An absolutely MASSIVE week for new albums this week, with so many awesome releases for us to check out. Let’s dive in and do just that!
A Day to Remember: Big Ole Album Vol. 1
Yes, I know this technically came out last month, but only physically, and given the quality of their last album and the singles I’ve heard from this, I sure as shit wasn’t going to buy this thing. It’s a shame as well, because there was a time where it felt like ADTR were going to be the next big thing. They were very much one of the bands of my generation, and were everywhere for a few years there. Their drop-off will surely be studied. After one bad album back in 2021, they took four years off from the studio and instead toured relentlessly, before surprise-dropping this after two singles two full years apart (the last of which was released 10 months ago). It’s an odd strategy, for sure. I feel like they had a messy release of their last album too, so maybe that can be somewhat to blame for this stuff. But anyway, let’s listen to the album by a band I am genuinely a fan of, and am nervous about what to expect…
In short, it’s fine. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, and there are some pretty decent tracks scattered throughout. Songs like ‘To The Death’, ‘LeBron’ and old single ‘Miracle’ are all great. Heck, even ‘Feedback’ has grown on me more when listening to the album, when I really didn’t like it when it first came out. However, some of the rest ranges from okay to safe to kinda cringy. Outside of the tracks I named, none of them really stood out to me. They’re still writing stuff exactly the same as they were back in 2008, yet it doesn’t feel as creative or fresh any more. I get they had backlash to the changed they made with You’re Welcome, but at least they tried something. Outside of ‘Silence’ trying to be Mastadon, this is just the same old tired ADTR formula. It’s not bad, and I do find myself enjoying it more than their last album, but it’s definitely not up there with anything they put out from 2009-2016. If you’re a fan of the band, I’d recommend giving it a try, but when there has already been so much awesome metal released this year alone, I’d much rather gravitate towards Architects or Paleface Swiss. It might grow on me, but for now it’s a solid 6.5/10
Cradle of Filth: The Screaming of the Valkyries
The extreme metal legends are back with their first new album in nearly four years. I remember checking out Existence is Futile and actually really enjoying it, so I’m curious to see what I think of this, given how much my tastes have changed since then! Honestly, it’s another pretty great album! Firstly, the instrumentation throughout is utterly fantastic. The riffs, the lead lines, the bass, drums, all of it is incredible. I think because of their heaviness, the band are hugely underrated in having some of the most phenomenal players around. Then you have Dani; arguably the last great poet, even if he couples that with the world’s edgiest. And I still don’t know how he does that high scream that has become his signature sound without completely shredding his throat immediately.
In terms of the songs themselves, they’re fantastic. From the opener to the epic, almost beautiful ‘Non Omnis Moriar’ to single ‘Malignant Perfection’, there are a lot of highs. However, there really isn’t a bad track on the release. My only slight gripe is the near-hour runtime; it got a little much by the last couple of songs and some fat could have been trimmed. Having said that, I don’t know what song could be cut, and it’s a rather small personal preference compared to all of the positive.
If you told a younger me I’d grow up to be a pretty big fan of COF, I’d have a hard time believing you, but these albums have turned me into just that. It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but if you like stuff heavy, deep and epic, I cannot recommend this enough. 9/10
Bloodywood: Nu Delhi
The second album from the Indian metal titans finally dropped on Friday to a lot of hype. We really enjoyed their debut, and judging by the singles this should be another surefire hit. Well, one thing’s for sure: fans of their other album will certainly love this! It doesn’t go anywhere unexplored, it’s very much more chunky nu-metal riffing, rapping, catchy vocal melodies and traditional Indian folk music all blended together. It isn’t a bad thing at all, but does make it feel like a Rakshak Part II. Tracks like ‘Hutt’, the BABYMETAL featuring ‘Bekhauf’ and the title track are all big personal highlights, but there really isn’t a bad track on the album. It’s heavy and catchy in all the best ways, and the band really have found a winning formula that they play to perfection. And, at only eight tracks and 33-minutes, it’s an incredibly easy listen. It’s a lot of fun to listen to, and an album that doesn’t take itself too seriously, certainly refreshing in the current climate of the genre. I cannot recommend this enough to any metal fans reading this, and the band are truly doing something creative and unique; they are unlike any other. It’s another solid 8.5/10 for Bloodywood!
Ghost Hounds: Almost Home
The country roots-rock band returned with yet another utterly fantastic album for their fifth offering. The band are a relatively new discovery for me but I quickly became a huge fan as they are right up my street. This album is no different; all of it is so good. ‘She Runs Hot’ is a phenomenal opener, but the quality stays high consistently after that. Songs like the bluesy ‘Down in the Dark’, the epic ‘You’ll Never Find Me’ and the beautiful closing ballad are all huge highlights on an album packed full of them. It gives off everything from Blackberry Smoke to Robert Jon to even some Stapleton, and I love it all. My only slight complaint, and it is very slight, is that it’s a lot of slower stuff at the end. It might have been nice to spread them out and have a rockier number later on. But it’s hardly an issue, especially when the album is under 40 minutes. I’d recommend this to absolutely anyone, whether you’re into country, rock blues or otherwise. It’s easily up there with one of my favourite releases from the band, and after a few more listens I could see it potentially even taking the top spot. It’s a very solid 9/10!
Lordi: Limited Deadition
We’ve already checked out a few releases from one of the world’s hardest working bands here at Overtone. Whether it was 2023’s Screem Writers Guild or one of 2021’s Lordiversity series, we’ve always loved what we cover! So, for them to not have released anything in 2024 was weird, but if anything it’s made me more excited to check this out, finally!
It’s another excellent collection of synth-heavy, disco-laced, glammy power metal. I do believe it’s actually impossible to not enjoy listening to Lordi, they are far too much fun to hate. Stuff like ‘Legends are Made of Clichés’, ‘Skelephant in the Room’, ‘Killharmonic Orchestra’ and ‘Hellizebeth’ is all incredible, but honestly there isn’t a bad song on this release. As a fan of the band since their Eurovision win and someone who’s listened to most of their releases by this point, I’d easily put it up there with one of their best. For a longer album it went by in a flash, and the whole thing had such a fantastic, captivating flow to it. The horror and what I can only describe as ‘Saturday morning kids TV ads’ theme to it was incredible, and fit so well with their throwback-yet-modern style. It’s another album that I would recommend to anyone reading this, and it’s certainly at least my favourite of the ones we’ve reviewed here by them. I’ll be listening to it a lot over the next few weeks and months, and it’ll certainly be high up on our list of top albums of the year come December, I’m sure! It’s an incredibly solid 9.5/10
P.S bonus points for the fantastic Macho Man impression, OH YEAAAH. And the puns, THE PUNS, yes!
The Darker my Horizon: From Out of the Ashes
The NWOCR stalwarts are back with their fifth studio album, a follow-up to 2022s When Two Worlds Collide. I’ve been a casual fan of the band for years at this point, dating back to my early HRH days, and it’s nice to hear they’re very much still firing on all cylinders. Tracks like ‘Hate’, ‘The Hit Man’ and the slightly bluesy ‘Hangin’’ are all personal highlights, but every song on this album is pretty great! It’s on the heavier side of the scene, but has a fun, sleaze edge to it which is always fun. I’d definitely put it up there with one of their best releases so far, too! It flows really well, with plenty of dynamics with slower paced stuff contrasted with the more balls-to-the-wall rock. The band are one of the more overlooked in the NWOCR scene, as they are clearly incredibly talented musicians and songwriters. Hopefully this album finally puts the added spotlight they deserve on them! It’s a short and sweet release that gets a solid 8/10 from us!
Pop Evil: What Remains
The ninth album from the modern hard rock legends feels like a long time coming, when in actuality it’s only been two years. Heck, we even reviewed 2023’s Skeletons, and clearly enjoyed it, even if it sadly hasn’t stuck in the memory much since its release. However, this release very much continues on from what I said about their previous album, it’s catchy, heavy, almost bordering on modern/alt metal over hard rock, and it’s very good. Tracks like ‘Deathwalk’, the title track, ‘Enough is Enough’ and ‘Knife for the Butcher’ are all huge personal highlights. However, it’s all worth a listen, as it’s all pretty awesome and combines so many different styles and influences together to create something truly fresh-feeling. It seems to be a combination of everything from modern You Me at Six, Shinedown, Architects, Theory of a Deadman, and their old, harder rock sound, and it’s pretty awesome to listen to! I really enjoyed listening through it and have already done so multiple times this weekend. I’m hoping this sticks with me more than their last release, as it’s a damn good album! I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a more modern, polished sound to your alt rock/metal. It’s a solid 8.5/10
Ryan Hurd: Midwest Rock & Roll
The sophomore album from a very fast-rising-star in the country scene has finally arrived, with a LOT of hype behind it. It’s easy to hear why too, as this is an awesome release! Right away the opener/title track sets the tone for the album perfectly, living up to its title and giving off big HARDY vibes. The album continues along that fantastic vein from there on out, too. I never thought I’d hear a Midwest edge added to country rock, but that’s exactly what this is, and Ryan’s really nailed it. Every song is amazing, but stuff like ‘Lighthouse’, ‘All Night Long Days’ and the beautiful duet with Sasha Alex Sloan, ‘Go to Bed Sober’ are personal highlights. A few of the tracks also feel rather Kip Moore, which is awesome given how much we loved his last album. I guess the only slight issue I have with the release is that it’s 43-minutes of slower, moodier, rather similar energy stuff. However, when it’s all this good, it really is hard to complain. It’s a really interesting release, and one that I’d recommend to absolutely anyone curious. Ryan has a big new fan in me, and I can’t give it any less than 8.5/10!
Izzy Reign: Self-Titled
We’ve already checked out this awesome album already last week! Read the full review here.
The Comancheros: A Decade in the Mirror
This is a fascinating, fantastically fun-to-listen-to collection of blues-and-Southern-tinged rarities. Combining together songs never released physically, limited edition EPs that have since stopped running, or even limited live or cassette runs, it takes a peak behind the curtain at some rarely heard music from the Missouri trio. It’s a damn fun listen through all 16 tracks, too. Some are a little rough around the edges, you can tell they’re more demo-like than others, but it if anything adds to the charm. Stuff like ‘The Day George Jones Died’, ‘Crazy as Hell’, ‘Jesse James’ and ‘O Death’ make solid cases of questioning why they never made it onto full releases. And I hate how sadly relatable ‘Too Old to Die Young’ is. Plus, the two live tracks that round it out are awesome, showing just how fun their live sets are. If you’re a fan of their unique brand of ‘heavy and Western’, or if you’re generally a country or Southern rock fan, I’m sure you’ll love this! And even if it’s not officially any ‘new’ music, it’s well worth checking out! 8/10
Black Yet Full of Stars: In Glorious Red
Holy crap, what an epic album!! I didn’t know what to expect heading into this, but it wasn’t a mainly orchestral album packed full of absolutely stunning, powerful vocals. We even get some awesome death metal screams at various points throughout, which were awesome. It gave big Danny Elfman vibes in all the best ways. To the point where he should clearly hire Carlo to help on his next soundtrack! I didn’t know this was exactly the sort of thing I needed in my life, and stuff like the opener, ‘The Great Work’ and ‘Tria Prima II’ are huge highlights. However, it is clearly designed to be listened to in full, every track having its own interlude separating them. It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but I had a great time listening to it, and I’d certainly recommend anyone check it out at least once, for those curious.
It’s also pretty different to their other stuff, it actually containing reworks of a few tracks off their last album in this symphonic style. So, while not completely new, they are almost unrecognisable, and it very much feels like a fresh release in its own right. It’s really cool to listen to ‘King of Salt’, ‘Halom Shacor’ and ‘The Great Work’ in both versions, while all the new stuff is excellent, and adds so much atmosphere to it all. It’s a solid album, regardless of what it is, and a must-listen for fans of symphonic metal. 7.5/10
Wythersake: At War with Their Divinity
Yet another fantastically epic soundscape of an album, yet rather different than our previous entry. The US blankened death newcomers put out their sophomore album this last Friday, and while it is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, it is certainly epic, and certainly heavy. The band are clearly talented players and also are damn good at crafting such massive sounds and writing interesting stuff. Tracks like the opener, ‘Dancing Plagues of Modern Man’, ‘The Autumnal Passing’ and ‘Chimerical God State Worship’ are all personal highlights. It’s not normally my sort of thing, but I found myself loving a lot of it. It gave me slight Rotting Christ vibes, which I think is what won me over. There truly isn’t a bad track on the album, though there may be one or two too many. If it was a solid 40-minutes instead of 53, I feel like I’d have liked it even more. Especially when a lot of it is pretty similar. Still, if you’re into this side of metal, I can’t recommend it enough, it’s some of the best to come out of the genre. It’s a sold 8/10 from us!
P.S. shoutout to some of the best artwork of the year, too. Gorgeous!
Frankie Ballard: The Messanger
The first studio album from the country singer-songwriter in nearly a decade, it picks up the blues-rock tinged side of the genre right where El Rio left off. It’s honestly an awesome release too, and tight up my street. Right from opener ‘Heaven Only Knows’ I was hooked, and I wasn’t let go for a full 44 minutes until the album was over. It’s honestly impossible to pick highlights too, as every song is so good. I found myself adding more and more of this onto my personal playlist as I listened through; I fully enjoyed every one, And there was so much variety throughout too, be it full blues, a more modern, heavy sound or more Americana-inspired, and made for such an easy, fun full listen.
Frankie and his band are fantastically talented players and writers, the slide guitar throughout being a particular highlight! It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but I really loved it. It combined old-school and modern so well, and crafted so many memorable moments. He’s another artist I wasn’t particularly familiar with heading into the review, but he’s blown me away and I’ve come away from this being a huge new fan. I’m desperate to see him live now, but until then this album will just have to do! Honestly, I can’t not, it’s a full 10/10. I’d recommend this to anyone!