An absolutely massive week for new music this week, with some of the biggest bands across the board releasing new albums. Let’s dive in!

Biffy Clyro: Futique

The first studio album from the Scottish alt-rock powerhouse since the 2020/2021 duo of releases, and it’s a bit of a doozy! Somehow the first two tracks, the lead two singles, are so very Biffy in two completely different ways. ‘A Little Love’ is the big catchy radio hit, while ‘Hunting Season’ is the heavier, darker (and arguably funner) one. Then you have tracks like the anthemic ‘True Believer’, ‘Friendshipping’, the quirky ‘Dearest Amygdala’ and the epic closer that are also big highlights. Really thought, there isn’t a bad track on this! It’s a very easy 44-minute listen.

However, not much of it really stands out on its own for me, sadly. Aside for ‘Hunting Season’ and ‘Two People in Love’, it all feels like the modern Biffy wall of noise; not bad but also nothing hugely special. It may grow on me more with more listens, but for now it feels like a full-album listen as opposed to specific songs I want to hear. It’s certainly better than The Myth of the Happily Ever After, but I wouldn’t say it’s quite as good as Celebration of Endings, at least on a first listen! The band are very talented players and songwriters and have crafted some great radio rock here, but for a band with such a fantastic back catalogue, this is slightly middling for them. A good album, but maybe not necessarily a good Biffy album. Mon the Biff and all, but I can’t give it any higher than 7/10.

Evan Honer: Everything I Wanted

The third album from the indie-folk/Americana artist dropped to a LOT of hype and anticipation last Friday. We absolutely loved his last one just last year, and had the pleasure of seeing some of that and some of this the other week at The Long Road, so have been incredibly excited for this!

Well, it doesn’t disappoint, that’s for sure! Having heard the singles off this already, stuff like ‘Long Road’, the title track and ‘Better Off Lonely’, it was already set up to be great. However, album tracks like ‘Call You Back’, ‘Lose a Friend’ and the tear-jerking ‘It’s a Home’ are up there with any of those in terms of quality. Plus, closer ‘Wander’ feels so very massive and epic, that outro being AMAZING. The whole album is phenomenal, honestly; every track being amazing. The sheer emotion in Evan’s writing and vocal performance knocks me on my ass each time, making me fully invested in whatever story he’s weaving. I honestly cannot gush over him enough, he’s become one of my favourite artists over the last couple of years, and anyone who checks this out will completely understand why.

While it’s not immediately quite as good as Fighting For, but that’s an INCREDIBLY high bar. The two albums are rather different in execution, and this one will definitely be getting spun plenty over the coming weeks and months, it may very well get somehow even better. The boy can do no wrong, and this is a must-listen for absolutely anyone reading this. I’m obsessed already, and it gets an incredibly solid 9.5/10

I Prevail: Violent Nature

The first album from the US metalcore titans since the unceremonious departure of vocalist Brian Burkheiser is a rather make or break release for the band. There has been a fair bit of sour taste in the mouths of fans since the announcement back in May, so they kinda need a home run with this release to make people forget.

Honestly, sadly, it’s barely even a mixed bag. Tracks like the title one, ‘NWO’ and ‘God’ go HARD. The rest is slow and forgettable. It honestly feels like losing Brian de-fanged them, as well as losing the more rappy part of their earlier sound. Now they are just like every other modern metalcore band, putting out slow, introspective, bland, synth-led nothingness, aside for the two or three actual metal tracks scattered throughout. Their last album grew on me the more I listened, but they have fallen off hard with this release, and one of the most promising bands to be MASSIVE sooner rather than later face a major setback here. There may be people who love this, but for me.. meh. I’ve never gotten into the ballad-heavy modern metalcore of Wage War, Bad Omens or BMTH, and this didn’t win me over. I’ll stick with the the three tracks I mentioned, but the rest of the album I’ll probably not resist. 4.5/10

P.S. ending the album on a stop dead is weird.

Paradise Lost: Ascension

Somehow the first album we’ve covered here from the British death-doom/prog/goth metal titans, as it’s the bands first studio album in five years. Honestly, it’s fantastic to have them back, as this is an awesome album! Honestly I wasn’t sure at first too as I wasn’t hugely into the opening track, but everything after that is incredible. From the more gothic doom elements to straight up death metal and the proggy arrangements, it’s all awesome, and show that the band haven’t lost a step in their nearly 40-year careers. It’s bang on an hour of epic metal, and recommend highly for anyone even slightly interested. It’s impossible to even pick highlights, as everything after that first six minutes is amazing, and even that opener has grown on me more after another listen and within the context of the full album. They are one of the most underrated bands still around from the 80s, and are real pioneers in the sounds they do due to their sheer massive talent. From the incredible riffing and drumming to the brutal screams and awesome low singing to even more of a Matt Heafy harsher sing, it’s all so fucking good! I’ll definitely be spinning this a lot moving forward, and it gets a very solid 9/10

Chase Rice: ELDORA

This is the third album we’ve covered from the country-Americana artist, and I think it’s the one that may have to grow on me the most. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad album by any stretch, but it doesn’t immediately slap me in the face and demand my attention like Go Down Singin’ or I Hate Cowboys. It’s slower abd a little more stripped back and more introspective. Having said that, tracks like the emotion-filled ‘Circa 1943’, ‘Cottonmouth’ and the beautiful ‘One Drink Long’ are big personal highlights, as are all three tracks that feature other artists (anything Elvie Shane does is gold!). However, a lot of it is more stripped-back numbers built around Chase’s vocals and acoustic guitar. None of them are bad, but it’s a lot of similar stuff. It’s the perfect album to chill to, but hasn’t quite produced the couple of more memorable radio hits that his previous works have done. As I said, it may be a grower, and it certainly isn’t a bad release, but for now it’s a solid 7.5/10 from us!

Motion City Soundtrack: The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World

The seventh studio album from the alt rock band is their first in a full decade, and first since their 2019 reunion. For fans of the band it’s been a long time coming. I personally never got into them too much, and this didn’t do a great deal to change that. Don’t get me wrong, tracks like the vaguely Weezer ‘She is Afraid’, ‘Your Days are Numbered’ and ‘Downer’ are pretty good and fun. However, I always felt like there were plenty of other bands that did this style better back then, and still now to this day. If you’re really into the early 2000s emo/scene scene, or are already a fan of the band, this is probably worth a try, but if you’re not, I don’t think it would win you over. It’s not bad by any stretch, it’s a fun, easy 35-minute listen, but it’s slightly dated radio pop-rock that did little to grab my attention. It may grow on me, but for now a fairly average 6.5/10

Newton Faulkner: OCTOPUS

One of the artists of my childhood returned last week with his eighth studio album. Hand Built By Robots is still one of my GOATed albums, but I have to admit I’ve not checked out his newer stuff for a solid decade or so at this point. So, imagine my surprise when the album opens on a banging funk rock track featuring Bloom Twins. Yes please, more of this! Sadly the wins aren’t on the rest of the album, but it by no means makes it bad. ‘What Took You So Long’ shows off his insane guitar talent while also being an 80s synth rock track with a Faulkner twist. ‘Honest to God’ is a great old-school Newton track, while tracks like ‘Better for Me’ and the almost blues ‘Hunting Season’ (feat. Love Bitchos) are also massive highlights. The whole album is great though, and worth throwing on and chilling out to, for sure! He’s evolved a lot from his debut album, but there are still enjoy hints of Robots to give me a nostalgia hit as well as it just being generally a good folk-rock-pop album. It’s won’t be for everyone reading this, but I had a good time listening to this, and will definitely be doing so again soon. 8/10

Igorrr: Amen

We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Check out the full review of it here.

Steady Habits: Deviate

The debut album from the alt-country band is an incredible half-hour of catchy hooks, powerful vocals and fantastic lyrics. I hadn’t heard of them before The Long Road and fell in love with them, eagerly anticipating this release since. It didn’t disappoint even slightly. ‘Edge of Changes’ sets the tone of the album perfectly, while single ‘Archer Street’ has been a firm favourite since I first heard it. Then you have tracks like ‘Half’, ‘Garden State’ and ‘Mess of it All’ that are also massive personal highlights. However, the whole album is incredibly solid, without a bad song on it. It harkens back to the late 90s/early 2000s alt country-rock radio sound, like a Pinegrove or Hootie and the Blowfish, and is a sound I’m so glad is still going and starting to come back! The band have really come into their own the last year or two, and this album perfectly caps off that journey. They have a BIG future ahead of them, and I cannot wait to watch them grow more and more. But, for now, I’m happy to keep spinning this. It’s an awesome release, and one I’d wholly recommend to anyone curious! 8.5/10

Airborn: Lizard Secrets, Pt. 3 – Utopia

The highly anticipated third part of the Lizard Secrets series comes nearly five full years after part two. The Italian power metal band haven’t lost a step in that time then, or the 25 years prior, as this is an awesome release that more than lives up to the previous two. It’s nearly an hour of epic, heavy and melodic awesomeness. Tracks like ‘In Utopia’, ‘Futuremaker’ and the epic ‘Soldiers of Misfortune’ are all personal highlights, but there really isn’t a bad track on the album! Honestly, the rockiest one is the opener, once past that the rest of it slaps! It’s like the perfect blend of power metal, NWOBHM and AOR, like Iron Maiden, Helloween, Queensryche and H.E.A.T. all rolled into one. It’s not a short release, but is a surprisingly easy listen due to its fantastic concept, musicianship and writing. If you are into a more AOR-edged power metal sound, I cannot recommend this release enough. It’s so good to hear the band back, and it has immediately made me want to go and listen to all three parts together. 7.5/10

Esoterica: Ether Metal

Album number five from the proggy hard rock-metal Londoners is their most hyped release yet, and for good reason. This is fucking awesome! From the awesome riffing to the (pun very much intended) ethereal vocal delivery and mixing and the odd scream throughout, all of it works together perfectly and makes for a truly awe-inspiring listen. While every track is awesome and flows together perfectly, songs like ‘I Am Just One’, ‘Firefly’ and ‘Paper Skull’ are personal favourites. It’s like the perfect mix of Tool/Chevelle but with more of both an industrial and a modern metal edge to it, so if you’re into any of that check this out immediately! Plus, some of the lyrics are fantastic, hitting home perfectly and being very relevant today! It’s insane to me that the band aren’t bigger at this point, but either way everything about this album is awesome, from the writing to the playing, composition to the mixing. It’s their most well rounded album to date, and after another listen or two I may even say their best! Check this out if you’re into more of the alt metal side of things, you certainly won’t be disappointed! 8/10

Castle Rat: The Bestiary

The sophomore album from the medieval fantasy doom metal band has a lot of hype to live up to after the band exploded onto the scene just last year with their debut. Honestly, after a full listen through, I’m still not sure what to think of it. The riffing throughout is amazing, and the Stevie Nicks-esque  vocals grew on me more throughout. Tracks like ‘WIZARD’, ‘CRYSTAL CAVE’ and ‘DRAGON’ are all personal highlights. But I don’t know, something about it just didn’t feel like my sort of bag. It was suitably epic and everyone involved is working their asses off, it’s easy to see why they have exploded onto the scene. But it’s sadly not something I’d revisit much. Still, the heavy folk elements were certainly cool, and I’d still recommend it to anyone curious. Another solid 6.5/10