Another mega release week for albums, with some incredible collections across most genres! Let’s go ahead and dive right in!
The Darkness: Dreams on Toast
The British hard rock royalty are back with album number eight. I’ve always been a fan of the band; Permission to Land was one of the soundtracks to my childhood, and I really enjoyed Motorheart when it came out. Having said that, I do feel like this is on a whole new level to the latter. Opening on the one-two punch of the surprising ‘Rock and Roll Party Cowboy’ and one of the best singles they’ve put out in ‘I Hate Myself’, it’s a damn strong start. Then you have the band almost embrace this recent country resurgence with tracks like ‘Hot on my Tail’ and ‘Cold Hearted Woman’. Both feel completely genuine though, and very Darkness despite the change in sound a little, and even some fiddle in the latter. All are huge highlights of the album, but then so are the likes of the foot-stomping ‘Mortal Dread’, the EOL-like ‘The Longest Kiss’ and the beautiful ballad ‘Walking Through Fire’.
Considering the album is only 10 tracks long and I’ve already named seven of them, that should really show just how fantastic this release is. And guess what… the other three songs are great too! The band have felt like they’re on a bit of a resurgence in recent years, and this album has really capped off that feeling in a huge way. As Justin says in this ‘we never stop making hit albums’. That is very true, and this is very much another HUGE hit from the band. It may be too early to call this, but this may be my favourite Darkness album since One Way Ticket, if not Permission to Land itself! I’d recommend it to absolutely any music fan out there, and I can’t give it any less than 10/10!
Arch Enemy: Blood Dynasty
The melodeath legends are back with another album, a followup to 2022s Decievers. We really enjoyed that album when it released, and I’ve been a fan of the band since my teens when I first got into the genre. Heck, we even reacted to the lead single from this when it dropped. So, safe to say anticipation for the album was pretty high here at Overtone.
If you’re a fan of the band, at very least their modern sound with Alyssa, you’ll know exactly what to expect with this, and will surely love it. It’s all big, heavy riffs, some great melodic leads, incredible powerful screams and stellar drumming throughout. ‘Dream Stealer’ is of course a massive highlight, as is ‘March of the Miscreants’, the more old-school ‘Don’t Look Down’ and the beautiful, surprisingly clean and almost symphonic power metal ‘Vivre Libre’. Honestly, the range demonstrated with the inclusion of the latter track is incredible, not only breaking up the album perfectly, but it being a true highlight of the bands discography, in my opinion, due to the musicality and lyrics fitting so well together. A good portion of the die-hard fans will hate it, but I love it!
Honestly, it’s an incredible album from start to finish. I found myself adding more and more of it to my personal playlist with subsequent listens; there isn’t a bad track on it. I loved Decievers, but they’ve really hit their post-Loomis stride with this release, and it does feel a step higher. It’s heavy and epic in all the best places, encapsulating not only what’s best about the genre, but the European scene in general. It gets another incredibly solid 9/10 from us!
Buster Shuffle: Together
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here!
CJ Wildheart: SLOTS
This is a damn interesting release for us. We covered his former brother-in-arms’ latest album a couple of weeks back, so it’s very hard not to compare this to that album. However, both are great in their own right, and honestly feel and sound pretty different! This one is a lot more old-school punk and skater, as opposed to Ginger’s heavier sound. Both have their place in the scene, and I found myself having a lot of fun listening to this thing. ‘Beg’, the classic Wildhearts-sounding ‘Baddest Girl in the World’, ‘The Kids’ and ‘You Got the Best Part of Me’ are all personal highlights but, honestly, the album is packed full of them. Heck, the title track even goes heavier, feeling more like a modern Wildhearts song, but it’s awesome and I love it! The ten tracks go by in a flash, being under the 30-minute mark, but it feels like the perfect length for a punk record. If you’ve ever been a fan of the Wildhearts, CJs solo stuff or his vague yet particular brand of punk, I cannot recommend this enough. It’s certainly going to be a release that I’ll be revisiting plenty this year and probably beyond. It’s yet another phenomenal album from this week, and a massive 8.5/10!
Mumford and Sons: RUSHMERE
The British modern-folk legends are back with their first album in seven years. They were a bit of a guilty pleasure band in my youth, but I have openly been a big fan of them for years now, and I’m so glad they’re back. And it helps, of course, that this is an absolutely stellar album. I love this style of music, and their sound definitely gives me some nostalgia from my teens, but this is also a well-crafted, great-sounding album in its own right. Songs like ‘Caroline’, the title track, ‘Truth’ and ‘Surrender’ are all fantastic and huge highlights, but there isn’t a bad song out of the collection of 10! It’s a chilled-out, catchy release that is perfect for sitting back and relaxing to. It’s not going to be for everyone, but it was a very nice change of pace for me to listen to this week, and is honestly one of the best things the band have put out, in my opinion. If you’re a fan of the band or folk music in general, this is well worth checking out! It’s a damn solid 8.5/10 from us!
Memphis May Fire: Shapeshifter
I clearly have a tiny memory and attention span. When I went to add this entry to our list, I was like ‘I know the name, I remember my friends being into them back in the day, but am not sure who they are. We’ve covered them before. I reviewed their last album. I clearly enjoyed it too, it just clearly wasn’t very memorable. But, while I have a couple of similar issues with this release from them (80% of the album as pre-release singles is too damn much!), I am happy to say I definitely feel like this is a better album than their last! ‘Chaotic’ is a fantastic, upbeat and surprisingly fun opener, and sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the release. It gives off a bit more Set it Off or From Ashes to New vibes to it than metalcore this time round, which I love, and really channels that mid-2000s US alt rock energy. Tracks like the Electric Callboy-like ‘Overdose’, ‘Necessary Evil’ and ‘Shapeshifter’ are all big highlights, but the whole album is pretty good! If you’re into any of the bands or styles I’ve mentioned already, it’s worth giving this a listen, especially when it’s only half an hour long. It’s certainly better than their previous album, and gets a solid 8/10 from us!
Envy of None: Stygian Wavz
For something featuring the legendary Alex Lifeson, this is kinda boring. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t my sort of thing at all. It’s slow, shoegazy indie rock, and I found myself struggling to get through it all in one sitting. I’m sure there will be plenty of big fans of this album and this band, but I am sadly not one and didn’t enjoy it a whole lot. It all sounded pretty similar, and for what it was it wasn’t great to begin with. The band are at least clearly talented, and I’m clearly a fan of their individual stuff as I love Rush and enjoy what I’ve heard of Andy Curran’s Coney Hatch. ‘Under the Stars’ was probably my favourite track on the album, as it felt like the most interesting and it suited Maiah’s vocals perfectly. If you’re into this sort of thing I’d certainly recommend checking it out and giving it a listen. For me though, sadly, I’mma have to give it a 3.5/10
Alien Weaponry: Te Rā
Oh look, another full review! You know the drill, check it out here!
Deafheaven: Lonely People With Power
I clearly no fucking clue who Deafheaven were before now. I went into this expecting an indie-like band, not black metal! Especially not vaguely emo-infused black metal, to boot. However, given my up-and-down interest in the genre, I quite enjoyed this! The riffs were a major highlight; like hot-damn what talented writers and players. And even the screams were pretty good, fitting the music perfectly and sitting a little further back in the mix so they weren’t as grating as some extreme screams. And of course the drumming is stellar throughout, but I’d expect nothing less. The atmosphere created is awesome, too; setting the perfect gloomy, epic tone. Shockingly, the band do even venture to more of an indie/shoegaze instrumental style on songs like ‘The Garden Route’, which makes it hugely impressive that it still feels rather grounded in black metal and feels right at home on the album.
Honestly, if nothing else, it’s a fascinating listen that’s taken me a couple of listens to really ‘get’. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not really my sort of thing, and I think I’d struggle to revisit all hour plus of it too regularly, but I did find myself enjoying it and hugely appreciating the work that went into crafting such a release. Though not your typical black metal, if you like the genre give this a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. 7/10
Stone Foundation: The Revival of Survival
The big ol’ soul band released their whopping 11th album this last Friday. While it’s not the sort of thing we often check out here at Overtone, I’m a fan of a few of the band’s songs and we got sent over a review copy, so there was no way I wasn’t letting y’all know what I thought of it!
Honestly, like with most albums or music in general, the moment I heard that sexy, sexy saxophone I was hooked. The opener starts low but builds perfectly, ending up being a pretty epic, almost rock track by the end. That is followed by the catchy, funky title track, a big highlight of the album. It sets the tone perfectly too, as stuff like ‘Cut Me Loose’, ‘2 Die 4 U’ and ‘When Worlds Collide’ continue that energy fantastically and are highlights in their own right. However, the whole album is pretty damn good! It’s easy listening at its very best, and combines elements of soul, funk and jazz perfectly. It certainly won’t be for everyone reading this, but I had a real good time listening to this and will certainly be doing so again in the future. It’s the perfect album to just stick on and relax to; et all your worries and stress to ebb away. The band are insanely talented, and if you want something a little different I cannot recommend this enough. The fact that this sort of music is still being put out, and to this standard and quality, in 2025 is frankly awesome! It’s a solid 8/10!
Underoath: The Place After This One
The Floridian post-hardcore band are back with a follow-up to 2022’s awesome Voyeurist, and are pulling no punches with this album. They pick up where they left off with their last album in terms of the heavy, electronic-laced sound and style, and the opener sets the stage perfectly. ‘Devil’ goes for a bit more of their classic sound, but still fits perfectly with ‘Generation No Surrender’ and is another highlight. Then you have tracks like ‘Loss’, ‘And Then There Was Nothing’ and the Troy Sanders featuring ‘Vultures’ that are all also big highlights for me! If you’re a fan of the band’s recent stuff or the scene they fit into you’ll know exactly what to expect. It’s not bad by any stretch, but I went into this known exactly what to expect, and that’s very much what I got. It combines the sound that made them famous with a more modern metal/industrial edge, and does so to perfection. Think Spiritbox, Poppy, Bad Omens etc. However, overall I feel like I enjoy this more than any of them, there’s a bit more to it and it’s more consistently heavy. It’s a damn enjoyable album and worth a listen, if you’re into this sort of thing. A very solid 8.5/10; I’m sure I’ll be listening to a lot of it again in the coming weeks!
Circus 66: Elements
The sophomore album of the NWOCR rising stars is a damn solid release. It’s packed full of incredible riffs, soaring, powerful vocals and some catchy melodies and harmonies. It instantly gives me Thundermother vibes in all the best ways. It’s a foot-stomping, sleaze-tinged hard rock album that’s impossible not to have a fun time listening to! Honestly, it’s really hard to pick highlight tracks too as it’s all so good. In a rather saturated sub-genre currently, Circus 66 have found a way to stand out and produce something high quality and truly memorable. From the powerful hard rock likes of the opener to the almost country ballad of ‘Love on the Other Side’, I love it all! Plus, the album was put together perfectly; the dynamics between the faster and slower songs keeping everything interesting and making for a very easy nearly 50-minute listen. The band are clearly incredibly talented players and songwriters, and have taken a lot of inspiration from their contemporaries but built on it all fantastically. I cannot recommend this album enough, check it out immediately! I can’t get enough of it already, and hopefully this release finally pushes them to the level they deserve to be at! It’s a solid 9/10 from us!
HIGHSOCIETY: DATAMOSH
The bass soloist has been gaining a lot of momentum and hype recently with his interesting genre combinations, fun guests and intriguing writing. From dubstep to alt metal to hard rock, he blends it all together seamlessly, and has crafted, at very least, and incredibly fascinating album. It’s very much a combination of Prodigy, Linkin Park and the modern metalcore scene (think Bad Omens or BMTH). Tracks like the opener, the heavy ‘Echos’ with BVLVNCE and the Daedric-featuring ‘Dead By Dawn’ are all personal highlights. However, every song on this release is worth a listen, and it doesn’t feel like it’s as long as it is at all. It’s an incredibly modern sound that will go over well with fans of the likes of Poppy and Spiritbox and the aforementioned Bad Omens. However, it’s also different and creative enough to keep it interesting, and honestly won me over just as much as any of them. He works so well with every single artist that features here, and it could very much be a massive, breakout year for the musician. He’s definitely one to watch, and worth a listen if you’re into a modern style. 7.5/10
Alison Krauss: Arcadia
The country-folk star and her band, Union Station, are back with their first album together in nearly a decade and a half. It’s a welcome return of the band, as outside of her collaboration with Robert Plant, her last album was a solo one, and even that was eight years ago now! For someone who’s been releasing music for nearly 40 years, the fact that she is still such an interesting songwriter, and that her vocals are still so effortless beautiful and incredible, is a true testament to her talent. And that shouldn’t at all take away from the band either, who are just as talented. It’s a chilled out, Americana/bluegrass leaning album, and is great to just sit back and relax to. Songs like ‘The Wrong Way’, ‘Richmond on the James’ and ‘North Side Gal’ are all personal highlights, but if you’re into this sort of music you’ll enjoy the whole album! While not strictly my sort of thing, I had a lot of fun listening to the slightly more upbeat songs, and a couple of the ballads were incredible too. While I don’t think I’ll revisit the whole album much, I’ll certainly be listening to some of this again, and it gets a solid 7/10 from us!