there that a lot will have listening to this, it was just kinda average. I know I’ll get hate for saying that, but I put the album on in the car the other day and found myself zoning out our wanting to stick on something more interesting pretty frequently. Tracks like ‘Illusuon’ and ‘Try to Heal’ are good, but there’s a lot of meh. There’s a few catchy choruses, some good (pretty heavy) riffs some of the lyrics are amazing, and Shaun Morgan still sounds great after all these years. But for whatever reason, I just couldn’t get into it. It may grow on me with more listens, but for now it sadly gets a 6/10 from me.
Steal the City: Road to Nowhere
We’ve already reviewed this awesome album! Check it out here!
Chase Rice: Go Down Singin’
I feel like I’ve been staring at that beautiful mustache in my emails for months at this point, so for this album to finally be out and I can talk about it is damn exciting. What’s even more exciting is that it’s a fucking amazing record! If the title track didn’t hook me in enough, ‘Fireside’ is one of my favourite country tracks of the year, easy. Then you have songs like ‘Hey God it’s Me Again’, ‘If Drinkin’ Helped’ and ‘Little Red Race Car’ and the album is packed full of amazing tracks, there not being a bad one on it. It reminds me of a more neo-traditional, almost more folk/Americana Luke Combs, and that is certainly an awesome combination. Heck, it even has an air of Newton Faulkner to it at times, which I also LOVED.
Chase’s vocals are incredible and fit the instrumentation perfectly. His lyrics throughout are also fantastic, and not all that stereotypical as far as country goes. I’d recommend this album to any fan of country or its associated genres. I’ll be listening to it for weeks and months to come; it’s the perfect chilled out country album to close out the summer with. And it’ll probably be pretty high up on our list of top albums of the year too, at least from a country standpoint! 8.5/10
Sweet: Full Circle
This is classic rock/glam/AOR at its very best. One of the most underrated bands in history are finally calling it a day with this, their 14th album, and Andy Scott and Co are going out in style. The first official studio album to feature Paul Manzi at the front, he does an excellent job singing some amazing vocal lines and some damn catchy, massive melodies and choruses. And Andy is still cranking out some of the best riffs in the genre over 50 years into his storied career. And of course, we get some great solos throughout to compliment the great riffing and stadium-filling choruses. Tracks like ‘Don’t Bring Me Water’, ‘Everything’, ‘Rising Up’ and ‘Defender’ are all huge highlights, but honestly every song on this album is amazing.
It’s insane that this late into the band’s career, they are still putting out albums this damn good. And I can guarantee this album will fly way too far under the radar for a lot of people and journalism sites. However, not us! This gets an easy 9/10 from us, it’s one of the best glam/AOR albums I’ve heard in ages, from an all-round perspective. I’m not sure what the band are doing with regards to touring it, but hopefully I can see some of this live as I imagine it’d blow me away even more! What a way to finish a career, and with that the last branch of Sweet are done.
Dö: Unversum
The Finnish trios third studio album is an utter banger. Being dubbed döömer, I can definitely hear the stoner, doom, psychedelic and black/death metal influences spread across their sound. However, I’ve never heard such a combination before, it feeling like a sludgier version of death n’ roll, and sets the band apart as at very least wholly unique. And, to add to that, the music itself is not only different, but really damn good. The opening track sets up the band’s sound and epicness perfectly, while songs like ‘Nuclear Emperor’ and ‘Ode to the Dark Matter’ are huge highlights. However, the whole album is incredible; 46-minutes of heavier stoner goodness, and really feels like it should be listened to as a whole to be fully appreciated. It’s a really interesting concept and everything flows together perfectly. If you are into the heavier or sludgier side of music, this is definitely something for you to check out, you won’t be disappointed! It gets an easy 7.5/10 from me, and the band certainly have a new fan in me!
Midland: Barley Blue
I don’t know why I thought this would be faster. I clearly had a much different sound for what I thought the modern country group was like compared to what they are. Don’t get me wrong, what they are three incredibly talented songwriters, performers and harmonisers. However, my own expectations heading in that they’d be a bit more up-beat or less Americana/folk, and I was initially a little underwhelmed. It took a little getting into. However, the title track is excellent, and by the time I’d reached ‘Vegas’ I was all in. It’s still not 100% my sort of thing, but damn if I can’t appreciate the band’s insane talents. They are an amazing old-school country band, and it’s no wonder they’re getting massive. I feel like I’d appreciate it a lot more live, and it may win me over more than on track. However, for now it gets a 7/10 from me. Anyone who’s a fan of some of Don McLean or Willie’s slower stuff, you’ll love this!
Charlotte Wessels: The Obsession
The former Delian vocalist released her third solo album last Friday. It also marks her return fully to symphonic metal, as her previous two albums have been a more varied spread of genres. Honestly, it’s a damn good release! The instrumentation is heavy and there are some great riffs throughout, while Charlotte’s vocals are as good as ever, be it soaring notes, powerful, catchy melodies or even the odd fantastic scream. I love the metal Cranberries-style ‘The Exorcism’, the Alissa White-Gluz featuring ‘Ode to the West’ and the radio-hit-in-waiting that is ‘Praise’. It was really cool to hear Alissa sing more in ‘Ode to the West’ too, as she’s mainly just screaming in Arch Enemy these days, and I always forget how phenomenal her singing voice is. Honestly though, the whole album has a great flow to it and is well worth a listen! If you’re into symphonic stuff, I’m sure you’ll love it just like I do. Charlotte feels like she’s fully stepped out of Delain’s shadow with this release, and arguably shown that she can put out better music without them. This is an easy 8/10 from me!
Mitchell Tenpenny: The 3rd
The fifth album from the modern country-pop songer-songwriter is about exactly what you’d expect. It’s simple, mid-tempo country album for a solid album. It was… fine, I guess. It’s not my sort of country music these days as it is, and it got very tedious and monotonous pretty quickly. It could have easily been a shorter album, whether I was enjoying it or not. Tracks like ‘Bigger Mistakes’ and the rockier ‘Not Today’ were okay, but generally it felt like a LOT of filler. The duet with the wonderful Colbie Caillat, ‘Guess We’ll Never Know’, was also awesome. I’ve seen people praising this album online, and if you like this sort of thing I’m sure you’ll love this. But it was not my sort of thing at all, and was a real slog to get through, honestly. Sorry, but it gets a 4/10 from us.
Kanonenfiber: Die Urkatastrophe
The German black/death metal band are back with their sophomore album, another anti-war release again detailing the horrors of WWI and dedicated to those affected. Having not heard their debut, I didn’t know what to expect, but actually ended up loving this! There is a surprising amount of catchiness and melody that I was not expecting in such a heavy release, and despite the black metal instrumentation and screamed vocals, it had me trying to sing along with them through the choruses. Tracks like ‘Menschenmühle’, ‘Der Maulwurf’ and the surprisingly Scorpions-y closing track are all massive highlights for me. However, if you’re into the heavy stuff, I’m sure you’ll love all of it, just like I did. It’s rare that I find stuff so black metal that I enjoy this much, so clearly the band are on to something special, and may break into the more mainstream crowds pretty soon with releases like this! And, of course, the meaning and sentiment behind the tracks and album as a whole is phenomenal. It’s an easy 8.5/10 from me!
Rvshvd: IT’S RASHAD
The hype for the Georgian country boy’s debut album has been high for a while now, and has finally arrived! And to say it lives up to said hype might even be an understatement. For one, he manages to blend country, hip-hop and rock together masterfully, something that I feel so many artists have tried and at least somewhat failed to do recently (sorry, Shaboozey and Brantley Gilbert). Secondly, this thing is absolutely packed to the brim with awesome tracks, so much so that I didn’t even mind the 19-track length!
I’d discovered him through INK with ‘Cottonmouth’, but it is by far the only awesome collaboration on this. We get the best track Danny Warsnop has done in a while, another awesome addition to the career resurgence of All That Remains, and a surprisingly good song featuring rapper Paul Wall. However, none of that should take away from his songs that are just him, as a lot of them are also excellent. ‘The 9’, ‘Mapdot Madness’ and ‘Looking Out for You’ are all amazing songs he’s done on his own and are other big highlights of the album. There shockingly isn’t even that much filler, though it does dip in energy just a little in the middle there. Still, it’s insane how high quality most of this is. It gives the same energy to me as mockingbird and THE CROW did last year; it really feels like I’ve listened to something special! His vocals are amazing throughout, smooth and fitting any style he plays, and some of his lyrics are incredible. He NEEDS to tour over here with a full band, I’d LOVE to see all this live! I’mma gonna be spinning this a lot for months to come, and it’s surely going to make him a bigger megastar than he is already becoming. 9.5/10, wow!