A quieter but still pretty stacked week of new albums for us to check out!
HARDY: COUNTRY! COUNTRY!
The third album we’ve checked out from the (shock) country star, and thank god it’s at least better than his last one! I was so obsessed with Mockingbird and the Crow, so Quiet! felt like a bit of a letdown in comparison.
This release very much does a good job of getting him back on track. There’s a LOT of fantastic stuff on here, from the opener through ‘Luckiest Man Alive’ and ‘Girl With a Gun’ to the likes of ‘Who Don’t’, ‘Gun to my Head’ and the wonderfully tongue-in-cheek ‘Y’all Need Jesus’ (though I did get called out by a line in it too, lol). And honestly, having named a bunch, I still wouldn’t say any of the other tracks are in any way bad! For an album that’s 20 tracks and 69 (nice) minutes long, that’s a pretty fantastic achievement! Don’t get me wrong, that is too damn long, and it definitely could have done with some of the fat trimmed, but that’s more of an issue with country in general still, so I’ll let off one of the most prevalent songwriters in the genre the last decade plus. And that hour was still a damn easy listen and went by in a flash!
I think he leant too much into the rock side of things with his last release, while now he’s managed to find that perfect balance between that and country, like he had with THE CROW. As I said, while not as groundbreaking as that release, it’s still a damn good album, and one I’d recommend to anyone who’s a fan of his, or into country or rock at all! HARDY is back with a vengeance, y’all, and I couldn’t be happier! I’ll be spinning it a lot for the rest of the year, I’m sure. 8.5/10, though it may grow on me even more with more listens!
Amorphis: Boarderland
I remember checking out the bands last studio album a few years ago and LOVING IT, so my hype heading into this was pretty high already. Safe to say it didn’t disappoint! Right from the offset ‘The Circle’ is an epic prog metal banger. That’s swiftly followed by the heavier melodeath single ‘Bones’, and tracks like the grandiose ‘The Strange’ and ‘Light and Shadow’ are also massive personal highlights. However, the whole album is excellent, there really isn’t a bad song on it! It’s a great continuation of the band’s discography, fitting in perfectly next to Halo. The band are incredible songwriters and musicians, and that is very much on full display throughout this release. If you are at all into prog, power or death metal, this is well worth checking out! 8/10
Foreign Affairs: Brothers
We’ve already checked out this album. Check out our full review of it here.
Beyond Extinction: Where They Gather
The debut album from the Essex death metal band goes hard throughout. The first thing I noticed was the amazing production, the release sounding and feeling MASSIVE. It somehow makes it seem even heavier too, in the best way possible! I haven’t actually checked the band out much since we saw them a few years back, but they have grown into a force to be reckoned with on record. From the brutal opener to ‘Seven Spears’ to ‘Earthmurk’, there’s a lot of awesomeness. And that’s not even mentioning the two amazing tracks featuring guests. Both Alex Teyen and Josh Davis kill it on their tracks, making both ‘Tyranny’ and ‘Apache’ (respectively) huge highlights, too. If you’re into the heavier end of metal I cannot recommend this enough! It’s easily one of the best death metal releases of the year, and will definitely be one I revisit when I need a heavy fix. The band are destined for big things sooner rather than later thanks to this album, and it gets an easy 8.5/10 from us!
Colbie Caillat: This Time Around
The eighth album from the folk-pop-rock singer-songwriter feels like it takes a bit of a country twang to it this time round. That’s hardly a complaint, I saw her at more of a country festival last year and she fit in there perfectly. This style is very much what she was made to release, as this is an incredible album, honestly! It maybe helps that it’s packed full of massive and awesome country guests, with every track feating someone, but that shouldn’t take away from Colbie’s immense writing and vocal talents. But yeah, the guests are great too, even Walker Hayes! Of course a lot of the songs are tracks that she’s released previously, but the guests add a great new twist to it all and leave it feeling still fresh! ‘Bubbly’ is always a great song, but Amos Lee makes it somehow even better! Between that, the opener, ‘Lucky’ and ‘I Never Told You’, there are plenty of amazing songs on this album. However, every song is pretty great, and makes for a fantastic 40+ minutes of chilled out country-folk pop! Plus, her cover of Posty’s ‘Circles’ is excellent! If you’re into more of a pop-country sound, or like Colbie’s music in general, I’d definitely recommend giving this a spin. It’s a great reimagining of her hits, and the original songs are definitely up there alongside them! It’s a fantastic duets album, and I’m shocked she’s never done one sooner! 8/10
Revocation: New Gods, New Masters
Album 10 from the tech death band, following up 2022’s massive Netherheaven. I remember checking it out but somehow didn’t write about it, so I’m glad I finally get to do that with this release. Especially when it’s an absolutely fantastic album like this is. It’s 44-minutes of heaviness and brutality and utter brilliance and some of the best drumming and guitaring I’ve heard all year. It’s honestly impossible to pick highlights as the whole thing is as amazing as it is similar, piecing together perfectly.
It certainly isn’t going to be for everyone reading this, but if you are at all curious it’s well worth spinning at least once in full! The band are all working their asses off throughout and have crafted something truly special with this release! The multiple guests also once again add so much to the release, with Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation being a particularly awesome guest! I loved this, and will definitely be listening to at least the individual tracks a lot moving forward. 8.5/10
Rage: A New World Rising
We’ve also checked this one out previously, aren’t you lucky?! Check it out here.
Sloan: Based on the Best Seller
The second album we’ve checked out from the alt rock/punk-pop band after 2022’s Steady. Honestly, I can’t remember anything about that album, but apparently I rather enjoyed it! This release is no exception, a fun, easy-to-listen-to old-school rock album. From the opener to ‘Baxter’ to ‘So Far Down’ to ‘Here We Go Again’, there is plenty to love on this release. While it’s not typically my sort of thing, I really enjoyed not only these tracks, but the album as a whole, it being another fantastic release to just sit back and chill out with. It’s easy to hear why they’re such a big band in their native country, and I would certainly make the case that they are somehow only getting better with age, as I enjoyed this more than their last release. If you like more bluesy, poppy rock, this is certainly the album for you! 7.5/10