Another stacked week of new albums to end out January with. Let’s dive in!
Kane Brown: The High Road
When I saw everyone complaining about Kane doing C2C last year because he was ‘too pop’, I was pretty confused. We’d covered his last album, Better Man, back in 2022 and enjoyed it, it certainly having elements of pop but being a pretty country-heavy release with plenty of bangers. After slogging through this album, I finally get people’s complaints. If it isn’t straight-up pop music, or heavily leaning on the pop guests on the track, it’s slow, acoustic-ballad country. While the latter isn’t bad, it’s another long-ass, bloated release from Kane, and there’s too many of those tracks. In the essentially hour of music, the only two tracks I found myself enjoying as they were closer to what I like about Brown were ‘Fiddle in the Band’ and ‘I Can Feel It’. The songs with Brad Paisley and feat. whore Jelly Roll were okay, but much like Posty’s album last year, they were just Brad and Jelly songs on someone else’s album. Heck. The Marshmallow song would have been great, if it wasn’t for Marshmallow doing his thing all over it.
I was pretty hyped for this album, as you might have guessed, and it does feel a little disappointing. I should have really expected it, given most of the singles, but I still held out hope, however foolishly. It’s essentially an hour of meh with a few good songs smattered throughout. Honestly, the back third of the album is easily the best; listen to ‘I Can Feel it’ onwards and add in ‘Fiddle in the Band’, and you have an insanely solid actual country EP. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an inherently bad album. None of the songs are bad, and there will be people that absolutely adore this. But it’s not my sort of thing, and not what I listen to country, or by extension Kane Brown, to hear. 4.5/10
VUKOVI: MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN
The Scottish alt-rockers returned with their fourth studio album last Friday. I remember really enjoying their last release, and this one was no different! It’s a fun, quirky, and unique release, sounding like nothing I’ve heard from any other band. It feels like a blend of Deftones, Sleep Token, and a healthy dose of indie, all mixed up into a darker package. It actually took me a couple of songs to get into it this time, but when I did, I was all in. Tracks like ‘FALLEN BEYOND’, ‘FUC KIT UP’, and ‘PEEL’ are all huge personal highlights. The latter actually gave me slight Skynd vibes, which I loved. Other songs on the album definitely fit better in the context of the release as a whole; all 44 minutes are definitely worth a listen through at least once. Everything flows together perfectly, being arranged and mixed amazingly. And going back to those earlier tracks, they definitely fit better for me on a second listen. It didn’t quite hook me as immediately as NULA, but it is a decent follow-up with a few really fantastic tracks on it. If you’re into any of the genres or bands I’ve mentioned, this is well worth checking out. It’s another solid 8.5/10 from me!
The Breathing Method: After Everything Else
Whatever it was the band sampled for that opening, I agree 110%! It also fits somehow perfectly with the opening track, both sonically and thematically. It’s the best way to open this amazing, grungy, alt-rock debut! Following on from it is an album packed full of awesome tracks, too. It’s full of awesome, sludgy riffing and catchy-as-anything choruses, really harkening back to the late 90s/early 2000s in the best way. It kinda reminds me of an album I covered and loved a few years ago from HARDBALL. However, this one is a bit more diverse, with a couple of awesome ballads tucked away in it. Songs like the opening two, ‘Inside Darkness’ and ‘Ths Time’ are all personal highlights, but the whole album is pretty great.
My only issue is with the production, it sounding a touch muddy and unimpactful. However, it’s a debut album, so it is easily excusable for that, and it’s easy to love it despite the flaws. It’s one hell of a debut album and was an easy listen from start to finish. It interestingly blends genres and it’s clear the band are going to go far if they continue with this sort of quality. 7/10
Larkin Poe: Bloom
The roots rock sisters’ seventh album is maybe my favourite album from the duo, and that’s saying a lot! Their boot-stompin’, Southern rock style is a lot of fun and on full display throughout. From the opener to ‘Little Bit’ to ‘Nowhere Fast’ to ‘You are the River’, there are so many awesome songs throughout. However, there really isn’t a bad track on the album! The band very much wear their inspirations on their sleeves, everything from ZZ Top to Shania Twain to Joanne Shaw Taylor, but also bring in rockier and even punkier elements, creating something wholly unique. It’s 42 minutes of chilled out, amazing country/roots rock, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone! I’m gonna be listening to this a lot in the coming weeks and months, and it gets a solid 9/10 from us!
The Machinist: Contempt for Life
The sophomore album of the Manchester based industrial black/death metal is pretty fucking sick! I didn’t think it’d be my sort of thing, but I found myself loving it from start to finish. It’s certainly not for the weak of heart, but I really enjoyed this from start to finish. It’s heavy, proggy and really interesting. Technically, it’s brilliant. It was hard to pick favourite tracks as it all blended together rather seamlessly into a full album of awesomeness. However, the parts throughout ‘Cathedrals Fall’, from the black metal parts to the clean vocals, was a real highlight. It’s definitely the track I’d recommend to new listeners of the band and genre(s). If you are into the heavier side of metal, I can’t recommend this enough. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do, but it’s an easy 8/10! The band are insanely talented, and have a bright future in the scene!
Max McNown: Night Diving
The Oregon country/Americana singer-songwriter’s sophomore album builds on everything he had on his debut release last year. It’s pretty good! It’s beautiful, and packed full of emotion, great lyrics and some amazing vocal lines. However, it is a touch slow and low-energy for me, especially as it went on. Still, songs like ‘Better Me For You’, ‘Roses and Wolves’ (feat. Hailey Whitters) and the almost Mumford & Sons ‘Hotel Bible’ are awesome, and clear highlights of the release! It is clear that Max is a phenomenal lyric and songwriter, and is gonna be a huge name (even more so than he already is) in the scene because of it. It’s a fantastic, chilled-out, short album that, while not exactly to my taste, is growing on me more and more with each listen. I certainly wouldn’t turn it off if it came on again, and it’s an awesome album to sit and chill to. It gets a solid 8/10 from us!
Avatarium: Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead
I wasn’t hugely into this band’s last album a couple of years ago when we checked it out. I really hoped this one would win me over into more of a fan. It did a little bit; I did enjoy it more than their last release. ‘Long Black Waves’ is an awesome, dark, doomy opening track. The prog-folk ‘Lovers Give a Kingdom to Each Other’ is also awesome. And the return to doom with ‘Until Forever and Again’ is another banger. However, much like the last album, I found it tough to get into the album as a whole. Even with it barely being over the 40-minute mark, I found my mind drifting away pretty regularly. It’s an epic album and will certainly have plenty of fans, but sadly two releases in I think this band sadly aren’t for me, at least in terms of full-lengths. If you are into the quirkier, proggier and folkier side of doom metal, this is very much for you. But outside of the tracks I mentioned previously, I did get just a touch bored. 6/10
Benjamin Booker: LOWER
The bluesy, punky garage rock guy is back with his third album, and first in almost eight years. It’s certainly something. Much like above, it’s not really my sort of thing. However, unlike the above entry to this list, I didn’t really get into any of this. It’s chilled out, and will surely have an audience, but I couldn’t get into it at all. It’d make okay background music, but I found it super hard to sit down and analyse this. It was all pretty similar, at the same low, slow, sadly boring level. The darker, rootsier stuff spread throughout was kinda cool, but it’s not something I’d go out of my way to listen to, still. I sat through it all once and that was more than enough for me. It sadly gets a 3/10 from me. I get the appeal, but it’s not for me!
Rohan: Suffering With a Smile
The Copenhagen death metal outfit put out one hell of an album last Friday. It’s a brutal assault from start to finish, and is modern death metal at its very best. It’s genuinely interesting too; not just screams, chugs and blast-beats. Tracks like ‘Fallacy’, ‘Despised’ and ‘Sacrifice the Lies’ are all awesome. However, if you’re into the genre, there really isn’t a bad track on the album! The band are insanely talented players and their writing is amazing, especially for a debut. The band are going to go far if they continue to put out incredible releases like this, and it gets a solid 8/10 from me!
Deadspawn: Bile of the Gods
Another awesome death metal release, this time from Arizona and the sophomore album of the four-piece. It has a lot more of a traditional death metal approach to it than Rohan did, especially in terms of the US sound. It’s Suffocation in all the best ways! Tracks like ‘A Harrowing Pantheon’ and ‘Catharsis’ are personal favourites, but if you’re into the heavy, lightening-quick side of metal, you’ll love it all! It’s hard to say much more, it’s just a solid death metal album that you will love as much as I do if you like the genre. It gets 7.5/10 from me, and I’m already rather desperate to see it live!