The second full week of 2025 and already we’re packed full of awesome album releases, from country to metal. Let’s look at them!
Franz Ferdinand: The Human Fear
The alt/indie rock Scots are back with album number six, and their first studio full-length in eight years. While the band have of course evolved since their 2004 debut release, I love their self-titled album and this is rather a far-cry from that in terms of style and quality. There’s a fun disco element to their sound, and it was certainly an easy, relatively fun listen. But it was 35-minutes of forgettable nothingness for me, sadly. The closest thing to a favourite track I had was ‘Hooked’, and even then I wouldn’t rush to listen to it again, I simply wouldn’t turn it off if it came on again. It’s at very least a quirky, interesting release that isn’t like most released these days, so I have to give the guys props for doing their own thing. If you are big fan of the band or indie rock in general, you may get more enjoyment out of this, but for me it gets a 4/10. Sorry guys!
Tremonti: The End Will Show Us How
We’ve already reviewed this awesome album! Check it out here.
Garden of Stone: The Grave Mistake
The Finnish melodeath band’s debut goes HARD, guys! It’s a real interesting listen, combining the brutality of death metal with an almost ASP-style epic, cleaner sound for the choruses, too. Some of the heavy bits are incredible, the breakdowns in particular being excellent throughout. However, that shouldn’t take away from the rest of it, as there is plenty of melody throughout too and some really catchy vocal lines and choruses. Tracks like ‘The Prophet’, ‘New Dawn’ and the epic, proggy ballad ‘Observer’ are all huge highlights. However, every track is pretty excellent, and the flow of the album as a whole with the interlude tracks too is amazing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a long release; 51-minutes across just 12 tracks certainly isn’t for everyone. However, there is so much to love here, and I’d recommend it to anyone into the heavier side of metal. It’s a very easy 8/10 from me, and the band have a big new fan in me!
Ringo Starr: Look Up
The former Beatle is the latest musician to try and hop on the country/roots music trend. It’s somehow better and worse than Beyoncé’s attempt last year (I mean… I love you, Queen Bey, please don’t send Jay Z after me..!). While it’s generally more enjoyable and also fits in with the genre it’s trying to better, it is also less quirky, interesting and experimental. It’s okay, but my god is it boring. And I completely get that this is the sort of style of music he’s trying to emulate, and for that he’s doing a stellar job. But that doesn’t make it a particularly enjoyable album, for me. Tracks like ‘Time on My Hands’ and ‘Rosetta’ are personal favourites of mine, but generally I wasn’t too into this. If you’re into soft rock with a roots twang, you might be into this. However, sadly for me I can’t give it much more than 4.5/10
Weak13: Aluminum
The Black County punk-metal three-piece are back with their first full-length in a decade. Think Misfits and Muderdolls but with a bit more of a hard rock and also nu-metal edge to it. Honestly it’s a really fun, albeit another long, listen. Tracks like the opener, ‘Hey You Down There’ and ‘Unpopular’ are all awesome, and definitely album highlights for me. I love that the band don’t shy away from any topic, touching on plenty throughout this album. Yes, it’s 54-minutes across 14-tracks, but there is also plenty of variety throughout and it surprisingly went by pretty quickly. It won’t be for everyone, but if you’re a heavy punk fan, there’s plenty here to enjoy! It gets a solid 7.5/10 from us!
Beriedir: Liminal Spaces
The Italian Tolkien fans brought us their third progressive power metal release this past Friday, and it is just as good as their previous two albums! Right from the epic opening track, ‘Halo’, I was hooked, and wasn’t let go for a solid 45-minutes! I absolutely loved this, and it is right up my alley in terms of style and sound at the minute. While I adored every track on this thing, particular highlights include ‘In the Corner of my Eyes’ and ‘F.I.V.E.’. Plus, the ballad ‘More than Starlight’ featuring Nadia Sampellegrini is really beautiful! It’s got a real epic feel to it, and every member of the band are extremely talented and have worked their asses off crafting something truly special with this release. It gets a solid 9/10 from me, and I can’t recommend it enough to any readers who are into any of the genres I’ve mentioned above. It’ll definitely be up there in our albums of the year discussion come December.
Nolan Taylor: Self-Titled
The debut album from the Ohioan native has been highly anticipated, after two years packed full of single releases after his YouTube breakout ‘68’. I’d heard a couple, including of course his track for the Twisters movie, but still felt like I went into this relatively blind to his style and sound. Honestly, I really enjoyed it. It felt like it was country but infused with the early 2000s pop style, like Darius Rucker, Pinegrove, or even a little Wyatt Flores, as a modern example. Essentially music that you’d hear in a room-com from that era, or even Gilmore Girls. It wasn’t at all what I expected, but I actually ended up loving it! The album is packed full of highlights, from ‘All We Need is a Spark’ to ‘Wicked Ways’ to ‘Don’t Wanna Feel’. While not quite as phenomenal as Wyatt in terms of vocals or lyrics, it’s very much that style and not that far off, quality wise. Nolan certainly let has a big new fan in me, and even at nearly an hour long I’ll certainly be listening to this album a fair bit in the coming weeks and months! There’s maybe one or two too many slower tracks, as I do prefer his more up-beat stuff, but it’s another easy 9/10 from me! Awesome stuff!
Children of the Sün: Leaving Ground, Greet the End
Another third album, this time from the psychedelic, 70-inspired rockers. This is an absolutely fantastic listen, and a very fun 29-minutes! I had no idea what to expect heading in, but really enjoyed this modern fusion of Heart, Janis Joplin and Rival Sons. It’s a short, fun eight tracks that all blend together perfectly and are just as good as each other. From the straight-up rock of the opener to the folky, gospel elements of ‘Starlighter’ to the beauty of ‘Lovely Eyes’, we really get a bit of everything! Heck, we even get an incredibly interesting, slower-blues rendition of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, which was awesome! It’s certainly not for everyone, but I really loved this album, and I’d recommend it to anyone into the softer, blusier side of rock music. It gets a solid 8.5/10 from me, and I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out to see if I can see them live any time soon, as I have to see these songs in a live setting!