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new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Muse, Machine Head and Much More!

We have a fun addition to New Music Mondays this week. Our newest team member Max has given me a hand in writing this, as I was away for the weekend. Give him some love as he saved my ass and did a great job! I’ve covered a few of them and he’s done a few, and if I had any more thoughts on an album I added them on too!

It’s another week another list! A fun set of albums have been released this week so join me in exploring them all.

Muse: Will of the People

Max: So where to begin? This is Muse’s 10th album if you don’t include the two live albums and the anniversary version of Origin of Symmetry. I must say that it is my favourite since the resistance. There are so many things to say about this album and I wish I had more time for it, from the amazing grooves in the bass to the solos spaced throughout. However, Matt’s voice is utterly outstanding.

If you only have time for a couple of songs I highly recommend ‘Ghosts (How Can I Move On)’ which is a beautiful piano led song which gives me chills every time I listen to it, ‘You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween’ which has a brilliant groovy and feel to it which makes me want to get up and move each time and then ‘Kill Or Be Killed’ which is definitely more inline with some of Muse’s heavier music. All in all, a great album and an easy 8.5/10.

Machine Head: Øf KingdØm and CrØwn

Max: Machine Head are back, and they want you to know what they’re about again. It has been four years since Catharsis, their last album. It’s clear in that time that they have been working hard on perfecting their art . All I can say is wow. It is heavier, it is intense, and it is brilliant. From ‘Slaughter the Martyr’; their ten and a half minute opening song is kickass from the slow intro to the filthy riffs and the solos. There is so much in this song to digest however there is more to get through. ‘Become The Firestorm’ and ‘No Gods, No Masters’ are must listens and as potentially controversial as this might be, I think this album is better than Burn My Eyes, their seminal first album. This is a 9/10 but if you rate it higher there is no contest because this is a phenomenal album.

Joe: As a HUGE fan of Machine Head, especially their output from Ashes, Catharsis and a couple of singles afterwards were a pretty big let down. I enjoyed last year’s EP, though (all of which ended up on this album). My god does this build on that perfectly. Right from opening on a 10-minute heavy epic with a good three minutes of slow-build to start, I knew the Machine Fuckin’ Head I knew were back. I’ve seen a fair few journalists comparing this to The Blackening. While I think that’s a bit of a stretch, it’s definitely a step back in the right direction. I agree with Max on all of his highlight tracks, and would also like to add the venomous ‘Rotten’. 9/10

Embrace: How to Be a Person Like Other People

Joe: The Yorkshiran rock band released their eighth studio album last week. While I was sceptical it would make it onto this list at all with the slow piano intro, it build into a cracking, stadium-filling ballad in ‘Death is Not the End’. While the rest of the album was still good, it’s in a similar style to the opening track and never quite reached the same lofty heights. It’s a blend of British and US indie rock which was perfect for a background listen or a long car journey, but I found it not holding my attention too well when listened to intently. If you’re into indie you’ll enjoy this a lot more than I did,. I feel like I’d ‘get’ this a lot more if I saw it live. For now, it gets a 5/10 from me!

Excuses Excuses: Listen Up

We’ve covered this already last week, and you can find the review and score here.

Sigh: Shiki

Max: The Japanese cult black metal band Sigh are back also after four years. For a first venture into this band, Shiki is a great place to start. It is a difficult listen if you are new to black metal, but their somewhat eclectic mix of styles can be a saving grace if you find the raw and intense vocals a little hard. This is not the best album ever made but I think it is a must listen for anyone wanting to explore more music and expand their genres.

I found it difficult to pick out which songs were the best in the album. But, after a couple more listens, the strange, almost jazz-break in the second track of the album, ‘Kuroi Kage’, just sticks with me even now. Its one for all to explore if they feel brave enough to which brings me to give this a solid 7.5/10 and I am excited for what might come next.

Joe: What has this company done to me? I loved this. I’ve somehow gotten pretty into the more epic side of extreme metal, and I kinda like it. Whether it was the balls to the wall track above or the more up and down ‘Mayonaka No Kaii’ there was a lot I enjoyed here. I do however agree with Max in that it’s a 7.5/10. Good stuff!

Brymir: Voices In The Sky

Max: The Finnish metal band are here with another packed album. It’s difficult to say what their plan for this album was as it felt to cross many layers. All in the band pushed their art to the next level with each song feeling quite different from the next. This being said I would not say this is the best album on the list. It was constantly punchy and energetic, and I found myself listening to it in the background through out the day but I truly struggled to find one song that was the best.

With all this said, however, I do think everyone should check it out. I am excited to see if they explore a but more of the melodic/death metal side that they can clearly do. I’m going to have to give this an 8/10 but that could change once I’ve got to grips more with this band who were completely new to me.

Manifest: The Sinking

Max: Here’s a band that I doubt many of you have heard of before. This is the bands fifth album, and it is a hard one. Whilst some of you may question me on this considering I liked Sigh, I really could not get past the Stian’s vocals and there was not much for me in the album. I implore you to check it out for yourself but I struggled to get past the fourth track so there is not much more to say. It is a 5/10 for me.

Joe: The mixing on this was pretty meh. It felt like a punch in the face, but that may have been the intention. However, I didn’t mind this aside for that. The elements are there of a good album, it just needs a fair amount of polish. It reminded me of a more biker Hatebreed, the same aggression and speed but with some catchy choruses thrown in at times. However, the cleans aren’t all that great, and the extreme vocals could be little stronger. I preferred when they stuck to the hardcore stuff as opposed to jumping to black metal or their slower stuff. 5/10

Lacrimas Profundere: How to Shroud Yourself with Night

We’ve got a review coming out of this album in the coming days. It was delayed due to being ask to react to some of their singles. While you wait, check out our reaction to their latest single, ‘To Disappear In You’, below. And check back in a couple of days for the link to the review!

Dynazty: Final Advent

Max: This one definitely ends the list on a high. Its hard to say exactly what this album makes me feel because wow its good, exceptionally good. They are top of their field, all the members of this band. There is so much pure and lovable energy in this band, and you can see how much they love making music. Each of the songs remind me of why I do this and how much I love music. There is one song that everyone needs to hear: ‘Yours’. Its an utterly beautiful songs and the chorus with its great hook and amazing vocals hits me somewhere deep. Its is a top song of the year so far for me and I am definitely going to try and see them live some time soon. It’s great to be surprised by music no matter what you hear, and this album hit in all the right places so I can’t see any reason to not listen to it because I really do think its inviting enough for everyone 9/10.

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new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Five Finger Death Punch, Panic! At the Disco and Much More!

A STACKED week of new music from the rock and metal world this week. Join us in checking it out!

Five Finger Death Punch: AfterLife

Okay, let’s get the controversial one out of the way first. I know that if I give this band and album any praise at all y’all will disagree, and that’s fine, I’ve made peace with it. But underneath the Monster guzzling, Drywall and partner punching Kyle energy, there are some damn talented musicians. Heck, ANDY FUCKING JAMES guitars for them these days, the talent is there. And their first couple of albums were honestly fantastic. I haven’t heard the new singles or much after Wrong Side of Heaven as they began to bore me, but hopefully this album brings them back to their roots more!

Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. It’s nowhere near as bad as people will make it out to be, it’s still okay. It’s just incredibly generic radio metal. The riffs are still phat and fun and the production is still up there with some of the best. And of course James shreds some of the best highlights of the album. The issue, much like with most of their music, is Ivan’s lyrics. The angsty, angry, juvenile writing is really something a man in his 40s should have grown out of by now. He has a great voice still and is clearly good at writing catchy, huge vocal melodies and choruses, they’re just dampened considerably by the lyrical content. If they were a bit deeper or had more to them or had changed at all in the last decade+, I feel like this would be great.

‘Times Like These’ was an okay ballad and the title track is okay. But for every good track on the album, there’s a ‘Roll Dem Bones’ or the utterly terrible ‘Judgement Day’. Honestly, the good was few and far between and this was a really tough listen. I was bored way before halfway through. It’s such a shame because their thrash-Slipknot sound and attitude of Way of the Fist was fantastic and they have yet to get close to its quality. It’s a pretty slow album all-round, actually. The biggest praise I can give it, I guess, is that it’s somehow easy-listening metal. But still, it’s the worst album I’ve heard from them, of the five I’ve heard. 3/10

Panic! At The Disco: Viva Las Vengeance

Brendan Urie and friends (it stopped being Panic! years ago) are back with the follow-up to their massive 2018 album Pray For the Wicked. I have to admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of this band at their rock peak, I always preferred Fallout Boy, but I like a few tracks here and there. Heck, even ‘High Hopes’ isn’t bad as far as earworms go, just incredibly overplayed. With how poppy the singles have been so far, I feel like they’re going to be the same.

While a terrible album opener, the title track is a fun, Vegas-inspired pop-rock song. That’s pretty much the entire story of the album, if I’m being honest. And I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing. It’s not bad music at all, just a tad boring. It’s okay chilled out pop ‘rock’, but it’s a far cry from ‘I Write Sins not Tragedies’. It is pretty much musical music, which is exactly where Urie wants to be. Honestly if this was a musical I’d probably enjoy it a lot more than I do. Brendan is still one of the best vocalists alive today, but outside some pretty basic instrumentation behind his voice, that’s all there is to this album.

‘God Killed Rock And Roll’ is maybe the highlight of the album, but that’s because it’s so obviously and unapologetically Queen that it’s almost laughable. It’s a good album and I wouldn’t turn it off if it came on again, but it’s not really my sort of thing. 5/10

Demi Lovato: HOLY FVCK

It took Demi adding one of the most acclaimed rock guitarists currently in Nita Strauss in order to go back to pop punk. However, that was a relatively new addition so maybe this had been in the works for a while. Either way, a minute into the album and it’s already better than anything else she’s ever done. That riff for FREAK is tasty and for once the awful Yungblud doesn’t even overstay his welcome on a guest slot.

I’m so glad artists of this ilk, the latest being Avril Lavigne, are returning to this rock-inspired sound, and that a new generation is stepping up to join them. Hopefully it starts to lead towards more rock in the mainstream again. Plus, hopefully P!nk comes back to join the style soon too!

This album is fucking incredible, by the way. This is the album she should have put out after her return from rehab last year. Its full of emotion and a look into her thoughts and feelings about her past few years. And musically it’s catchy, radio friendly and, most importantly, ROCK. The genre that (kinda) introduced the world to her, and she returns with a vengeance. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the album art seems pretty similar to The Pretty Reckless’s last album, it’s clear that album’s inspired this one quite a bit. There’s nothing to really complain about anything, aside maybe the bloated track listing, but the album is that well paced that it doesn’t really even matter. I can’t believe I’m putting this but 8.5/10, it really is that good!

I Prevail: TRUE POWER

Another band I feel like I should have given more time to before now. It’s metalcore and has everything I should like in a band. I have one of their tracks on my Spotify (Gasoline, I think) and do enjoy it. So, I’m excited to sink my teeth into this album.

Truthfully, this album is a bit of a mixed bag. I liked when they got heavier on tracks like ‘Body Bag’, ‘Fake’ and ‘Judgement Day’. However their lighter stuff didn’t do much for me and their pop-punk, clean choruses almost felt a little… generic? I feel like that’s not the right word but I can’t think of a better one. I feel like I’ve heard them before. And some of the rap didn’t do it for me either, while some parts of it really did. Overall there was enough to keep me coming back, and plenty of it has made our playlist. 7/10

Soilwork: Overgivenheten

This was all over the place in the best way. So much so that I had to listen to it multiple times through over the weekend in order to just compose my thoughts. Sometimes melodeath, sometimes prog, sometimes power metal, sometimes straight up Scorpions-style hard rock, this had a bit of everything.

Having said that, everything they do sounds great. The heavier, epic opener into the lighter, clean-centric following track did a great job of showing what the band are about right from the offset. From there the quality stays, as does the variety. ‘Electric Again’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album, as is ‘Is It in Your Darkness’. No two songs are alike, especially when next to each other on the album, a fantastic display of songwriting prowess and honestly made for an insanely fun listen. Every track is good, not just the highlights, and this is an album I’ll be listening to a lot going forward! 8/10

The Chats: Get Fucked

Unapologetically punk as FUCK. Basically The Sex Pistols but with actual talent. I don’t even know what else I can say about it, it’s that straightforward an album. It’s punk, if you like the genre, you’ll like this. I’d struggle to even pick some highlight tracks as, due to the style, they all sound pretty similar. However, the album is so concise at 27-minutes that it never overstays its welcome. Good stuff! 7/10

Silversun Pickups: Physical Thrills

This was not what I was expecting, but I have no idea why. I’ve seen the name floating around for a good few years and always associated them with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead. And guess what, this was exactly like those two bands. I guess I was simply expecting a little more, however foolishly. I’m not really a fan of either of the aforementioned bands, and I can’t get into this much either.

It’s dark, moody prog rock with just enough of a commercial edge that it could be considered radio-friendly. I wasn’t a fan of some of the artier tracks, but then songs like ‘Sacred Together’ and ‘Hereafter’ were so good it made me almost forget how much I wasn’t fussed by the rest of the album.

Conan: Evidence of Immortality

Heavy prog doom metal from the UK, this feels like the most ‘true metal’ thing I’ve ever listened to. When the opening track is 10+ minutes long, you know you’re in for one hell of a ride.

Unfortunately, that ride is pretty slow and takes a while to get to any fun sightseeing locations. I’m a fan of doom, but the same riffs repeated for two minutes or more don’t do much for me. The vocals help breakup the repetitiveness of the tracks a little, and the scream is very good. But it wasn’t enough to hold my attention for too long.

I remember seeing them a few years ago at a small venue my old band played at and remember enjoying them live, so maybe that’s what I need. Seeing music live helps it translate a lot better, being surrounded by likeminded people and having it all much louder and seeing them play it etc. Until I can make it down to one of their gigs, however, I feel like I can only give this a 4.5/10. Sorry guys.

Thundermother: Black and Gold

A controversial band next, at least in the UK underground rock scene. The NWOCR band return with their fifth album, looking to shake some of that negative energy off them, and honestly it’s very good.

Opening track ‘The Light in the Sky’ sets a great stadium-filling sound and precedent that continues throughout. The title track is mid-tempoed, catchy awesomeness and the riff for ‘Raise Your Hands’ is sleazy greatness. The soft, almost jazz rock ballad ‘Hot Mess’ is another massive highlight of the album too, as is the Thunderstruck-esque ‘I Don’t Know You’.

It’s all massive, catchy, radio-friendly hard rock, and it’s great. Some bands you can just tell from their sound and songwriting that they’re going to be massive, and these are definitely one of them. I could easily hear this opening for amassive stadium tour like GnR or the Crue/Leppard one, it’d go down a storm. I can’t praise this enough. 9/10

Hammer King: Kingdemonium

We checked this out already and loved it. Check out the full review and score here.

Lillian Axe: From Womb to Tomb

The first new album to be released by the band in over a decade, it’s not as black metal as the album title suggests it is. If anything a lot of it channels more soft/prog rock sounds than the ‘hard rock’ they are. While the opening track sounds ELO-like, the second goes in a completely different direction and goes full Dream Theater. I actually quite like the prog sound they go for for the most part, but it is so very DT I might as well just be listening to Octavarium. There’s some fun riffs none the less and the vocals are powerful and fit the music well. Good stuff, but nothing that I haven’t heard plenty before. 6/10

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new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Arch Enemy, Hollywood Undead and More!

Some great new music in both the rock and metal worlds this week. Let’s waste no time, let’s look at some!

Arch Enemy: Deceivers

For a band that contains the guitar god Jeff Loomis, Arch Enemy definitely don’t get a lot of praise. Yes, I know their more recent stuff after Alissa joined isn’t a lot of peoples favourite stuff by the band but honestly, the singles for this album have been great and if they are anything to go by, it should be fantastic.

I can confirm it is indeed, in my opinion, fantastic. Alissa has one of the most effortlessly powerful screams in the game today, and the introduction of more cleans to their sound adds a great commercial range to the band. It’s (almost) radio-friendly death metal, which is a damn impressive genre if I do say so myself. And while Loomis doesn’t have a huge amount of writing credit for the album, his lead and rhythm playing is incredible and shows that he is stuill very much at the top of his game.

‘Handshake With Hell’ is an amazing single and the perfect way to open the album. ‘Deceiver, Deceiver’ is a good balls-to-the-wall follow-up but it’s the stadium-filling ‘In the Eye of the Storm’ and ‘House of Mirrors’ that are the real highlights of the album. This heavier take on European power metal that bands like these and Parkway Drive are doing these days is controversial but, in this writers humble opinion, amazing. The whole album is great and a really good jumping off point for anyone who wants to get into the heavier side of metal. 9/10

Hollywood Undead: Hotel Kalifornia

What a 180. I never got Hollywood Undead even back in the day, but then I don’t think I was their target audience. But then again I’m a fan of RATM, Fever 333, Hyro The Hero, Linkin Park etc, so I don’t really know why this didn’t click for me. I think it’s more the 2edgy4U lyrics, it comes across as rather cringy.

It wasn’t quite as bad as some of their older stuff. There were hits of decent riffs in the likes of ‘CHAOS’ and ‘Alone at the Top’ (by far the saving grace of the album), and there are plenty of big choruses. But then there are tracks like ‘Ruin My Life’ and ‘Trap God’ that are just terrible. If you are a fan of the band I am sorry for most likely offending you, but I found this hard to get even halfway through this album. I’m going to leave it here otherwise I’ll continue to be negative. 3/10

The Goo Goo Dolls: Chaos In Bloom

Yes, they’ve done more than ‘Iris’. This was actually a pretty good album. A combination of Matchbox Twenty, the slower Aerosmith tracks and a surprising amount of Britpop. Tracks like ‘War’ and ‘Going Crazy’ were personal highlights for me, but the whole album was decent. Don’t go in expecting much more than slower, ballady pop-rock, but if that’s your thing than it’s a good album for just relax to or have on while you’re doing other things! 6.5/10

The Halo Effect: Days of the Lost

In Flames in everything but name alone, The Halo Effect’s debut album is okay. I have to admit that I never quite ‘got’ In Flames outside of a track or two, and this didn’t do much for me either. Everyone is clearly very good at what they do but nothing gripped me or stood out to me at all. It’s all pretty samey and that sound just doesn’t make me want to listen to more. The closest thing to a track I enjoyed here was ‘A Truth Worth Dying For’, and that’s probably because it’s basically a Trivium song. Sorry guys, I feel like I’m going to catch some flack for this. 4/10

Check out some more death metal here.

Boris: Heavy Rocks

The Japanese experimental band put out their third Heavy Rocks album in which they explore the rock and metal genre. It’s weird. Like as an experimental art piece I get it, especially if they are constantly exploring different genres. However, I cannot envision myself listening to this much more after this review. Tracks like the early-Nirvana-inspired ‘My Name is Blank’ and the almost Black Metal ‘Question 1’ are as close to highlights as the album has. None of it is bad, it just feels like exactly what it is, a group of people deciding “lets make a rock album, that could be cool!”, instead of wanting to write the genre their entire lives, like most in rock have. 4.5/10

Thee Oh Sees/Osees: A Foul Form

The alt/punk rock band put out a lot of music under various different incarnations of the band name, though it would always be similar. Somehow, while always writing music within the rock genre, this channelled as lot of the same energies as the previous album for me. I’m not quite into the experimental side of rock as some people so if you love this, I can understand why. However, this is not for me. At least it’s a short album, as I’d gotten bored by the fourth track and it changed very little in the final six tracks. 3.5/10

Pale Waves: Unwanted

Leaning harder into the pop elements over the rock or indie ones of their sound, I almost didn’t cover this album. Then I remembered I’ve already done the likes of Avril Lavigne and Stand Atlantic so I might as well! And, to tell you the truth, this album is better than half the others this week. The slow build of ‘The Hard Way’ won me over, and tracks like ‘Alone’ and ‘Only Problem’ are other great highlights of the album. It’s just catchy, inoffensive pop-rock, and it was enjoyable to listen to. Yes, I’m going to score this higher than Halo Effect, and I’d also probably put it above most In Flames albums too. Sue me. 7/10

Norma Jean: Deathrattle Sing for Me

Time for some of the dirtiest metalcore I’ve ever heard. It grew on me more and more the more I listened. I pretty much had a breakdown face for a full 53-minutes. ‘Spearmint Revolt’ is one of the best metalcore tracks I’ve heard period, never mind just this year. That riff is CH0NKY. ‘Aria Obscura’ is also packed full of great, heavy riffs while having a more radio-friendly edge. But honestly, this whole album is worth a listen. Even if you’re not typically into heavy stuff and screaming, there’s enough commercial edge to ease you in. 8.5/10

Seventh Storm: Maledictus

A more thrashy version of pirate metal, like a heavier, more serious Alestorm. I fucking love it. Right from the offset, this had me hooked (pun intended) and I loved it from start to finish. And, it’s another example of an utterly fantastic debut album, something that has happened a lot in recent weeks. It’s somehow an amagamation of bands like Alestorm, Machine Head, Amon Amarth, Disturbed and even some Behemoth in the riffs. It’s a fantastic blend of styles and really has something for everyone. The opener and ‘The Reckoning’ are personal favourites of mine, but again the whole album is fantastic. The only thing that could possibly put people off is the song lengths but honestly, the band does so much per track it’s easy to get lost and not realise seven minutes have been and gone. 8.5/10

Carrion Vael: Abhorrent Obsessions

The melodeath band round out this week’s New Music Mondays with a brutal album. It’s heavier than a lot in the genre, definitely adding in a lot of extreme and blackened elements. Still, tracks like ‘The Devil in Me’ and ‘Disturbia’ are great. A good album for anyone who’s into quick, heavy music! 7/10

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Amon Amarth, Soulfly and More!

You know what’s happening by now. Lots of new music from ten awesome bands. Lets check them out together down below!

Amon Amarth: The Great Heathen Army

Scandinavian Viking metallers return with their 12th studio album, and once again it’s awesome. However, the first thing I noticed was that the fantastic single ‘Put Your Back into the Oar’ that was released earlier this year did not make the album. An unfortunate omission as it’s a great track, but so are the others that made the album’s cut. It’s a concise nine tracks of great death metal. The opener sets the scene perfectly while the title track is simply awesome. However, tracks like ‘Heidrun’ and ‘Find a Way or Make One’ are definite highlights of the album. And of course, the collab between them and Saxon, aptly titled ‘Saxons and Vikings’, is as amazing as you’d expect it to be. While I do have to admit I did prefer the bands last two albums over this one, it’s still a great album I’ll be listening to a lot going forward!7.5/10

Soulfly: Totem

A band that I really should listen to more given how much I like Sepultura, Soulfly have now released a whopping 12 albums for me to catch up on. The groove/death metal band go hard right from the opening track, ‘Superstition’, and to little surprise also go hard through all ten tracks. It shares similar characteristics to the previous album in that both are a similar genre and draw on their culture for inspiration (though Max doesn’t do it as much here as he used to). However, I do think Amon Amarth did it slightly better. Soulfly definitely have the more aggressive edge to their sound, but I found the catchier element of AA funner and ultimately more enjoyable. I know I shouldn’t compare the two bands, and tracks like ‘Souring the Vile’ and ‘Ancestors’ are great, but it’s hard not to when both come out on the same day. Maybe it would translate better live for me! 6.5/10

The Interrupters: In the Wild

We don’t have enough ska on this site, or in the music scene in general any more, so I am so glad The Interrupters are flying the flag for the fourth wave of ska. The Distillers-inspired band have put out three of the best punk albums of the last decade in their short career, and look to continue their streak with this one. Starting out punky it soon goes full ska with the awesome ‘As We Live’ (anything with Tim Armstrong is awesome). The rather silly ‘Raised by Wolves’ gives way to the fantastic lead single, ‘In the Mirror’, and the album is off to a fantastic start.

My only issue with this album is how bloated it is. I love the band and genre as much as the next guy, but 14 tracks is a lot for a ska album. However, having said that, each song is amazing, so I don’t know how they’d have cut any as I wouldn’t be able to choose which to get rid of. The tracks are short enough too, the album is still less than 45-minutes long. I guess it’s just my easily distracted brain wanting slightly ore variety when listening to so many tracks at once. Still, every track on the album is awesome, especially ‘Love Never Dies’ featuring the criminally underrated Skints. Check this out, as it really is a fantastic album, and definitely continues their winning streak! 9/10

Dub War: Westgate Under Fire

Skindred mastermind Benji Webbe’s original band have been on and off active for the last eight years now, but their first new music release in 24 years is a pretty massive deal. The reggae punk-rock works just as well with the political subject matter that ‘Blackkk Man’ explores as it does the slightly lighter subject matter of Skindred’s lyrics. For anyone who isn’t as familiar with the band, it’s more closely related to Public Enemy, Suicidal Tendencies and even Wildhearts than the heavier riffs that Mikey Demus brings to Skindred. However, tracks like ‘Vibes in the Place’, ‘Mary Shelley’ and ‘Fun Done’ are all awesome. A good album and a great return from a band that should have gotten further the first time round! 7.5/10

Psycroptic: Divine Council

The death metal Aussies put out one hell of an eighth studio album last Friday. I cannot get over how fucking incredible the riffs are throughout the entire album, and just the guitars in general. Joe Haley is another criminally underrated guitarist, creating a dream album for those into the rhythm side of the instrument. Just check out ‘A Fool’s Errand’ to hear what I’m talking about. The rest of the band are fantastic too, the drummer working overtime throughout and all the different screams fitting the genre perfectly and being amazing. This is the sort of death metal that I love and holy crap, what an album. At just nine tracks and under f40 minutes, it’s also compact and concise awesomeness. Check this out, you won’t be disappointed! 8/.5/10

The Flatliners: New Ruin

The punk/almost post-hardcore band released their first album in half a decade last week. I wasn’t familiar with the band before writing this review and, honestly, I’m not sure how to feel about the album even after listening to it all. It wasn’t bad at all, it just felt like nothing really stood out to me. It reminds me of this year’s Static Dress album in that it’s a genre that I should LOVE, but for some reason it just doesn’t resonate with me the way I thought it would. However, the more indie-like chorus for ‘Rat King’ did have me singing along pretty quick and is definitely a highlight o the album. 6/10

Abbadon Incarnate: The Wretched Sermon

This at least wins the award for best album artwork of the week. It’s fuckin’ awesome. As for the music, it’s impressively fast death metal. Like, if thrash and death had a baby and then gave it speed. It’s a lot of fun. However, I did find myself loosing track of which song was wihich rather quickly, they all blended into one. Outside of the more up and down, longer ‘Isolation and Decay’ it was all rather samey. It was still a good listen and worth it for anyone who’s into the heavy stuff, but it’s exactly what you’d expect it to be. 6.5/10

StormbounD: December

Check out our full review of this awesome album, alongside it’s score, here.

Grave Bathers: Rock’n’Roll Fetish

The stoner/doom rock band’s debut gives us more riffs than 99.99% of other albums combined, so it feels. The band seem like the second coming of The Sword, something that the industry has needed ever since said band released High Country. ‘Ghost ‘Em All’ pens the album in spectacular fashion and perfectly encapsulates what the band is about and going for It’s amazing. The rest of the album is just as spectacular, too. Again though, and I feel like a broken record at this point, it’s a damn long album. 12 tracks spanning 81-minutes is a lot, even if given the genre it’s a little more forgivable than others. However, the sheer talent of the bands playing and songwriting on display means that even at the insane length of the tracks, it is still one hell of a great listen. No highlights again here, all the tracks are great. 9/10

Devil’s Paradise: Post Mortem

17 tracks for 80-minutes of music. What is it about this week and really long albums? It feels like the bands are cottoning on to how many albums I listen to to review a week and are taking the piss a bit now!

In all seriousness though, this was fantastic. Another great debut album (even if some of these tracks have been out nearly a decade already), making a whopping three in the same day! They remind me a lot of one of my favourite newer bands this year, South of Salem. I really hope this combo of Misfits style goth-punk and modern-day sleaze sticks around and continues to get bigger, because it’s a fantastic sub-genre. This does have a little more of a US radio rock edge to it too (think Burn Halo, Soil etc), especially on the slower tracks like ‘Ghost’. There’s also a handful of slower tracks that sound like Avenged Sevenfold when they they to sound like GNR. I love all of it, these ballads or the heavier, faster goth-sleaze tracks.

There are plenty of highlights from the album, a handful of which made our playlist. This is DEFINITELY worth checking out, these guys are gonna be huge. 9/10

And there we have it, an absolutely fantastic week for new music, a lot of it coming from the youngest bands on the list. Rock music is in an incredibly strong place right now with the next generation coming up, and I cannot wait to see where they all go from here!

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New Music Mondays: Whiskey Myres, Dance Gavin Dance and More!

You should know the dealio by now. New music from nine awesome bands. Let’s get straight to it!

Whiskey Myres: Tornillo

The southern rockers returned with their sixth album this last week. I was a HUGE fan of their last couple of albums so this one had a lot to live up to. I think Tornillo does just that. Tracks like ‘John Wayne’ and ‘Feet’s’ perfectly encapsulate what the band are about in terms of sound and style, and are hugely catchy and fun to boot. But, fun quick country or ballad, the band are such good songwriters that it’s all incredible and arena-filling without it being the modern day country cheese. This band deserve to be massive, and I really hope they start getting the love and praise they should over here now country is starting to take off big. A damn hard album to beat in this genre this year! 9/10

Beddy Rays: Self-Titled

The Aussie rockers put out a damn fun indie-drenched album on Friday. For a debut album too, it’s fantastic. The band have been putting out music for five years already, but putting out a full length release so consistent first time is always impressive. Tracks like ‘Week on Repeat’, ‘Sort it Out’ and ‘Sobercoaster’ are all excellent highlights. However, honestly if you are into the more indie side of rock, you’ll enjoy every track on the album. Good stuff! 8/10

Dance Gavin Dance: Jackpot Juicer

Controversy aside, this band has always been a collection of insanely talented musicians, and that is on full display again with this album. It’s an hour of post-Tool math post hardcore craziness, and I found myself loving it. Will Swan is a criminally underrated Guitarist and both Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson handle the duel vocals perfectly. The album also acts as a fitting tribute to longtime bassist Tim Feerick, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Tracks like ‘For the Jeers’ and ‘Cream of the Crop’ are fantastic, but yet again this whole album is great. 8.5/10

Check out more (kinda) math rock here.

Krisiun: Mortem Solis

Time for some Brazilian death metal. The band’s 12th studio album opens going hard and doesn’t let up once. It’s a brutal assault to the ears in the best way. If you are a fan of the heavy side of metal you’ll definitely get enjoyment out of this. Tracks like ‘Serpent Messiah’ and ‘Temple of the Abattoir’ are awe3some. The guitaring is a real highlight, Moyses Kolesne being another underrated player. However, the only negative I had was that nothing really stood out. It was all solid, but it just sounded like your typical straight-up death metal. That’s completely fine, but I’d love a bit of variety in it at times! 6.5/10

Funeral Chic: Roman Candle

The old-school biker sludge/hardcore metallers returned with their third studio album last week. Opening on the interesting, slower, great ‘Made in America’, the pace soon picks up with ‘Spit and Crawl’. The pace flits between the two styles throughout, sounding like anything from Metallica to Rob Zombie to Misfits. The whole album is awesome, every track being just as good as the last. I also love it when the band lean more and more into the sludgy edge the have, there being some great riffs and breakdowns here. My only ever so slight criticism is that the vocals could have been slightly higher in the mix. 7.5/10

Stick to Your Guns: Spectre

Hardcore punk and metalcore often go hand-in-hand, but I’ve not heard it done quite as masterfully was I have here. From the opening track you get a clear indication of the bands impressive signwriting skill, blending together anger and aggression with huge, anthemic choruses. They remind me of a heavier A Day to Remember, inspired by metal instead of pop punk. Everything from the clean and harsh vocals to the quick drums and guitars to the insane breakdowns, all of it was fantastic. It’s a modern heavy-lover’s dream while still having arena-filling earworms to get them plenty of new fans from the more mainstream audiences. I honestly can’t pick highlights from this, a lot of it made it onto the playlist. An album I’ll be listening to a lot over the coming weeks and months. 9/10

Bastions: Majestic Desolation

The first album released by the band in 11 years, The band make the most of showcasing their talent after so much time off. The band go HARD on this album, combining elements of black metal and hardcore together well. It’s not really my thing, and the tracks did all blend together a little when I listened to them, but I can definitely appreciate the talent and songwriting skill of the band. I’ll give it a 5/10, though I’m sure bigger fans of the genre would give it much higher!

Belphegor: The Devils

It’s blackened death metal. If you like the genre, like I am starting to, you’ll love this. It takes all the good parts from black metal but adds fun stuff too like riffs and good production. And this is a band very clearly near the top of the genre where songwriting is concerned. Tracks like ‘Damnation’ and ‘Kingdom of Cold Flesh’ are awesome and definite highlights! 6.5/10

Cats in Space: Kickstart the Sun

The AOR/power Prog rock space lovers are back with their fifth album. It’s pretty great if you like this sort of thing. Fantastic instrumentation, amazing vocals and harmonies and some good lyrics. I again cannot help but compare them to the awesome Night Ranger, and that is definitely a compliment. My only slight issue is that it does all seem a little similar. I was much more than happy to listen to the album all the way through, but the tracks blended together a little and I’d struggle to name them if it weren’t written in front of me. A different sound, feeling or timing would have been nice somewhere! Still, there is plenty to love from start to finish! 7.5/10

And there we have it, another surprisingly awesome week! As always keep up to date on all of our content from our Instagram here.

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New Music Mondays: Jack White, Oceans of Slumber and More!

Welcome back to New Music Mondays, where we take you through all of the new releases in the rock and metal world once a week. This week is pretty heavy, so strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride!

Jack White: Entering Heaven Alive

The former White Stripes frontman’s second album of 2022, on first listen I have to say I preferred the previous one. It’s not a bad album by any stretch, but Fear of the Dawn was much more of a rock album, which I prefer over the folk pop-rock of this album. It felt to me like where the Beatles would have gone later in their careers, than what I was hoping for. There are definitely some highlights and epic moments. ‘All Along the Way’ is incredible and I think getting just a bit bigger or having a grander payoff may have put it up there with one of my favourite tracks of the year. Outside of that though, it all felt pretty steady and a little boring. 6/10

Oceans of Slumber: Starlight and Ash

All info I found online about this band called them a prog metal band. I heard very little metal here. This was a rock album. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s still a very good album. The opening track is somehow both chaotic and methodical and builds up beautifully for the ending crescendo. ‘The Lighthouse’ has a country/americana feel to it, but still being dark and heavy enough to fit in with the band. You’ll find both on our 2022 highlights Spotify playlist here.

However, after five or six tracks the same plodding pace does get a little old for me. I very much get that it’s their style and it’s very good, but some variety would have been nice. Each track individually is awesome, but the album as a whole dragged for me a little. If you like it awesome, and I really wish I could, but I can’t give it any higher than a 7/10

Witchery: Nightside

The extreme Swedes are back with their eighth album. It’s everything you can expect an extreme metal album to be, fast, aggressive and full of dark, insane lyrics. It’s great. ‘Don’t Burn the Witch’ had some fun dynamics in with the emphasis on the bass. And a track called ‘Popecrusher’ should really speak for itself. The lyrics are so exretreme that it almost gets a little comical. I mean ‘A Forest of Burning Coffins’ is hard to take seriously. A lot of fun if you’re into the heavier side of music. 7/10

Karl Sanders: Saurian Apocalypse

An interesting one up now. Usually playing tech-death with Nile, Karl’s solo stuff is more on the folk side of the Egyptian/ambient style. It being his first album in 13 years and only third overall makes this an intriguing release. It was definitely intriguing, to put it lightly. I don’t often listen to this style and it wouldn’t really fall into the rock category, but it’s somehow still heavy. It’s not exactly something I would listen to often, but man can I appreciate the art and time it would have taken to write it. It really did take me on a journey, and I loved every second of it. Plus, the guitaring is INSANE. If you have the time, find this and check it out! 8/10

Palisades: Reaching Hypercritical

The alt-metal band are bringing back a lot of early-to-mid 2000s nostalgia for me, so if that is your scene stop what you are doing right now and check this out. Between Three Days Grace, Skillet, Linkin Park and Drowning Pool, it draws together a lot of sounds that I love. From the very first track to the last, this was all incredible. The singles have made it onto our playlist but honestly that doesn’t do enough justice to this album. Each track, album or single, is fantastic. I have nothing more to say, every track is a highlight, Check this out! 9/10

Ashenspire: Hostile Architecture

And now for some prog-doom. And I’m not going to lie, it went almost completely over my head. This was like a mess of a whole lot of sounds and vocals and strings with rather meh punk vocals over the top. Old Gwar is about the closest thing I can think of to compare it too, and I didn’t get that either. Don’t get me wrong though, I like the sentiment behind the concept of the album. It just doesn’t really sound good to me. I’m really sorry guys. Though I will admit the vocals sounded a little better when they were just spoken instead of shouted, I felt like I connected with the emotion more. but still, 3/10

Patient Sixty-Seven: Wishful Thinking

A fantastic album that I’ve already reviewed! Check it out here.

Hatriot: The Vale of Shadows

Zetro’s (the best Exodus frontman, fight me) between bands project, we have since had the last now two albums without him and instead have bassist Cody Souza on vocals too. While not quite as good, you can tell he’s trying to emulate the same style and does a decent enough job. The album itself is pretty base level thrash, being quick, awesome riffs, fast drumming and crazy solos. Thankfully the vocals don’t take as much of a backseat as some other thrash bands. All you have to do is check out the different screams in ‘The Hate Inside’ to hear some truly awesome vocals. This album had some awesome moments, with ‘Verminous and Vile’ and the title track both also being highlights. 7.5/10

Nicolas Cage Fighter: The Bones That Grew From Pain

The metallic hardcore band released their much anticipated debut album this past Friday. It’s another that goes to 10 immediately and stays there throughout. Opener ‘Grey Eye’ shows you exactly what the band are about and what you are in for, and it’s great. It’s definitely an album for the heavy fans again, like much of this week is. But if you are into that late 90s early 2000s heavy vibe, you’ll definitely love this. Ten tracks filled with aggression and anger that’ll definitely get your head banging! 7.5/10

Imperial Triumphant: Spirit of Ecstasy

A band that I never really ‘got’. I remember seeing the picture of them in the Sons of the Harpy masks everywhere a few years ago and ended up checking them out. It just sounded like heavy noise to me. I get that some people crave that originality and so the weirdness is appreciated, but I will happily hold up my hands and say give me a radio-rock chorus any day of the week. I like the brooding atmosphere created with some of the quieter moments, but otherwise it’s a little too heavy for me. 3.5/10

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New Music Mondays: Deaf Havana, Senses Fail and More!

Some people are really going to love this week’s New Music Mondays. There is a lot of softer rock making it up, with just a couple of HEAVY bands thrown in towards the end. Honestly, it’s quite refreshing. I love metal, but having a more chilled out week this week is nice. Come relax with me as we check it out!

Deaf Havana: The Present is a Foreign Land

I was under the impression these were more rock than this. I knew the name from friends in childhood and thought they were either indie-pop-rock or more of a hardcore pop-punk band, but a lot of this was just Ed Sheeran with slightly more instruments. Or at a push slow British country anthems. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not exactly alt rock like their Wiki suggests. Tracks like ’19dreams’ and ‘Going Clear’ were definite highlights and good ballads, but I feel like I already know what this band is about and don’t have much desire to check out much more. 6/10

Senses Fail: Hell is in Your Head

Like a modern adaptation of My Chemical Romance. The bands eighth release is a similar blend of heavy pop-punk and post-hardcore styles like their previous ones, but still feels at least interesting. It’s okay, but none of it quite stood out to me enough for me to latch onto and enjoy. It all sounded pretty similar too so I couldn’t even come up with some recommendations for highlight tracks. Check out the opener and if you like it, you’ll probably enjoy the whole album. However, for me, this gets a 5/10

Check out another pop-punk review here.

Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp: 18

Yes, Captain Jack Sparrow, conquerer of the mighty Amber Herd, made an album with rock music legend Jeff Beck. And I’ll tell you what, it’s fuckin’ weird. At least for the first half. Opening on an instrumental folk-rock track, it is then followed by a slightly-vocal-led industrial rock/metal track, which is then followed by a piano ballad and then a country/blues track. See, it’s wonderfully all over the place. Unfortunately it falls into soft rock pretty heavily after that and by 2/3s of the way through the album I’d kinda lost interest, but man if that first third wasn’t one hell of a fun roller coaster. Depp is clearly a big fan of Beck and wanted to incorporate More rock bands need to catch me off guard and keep me guessing, please! 7.5/10

Yours Truly: is this what i look like?

I’m struggling to work out whether to compare this more to old-school Paramore or modern pop acts like Olivia Rodrigo and GAYLE. It definitely has some old-school pop punk elements in there and feels a little heavier than the pop names I have mentioned, but also feels closest to Machine Gun Kelly’s recent bastardisation of the genre than anything else. I’m glad it’s a short album as I found myself getting bored of this after only the first three tracks, unfortunately. Not even You Me At Six could save my interest. It was good but incredibly samey after just a track or two. 4.5/10

Black Midi: Hellfire

This is weird. I don’t think I get it. The chaotic math/jazz/indie rock was at least one of the most interesting listens for me on this list so far, but that doesn’t quite equate to high quality. I preferred the faster, slightly heavier stuff like ‘Welcome to Hell’ and ‘The Race is About to Begin’ over the slower tracks. However, it is more in a Primus, Mr Bungle type of morbid curiosity. I appreciate what goes into writing them but I wouldn’t exactly listen to it on the regular. 6.5/10 just because it was one of the most interesting albums I’ve listened to in quite some time!

Interpol: The Other Side of Make-Believe

Another slow rock band releasing a slow album. I nearly didn’t even include it in this list as it was pretty boring for me to listen through. However, I have covered similar bands before so felt like I had to at latest mention it. If you like music like Joy Division and Editors, I’m sure you’d also enjoy this. But it isn’t for me at all. I need my music with a little more umph and intrigue. It might be an okay background album but after a generally slow week this week, this didn’t help! 3.5/10

…And You Will Know us From the Trail of Dead: Bleed Here Now

The Texan alt-rock band put out their 11th studio album last week. It’s more R.E.M. inspired soft rock music, but at least feels like some of the more enjoyable in this style I have heard recently. The emotion felt from the vocals in the chorus of ‘Penny Candle’ won me over, and then came that riffing and soloing in ‘No Confidence’. FINALLY, SOME RIFFS THIS WEEK. Both tracks are definite highlights for me, as is the punk AF ‘Kill Everyone’. A good but far too long album (22 tracks across 75 minutes) that has some definitely high points. Heck, the prog masterpiece ‘Taken by the Hand’ is another HUGE highlight. 7/10

Hissing: Hypervirulence Architecture

The blackened death metal band suffer the same fate as a lot of its counterparts: terrible vocal production. Why do black metal bands believe it sounds good to record through a potato? There were some good riffs scattered through here and some dynamic songwriting, but not nailing the vocals always puts me off somewhat. An album for the heavy fans for sure, but it’s not really my sort of thing. 3.5/10

Deathbringer: IT

Death metal with some of the best riffs I’ve heard this year, Deathbringer bring it (yes, pun intended) on their long awaited sophomore album. The drummer deserves heaps of praise too for his insane work throughout the album and while I struggled to understand the vocals for the most part, they were fitting and pretty fun. ‘Per Aspera’ and the insane ‘A Place to Exist’ were personal highlights for me! 7/10

Rain City Drive: Self-Titled

Formerly Slaves, the band’s fifth album and first after the rebrand is fantastic. the experimental pop-rock sound is still relatively under-explored, especially in the mainstream, but these guys fly that flag very well. Tracks like the opener, pop-centric ‘Cutting it Close’ and the heavier ‘Ophelia’ but show off the band’s range on this album and provide some fantastic highlights. However, if you like the poppier, hook-oriented side of rock, you’ll LOVE this whole album, like I did. The most enjoyable album for me this week by quite a margin. 8/10

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New Music Mondays: Journey, Coldrain and much more!

Another week chocked full of amazing new music, from classic rock to metalcore and some heavy stuff too! Check it out down below!

Journey: Freedom

The Kings of AOR themselves return with their 16th studio album, after having the longest gap between releases in the band’s nearly half-centry career. It’s epic, fun and showcases major talent. So the usual really for Journey! Yes, it’s slow, and after a full nearly 75 minutes that can get a little much. But tracks like ‘Let it Rain’, ‘United We Stand’ and the opener definitely make it a good listen. For a band that have written one of my favourite tracks of all time (Separate Ways, what a bop) this is definitely something I love and will listen to a fair bit over the coming months. 7.5/10

Coldrain: Nonegative

The Japanese metalcore band put out their seventh studio album last week. They are a name I have been familiar with for a while but for some reason I have never really checked them out. That was a massive mistake. This was fucking awesome. From start to finish, this was a really solid metalcore album. It had plenty of heaviness and harsh vocals while also having a catchy, radio hook in almost every track. The first three tracks are metalcore brilliance while tracks like ‘Before I Go’ almost give off Linkin Park vibes with their slower, cleaner sound. There really isn’t a bad song on the album, and even the slightly cringy intro to ‘2020’ was made better once the track kicked in. Awesome stuff and I REALLY want to check out theband’s back catologue after this! 8.5/10

Blind Channel: Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous

The Finish Eurovision alumni put out their fourth studio album on Friday. When I first heard them on the show, I definitely enjoyed them. They were a breath of fresh air for the pop-heavy brand and I honestly thought they were better than the eventual winners. Unfortunately it’s the best track on the album by quite a margin. I completely understand that English won’t be their native langauge, but the lyrics are cringe. ‘Opinions’ is one of the worst rock tracks of the year and tracks like ‘Bad Idea’ and ‘Balboa’ giving it a run for its money. Whoever said on the band’s Wiki that the band are post-hardcore is having a great laugh, this is just various eras of Linkin Park rolled into one. Plus, it’s never good to hear how much fame gets to someone’s head. It’s definitely not for me, so I have to unfortunately give it a 3/10

Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters: Mythos, Confession, Tragedies and Love

The third album from the blues/hard rock frontwoman is maybe her best yet. From the very opening track you get a great example of her sound and talent, and it continues throughout. ‘Tonight I’m With You’ gives off awesome, early Halestorm vibes while ‘Undo Me’ is a fantastic stadium rock song. Another album that is straight through good songs, too, though I do have to say I think she does a better job with the heavier stuff over the ballads. 8/10

Check out last week’s NMM here

Viagra Boys: Cave World

Channelling their inner early punk vibe, Viagra Boys infuse it perfectly with new wave and indie with this album. While it’s not exactly my sort of thing, I can definitely hear the quality and appeal. The lyrics are the definite highlight, especially given that there isn’t a massive deal ‘to’ the instrumentation. ‘Troglodyte’ is the definite highlight for me, but ‘Punk Rock Loser’ and ‘ADD’ are also fun. 6.5/10

Vomit Forth: Seething Malevolence

Annnnd we’re onto the heavy stuff. A mixture of death metal and grindcore/beatdown but sadly with the production of a black metal album. Do I really need to say more? Y’all know I’m not going to like it, there isn’t enough melody or enough breakdowns. I struggled to get more than 4 tracks in, sorry guys. If you like it then awesome, but in my personal opinion it’s a 3/10

Amongst Liars: Self-Titled

I had no idea what to expect heading into this. Fuck was I impressed. It’s heavy indie/QOTSA sort of vibes, combining heavy, fuzzy riffs with infectiously catchy radio-rock. From opening track ‘Cut It’ the band had me hooked and I listened to the full album in one sitting. It’s not often I do that on this series, especially with a smaller band. The band even channel some Placebo influence in there at times, another band I’m a huge fan of! For a debut album this is off the charts impressive, and I cannot wait to hear what the band do from here! 8/10

Telekinetic Yeti: Primordial

Another album that isn’t produced very well, the vocals being hard rto make out. It’s a shame too as I was enjoying the riffs and this particular brand of desert rock quite a lot! Instrumentally it’s like The Sword meets Masters of Reality and I am all for it, I just wish the vocals were turned up a tad or were a bit clearer. However, the vocals seem like a much lower priority than the riffs and drums, so I can hardly blame them. It almost feels like they want to be an instrumental band but know that comes with a ceiling when it comes to the mainstream, so have put whatever vocals they can to it. I still thoroughly enjoyed this and would definitely recommend checking it out for the insane songwriting alone. I just wish it had a big chorus or two. 6.5/10

Lord Elephant: Cosmic Awakening

Not too dissimilar to the previous band but this one is actually instrumental. I feel like a hypocrite as I actually felt myself wanting and missing vocals. It was okay but not quite as enjoyable as Yeti were with the sound. Still, there was some fun, dynamic songwriting in here and it is worth a listen if you like the more prog, psychedelic side of rock music. 5.5/10

The Machinist: All is Not Well

We finish off this week on more heavy. The industrial death metal band put out another angry, hate-filled album that grew on me a lot as it went through. Filled with crushing riffs and impressively brutal screams no matter the gender of the vocalist doing them, the albums is definitely for the fans of heavy. I struggled to pick a highlight because it’s not quite my sort of thing, but as with others on this list damn was it impressive. I feel like they’re a band I need to see live to really appreciate them properly. For now, I’ll give it a 6.5/10

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New Music Mondays: Shinedown, Municipal Waste and More!

We are officially halfway through the year. But, with so many huge albums still left to come out, including just this week, there is still plenty of new music to go. With 11 new albums this week, let’s waste no time and get into them!

Shinedown: Planet Zero

A return to form for the Jacksonville natives, as Planet Zero is a very good album. I went in skeptical after their last two but the band below me away. Check out the full review and the score here.

Municipal Waste: Electrified Brain

One of the biggest bands still proudly waving the thrash banner on the periphery of the mainstream, Municipal Waste are onto their seventh studio album now. Said album is good. I feel like their fans know what to expect from the band now and they certainly do not disappoint. Tracks like ‘Demoralizer’, ‘Grave Dive’ and ‘Thermonuclear Protection’ are masterclasses in modern day thrash. In a day and age where everything is drawn out and full of highs and lows, it’s quite nice to have a band not take things too seriously and instead give us half an hour o punk-and-beer charged speed. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and Municipal Waste prove that they are pretty indestructible after two decades. 8.5/10

Blood Command: Praise Armageddonism

The vocals put me off this a bit at first. Whether it’s the high-pitched extreme metal/hardcore screams or the almost Hayley Williams-like cleans, they seem an odd choice over the instruments. However when the band get lighter is where they shine, in my opinion. When I started to get used to the vocals, tracks like ‘Saturday Night’ and ‘Questionable Taste in Friends’ are great songs. The band draw together so many different influences, from punk to indie to metal, and fuse it together well. As an album it grew on me a fair bit as it went on and I’d happily listen to a lot of it again and again! 7/10

Fresh: Raise Hell

The band are another in a growing list of new bands to bring back an older, Pulp-like sound. Therefore, when I Googled them and their Wiki said they were pop punk, I was a tad let down. I suppose it is still pop punk, just a lot different to the usual style of it. However, after the first couple of tracks, I started to fall in love with this. Both ‘Babyface’ and ‘Going to Bed’ are amazing tracks, full of great, catchy lyrics, bouncy instrumentation and even some horns thrown in for good measure (y’all know I love a horn). Kathryn Woods has a beautiful voice that fits the rest of the band perfectly. It’s an amazing album to chill out to and it’s honestly one of my favourite lighter albums of this year, by quite a margin. I’mma have to see these guys live soon! 8/10

Conjurer: Pathos

The dirty, groovy, sludge black metal personify everything great about the heavier metal scene today. Whether it’s the plodding sludginess, stripped-back, menacing clean guitar parts or the all out assault and speed and screams, this is a masterpiece. Just check out opening track ‘It Dwells’. It’s 7-minutes should tell you exactly what the band is about, and it’s glorious. It’s like they listened to early Opeth and said ‘we’ll raise’ and then added some Behemoth in just for good measure. And for this sort of quality to come from the bands just second album, I cannot wait to hear how they keep pushing themselves in the future. 8.5/10

Ivan Knight and the Imaginary Friends: 1958

And now for something completely different. A ‘punk rock’ album that seems ripped straight out of an 8-Bit, adventure NES game is certainly a novel concept, and is pulled off rather enjoyably by Ivan. It’s probably technically not rock, but it doesn’t fit into any other genre and is punk enough to be taken in by us, right? It’s a novelty, but it’s a fun one that is definitely worth a listen for the creativity and story alone. 6/10

Horizon Ignited: Towards the Dying Lands

the melodeath metallers joined forces with Nuclear Blast Records this time for the release of their sophomore album. The band do a fantastic job of combining the two styles, having thrashy riffs, crushing, heavy screams but then HUGE, catchy, hook-filled choruses. It’s hard to even pick a highlight as it’s all amazing, but the title track hits different than the others. Yes, it has more clean vocals than most of the other tacks, but it gives it more of a heavy metalcore feel to it that I LOVE. And it’s massively catchy and just feels epic. Also the cleaner ballad, ‘Aching Wings’, is fucking phenomenal. But again, all of the other tracks are also awesome. The clean reminds me a lot of David Drainman, and the melodies written for it are just as catchy as Disturbed ‘s stuff, too. The band definitely have a new fan in me, and I NEED to hear more of them, NOW. 9/10

Thirteen Goats: Servants of the Outer Dark

More melodeath, but unfortunately not quite the same quality as the previous band. It’s not bad by any stretch, but the vocals let it down just a tad. Multiple different vocal styles is always going to be hard to pull off and while they do a good job at fitting them all into the tracks, the lower growl/singing combo isn’t quite up to the same quality as the others. It sounds better when it’s just a full on growl. However, tracks like ‘Challenge the Executioner’ and ‘Sub-Being’ are a lot of fun and definite highlights. And a shout-out to the instrumentalists, especially the drummer, for being absolutely amazing players. A good album that got better throughout for me. 6.5/10

Then Comes Silence: Hunger

The Swedish gothic, post-punk band released a doom-drenched album based around positivity after the pandemic last week. It’s like a depressed version of the Fresh album from earlier in this article, a somehow even more gothic Pulp. The band are all good musicians and it’s a good album, but it did get old pretty quick for me. I enjoyed it but after the first 4-5 tracks I felt like I’d heard all it had to offer. After that it got a tad repetitive and boring. Not bad, but I won’t be going out of my way to listen to it again. 5.5/10

The Dear Hunter: Antimai

The prog rockers released their eighth studio album last Friday. While the opening track didn’t grab my attention, ‘Industry’ is funk-rock awesomeness. The horns again make it for me, adding to the catchiness of the vocals. Heck, the track even has a bass solo, what more could you want? It’s one of my favourite tracks of the year, hands down. Outside of odd parts of tracks like ‘Middle Class’ and ‘Tower’ I can take or leave the rest as it was a little slow for the sort of prog I like. However, it was still good and I’d happily have it on in the background or on a long car journey! 6/10

Ironhawk: Ritual of the Warpath

Last up this week is the Aussie thrash/punk-metal band’s debut LP. Musically it’s a lot of fun, but the production leaves a lot to be desired. It reminds me of a heavier Motorhead, and is a lot of fun. I just can’t quite get over the distant, reverb-heavy vocals. I want to see them live as I feel like I’d get a much better appreciation of them. Because of this, I can’t give them much more than 5/10

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new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Porcupine Tree, Alestorm and Much More!

Another week packed with new music, from rock to metal. However, before we get into it this week, a couple of surprise honourable mentions.

We typically don’t cover EPs on this article, but y’all would hate me if I didn’t mention Spiritbox’s new stuff. It’s good. Better than their album, in fact. Also, while not strictly rock so I omitted it from an official entry, Jack Johnson’s new album is fantastic so go check that out!

Porcupine Tree: CLOSURE/CONTINUATION

A band that I have struggled to get into for years, there are actually one or two tracks here that I found myself enjoying a lot! The heaviness of ‘Rats Return’, especially that fantastic guitar riff, had me loving it throughout. And how can I not praise the bass in the opening track? Unfortunately it’s not all good. Tracks like ‘Dignity’ and ‘Of the New Day’ still bore me to tears. However, they’re not bad songs, just too slow and long and repetitive for me. If it’s going to prog, it better at least have highs and lows and plenty of changes, not just all slow lows. But I didn’t hate it, which is an improvement at least! 5/10

Alestorm: Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum

Due to this particular review, I very nearly gave this album a 10/10. However, I wanted to at least maintain some integrity as a journalist. Objectively, it’s good. Not great. Not as good as their last couple of albums. Just good. I remember reviewing the last one (I think I gave it an 8) and saying I enjoyed the comedy songs more. I feel somehow the exact opposite this album. The lyrics for ‘Cannonball’ come across as massively childish and immature while ‘P.A.R.T.Y’ (while massively catchy and fun), does feel a tad… Fortnite. It just feels a bit like they are running out of clever ways to make the joke, meaning it’s getting a little old. Meanwhile, tracks like ‘Under Blackened Banners’ and the title track are fantastically catchy and well-written. And of course the latest entry into the ‘Wooden Leg’ saga is awesome, too. It’s a shame nothing quite came close to ‘Treasure Chest Party Quest’ this time, but it’s still a damn good pirate metal album. 7/10

Alexisonfire: Otherness

I’ve never ‘got’ this band. I don’t think I ever will. I know they have a pretty huge following, but this style of post-hardcore just sounds like a mess to me. While I can appreciate the ingenuity, the vocals rarely sound like they fit with the instrumentation, and the clean and harsh vocals don’t fit together at all. Some tracks have an alright riff but they’re all pretty simple, reminding me of the latest You Me At Six album. I couldn’t find a song that found myself enjoying, as much as I hate to say it. So, don’t kill me, but this album gets a 3/10 from me.

Coheed and Cambria: Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind

A band I know I’d love if I just had the time to listen to them past the ICONIC riff of ‘Welcome Home’. The band is full of fantastic musicians and songwriters and they even release graphic novels to help tell the stories of their albums. How am I NOT a massive fan already?

The bands infectious blend of pop, punk, prog and metal is on fantastic display throughout this entire album. The insanely catchy choruses of ‘Comatose’ and ‘Love Murder One’ are definite highlights, and of course it’s impossible not to talk about the masterpiece that is ‘Shoulders’. However, I would recommend you listen to the album back to back to really get a full appreciation of it all. It really is an amazing concept album and damn, I need to fully check out the rest of their back catalogue. 8.5/10

Weezer: SZNZ: Summer

The second of four albums this year, one to represent each season. This one is a vast improvement on Spring, feeling more like a classic pop-punk Weezer album. And honestly, most of the tracks are good. ‘Lawn Chair’ is weird and makes no sense, but the following four tracks are all fantastic. And on a seven track album, that’s a very good sign. While I wouldn’t say any of them feel that ‘summery’, I am definitely enjoying the album! Hopefully the other two are this good too, because I’d say this is as good as Van Weezer last year, and I LOVED that album! 8/10

Nervus: The Evil One

Google told me this was a punk band. Google got my hopes up and lied. It’s indie, with a slightly more rock/80s pop leaning than normal. Nothing more. That’s not a bad thing per say, but I was a little disappointed and, thus, bored by what I heard. Tracks like ‘Drop Out’ and ‘Rental Song’ are okay, but nothing we haven’t heard huge amounts of times before from other bands. I’d happily listen to this in the background as a chilled-out album while I’m busy, but concentrating on the album meant I got pretty uninterested after a few tracks. 4/10

Petrol Girls: Baby

I don’t see the appeal of bad female vocals in punk bands. In fact, let me re-phrase that. I don’t see the appeal of bad vocals. It just reminded me a lot of Wet Leg and Otoboke Beaver, two bands I cannot stand, hence the first sentence. The music behind the vocals is okay and inoffensive enough, but I cannot get past the awful vocals. It made it feel like it was going on forever when in fact I’d only gotten two tracks in before wanting to turn it off. I pushed through, but it doesn’t get any better, sadly. More power to you if you enjoy this, we’re clearly very different people! But sadly, this gets a 2/10 from me.

Saor: Origins

It’s Iron Maiden with a choir or growls over the top. I would take that as a compliment but at the same time, I’d rather listen to Maiden. I’m not sure what it was, but something here just didn’t quite click with me. I enjoyed it from a musical standpoint, but the vocals didn’t really much for me. Far less offensive than the previous entry in this article, they were definitely listenable, they just didn’t give me anything memorable. There was no big chorus or dirty scream or impressive high note. The only thing that seemed to stand out on this album were the riffs. Hence why I’d prefer to listen to Maiden or a folk rock band, someone that can do this just as well while also adding a second element to their sound. ‘Fallen’ is a bop though, even for that outro alone! 4.5/10

RXPTRS: Living Without Deaths Permission

I’ve reviewed this album already. It was fucking awesome. Check out said review here.

Paganizer: Beyond The Macabre

The death metal Swedes released their 12th studio album in 23 years last week. Firstly, that’s some impressive work ethic. Second, it’s impressive that it’s still of damn high quality. I know death metal isn’t for everyone and I’m only a beginner really with the genre, but everyone involved played their part very well. ‘Meatpacker’ was a particular highlight to me due to its crushing riffs and some very good ‘bleh’s. An album worth checking out if you’re into the heavy stuff! 7/10

And there we have it, another stacked week of new music! Tune in next week as always and keep up to date on all of our content from our Facebook here.