Another stacked week of awesome new albums for us to check out, from rock to metal to country! Let’s dive in!
Testament: Para Bellum
The thrash legends are back with their first new studio album in over five years. It’s been a loooong wait, but they’re back and most certainly taking no prisoners! Opener ‘For the Love of Pain’ sets things up perfectly and is a banger in its own right. Honestly it was wild/awesome for me for Chuck to scream through all of it. I love his powerful cleans but his screams, alongside the backing, is fucking incredible! It’s essentially a death metal track, even complete with some Gojira scrapes. We get some cleaner vocals on ‘Infanticide A.I.’, another huge highlight track that keeps it heavy and perfectly combines their older sound with this heavier new edge. And then barely four tracks in the album slows down into a beautiful acoustic ballad in ‘Meant to Be’. It’s another fantastic, epic song from an album that constantly keeps you on your toes.
The rest of the album is pretty standard fair, alternating between their more old-school thrash style and the heavier, screamed they’ve added here. Both ‘Room 117’ and ‘Nature of the Beast’ are other solid highlight tracks, but there really isn’t a bad song on this! The band have always been criminally underrated, but they once again continue their streak of excellent modern albums with this. If you are in any way a fan of thrash or just metal in general, check this out ASAP! I can’t give it any less than 9/10, amazing stuff!
Yellowcard: Better Days
The pop-punk titans are back with their first studio album since their 2022 reunion. I have to admit they were never really a band I ‘got’ in my youth; the whole slightly heavier, emo-pop-punk thing didn’t do much for me, them always feeling like a poor man’s Good Charlotte/Simple Plan. However, I did enjoy this more than the new Good Charlotte album, that’s for sure. It’s very old-school Yellowcard, so if you’re a long-time fan of the band you’ll surely love this. The lyrics are sometimes pretty cheese these days, especially for a bunch of guys in their mid-40s, but they at least semi-acknowledge their age. Plus, I can never get over how much a full-time fiddlist in a pop-punk band works far better than it should. Tracks like the Matt Skiba featuring ‘Love Letters Lost’, ‘Bedroom Posters’ and ‘Skin Scraped’ are all personal highlights. It’s got more energy than a lot of their counterparts have these days, which is certainly appreciated, and it’s definitely an album I’d happily revisit again. It may grow on me more still, as it has through the full-album listen, but for now it gets a still-solid 7.5/10
Rhett Miller: A lifetime of riding by night
Solo album number nine from the Old 97’s’ frontman, and it’s an incredibly chilled affair! It’s very folky, mainly just Rhett’s acoustic guitar and vocals, with a few other minor parts like extra strings or a piano. His vocal delivery gives slight Lou Reed vibes at times too, which was interesting and certainly not a bad thing! There was a great nit in the middle with ‘Come as Your Are’ (feat. Turnpike Troubadours’ own Evan Felker) followed by Be Mine which I loved! There’s also a more flamenco-style one later on, ‘All Over Again’, which is excellent! However, overall, it is a touch too slow for me. He’s an incredible songwriter and if you like this sort of thing it’s definitely worth a listen. I enjoyed my listen, but I wouldn’t rush to revisit it, if that makes sense? Still, it gets a solid 6.5/10 from me as it was damn well crafted and performed!
John 5: Ghost
The eleventh instrumental studio album from the Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie/Motley Crue guitarist dropped last Friday. I remember checking out his last solo release back in the early days of the company and enjoying it. It’s an interesting release, for sure. It feels like it goes back to his industrial roots a little more at times than a lot of what I’ve heard from his solo stuff, but there is plenty of insanely technical soloing too that I am very familiar with from him! He is a criminally underrated guitarist, rather pigeon-holing himself into a somewhat basic guitaring genre with nu/industrial metal when in reality he’s up there with the likes of Yngwie. Tracks like ‘Deviant’, ‘La Express’ and the jazzy ‘Moon Glow’ are all personal highlights, but every track is pretty great! Instrumental stuff certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you are at all curious or a fan of his playing on other projects, this is worth a listen! A solid 7/10 again from us!
Sanguisugabogg: Hideous Aftermath
Described by frontman Devin Swank as ‘their most death metal and most focused and brutal record to date’, there’s a lot of hype riding on the Ohioan Brutalists’ third album. It is certainly brutal, and certainly death metal. And, honestly, it’s fucking awesome! This level of heaviness is always something I find myself admiring from a distance, I’m a melody boy at heart, but there was definitely plenty I found myself enjoying throughout this surprisingly long release. Tracks like ‘Felony Abuse of a Corpse’, ‘Heinous Testimony’ and the rather epic ‘Paid in Flesh’ are all personal highlights. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something I’d revisit a whole bunch, but if you are into the heaviest of metal it’s up there with the best of the bunch. It’s everything I wished early Cannibal Corpse was, though I think a lot of that has to do with the great mix and the fantastic screams! I would love to see this live, but on track it does get a bit much for me (especially with its length), as excellently crafted as it is. So, for that, it gets a solid 7/10
Serpent God: Denial
The debut album from the Finish melodeath/doom metal band honestly knocks it out of the park for them right from the get go. It’s heavy, dark and epic all in equal measure, and makes for a fantastic listen from front to back! There’s more than a healthy dose of extreme/black metal in here too, and the whole release has such a fantastic flow to it. It’s almost impossible to pick highlight tracks as they all click together perfectly, begging the listener for a full listen every time. It’s not for the faint of heart; not only is it heavy and dark but 50 minutes in length, but it rewards the listener massively throughout with some truly awesome songwriting and instrumentation. It won’t be for everyone, but if you’re into the dark, epic side of heavy metal, this is definitely one worth checking out! A very solid 7.5/10!
Captain Kaiser: Belgian Boy
Album four from the (surprisingly) Belgian alt-punk band is set to be their biggest yet! From a purely sonic standpoint, and given that I hadn’t listened to them before now, it’s pretty fantastic, and it’s easy to see why they are gaining momentum! The vague Turnstile/Viagra Boys sound is awesome. Heck, there’s an air of the quirkier side of Biffy at times, which I loved! The opener was slightly rough for me, not being a huge fan of the style, but both ‘Roadkill’ and ‘Room Service’ won me over in quick succession. Then you have tracks like ‘William’ and the title track that are also big highlights! The more I listen the more I love it, it’s a really damn good album! It’s not something I’d choose to go for often, but I’m so glad I checked this out in full and world urge anyone into punk to do the same! The band are insanely talented songwriters, and are going to go far if this album has anything to say about it! 9/10
Frayle: Heretics & Lullabies
The third album from the atmospheric metallers is arguably their best work to date. The sheer epic soundscape produced throughout is incredible; everything from the arrangement to the mix making it sound MASSIVE. It reminds me of Skynd but more gothic and atmospheric, almost having a shoegaze edge to it all. ‘Walking Wounded’ is the perfect album opener for it, and tracks like ‘Souvenirs of Your Betrayal’ and ‘Run’ are definite highlights. I also really enjoyed their cover of the Lana Del Rey hit ‘Summertime Sadness’, really adding their own fantastic, ominous twist on the track. My only slight issue is that it all sounds kinda similar. I’m sure if this your favourite style of music you’d love it, but nearly 45-minutes of similar sounding tracks sadly wasn’t helped by my tiny attention span! Still, it’s a damn good release, and certainly one worth checking out if you like the more gothic stuff! 7.5/10
Leilani Kilgore: TELL YOUR GHOST
Aaand the award for the most metal artist name not attached to a metal artist goes to…
In all seriousness though, Leilani’s debut studio album slaps! The blues/punk tinged hard rocker blasts the listener with big riffs and catchy vocal melodies throughout the entire 38-minute runtime, showing how excellent of a songwriter she is! And not just that, but her vocals are fantastic, as is the instrumentation throughout, the guitaring being a particular high point. From foot-stompin’ rock numbers like the opener and ‘CREEPIN’’ to more plodding blues tracks like ‘SPANISH MOSS’ and ‘BURN’ there is so much awesomeness and plenty to love! It’s an incredibly well-rounded album that goes by in a flash and there really isn’t a bad track on it! I’d never heard of her before but she already has a massive new fan in me! It’s very easy to see why she’s exploded onto the scene and is a quick bright light in the underground, and I can’t give it any less than 9/10!
Caustic Waves: Echoes
Another debut album, this time from the Glasgow-based soloist Neil Thomas. Firstly, the fact that one man has produced such an intricate, fantastically written and produced is nothing short of phenomenal. Blending together his alt-metal and power-pop sounds of previous works KEITEL and The Chinaskis, but infusing it with a 90s/early 2000s edge and influences like Incubus, Tool and Deftones, Neil has produced something pretty damn unique with this release! Tracks like ‘Artificial Lies’, ‘Escape Your Fate’ and ‘Insignificance’ are all personal highlights. However, having grown up around the time that inspired this release, I absolutely adore this style and truly think there isn’t a bad track on the album! 44 minutes goes by in a flash and it’ll definitely be an album I’ll be revisiting plenty over the coming weeks and months! Hopefully he can get a band together because I am already desperate to see this live! For now, I’ll happily keep listening, and this gets yet another very solid 9/10!