The first NMM of the Overtone year, and while short, it’s still got some awesome albums in it, from rock to county to metal. Let’s dive in!
Zac Brown Band: Love & Fear
A chilled-out, uplifting release from the main man himself, following his self-processed comeback album in 2021, it marks the longest gap between releases for him, surprisingly. He has taken that time to craft this 50-minute masterclass of all things rockin’, though. Whether it’s straight-up country, blues, Americana, indie, dark folk or even some experimental prog again, he covers all bases and does so incredibly. Heck, he even dips into hip-hop thanks to an awesome Snoop Dogg feature! There isn’t a bad track on this, but songs like the opener, ‘Give it Away’ and ‘Nothing’s a Coincidence’ are personal favourites. He very much does whatever he wants at this point sound-wise, and gives more of a jam-band feel than anything specific. And as I said already, whatever he does, he does it SO WELL. If you are a fan of his earlier work, or any of the genres I’ve mentioned previous, check this out as soon as you can, you’re bound to love it as much as I do! A very easy 8.5/10 from us!
Homegrown GBG: Homegrown
The second album from the folky heavy-psych instrumental band is a real showcase of their talents! Don’t get me wrong, I very much know instrumental stuff isn’t for everyone, and I am usually one of them after not too long of listening, but the band did an excellent job of keeping me entertained and hooked throughout. The different parts and time and feeling changes were captivating, with tracks like ‘Häxjakt i Snetakt’ and ‘Den Hornkrönte’ being particularly examples of that. The band are so damn talented, getting plenty of chance to shine individually and as a collective throughout. And psych-folk isn’t something I knew I needed more of in my life until right now! It is still an instrumental album so I can’t score it crazy high, but it’s a damn solid 7.5/10 easy! Check this out if you are at all curious!
Jester Majesty: Infinite Measure, Finite Existence
A debut album up next, and it’s a fantastically heavy one! It’s like the perfect blend of melodeath/djent instrumentation with more of a modern metal/prog arrangement and vocals. Right from the opener into ‘Human vs. Machine’ I was hooked, and not let go for the rest of the release. The playing throughout is off the charts, and blends together so many different styles to make something that feels so unique and amazing! The length of the tracks may put some off, as it certainly does lean more into the prog realm than anything else, but it very much rewards listeners that stick around with an album packed full of incredible music. It’s insane to me that they aren’t already a bigger band, but having only been putting out music this year, and I very much think this release could push them up a few levels immediately. If you are at all into prog or just metal in general, I cannot recommend this enough. I can’t give it any less than 9/10!
P.S. that artwork is fucking awesome!
Alfonso Conspiracy: The Explicit//The Exploited
Another debut album, this time from the alt/industrial metal artist. From just up the road in Wolverhampton, he’s essentially a local name, and it’s insane to me that I’ve never heard of him before now as I loved this! It’s very much a modern sound, blending together some more hardcore screams and big, ch0nky djent riffing with an overall industrial package, and is right up my street. The closest thing I can compare it to is 3TEETH, which is definitely not a bad thing! And of course, there’s a healthy does of Manson in there too. From ‘Chimpanzee’ to ‘(pathogen)’, ‘(transmit)’ to ‘WHORE’, there is so much to love about this. However, the whole release is excellent and has a great flow to it, it being an incredibly easy listen! He definitely has a new fan in me and I’m already desperate to hear all of this live, so will be keeping an eye out. For now though, I’ll be spinning this plenty in the weeks and months to come, and it gets another very easy 8.5/10!
Bottomland: Self-Titled
Yet another debut album for us, this time from the country rock duo. The pair profess to ‘take the best of what everyone loves about Texas country music to a new level’, and it’s hard to argue against that, for the most part. It’s a great rock-tinged country release, packed full of arena-filling choruses and huge harmonies, as well as some fun instrumentation. Tracks like ‘Lies’, the almost Seether-esque ‘Aw Shit’, single ‘Hot Shottin’’ and ‘Sorry State’ are all personal highlights. A lot of the rest of it is all a touch slow, or a touch too Treaty Oak Revival for me. It’s not exactly an issue, and the band clearly have plenty of fans so are doing something right, but I did find myself getting a little bored by the sound at times. It’s still damn good, especially for a debut, and I’m definitely curious to hear where they go from here, especially with them having a bit of a rocket strapped to their back! I can’t give it any more than 7/10 for now, though it may grow on me more with more listens.