It’s one of the last few big weeks at the end of the year, but still plenty of awesome new music to check out. Let’s dive in!
Marilyn Manson: One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1
The controversial shock/industrial metal star is back with his first new full studio release in over four years. I’m certainly not going to touch on his time between these releases (it’s not a fun Google, trust me) but judging by the artwork, it feels like it’s at least somewhat of a continuation. I’m also curious about the mysterious ‘chapter 1’ tag, given that there is no word yet how many releases are going to continue on from this or be associated with it. All we have to go on is the 44-minutes of music.
Said music is… interesting. Honestly, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. The opening couple of tracks didn’t do much for me, being a bit slow and un-interesting. ‘Nod If You Understand’ was pretty good, but then single ‘As Sick as the Secrets Within’ still didn’t hook me no matter how many times I’ve tried to listen to it now. Tracks like ‘Sacrilegious’ and single ‘Raise the Red Flag’ are also personal favourites, but outside of that the album is kinda boring. I completely get that the days of Manson being an angry 20-something year old are long gone, but his anti-establishment stuff and heavier sound was what drew me to him as a teen.
I’m by no means saying the album is bad, it will certainly have its fans. But it’s a lot more Stephen Wilson than I’d hoped for. It does, however, fit very well together as a whole release, and even fit the artwork rather perfectly. It’s at very least left me interested to hear Chapter 2 onwards, whenever that may happen, to see if the ideas are expanded on at all. But for now, while a welcome return from one of metals most polarising figure, it’s certainly not comparable to his early work, and is a step down even from The Pale Emperor. 4.5/10
Opeth: The Last Will and Testament
There’s prog bands, and then there’s Opeth. This album is whack, and I love it! The band honestly give Rush a run for their money with some of the change ups and riffing across this album. From the tech-death, Mr Bungle, rock opera of the opener through the slightly more radio-friendly and industrial ‘§2’ to the riffing epicness of ‘§3’, the album opens insanely strongly, though really doesn’t ease up throughout. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there will be some old-school out there saying that Mikael isn’t screaming enough, but the sheer scope of this album is kind-blowing and the screams were still present when needed. I mean c’mon, that whole dark Jethro Tull part in the middle of ‘§4’ is incredible, and I will have no one tell me otherwise!
Don’t get me wrong, this certainly won’t appeal to everyone. It is far from a mainstream release. Heck, the song titles for the most part show that off themselves. However as both an art piece and an Opeth album, it’s phenomenal. It somehow feels different, new, yet still categorically Opeth, which I love. I still don’t think it’s quite up there with Blackwater Park, but is certainly up there with one of their best releases, in my opinion. It all fits together perfectly as a release, and 50-minutes went by in a flash. I’d recommend this to not only fans of the band, but just musos in general! 9/10
Ocean Grove: ODDWORLD
The Aussie nu metalcore-ers burst onto my radar with their awesome last release in 2022, getting a solid 7.5/10 from us. This was another fun release from the band, and a good follow-up to Up in the Air Forever. Tracks like ‘FLY AWAY’, ‘MY DISASTER’ and ‘SOWHAT1999’ really scratch that early 2000s alt metal itch that I can never hate. However, a lot of this is a touch slower or lighter, or even more hip-hop inspired. It’s very much a bit of a mixed bag, with sadly slightly more meh than great. And at 25-minutes in length, that’s a fair amount of meh. However, ‘OTP’ is hip-hop as fuck and is another big highlight. The good songs really drag it up, reminding me of a combination of the best bits of ADTR and 3TEETH. It’s not a bad album at all, and plenty will love it so if you like all that I’d described it’s worth at least checking out. But I just wish there was a bit more of the heavy stuff on here! 5/10
Patty Gurdy: Tavern
This has become one of the most anticipated albums to end the year, honestly. The folk singer-songwriter has popped off on TikTok due to her unique vocals and style, and with each single released the hype has grown and grown. She’s also gathered some stellar guests together, from former Nightwish star Marko Hietala, fiddlist Pernilla Kannapinn and the controversial Alestorm/Gloryhammer main man Christopher Bowes. What’s been crafted is an incredible mixture of traditional European folk music and modern pop and rock elements. There’s plenty of highlight stuff too, from breakout hit ‘Brighter Days Come’ to Marko’s track, ‘I Am With You’ to the absolute vocal incredibleness of ‘Rise Up’. Even Chris’ track, while almost too silly for the album, adds an almost Dropkick Murphy’s level of folk-punk awesomeness to the release.
It certainly isn’t going to be a release for everyone, but this is a truly special release that does well modernising the sound and bringing it to a whole new audience. Patty has a huge future ahead of her if she continues to release music of this calibre, and could really be the face of a new era of this music. I’ll certainly be listening to this again moving forward, and she has a fan in me! 8.5/10
KingCrown: Nova Atlantis
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here!
Fellowship: The Skies Above Eternity
The UK-based power metal band have knocked it out of the park with their sophomore album. It’s like if Dragonforce took the hobbits to Isengard, and I can’t get enough. And honestly, the musicianship is up there with the aforementioned band, too. The drumming, bass and riffing is absolutely incredible, while a lot of the lead guitaring also gave off City of Evil-Nightmare Synyster Gates levels of technical awesomeness. Meanwhile the vocals, while maybe not as powerful as most in the genre, fit perfectly in with the style and we get some pretty great lyrics too! It has an insanely epic feel throughout, it somehow feeling like uplifting power metal, which made it as unique as it is amazing. There are also plenty of highlights, from ‘Victim’ to ‘Eternity’ to ‘A New Hope’. However, every track is incredible, and at only 9-tracks and 40-minutes it’s pretty short for a release in this genre. I’d recommend this album to anyone, and will definitely be spinning this a lot moving forward. It’s an easy 9/10 from us!
Crossbone Skully: Evil World Machine
A relative newcomer to the NWOCR scene, the supergroup are off to a fantastic start with this debut album. Featuring members of Alice Cooper, Faster Pussycat and Ace Frehley, though, there was little way that it couldn’t have been good! It’s classic hard rock at its very best, taking heavy inspiration from the likes of AC/DC, Def Leppard and even Alice himself. It’s sleazy, rock goodness and has plenty of highlight tracks like ‘The Boom Went the Boom’, ‘Flip the Bird’ and the fun, Celtic-punk-like ‘Let’s Bust the Bust’. However, the whole album is pretty solid! Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the table, but if you like this sort of style you’ll certainly get a kick out of the album! it’s a lot of fun and I’d love to see it live, as well as recommend it to anyone! 7.5/10
Healthy Junkies: Listen to the Mad
The UK alt-punks are back with album number seven. I somehow hadn’t heard of the band before, but very much enjoyed this release! Blending together everything from Blondie to Nena to Sex Pistols and even a touch of Nirvana, the band’s pop-infused punk sound is awesome. Tracks like ‘Self Conscious’, ‘Dead Souls’ and ‘Now or Never’ are personal highlights, but every track is pretty good! If you are an old-school radio-punk fan this will be right up your street, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s very 80’s and 90’s in the best possible way! It’s a fun, chilled out album that I certainly wouldn’t turn off if it came on again! It gets an easy 7/10 from me!