Another quite-ish yet stacked week of new albums for us to sink our teeth into. Join us as we do so!
Trouble County: Blacken the Sky
I really wasn’t heading into this expecting such a Layne/Jerry comparison, but damn, I’m certainly not mad about it! This is like the lovechild of Alice in Chains, Black Label Society and Southern rock, and I love it! The debut album of the NWOCR stalwarts is an awesome release from front to back, and a real testament to the talent and writing skill of the band. Tracks like the opener, the bluesy ‘Gotta Try’ and ’12 Gauge Blues’ and ‘Drive’ are amazing. I also love the Western-yet-GNR-like epic ballad ‘John Baker’, another huge personal highlight.
And don’t get me wrong, the rest of the songs are also good, but I do think an hour is ever so slightly too long. I completely understand that they’ve been going a while though so would want to put their all into their first full-length. Either way, it’s a lot of fun, and I’d certainly recommend listening to it if you’re a fan of any of the styles or bands I’ve mentioned above! The band are all hugely talented and are only going to be on the fast rise to the top of the NWOCR scene with this release, I’m sure! It’s an easy 9/10 from me!
Ben Chapman: Downbeat
The third album from the country newcomer is a fun, chilled-out 36-minutes of rock-infused greatness. There’s plenty to love on it too; from the upbeat opener to the more neotraditional ‘Don’t You Dare’ to the bluesy ‘If I Was You’. However, the whole album is pretty good, there not being a bad track on it and it being well worth a full-listen. Considering I’d never heard of him before, I’ve come away being a big new fan of his, and I’m honestly shocked he isn’t bigger. Hopefully this is the release to push him more into the mainstream consciousness! He’s an incredibly interesting songwriter who can blend multiple old-school sounds together with a modern twang flawlessly. If you’re into the slower country stuff, I’d definitely recommend. This gets a solid 8/10!
Hope is a Lie: Self-Titled
The debut album from the Finnish post-metal/doom band is a damn interesting listen. As an introduction to the band in their first year releasing music, it’s honestly fantastic. I love the progginess of the opening track in of itself, and was fully in by the time the radio-spoken-word stuff came in, creating a truly epic soundscape. Honestly the same can be said throughout. I seem to prefer the second hald of the track to the first each time, the drop-downs and build up being incredible. Having said that, my favourite track is probably the more straight-forward, extreme metal, Zeal & Ardor-like ‘Suits’; fuck it’s amazing! However, that shouldn’t take away from the rest of the album, as ever track is honestly great, and it all flows together perfectly. I can’t recommend this enough to anyone who likes the more proggy, quirky style of metal, and especially anyone who likes albums that need listening to in full! It reminds me a bit of a less heavy Alcest, so I’d definitely recommend for fans of them! It’s an amazing debut album, and gets a very solid 8.5/10 from us!
Todestrieb: Corona Tenebra
Yes, Spotify my claim that this black metal duo’s debut release is an EP, but I was sent the press release from them touting it as their debut album, so I shall treat it as such! The album itself, however, is some damn good black metal. As I have said plenty of times in this series, the genre is not typically my sort of thing. However, the band create such an amazing atmosphere, especially from the minds and skills of only two people, that I can’t not enjoy it! It was even giving off slight Rotting Christ vibes at times, which I loved! Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not something I’d go out of my way to listen to, but I can fully appreciate the talent and creativity on display, and would imagine fans of black metal would love it. The band have a big future ahead of them in the scene for sure, and this gets a solid 7/10 from us!
Chase Bryant: Clio
The highly anticipated sophomore album from the second-generation country singer-songwriter was finally released this last Friday. Honestly, it’s fine. It took me some getting into, that’s for sure. ‘Anchor Down Town’ was the first track from it I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed, the almost Bryan Adams rock edge to the country being awesome. Tracks like the ballads ‘How Do You Do It’ and ‘More than Just 17’ and ‘COUNTRY’ were all personal highlights, too. I love when Chase brings a bit more of the rock edge to his music, and he does it so well! Sadly, a lot of the rest of the album is a bit more pop-leaning, or more of the same ballad-like stuff. Chase could put out an absolute banger of a country/southern rock album, but I felt a little let down a lot of this pretty long release was low energy stuff. Still, it gets a solid 7.5/10 from us!
Snoop Dogg: Missionary
So yes, this is certainly not the usual stuff we cover here. However, I know a lot of rock and metal fans that like Snoop, or at very least respect the hell out of him. Plus, we did Eminem the other month, so it’s only fair!
It’s a fun album, and exactly what you’d expect from Snoop these days! It’s got a pretty old-school Dogg feel to it, while Dre is a huge highlight throughout the entire release. Tracks like ‘Hard Knocks’, ‘Thank You, the Em and 50-featuring ‘Gunz N Smoke’ and the surprising collab with Tom Petty and Jelly Roll,’Last Dance with Mary Jane, are all huge highlights. However, if you’re into late 90s/early 2000s hip hop and R&B, like me, you’ll enjoy a lot of this! It’s a well put-together album too, with 46-minutes going by in a flash. Snoop and Dre have always been a match made in heaven, and this album proves that. They play around with some amazing classic tracks, and really put their great own mark on them. It’s certainly not gonna be every reader’s cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it, and it gets a solid 7.5/10!