Another week and three more awesome, incredibly different EPs for us to check out. Let’s dive right in!
Revenant: Black Dogs and Sad Men
EP number three from the hard/southern rock quartet is just as good as their previous two. It’s twenty minutes of great riffing, powerful vocals and catchy melodies! It’s everything you could want and expect from the band, and they are very quickly positioning themselves as one of the the futures of the NWOCR scene. From the title track to the swaggering ‘Sex with No Substance’, there is plenty of awesomeness throughout. I also love them closing on a beautiful acoustic number, almost GnR Lies-esque. However, there really isn’t a bad track on this! I already cannot wait to hear where they go from here, I’d absolutely love a longer release from the lads, but we now have a pretty damn solid collection of amazing, stompin’ hard rock tracks to keep me hooked on the band for a while. If you are at all into a more older-school rock sound, I cannot recommend this release enough. I love these guys and they just keep getting better and better! 9/10
Altus: Secondhand Smoke
The country singer-songwriter follows up his 2024 album perfectly with this release! it’s beautiful and somehow so very emotional, vulnerable and heart-felt throughout. The title track sets that tone incredibly, and tracks like single ‘IOD on YOU’ and the more country-pop, Russel Dickerson-like ‘Break me First’ continue that feeling exceptionally. The whole thing has an amazing flow to it from front to back, and is a very easy listen despite the rather heavy subject matter throughout. His vocals are incredible, easily one of the more underrated singers in the genre, and his delivery across each track is spot on. This is somehow the first thing we’ve reviewed by him and it was the perfect jumping off point, I thought. A must for any fans of early-mid 2010s country music, or even the modern stuff like Wallen or Redferrin. I’ll certainly be revisiting again in the coming weeks and months, and it gets a solid 8.5/10 from us!
Rare Breed: Self Destructive
Going heavy with the final EP of the week, the second release of this format from the band this year alone is a really excellent output. Blending everything from alt metal to industrial to even grunge, it’s a pretty unique sound, and makes for a damn interesting listen! The opener/title track is metal-infused Nirvana in the best way, while ‘Drowning’ is more of a radio-friendly alt metal banger while ‘Psycho’ almost has more of a hardcore punk vibe to it. If there is one thing this 16-minute release isn’t, it’s boring. Every track feels unique and distinct yet still feeling like it’s come from the same band, a damn impressive achievement! It was my first time checking out the band and it certainly won’t be the last, as I loved this! It’s a little rough around the edges at times but that almost adds to the charm. They have set themselves up pretty perfectly this year and I can see big things in the next few years from them if this release is anything to go by! 8/10