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new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Creeper, Avatar and More!

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A stacked Halloween edition of New Music Mondays this week, and some awesome albums for us to check out!

Creeper: Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death

I have been SO DAMN EXCITED for this album to come out since it was announced. Part one is one of the best albums of the decade, fight me, and from what I’ve heard from this album so far it’s looking to be more of the same! I’m loving this modernised 80s gothic revival sound that is making a comeback recently with the likes of Ghost, but none do it quite like Creeper! Their blend of Billy Idol, Type O and a vague hint of their early MCR influence makes for a really interesting listen, especially when blended with their current horror/vampire storytelling and aesthetic.

All three singles so far have been incredible, with ‘Headstones’ being up there with one of the best tracks of the year. However, the album tracks are up there too, being fucking awesome! ‘Parasite’, the epic closer and the dark jazz-like, Hannah-led ‘Razor Wire’ are also awesome tracks! I have to say, initially, it’s not quite as good as its first part. However, that one grew on me with more listens, and there is no doubting this one will too. Either way, it’s a very solid companion release to their 2023 output, and the perfect release for its Halloween date.

The band have really captured lightening in a bottle with Sanguivore, and have really come into their own as players and songwriters. Even if you don’t think it’s your sort of thing, check it out, as it’s well worth at least one listen from everyone! It’s an awesome rock album, and gets a solid 9/10, with potential to get even higher with another few listens!

Avatar: Don’t Go in the Forest

Another band that of course we are very familiar with. From loving their last album to also reacting to a track from this already, our hype for this is high. However, I have somehow only heard ‘In the Airwaves’ from it so far though, so I’m excited to hear the rest!

‘Tonight We Must Be Warriors’ is a phenomenal opener and song in its own right, being heavy and epic in equal measure. The title track is another awesome single. Songs like ‘Death and Glitz’, ‘Dead and Gone and Back Again’ and the closer are also amazing and big highlights, though there really isn’t a bad track on the album. No one out there sounds like Avatar, their have such a quirky blend of heavy, power and alt metal, and it always makes for an interesting listen. As much as I enjoyed Dance Devil Dance, I think this may be even better than it, being up there with Black Waltz or Hunter Gatherer for me. It had so many amazing, catchy moments, and doesn’t get at all boring in its 47-minute runtime. The band should be so much bigger than they are globally, and their output over the last decade plus has been something truly special, and something they keep adding to brick by fantastic brick. Another very easy 9/10 from me!

Greensky Bluegrass: XXV

The modern bluegrass legends’ first new studio album in over three years marks the longest gap between albums the band have ever had. They clearly used that time to refine their sound and writing, as this is an incredible release! Bluegrass music is so damn talented in terms of playing as is, so the instrumentation blew me away throughout. However, these guys are also incredible songwriters. From the opener to ‘Reverend’, ‘Past my Prime’ to the closer, there’s a whole lot to love here, from the playing to the lyrics. All of the guests added so much to the tracks too; from Holly Bowling to Nathaniel Rateliff to the incredible Billy Strings to others, they all killed it! My only issue is the length. 85-minutes is a lot anyway, and when it’s all fairly similar music and a lot of it is on the slower side, it can definitely get a lot! But still, if you like bluegrass music, this is very much a release to check out, and they are clearly doing something right as they are damn popular in the scene. An easy 7.5/10, good stuff!

Smash Into Pieces: ARMAHEAVEN

Album number nine from the Swedish pop-metal/alt-rock band comes just 12 years after their debut, an insane statistic that shows just how hard working the quartet are. However, that has not at all reduced the quality of their work. The band are all about huge, arena-filling choruses and a massive, guitar and synth-driven sound, and this album is very much more of that. We’ve already checked out single ‘Man or Machine’ and loved it, but songs like ‘Villain’, ‘Maze of Fools’, ‘Hurricane’ and the beautiful ballad ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ are up there too as massive highlights! It’s a rather large undertaking of 15-tracks, and I do have to admit that it did get a little samey after a while. However, each track is that good I’d struggle to cut any of them! If you’re into your more pop-based rock, this is definitely an album for you! I’ll certainly be listening to this again soon, and I can’t give it any less than 8/10!

Deez Nuts: Saudade

The Aussie hardcore titans are back with their first album in six years, their biggest gap between releases by quite a margin. The band have clearly used that time to refine their sound even more, because this is a really fantastic release! ‘ICU’ opens things perfectly, setting the stage for the rest of the album. Then you have tracks like singles ‘Kill This Shit’ and ‘Hang the Hangman’, as well as songs like ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘Give ’em Hell’, all of which are massive other highlights! It’s 30 minutes of awesome, angry, foot-stompin’ music, and I love it! It feels like a year of hardcore’s return, with the likes of Biohazard, Stray From the Path and Turnstile all putting out massive releases, and this very much stands up there alongside those. I cannot recommend this enough to anyone at all into the metal side of music, and it’s certainly going to be one I spin plenty in the weeks and months to come! An incredibly easy 8.5/10, and GODDAMN do I want to see this live!

Luvcat: Vicious Delicious

An artist I discovered just the other day from TikTok of all places as she advertised the release of this, her debut album, I’m so glad I did as I am instantly a fan! Described as dark-pop, it could not be more fitting; having elements of alt rock, folk and even smoky jazz bar vibes in the best way. From the excellent opener to ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel’ to ‘Blushing’, there are plenty of highlights. And, despite it being nearly 50 minutes in length, it went by in a flash, there not being a bad track on the album. Sophie and her recent band are clearly all incredibly talented players and songwriters, and have crafted something truly unique and special here. She’s clearly build a pretty big following over the years anyway, and this album will surely boost her to a whole new audience. Luvcat are set for big things, and it’s an easy 8/10 from us!

Solence: ANGELS CALLING

This is definitely an interesting release for me! While I am definitely a fan of their music, I’m much more familiar with their more light-hearted singles output. So, to listen through their slightly more serious album release is definitely pretty fascinating. Don’t get me wrong, instrumentally they’re still pretty similar, the chunky riffing, heavy drums, electronic elements and catchy clean vocals mixed with some excellent screams. But it definitely has more of a darker, serious tone to it.

And, thankfully, it’s a style that the band do just as well as their sillier stuff! While the title track didn’t hook me much, ‘Monsters in my Head’ is an excellent song and huge highlight, and starts a run of form for much of the rest of the album! There isn’t a bad track on this and it’s the perfect blend of metalcore and more European electro-pop. A particular highlight is ‘All of the Pain Must Go’, a track I’ve been impatiently waiting to be released since they treated us to it at Graspop last year. Plus, it’s in and out in 27 minutes, short and sweet and straight to the point! The band are all incredibly talented and it’s no wonder they’ve risen to their level in such quick order. This is their fifth album in just six years, an insane feat, and even more insane when it’s of such high quality. They’re awesome, and if you’re into rock or metal at all, I cannot recommend this release enough! Another incredibly solid 8.5/10!

Guided by Voices: Thick Rich and Delicious

I’ve lost track of how many of the indie rockers’ albums I’ve reviewed recently. I think this is number four, with me just missing Strut of Kings recently. I hate to say it, but it’s just even more of the same from the band. I’m not at all knocking their work ethic, but they’ve put out 40+ studio albums in their 38 years releasing music. Maybe if they took a little more time writing and producing, they’d make more interesting music… just saying. This isn’t even the worst album I’ve listened to from them, either. Tracks like ‘Oxford Talawanda’ and the one-two-punch of ‘Dance of the Picnic Ants’ into ‘Xeno Urban’ are good, fun listens. However, it’s all pretty slow-mid tempo, done-before, old-school indie rock. It will surely have its fans, but I am not one. The band are all clearly very talented, I just wish they’d push the boat out and get creative every so often. For that, I can’t give it any less than 3.5/10. I struggled to listen to it in full.

Despised Icon: Shadow Work

The Canadian deathcore outfit return with album seven, six years after their last studio offering. To say it goes hard would honestly be an understatement. This thing is HEAVY and brutal for its full 36 minute runtime, and it’s fucking excellent! Whether it’s their sole tracks like the opener or ‘Obsessive Compulsive Disaster’ or ‘Over my Dead Body’ and ‘Reaper’ featuring Matt Honeycutt, Tom Barber and Scott Ian Lewis respectively, they are all so damn good. From the crushing guitars to the incredible drums to some of the most aggressive screams I’ve heard in a while, it’s all performed perfectly. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but at a time of resurgence in the deathcore genre, it’s awesome that one of the godfathers of the genre returned to show they are very much still at the front of the pack. I’ll be spinning this plenty through the rest of the year, and am already desperate to hear all of it live! Yet another damn solid 8.5/10 from us!

Slug Boys: LISTEN TO SLUG BOYS.

Well, you heard them! The debut album from the Norwegian punkers finally dropped last Friday to plenty of hype, and it’s easy to hear why. This is a damn fun listen from start to finish! It’s heavy, bordering on hardcore at times, and had me constantly wanting to headbang and dance. Think Misfits meets Decedents, but a touch heavier! It’s also incredibly hard to pick highlight tracks, as I found myself liking every single one! It’s a perfectly concise 30 minutes of bouncy indie-punk-metal, and the band very much have a new fan in me! There isn’t even much else I can say, if you’re into any of the genres I’ve mentioned already I can’t recommend this release enough! The band have a bright future internationally, and this album is the perfect jumping off point for that. It’s rare I’m this into this particular flavour of music, but it’s packed full of earworms that are going to be stuck in my head for days to come. An easy 9/10!

Laura Cox: Trouble Coming

The fourth album from the modern guitar goddess has been set to be her biggest yet, and certainly doesn’t disappoint. The perfect blend of blues, hard and classic rock, her immense talent as a player and songwriter is on display right from the get go. ‘No Need to Try Harder’ is an excellent opener and a big highlight, alongside the likes of the title track, the folky ‘Out of the Blue’ and ‘Rise Together’. From the riffs to the lyrics throughout, it’s all so well written, and certainly feels like a step up from her previous work. It’s incredibly varied and makes for a constantly interesting listen throughout, always something that I hugely appreciate. If you like any of the genres mentioned above, check this out as soon as you can, it’s definitely worth a listen! Hopefully I can see it live soon, and I already just want to hear more. Until then though, this gets a very easy 8/10!

Sarayasign: Shadows of the Dying Light

Cinematic hard rock is the perfect way to describe this awesome quartet. Three albums in and the band very much feel like they have hit their stride, producing this awesome hour + journey of modern rock music. There are so many bands I feel like I can compare it to, from Alter Bridge to Daughtry, Foreigner to Bon Jovi to even lesser known bands like Painside. I was very much hooked from the very first track, too. And, to my shock, I was hooked for the next 67 minutes. My attention span isn’t great, so normally long albums are a bit of a struggle at times. However, these guys are so damn talented at crafting their music that I just got lost in the epicness. From the riffs to the melody, it was all incredible. It’s AOR in the best possible way, and how it was designed to be. And, because of all of this, I once again can’t pick a highlight track; it’s all so good and flows perfectly! Do yourself a favour and find an hour to sit down and listen to this through, and thank me later! Hopefully this is the album to finally push them into the mainstream a bit, as they very much deserve it! I can’t give it any less than 9.5/10!

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: All Time Low, Chris Young and More!

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Another awesome week packed full of some awesome albums, from metal to rock to country. Let’s check them out!

All Time Low: Everyone’s Talking!

A singular single from this album convinced me and my wife to get tickets to their tour next year. Just to put into perspective the quality I’m expecting here…

The 10th studio album from the Maryland modern pop-punk legends lives up to my hype, that’s for sure! The band have matured like a fine wine; gradually evolving from their more rougher, punkier beginnings to this uber-polished, perfectly mixed arena-rock-infused awesomeness. It very much feels like the band have added elements of everything from Bryan Adams, Owl City and even Kip Moore and more pop-rock artists to their core sound, and it makes for an incredible listen. I remember loving their last release, but this very much takes everything that was great about it and refines/perfects it.

‘SUCKERPUNCH’ is of course already one of my favourite tracks by the band now, but it is far from the only highlight. From singles like ‘The Weather’ to tracks like ‘Falling for Strangers’, the heavier punk ‘Little Bit’ and the Ruston Kelly-featuring ‘Tread Water’, there is so much to love. However, there really isn’t a bad track on the album, all 15 songs being awesome and the 40+ minutes going by in a flash. They were a band I never minded as a kid but never quite got into much, but these last couple of albums have made me fully in on the band. If you are at all a fan of them, or of a more punk-pop sound, I would highly recommend checking this out as soon as you can. I’ll certainly be spinning it a fair bit in the coming months, that’s for sure! 9/10

Chris Young: I Didn’t Come Here to Leave

No pressure here, but this album has a LOT to live up to. I LOVED his last album last year, and the fact that he’s followed up on it barely a year later is definitely a bold move. Thankfully, Chris’ 10th album is yet another banger of a release from the country star! He has an incredible songwriting ability (I assume alongside others), be it country ballads or more southern rock-style boot-stompers. And honestly he has one of the best studio vocals in the whole genre currently. Don’t get me wrong, it’s another pretty long country release (thankfully not to Wallen levels), but there is so much awesomeness that the 14 tracks still go by in a flash! From the opener to ‘I Feel a Cold One Coming On’, ‘Pour Some Whiskey on it’ to single ‘Boots on the Ground’ to beautiful, bittersweet ballad ‘Just Keep Living’, there is so much to love. I have to say it’s not quite as good as Young Love & Saturday Nights, but it’s a damn solid followup and as I said, with barely a years turnaround between the two it’s an incredibly impressive release. Country has had one hell of a year again, and this is certainly going to be up there with one of my favourite releases in the genre in that time. And heck, it still feels like it’s growing on me with more listens! But for now, it gets a damn solid 8.5/10

The Last Dinner Party: From the Pyre

I have made no secret over the last year or two about not ‘getting’ this band. Though people throw around the term ‘industry plant’ maybe a little too easily these days, it definitely reeks of ‘throwing enough family money at it until it takes off’. You know, the GVF/Taylor Swift approach. We missed their debut album last year just before they exploded, but I remember checking it out due to the massive hype on socials and wasn’t too into it. Hopefully this sophomore release changes my mind…

It didn’t. This is music for early 20s, rich white girls that want to be hippies. It gives ‘music to listen to while spending daddy’s money on Vinted’ vibes. Don’t get me wrong, if that’s your thing, great, but it isn’t mine, sadly. And it is sadly too, because I did actively want to like this album. The Midsomer-like theming is an interesting concept, but never feels fully realised. There are flashes of its potential brilliance, especially in the one-two-punch of ‘Rifle’ and ‘Woman is a Tree’. However, then the pop edge comes in and reigns it all back in. And, honestly, because of that, this is a damn boring album. It feels a lot longer than 42 minutes, the album dragging and being a real struggle to get through in one sitting.

I know that some will probably be pissed at this review, but it’s just my opinion; there will be plenty who love this and I’m so glad they will get something out of it that I don’t. I know I am very much not the target audience, but at least I tried, right? Heck, at least the women are talented players and vocalists; I just find them painfully dull songwriters. And for that, it gets a 3/10 from me.

Sabaton: Legends

Fuck yeah, this is more like it! We’re big power metal fans here at Overtone and of course there are few modern bands doing it better than Sabaton. I loved their last album, but I really feel like this may be even better! ‘Templars’ opens the album perfectly, while tracks like ‘Crossing the Rubicon’, ‘Maid of Steel’ and ‘The Cycle of Songs’ are also big highlights for me. Of course, I have the same issue with this as I have with a fair few power metal albums in that it does all sound pretty samey. It’s 45 minutes of pretty similarly paced and sounding music, and even if it’s all great, it does get a touch old by the end. Still, if you are a power metal fan, of course you’re gonna love this! It’s a damn solid album from some of the best songwriters in the genre, even if they do stick to their standard formula a little too safely. The new metal history teachers show here why they are still one of the best around, and it’s an easy 8.5/10 from us!

Broadie Christ: Big feelings

The sophomore album from the Toronto singer-songwriter is a damn chilled-out, easy listen. Though described as indie rock, I’d argue there’s a lot more to this than that! It’s as much alt and soft rock, as well as just a genuinely quirkier edge. The easiest way I can find to describe it is a combination of Pinegrove and early Randy Newman, and I mean that as the uttermost of compliments! The more I listened, the more I fell in love with the album. The opener didn’t hook me, but ‘IDWTBfriends’ is great, and by the time I reached ‘Pretty City’, ‘Sea Legs’ and ‘Now I Can’t Dance’ I was hooked. As I said, it’s a very easy listen, and 40-minutes went by in a flash. He’s a fantastic lyricist and storyteller, and the instrumentation written around it fits the tone perfectly, as well as being a lot of fun. It’s the perfect album to sit back and relax to, but also really dive in deep to if you get the chance. I’d highly recommend checking it out if you are at all curious, and it gets an incredibly solid 8/10 from me!

Preacher Stone: By the Horns

We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read our full review of it here.

Tol Morwen: At the Gates of Valhalla

I love folky power metal, and this sophomore release is no exception! However, this does generally feel a little more technical than a lot of their contemporaries, some of the riffing and drumming being incredible. However, it still has the same level of epicness. It’s also heavy, having elements of black/death/extreme metal, especially with the screams. The atmosphere created throughout is phenomenal though, and instantly had me captivated. ‘Fate of the Gods’ is a more atmospheric black metal track, while ‘Ragnar’ is a straight up Amon Amarth style viking death metal song. Both are massive early highlights, while songs like epic single ‘The Shieldmaiden’ and ‘Rise of the Ancient Gods’ are also excellent. However, there really a bad track on this! It’s not for everyone, and at over an hour spread across just 10 tracks, it’s a big undertaking. However, I loved it, and if you are into the heavier, more grandiose side of metal, I would definitely recommend you check this out immediately! The band are so incredibly talented, and it’s yet another easy 8.5/10!

Biohazard: Divided We Fall

The hardcore punk legends returned with their first new album in 13 years this last Friday. Yeah, it’s a big deal. Especially when they returned at arguably the perfect time, given the state of the world, and clearly have plenty to talk about! Oh, and the album also slaps from start to finish! It’s angry, aggressive, slamming hardcore for a full nearly 40 minutes, and I love it. It just makes me want to throw people around in a pit and dance around through the whole thing. The riffing, the drums, the vocals, the lyrics, even the soloing, all of it is perfection for the genre, and I honestly can’t get enough. It’s so hard to pick highlights too, as each track is as good as the other. Most of it ended up on my personal playlist! It’s the perfect combination of Bodycount, Hed(PE) and Pro-Pain, so if you are into any of those bands, or just hardcore in general, I cannot recommend this album enough! Heck, even if you aren’t, check this out immediately, you might find one of your new favourite albums. I can’t give this any less than 9.5/10, and I’ll definitely be rocking this a lot in the coming months!

Of Monsters and Men: All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade

13 years after the Icelandic folk-rocky quintet’s massive breakout debut, they are back with their fourth studio album, and first of the post-pandemic era. Honestly, outside of their big hits I haven’t listened to much. In the nicest way possible, I can kinda see why. This is a boring release, dude. Much like with Last Dinner Party, this will most likely have plenty of fans, but I sadly found myself losing interest fairly quickly and often when listening to this from front to back. Don’t get me wrong, tracks like ‘The Actor’ and ‘Styrofoam Cathedral’ are good in isolation, but in the context of the album it dragged sooooo much. Please don’t kill me, OM&M fans (I also don’t like the other OM&M much, sorry), but yeah, I can’t give this much more than 4.5/10. They’re all talented players, but it really isn’t my thing.

Daedric: As the Light Left

The sophomore release from Kristyn Hope is yet another modern-alt metal/metalcore masterclass. We absolutely loved her last album back a couple of years ago, but honestly she may have gotten even better in the time since! ‘The Other Terror’ opens things up perfectly heavily, while ‘Sand Tiger’ shows off a bit more of her more alt side (though still has some great screams). The rest of the album continues to skirt that line perfectly, too. Heck, ‘Dark Legacy’ gives big Skynd vibes in the best ways. It’s hard to pick highlights, but ‘Night Mother’ and ‘Dreamweaver’ are tracks that I have already revisited multiple times over the weekend. Honestly, this is everything I wished Spiritbox was, and it’s insane to me that Kristyn isn’t on the same level as them at this point. I’mma throw it out there, this is better than Tsunami Sea, @ me. I cannot recommend this enough to anyone into more of a modern metal sound, and I’m honestly shocked she managed to top her explosive debut! She’s an utterly fantastic vocalist, both cleans and screams, and her songwriting has really gone to yet another level with this album. It’s one of the easiest 9/10s I’ve ever given!

William Prince: Further From the Country

Album number five for the Canadian folk/country singer-songwriter is a damn fun listen. I love that he very much does his own thing and has his own sound, not following the current trends in the genre. It makes it stand out a lot from his contemporaries, and is a fantastic, more folk-based sound in its own right! From the writing to the arrangement to the mix, it all almost has an epic air to it. From the opener to ‘Flowers on the Dash’ to the beautifully dark-folk ‘Thousand Miles of Chain’ to the awesome closer, the whole thing is packed full of amazing songs! And, at under 40 minutes, it makes for an incredibly easy listen! It’s definitely one to throw on and relax to. William is a criminally underrated vocalist and songwriter in the genre, and he has an instant new fan in me from this! I’m definitely going to have to go back and check out his previous work, but for now this gets an incredibly solid 8.5/10

Shadows of a Silhouette: For Those That Know

Time for some indie now, as the local boys and good friends of ours put out their highly anticipated debut album this last week! What an album it is, too! It’s definitely on the heavier side of the genre, with the riffs taking center stage in a big way throughout. It gives off big QOTSA or early Royal Blood or early Black Keys vibes in the best ways. It’s also packed full of highlights, too. Between the opener, ‘No Matter Where I Go’, ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Hostages’, there are plenty of highlights, but there really isn’t a bad track on the release! The band are incredibly talented and it’s easy to see why they are gaining so much momentum already. The genre isn’t typically my sort of thing but I really loved this from start to finish, and would recommend it to anyone even slightly curious! It’s been a while since I’ve seen them live so must do that again, as I have a feeling all of this would sound incredible in a live setting. But, for now, I shall happily settle for having the album, and it gets a very solid 8.5/10!

Wretched: Decay

The first album from the melodic deathcore quintet in over a decade feels like it has something to prove, and they more than do this with this release! This is over an hour of brutality, technical riffs, great screams and some HEAVY breakdowns. It’s another album that’s almost impossible to pick highlights from, as it’s all so good, as well as all being a similar style, sound and aggression. However, ‘The Crimson Sky’ probably has the most of a bit of everything this album has to offer! If you are into the heavier end of metal, this is definitely one for you. It has everything from Machine Head to In Flames to The Zenith Passage in here, and it’s awesome. It’s not for the faint of heart as, like I said, it’s 65 minutes in length, but it’s well worth a listen through in full if you’re interested! I’m so damn glad this band is back to studio work, and they have put out honestly one their best releases to date after all this time off. A very solid 9/10 from us!

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Twenty One Pilots, Lorna Shore and More!

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Another massive week of new albums for us to check out today, from rock to metal to country! Let’s dive right in!

Twenty One Pilots: Breach

It’s becoming no secret my feelings towards this band. I once loved them and thought they were so interesting and unique, putting their own spin on rock and hip-hop for a relatively radio-friendly audience. Blurryface is one of the best albums of the century, blending heaviness, flow and some actual emotion-filled lyricism all perfectly. Everything after that… meh.

That is… sadly still the case. I really wanted to like this album, just like I really wanted to like Clancy and Trench. Much like those releases, there are elements here that I did enjoy, but they barely combine together to make full great songs, let alone an album of them. The closest I got to highlight tracks were ‘Drum Show’, ‘Downstairs’ and the slightly heavier ‘Days Lie Dormant’. However, I still found myself wanting a little more from all of them, sadly. And, while they were never poetic geniuses, some of the lyrics here are diabolically on the nose in the worst way. It’s starting to get to the point where I’m failing to even grasp the appeal of the band any more. This is the at least third time we’ve had an album from them that sounds like this, and it was pretty bland the first time. As Tyler says in a rather Eminem-style way in ‘Center Mass’, “a little softer than I used to be”. That line alone kinda sums up the whole album for me. Still better than Scaled and Icy, but it’s up there with their other two post-Blurryface releases for me. 3.5/10. Fans, please be kind to me!

Lorna Shore: I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me

The second album of the Ramos era of the band has a LOT of hype to live up to, given the bands meteoric rise since his joining and the release of Pain Remains. We fucking loved that album, so I’m curious to see/hear where this one takes us. From the incredible opener through tracks like ‘In Darkness’, ‘Glenwood’ and the grandiose closer, there is so much to love. It’s all so epic, somehow the perfect blend of European power and blackened deathcore. Will’s vocals are as utterly insane as ever, while the breakdowns are still a massive highlight throughout, as we’re just the epic soundscapes the band now craft with ease. My only slight issue is with the length. Over an hour of similar music is a lot for any genre, even stuff as fantastic and epic as this. I don’t think I’d revisit the album as a whole very often, but almost every song is awesome and I’ll be spinning them plenty in the coming weeks and months. While not quite up there with Pain Remains, it’s still an incredibly solid deathcore release and well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the band or the genre. 9/10

Spinal Tap: The End Continues

The return of the best parody band of all time has been a rather massive, pleasant surprise in 2025. Having not watched the movie yet, obviously, I was curious to hear if the album would still translate well just in audio, given that I have never really listened to the music from the original movie in isolation, either.

While I do think the tracks would work better within the context of the movie, they are still pretty great in their own right. The perfect encapsulation of 60s-80s rock, from Jethro Tull to Elton to Bowie to the likes of Priest and Sabbath. And while the tracks featuring legends like Sir Elton and Paul McCartney are quirky, crazy goodness, it’s when the band embrace their inner Alice Cooper that the album hits its high. Songs like ‘Brighton Rock’, ‘I Kissed a Girl’ and ‘Blood to Let’ are undoubtedly album highlights. The rest aren’t bad, but feel more like soundtrack songs as opposed to music to revisit on its own. Still, it’s made me more excited to watch the movie, and I’ll certainly be listening to the tree aforementioned tracks plenty moving forward. It’s a fun release if you like the band or the styles they’re parodying, and is a solid 7/10

First Time Flyers: Bound to Break

We’ve already checked out this album! Read our full review of it here.

Between the Buried and Me: The Blue Nowhere

This is quirky, Mr Bungle-like awesomeness. Right from the epic, proggy opener, the band show that 20+ years into their careers, they are still one of the most creative and interesting bands in the game, and still pull no punches. And that’s just one of the 10 awesome tracks on this thing! There really isn’t a bad song on this thing and, even at firmly over an hour in length, it still begs to be listened to in full. It’s like early Gojira meets Tool, but with a heavy splash of experimental stuff like Protest the Hero and Haken, with of course a healthy splash of metalcore mixed in for good measure. The bands talent for playing and songwriting is off the charts throughout, but if you’re going to dip your toe in anything, let it be the truly incredible ‘Absent Thereafter’; it has a bit of everything the band is about packed into 10 awesome minutes. Heck, there’s even a Southern rock/country riff tucked away in the middle with a SICK solo over it, as well as some jazzy, death’n’roll stuff towards the end. Like, mind BLOWN. But that shouldn’t take take away from the rest of the album, as it’s all just as amazing!

It’s the first time I’ve been able to actually review one of their albums, or check them out aside a fleeting song or two, and I am now fully obsessed. This is an incredible release, and one I’d recommend to anyone into music; regardless of the genres you like, you’re bound to find something to at least appreciate here. I was blown away from start to finish, and it gets a very easy 10/10!

The Rasmus: Weirdo

The 11th album from the Finnish alt rockers comes fresh off the heels of their return album back in 2022, featuring the Eurovusion hit ‘Jezebel’. Having a fair amount of momentum and hype around them, this album continues it all rather perfectly. Single/opener ‘Creatures of Chaos’ kicks things off on a surprisingly heavy note, a modern metal riff running through it and it overall having a Planet Zero feel to it. Meanwhile tracks like the lead single ‘Rest in Pieces’ and ‘Banksy’ are classic Rasmus in the best ways. However, most of this album is incredible, with tracks like ‘Love is a Bitch’ and ‘Dead Ringer’ being also huge album highlights (though not sure why he calls out Miss Finland in the latter?). I was not expecting a Rasmus album to go quite this hard in 2025, but the band are really back on top form and firing on all cylinders. It’s everything I wish Him was, musically, the perfect blend between them and the likes of Smash Into Pieces. This is definitely an album I’ll be revisiting again soon, and I’d recommend it to anyone into that early 2000s alt sound! 9/10

Fruit Bats: Baby Man

You are either going to love or hate this album. I think I somehow did both through its runtime. I remember seeing them at Long Road a few years back and loved it, as well as checked out their last studio work and enjoyed that too. But I have to admit, I struggled a little with this. It’s so very stripped-back; the whole thing might as well be an Eric D. Johnson solo project instead of an ‘indie rock band”s release. It’s just Eric’s vocals over piano, guitar or other strings throughout its nearly half-hour runtime. I get that it’s his baby and he’s the only sole member, but I kept shouting at my phone/iPad for the album to “just do something!”. The composition and lyrics are beautiful, with ‘Two Thousand Four’ and the title track being firm personal favourites. But even with them, some light band backing towards the end, something to build to, would have been nice. I know there are going to be plenty of fans of this out there, and I’m not saying I’m not one of them, but I did find myself getting pretty bored fairly quickly. A good album to sit back and chill out to, as well as dig into some emotion-filled lyrics, but little more. 6.5/10

Dance Gavin Dance: Pantheon

The return of one of the world’s most on-and-off-again problematic bands after 2022’s Jackpot Juicer is… fine. No, that’s harsh. It’s probably better than fine, but compared to their best stuff or their last release, it’s not up there. Still, the technicality is great, and tracks like ‘Midnight at McGruffy’s’, ‘The Conqueror Worm’ and ‘A Shoulder to Cry On’ are personal highlights. I just feel like it’s not quite as fun as I kinda hoped it would be. It lacks elements of the previous album that I can’t quite place my finger on, so while it’s good I just didn’t enjoy it as much. It’s closer to emo than the prog or experimental stuff. Still, if you are a fan of the band, you will most likely at least enjoy this, and it probably worth a listen. But yeah, for me it’s hard to give it much more than 6.5/10. Sorry guys!

Silverstein: Pink Moon

Just seven months after their last album, the band released a fantastic sister album in this. Like, to the point where this blows Antibloom out of the water. While said release has grown on me with another listen or two, this album leans into a modern metalcore sound in a big way, keeping their usual emotion-filled emo vibe but adding in some of the tastiest breakdowns of the year, even being up there alongside Lorna above. It’s short and sweet, in and out in 23 minutes, and the six middle tracks are utterly phenomenal. The closer is your typical post-hardcore closing ballad, and my only slight issue resides with the soft piano opener. A great idea in theory, but it transitions jarringly into the utterly brilliant ‘Negative Spaces’, some build to it may have worked better. Still, it’s a damn good album that makes me want so much more of this from the band. And incredibly easy 8.5/10 which would have been higher with a better intro and a longer release overall.

Booze & Glory: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Six years after their last studio release, the streetpunk Londoners are finally back, and with a vengeance! It’s no secret I love music like this, from Rancid to Dropkicks to Social Distortion, and this was very much no exception. From the fantastic opener to single ‘Mad World’, ‘Family isn’t Always Blood’ to the anthemic ‘Legends’, there is plenty to love on this album. However, there really isn’t a bad song on it, and it’s a fantastic near-40-minutes of punk rock. Some of the lyrics are fantastically/devastatingly poignant to today’s climate, which is what punk is really all about! If you are at all into the genre it’s well worth taking a listen. The band are clearly talented songwriters and players, and it’s so great to hear them to make a return in a big way! It’s a very easy 8/10 from us!

Reviews

Blackfyre Rising, Autumn Lies Buried and Waylon Wyatt: EPs Galore!

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Another week and some more awesome EP releases, from country to rock to metal. Let’s dive in!

Blackfyre Rising: Self-Titled

The debut EP from the Scottish hard rockers is a real interesting collection of tracks. The opener is a straight-up NWOCR banger, but then ‘The Cycle’ takes a slightly left-turn into grunge territory, being unexpected and a definite highlight due to the creative mix of sounds. And, not wanting to stop there, follow-up ‘Spellbound Woman’ gives off Black Label Society vibes, that slower, stompier biker rock kinda style that also made for a great listen. Then the closer feels more like a climactic finale that combines all these styles together perfectly. It made for an incredibly engaging listen, having me hooked throughout its 20+ minute runtime. The band are all clearly incredibly talented musicians and songwriters and have crafted something that truly stands out in a rather saturated genre in 2025. This is surely going to be a release that pushes them up to the next level, and they certainly have a new fan in me! I’m going to be spinning it more in the coming weeks, for sure, and it gets a solid 8.5/10 from us!

Waylon Wyatt: Out of the Blue

The highly anticipated second EP of the young already-country-megastar finally dropped today, and to the surprise of no one it’s fantastic. Following on in the same neo-tradtional Americana/country vibe as his contemporaries like Wyatt Flores and Evan Honer, it’s emotion-filled, slower music that builds into epic soundscapes by the end of each track. His lyrics and powerful voice are an INCREDIBLE pairing, giving me goosebumps on multiple occasions throughout. And the instrumentation accompanies it perfectly, too. From the powerful opener to the beautiful duet with Willow Avalon to the amazing title track to the emotional most recent single, it’s all SO GOOD and is packed to the brim with highlights.

It’s a perfect 22-minutes as it went by in a flash, but I also feel like if it was any longer it may have started to drag (it is mainly pretty slow and subdued throughout). Though if we were to get an album, which I most certainly want after hearing this, we may get a couple more like ‘I’d Be Delighted’ to break things up a bit! If you are at all a fan of the slower country stuff or any of the artists I’ve named above, you have to check this out, you’ll love it as much as I do. It’s a very solid 9/10!

Autumn Lies Buried: Mob Mentality

GODDAMN. Yes. Pump this shit into my veeeins! This is clearly exactly the amount of anger I needed in my life this morning, and I fucking loved it. Turning the hardcore in deathcore up to 11 and also having even more rapping than you’d expect from that, it’s right up my street. The riffing, the drumming, the screams and the lyrics are all top notch and easily up there with some of the best in the scene currently. And the breakdowns, like the one in ‘Guillotine’… *chefs kiss*. It feels like the perfect blend of Paleface Swiss and Stray From the Path which, given those reviews, is clearly high praise from us! Heck, we even get a Honeycutt-esque bark or two, which are always fun. It’s impossible to pick highlights as every track on this is amazing. It’s 15-minutes of angry, heavy perfection, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone interested. It can’t get any less than 10/10 from us! WOW!

Lanie Gardner: Polaroids

The country-pop rising star looks to follow up last year’s debut with this collection of six tracks. I enjoyed said album, but even then the opener to this, ‘Takin’ the Slow Ride’, is my favourite song by her. It’s more of a 90s/early 2000s country style and is a lot of fun, having a great bounce to it and is catchy as anything. Then you have ‘Buzzkill’ and ‘Hold Your Horses’ that are also fun, more folky tracks, and definite highlights. The other three tracks that break them up are more like her album stuff; pop-infused modern country, not bad at all but I do lean towards the others. However, it’s a fun 15 minutes of music that I’d recommend to anyone interested! I’ll certainly be spinning it a few more times over the coming weeks, and it gets a solid 8.5/10 from us!

Reviews

Hymns in Dissonance: Whitechapel’s Heaviest Album to Date?

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That’s right readers, I have a Whitechapel guy. The Knoxville deathcore outfit are on album number nine this week, and are promising their heaviest to date. Juxtaposing the idea of joyous hymns with the anti-melodic dissonance, and exploring the seven deadly sins through the story of a cult leader recruiting members, it certainly feels like we’re in for a dark, interesting release. I’m a big fan of the band, and have been for a while now, but have to admit I’ve enjoyed their slightly more melodic stuff as of late. However, I’m still excited for this, so let’s dive in!

‘Prisoner 666’ opens the album on a pretty evil sounding riff, setting the tone perfectly. It builds up perfectly too, with some awesome drumming coming in behind it alongside the distortion. Then Phil’s powerful scream calls out to a heavy breakdown, it having surprising hardcore vibes to it. His vast vocal delivery through the verse is excellent, his screams sounding somehow better than ever. It’s certainly heavy, and a far-cry to Kin, but actually in a pretty great way! Heck, the chorus is still a little catchy and memorable even through the heaviness, a tough task! We even get some awesome lead guitar lines and solos tucked throughout, only adding to the epicness. It gives off faster Rotting Christ vibes, which is certainly not a bad thing, it has that sense of massive scale to it. Everything about this track is deathcore awesomeness, and it’s an easy early highlight that certainly makes our playlist.

The title track continues the heaviness like only Whitechapel can, it feeling a lot more straight-forward deathcore and more old-school for the band than the opener. The blast beats, and just drumming throughout, are awesome, while the fast screams will never not impress me. While not quite as interesting, I once again love the Kublai Khan style hardcore-feeling verse in the middle. This is certainly one for more OG fans of the band, and at least somewhat fulfills the ‘heaviest stuff we’ve done’ promise. That breakdown at the end with the different screams, *chefs kiss*. It’s another awesome song!

The first of the sins, sloth, is personified pretty perfectly in ‘Diabolic Slumber’. Though the pace is still pretty quick at times which I feel could have been a cool touch to have it slower, but it still has an epic, menacing and fitting tone overall. The higher, extreme metal screams fit it all perfectly, and still have some powerful growls between them. The vocals really take front and centre on the track, regardless of how good the riffing and drumming is. It’s a brutal, epic black-death metal track with just a touch of grindcore to it, and it’s certainly one to check out if you’re a fan of heavy!

Gluttony is up next with ‘A Visceral Retch’. It’s another blisteringly quick track that feels in the same vein of the title track in its old-school Whitechapel-ness. That scream around the 1:40 mark is DIRTY too, damn! Outside of that it’s just another damn heavy, if excellent, deathcore track!

After a short, menacing instrumental interlude, wrath comes in to kick everyone in the teeth with ‘Hate Cult Ritual’. Right from the offset, I love the chanting, fitting the theme of the song perfectly and the style of the album just as well. It’s shockingly catchy as well for this sort of music, though it soon heads into the usual blastbeats and brutality. However, it’s an amazing heavy track, and another huge highlight of the album. Everything about it, from the screams to the riffs to the drumming, is phenomenal, and I can’t recommend it enough if you like things this heavy!

Honestly, the rest of the album is just the same typical stuff from the first half of the release. That’s not to say that any of the four tracks are bad by any stretch. However, they’re all pretty similar and I don’t want to keep repeating myself over and over to make this an incredibly boring review to read! The riff that opens ‘The Abysmal Gospel’ is tasty, and the whole song in general is another huge highlight on the album, almost giving Hatebreed vibes at times. Meanwhile the screams for ‘Bedlam’ are BRUTAL while the closing track is also awesome! All four songs are worth a listen, but I’d definitely kinda hit the wall by the last couple of songs.

Overall: This is a fucking awesome Whitechapel album! It’s heavy and brutal in all the best ways and the right places. And it’s certainly back to the absolute heaviness of their earlier work, for better or worse. It won’t be for everyone, but I can’t recommend this enough to anyone who’s a fan of deathcore. There are so many different styles infused into it that it makes for a really interesting listen. And while I still feel like I prefer the dynamics and ups and downs of Kin, this is a completely different, damn solid metal release!

The Score: 8/10

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New Music Mondays: Tokyo Blade, Drown in Sulphur and More!

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My gosh, you’re in for a treat today, ladies and gents! We have so many amazing albums for us to check out, so let’s dive in!

Tokyo Blade: Time is the Fire

One of the most underrated bands from the NWOBHM movement are back with their whopping 14th studio album, just three years after the awesome Fury. If you are into this sort of style, this is going to be right up your street! It does a good job at maintaining the band and genre’s core style while also modernising it for new ears. And it’s a damn solid album in doing that, too. It feels like the kind of resurgence and renewal that bands like Saxon and Tigers of Pan Tang have had recently, and it’s so great to hear bands of that sort of generation have such an excellent new lease of life. Tracks like the opener, the menacing, plodding ‘Man on the Stair’ and ‘The 47’ are all awesome, and definitely album highlights. However, there isn’t a bad song on the album, honestly!

My only issue is that at 74-minutes, it is a long release. Especially when a lot of the tracks are at a similar, mid-tempo pace; it’s a lot of the same stuff. It’s all great, but it’s a lot of Queensryche-like almost prog-heavy metal which, while great, I got a little bored of after 45-minutes. Still, it gets a solid 7.5/10 from me, though it would have been a little higher if the fat was trimmed a touch!

Drown in Sulphur: Vengeance

This is a very interesting release for me, and one that I’ve been anticipating highly since it was announced. I reviewed their last release just last year, and actually rather enjoyed it! However, since then they’ve had a rather public exit from their label, citing that they were being made lighter by them, and promised a heavier release with this new chapter of their careers.

It certainly is HEAVY, that’s for sure. The title track alone had me screwed up in a stank-face for the entire 2:30 runtime. The whole thing, however, is modern deathcore at its very best. It’s 38-minutes of heavy excellence. It’s honestly almost impossible to pick highlight tracks out of it, as every song is awesome and they all flow together so well! Having said that, I do like when the tracks have a bit of time to breath around the heaviness, like ‘Scaret Rain’. They definitely deserve to be up there with the bigger names in the genre these days. It’s very Lorna in the best ways. It feels like a completely different band to their last album, so it’s hard to compare, but there are plenty of times on this album that go hard. All I know is that I love it, and it gets a solid 9/10 from us!

Willow Avalon: Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell

One of the first country releases of the year (following Nolan Taylor’s awesome debut last week) and my god, are we starting off 2025 with a bang! This is right up my street; an old-school, dark, folky country release packed full of strings, great lyrics, and catchy vocal and melodic hooks. ‘Homewrecker’ has been popping off on my socials for a few months now and is one of my favourite recent songs, an easy highlight of the album. However, the album is chocked full of highlights, with songs like ‘Yodelayheewho’, the title track, and ‘Hey There, Dolly’ also all being awesome! It feels like a blend between Dolly, Sierra Ferrell, Kaitlin Butts and a touch of Megan Moroney, and I love it all! It’s a chilled-out, well written and fantastically performed 43 minutes, and is set to push Willow to huge new highs off this sophomore album. If you’re into this sort of style I cannot recommend it enough. It’s another easy 9/10 from us, too! It’ll certainly be up there in the discussion when it comes to albums of the year in December, I’m sure!

Sarcator: Swarming Angels & Flies

This is old-school death metal at its very best. From the blinding pace and thrashy riffs to the insane drumming to the harsh vocals and dark lyrics, it all slots together fantastically. Heck, even the production and mixing is a little muddy, lending itself perfectly to the style and genre. If you’re into this sort of thing, it’s a really excellent release. ‘The Deep Ends’ is probably the best showcase of the band as a whole, and is a huge highlight track. However, for me the slower, more darker and epic ‘Where The Void Begins’ is my favourite song on the album. I love the slightly prog-edge to it all, the eight tracks being a combined 44-minutes, everything having plenty of room to breathe. While it can get a bit samey by the end, it’s still a damn good album, and another solid 7.5/10! Check this out if you like it heavy!

Evan Nicole Bell: Shades of Blue

I know it’s only been 20 days, but this is the best vocal performance of 2025 so far, and it’s going to be very difficult to top! It’s also an incredibly interesting record to listen to, drawing together a whole host of different styles. Whether old-school blues, R&B, roots or easy listening, it’s all thrown into this mixing pot and done so well. The instrumentation, from awesome guitar solos to piano to strings to the driving bass and drums, it’s all SO GOOD. And Evan’s vocals, from that Christina Aguilera-like grit and power to some amazing delivery and even the odd insane whistle note, it’s incredible. Plus, the lyrics she’s written for it all fit each track perfectly and drip with emotion. From the powerful opener to tracks like ‘It’s not My Cross to Bear’ and ‘Catfish Blues’, it’s all incredible! We even get a live version of the latter to close out the album that sounds just as amazing as the studio one.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not going to be for everyone reading this, it’s considerably lighter than a lot of the stuff we cover. However, as a big blues guy, I loved all 40+ minutes of this. And there is plenty of variety throughout too; I’d recommend checking it out regardless of what you’re into. I’ll definitely be listening to this a bunch in the coming weeks and months, and it gets a solid 9.5/10 from me!

Dear Seattle: TOY

The Aussie indie/garage rock band are back with their third album, and somehow have gotten even better! There’s an edge of early-mid 2000s emo which I of course loved (I grew up in that scene), making it all pretty nostalgic to me as well as sounding generally great. There’s also just a little bit of Foo Fighters in some of the riffing, which I loved. Tracks like the opener, ‘Evergreen’ and ‘idc’ are all awesome! The lyrics, while a little juvenile and dated, are still relatable and fairly well written, fitting over the top of the great instrumentation perfectly! Don’t get me wrong, it does get a touch slow and repetitive towards the latter stages, but it is still a damn good album, and most likely excellent for people really into this style! I certainly wouldn’t turn it off if it came back on again, and I really enjoyed it in short bursts. It’s a solid 8/10, and an easy, fun listen!

Pestilent Scars: Meadows of Misfortune

More death metal up next, but this time of the melodic variety. It certainly fits into both camps very well too, being both heavy and epic in equal measure. It’s been really interestingly crafted too, with the cleaner vocals fitting in just as well as the screams, it all coming together into a really perfect amalgamation of various metal genres. Right from the intro into ‘Internal Torment’ I was hooked and intrigued, not being released until the last notes of ‘False Messiah’. It feels like a mixture between everything from In Flames to Machine Head to even a sprinkling if black and power metal, and I love it! I had to chill myself as I would have happily added the vast majority of it to our playlist. It’s impossible to pick highlights as it’s all so good. It feels pretty unique due to all the genre-blending, and the band definitely deserve so much more recognition after releasing such an amazing album. My only slight issue is that it did feel a touch repetitive by the end, I feel like an epic ballad tucked in there somewhere, while maybe not fully fitting of the band’s sound, would have been awesome. Still, it’s a phenomenal release and one that I cannot recommend enough to anyone into the heavier stuff. 9.5/10, great stuff!

LANCO: We’re Gonna Make It

The Americana-fuled chilled-out country band are back with their sophomore album, almost seven years to the day after their debut. I haven’t heard that release, but if it’s anything like this, I’m sure I’d love it! Don’t get me wrong, it’s corny, pop-ish country music, but it’s so well written and performed that I can’t help but love it! It feels like Dan & Shay, but with a healthy dose of modern-day Bon Jovi, and it’s very quickly got ‘Joe’s new guilty pleasure’ written all over it. Tracks like ‘Low Class Lovers’, ‘You’ll Always Be’ and ‘Sound of a Saturday Night’ are big personal highlights, but honestly pretty much bangers from front-to-back. It’s certainly light compared to a lot of music on this list, but is a fantastic listen, a fun time, and went by in a flash. If you like more poppy, anthemtic sort of stuff, or soft-country in general, I can’t recommend this album enough. I don’t know what’s going on this week, but I seem to be reviewing banger after banger. And I’m as shocked as y’all are, but this is getting my first 10/10 of the year!

The Weather Station: Humanhood

Some soft rock now from the Canadian bands seventh album. There’s still a smattering, an aura of their folk-rock roots, but it feels a lot closer to early 2000s soft/pop rock than anything else. Then again, I did get vague Paula Cole vibes throughout, so maybe it’s more folky than I give it credit for. In that vein, I really enjoyed ‘Window’. It’s certainly the best of the bunch, in my opinion. It certainly isn’t a bad album; it’s well written and performed and Tamara Linderman’s vocals are incredible throughout. It’s really well put together too, with the intro and interludes etc. However, a full album of this isn’t really my sort of thing. I love it in short bursts, but nearly 45-minutes is a bit much for me. If you’re into this sort of style it’s well worth checking out, as it’s definitely a good entry in the genre! However, for me, it gets a 6.5/10

Pujus of Jukra: Tree Wishes

The Finnish prog/psych trio released their highly anticipated debut album this last Friday, and it’s pretty damn good! Don’t get me wrong, it’s long, but that’s to be expected on a prog record. The musicianship throughout is off the charts though, and the genre-hopping is done so effortlessly well. It’s heavy yet also has elements of jazz and rock and god knows what else, it all blending together seamlessly. The riffing is on a whole-nother level, and impressed me across every track and minute of the album. It’s so hard to pick highlight tracks as they all flow so perfectly together and are all unique and quirky and enjoyable in their own way. However, I think I enjoyed ‘Close Enough’ the most out of the tracks, if I had to pick! It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but for the sheer balls and talent it took to crest this, I can’t give it any less than 7.5/10!

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New Music Mondays: Paleface Swiss, Only the Righteous and PATRIARKH!

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The first week of 2025 sees three awesome new, heavy albums being released. Let’s check them out!

Paleface Swiss: CURSED

This feels like the 2020s answer to Iowa, modernising it and heavying it up but still keeping that same feeling and anger and attitude. I LOVE it. It also reminds me a lot of fellow modern deathcore titans Slaughter to Prevail, blending slight nu-metal influences with the otherwise demonically heavy sound. As the first new album of the year for me, this has set an absolutely insanely high standard. I’m honestly struggling to pick highlight tracks from it as they are all so good. Don’t get me wrong, it is certainly heavy so not for everyone, but between the huge riffs, brutal breakdowns and Zelli’s hugely impressive growls and screams, it’s absolutely phenomenal. I was only really familiar with them by name and by Zelli’s feature on the Left to Suffer album last year, but this album has made a huge new fan out of me! If you’re into the heavy stuff I cannot recommend this enough, it’s certainly going to be up there in the album of the year discussion at the end of the year! It’s an easy 9.5/10

Only the Righteous: Hikikomori

The Manchester-based metalcore band returned with their sophomore album last Friday, over half a decade after their debut. They are certainly taking no prisoners on their return, as this is another awesome album! I definitely hear the early Architects inspiration they tout, but also hear plenty of hardcore in the screams, and almost some In Flames-style melodeath in there too. Tracks like the opener, the title track, ‘Day After Day’ and ‘Modern Hell’ are all huge personal highlights! The band perfectly blends an early 2000s style with a more modern sound, and it’s really awesome to hear. If you are at all into metalcore, I cannot recommend this enough. The band have a bright future ahead of them if this album is anything to go by, and it gets a solid 8/10 from us!

PATRIARKH: PROPHET ILJA

I’ve gotten really into the epic, hymn-folk-tinged side of black metal (arcane black metal apparently, which I’m down with!) recently, and this Polish band deliver that to fantastic effect! The former (ish) Batushka are on album number three, but the first alongside the mighty Napalm Records, and it is quite easily their best yet, for me. The concept album follows Prophet Ilja, an illiterate peasant who was the leader of the Orthodox Grzybowska Sect, based around a true story from the band’s home area of Podlasie back in the 30s. It’s one hell of a journey, incorporating plenty of folk instruments alongside the black and doom metal that the band are known for. It’s 40-minutes of interesting, heavy epicness. From the instrumentations to the screams to the operatic female vocals and chanting, it’s all awesome! It’s not for the faint of heart, those who aren’t into the heavier side of metal probably won’t be hugely into it. However, if you are, this is well worth checking out, and all in one listen-through, too! It’s another that gets a solid 8/10 from us!

Reviews

Conceal: An Incredible Debut from Lost to Light!

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Local metalcore upstarts Lost to Light are set to release their debut EP this coming Friday. The band have been gathering a lot of momentum already in the local scene, so I’m excited to check out what they have to offer and hopefully be as blown away as everyone else!

The EP starts as it means to go on; heavy and fast right out of the gate. Immediately I am drawn to Thomas Alfrey’s amazing drumming, but the whole band is incredible immediately. The screams are brutal, and fit the instrumentation perfectly. It’s one hell of a verse, building to a catchy cleaner chorus. The multiple vocals and melody give off big BFMV vibes. And, just as fast as they come in, we get a crushing, awesome second verse. It almost borders more on deathcore with how heavy it gets. The extended chorus and bridge continued the catchiness too, and gave the whole song a real epic feel to it in its closing minute and a half. Everything came together perfectly, and it’s an excellent opening track to set the tone for the EP and the band, for any new listeners!

‘Unrelenting’, as the title suggests, continues the assault of heaviness perfectly. However, the ch0nky riff soon gives way to a more stripped-back, open, synth-backed verse, giving off more BMTH vibes than anything else. The double vocals are present again, and sound fucking awesome! It all builds to another massive, hugely catchy chorus, and maybe my favourite on the EP. The screams come back for the second verse, adding some welcome heaviness back in. Their screams work perfectly together, and honestly sound like some of the best I’ve heard of any metalcore band recently. It’s even more evident too by the amazing bridge/breakdown tucked in the middle, giving us a great blegh! It’s another awesome track, and one that easily makes it onto our playlist!

A dirty, awesome riff opens up ‘Narcissist’, it made even heavier and greater when the rest of the band come in behind it. A heavy, screamed verse and BRUTAL pre lead to another epic, cleaner chorus. It’s a standard metalcore formula done to perfection by Lost to Light, here. This track has a bit more of a modern feel to it, more like The Ghost Inside or Bury Tomorrow, or even The Devil Wears Prada. And we get another amazing breakdown to close things out. It’s another incredible track and another easy highlight of the release!

‘Confess’ is the release’s ballad track, it being a touch slower paced and having all clean vocals. However, it still has some chunky riffing, alongside the catchy clean melodies. Both vocalists do a great job with the track, portraying their emotion perfectly. And it’s a great change of pace and something completely different to the rest of the EP, which keeps things hugely interesting! Then, closing track of the album ‘Comatose’, heads back to the heavy edge of the rest of the EP. It’s riffing and brutal screams galore, and is the perfect way to finish things off; capping things off as they started, and in grandiose fashion! The screamed verses are incredible, and the chorus is another excellently written clean melody. It’s another big highlight on an EP that is honestly all highlights!

Overall: This is amazing. I’ve seen the name around so much recently, but to actually have a collection of songs from the band to check out has really put into perspective the potential of the band. This is an incredible EP, there truly isn’t a bad song on it, and I can see them becoming a huge name in the scene insanely quickly. For anyone into the genre, or just metal in general, I cannot recommend this release enough. I’m going to have to see it live soon too because damn, this would slap live!

The Score: 9/10

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Kerry King, Don McLean and More!

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A pretty heavy week of NMM this time, but still with some great lighter country and indie and blues stuff thrown in for good measure too. It’s a fun one, so let’s dive in and check it out!

Also, while it’s technically a covers album so I won’t cover it in the list (see what I did there?), shout out to the new Slash record. It’s easily the most I’ve enjoyed an album Slash has put out in over a decade at this point, which says a lot about the GnR guitarists songwriting these days… Everyone he worked with sounded awesome, fit the songs, and they all really made them their own. It’s a fun listen and I’d recommend it to anyone!

Now, on with the list…

Kerry King: From Hell I Rise

The Slayer guitarists much anticipated solo album is finally out, and sounds almost exactly what you’d expect it to. Evil riffs, lightening-quick drums and some very fitting lyrics. While Mark’s vocals are mainly a bit more harsh than Tom’s were, there are times where they have almost the same delivery and sound eerily similar. The main difference, thank god, is that Kerry’s soloing is 10x better than it was in Slayer. It’s no longer a wall of high, whammied screeching, but actually has something to it, even if half the time it’s very Kirk Hammett.

But I actually enjoyed this album a lot more than I was expecting to. Kerry always felt like the weak link of Slayer, in my opinion, but this is a solid thrash/death metal record. Tracks like ‘Idle Hands’, ‘Crucifixion’ and ‘Toxic’ are awesome, but I really enjoyed every song on it. It’s a great album from front to back, and I’ll certainly be spinning it again a good few times over the next few weeks and months, I’m sure. Kerry very much still has it and it’s just made me wish we had more Slayer releases towards the back portion of their careers. They’ve won me over with this album, and I’mma have to see them at Graspop now! 7.5/10

Don McLean: American Boys

The fact that the American Pie legend is still putting out new music on a semi-regular basis is crazy. The fact that it’s still pretty high quality is even more insane. It’s so very old-school country, with a healthy dose of blues rock on top, and is a fantastic summer chill-out album. Even when it address some pretty heavy topics like George Floyd, it does so with style and swagger (if it’s a little blunt). But songs like ‘Thunderstorm Girl’, ‘Truth and Fame’ and ‘I Shall Find my Way’ are all personal highlights, but if you’re into the style I’d wholeheartedly recommend the whole album. Don still sounds excellent and his band work their asses throughout. It’s made me more excited to see him at The Long Road in August, so it’s done it’s job pretty well indeed! Traditional country fans will love this, as will old-school blues fans, so check this out if you fall into either category! 7/10

Cage the Elephant: Neon Pill

The US alt/indie band are back with their first new music in half a decade, their longest dry spell between albums. I’ve known the name for years, but haven’t ever really checked them out aside for ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’. However, I know plenty of talented musicians from Bowling Green (mainly country, admittedly) so I’m sure it’s good.

Good it certainly is! Don’t get me wrong, it’s very different to the single from their debut album, but of course a band are going to evolve across 16 years. It’s a lot more electro-based than what I was expecting, more resembling Twenty-One Pilots’ music. Then again, that’s kinda how indie in general has gone the last five plus years or so, so they’re just changing with the times. Still, I enjoyed it, and songs like ‘Rainbow’, ‘Neon Pill’ and ‘Ball and Chain’ are all massive highlights. Still, it’s a good album overall, too. I had it on while cooking and fit the mood pretty perfectly. It’s not 100% my sort of thing, but they constantly kept it interesting with funk, pop, rock, indie, hip-hop and other influences blended together in a great melting pot. If you’re into vaguely indi-rock infused pop, check this out, you won’t be disappointed! 7.5/10

Elvellon: Ascending in Synergy

We’ve already checked this album out! Find our review of it here!

Marty Friedman: Drama

The best guitarist Megadeth ever had (and that’s barely a contentious point, sorry to the others) is back with another of his completely different solo albums. This one is a bit more what you’d expect from the virtuoso than some of his solo work, him showing off his insane talent, soloing over the top of classical piano and soft rock. As a semi-aspiring guitarist, I cannot help but love, yet be massively jealous of, his work here. Not only his playing, but his songwriting and crafting and producing is all on point. And at times, it’s truly beautiful. The highlight track for me is ‘Triumph’, a reimagining of his 1992 hit from album Scenes. People may be familiar with it, as it itself is a reimagining of ‘Thunder March’. However, this is far and away my favourite take on the piece. Then straight afterwards, he changes things up and we get another highlight in the straight-up rock song, ‘Thrill City’. Then you have the one track with English lyrics on the album, ‘Dead of Winter’ featuring Like a Storm. It’s another great track, an almost power/symphonic metal ballad.

Of course, this album won’t be for everyone. When 80% plus of it is instrumental, a lot will surely judge it immediately and not listen. Both ‘Dead of Winter’ and the Spanish ‘2 Rebeldes’ are incredible songs with lyrics though, and are well worth checking out if you can’t do instrumental stuff. But then, if you are a musician in any way, or like more classical composition, you have to check out the rest of the album too. It’s SO GOOD. This man is such an incredible, underrated force within the music world, and I can’t given this album any lower than a 9/10, unheard of for an instrumental one on this site!

The Avett Brothers: Self-Titled

This is a real mixed bag of an album, both in my personal preference and in style overall. One track can be folk, the next punk, the next indie, the next rock, and sometimes it makes for quite a jarring transition. The opening track is admittedly weird AF, but then we headed into the almost Barenaked Ladies/NOFX combination of ‘Love of a Girl’ and I got excited. Then it drops back down into slow folk again immediately, and I nearly got whiplash. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the hell out of a band that can play and blend multiple different styles, but my issue is that at times this doesn’t even sound like the same band. And I’m not even against their folky, indier stuff, either. Songs like ‘Cheep Coffee’ and ‘Same Broken Bones’ are just as good as their random, upbeat country song, ‘Country Kid’. But as an album, it’s a very strange collection of nine tracks. It may grow on me more with more listens, and I’ll certainly be listening to it again, but for now it gets a solid 7/10 from me!

Mutes: …Buried Where You Stand

The Birmingham post-punk trio are back with album number four. While individually each track isn’t especially my sort of thing, the album as a whole is really damn good. It reminds me a lot of early Placebo, in all of the best ways. It also gives slight Mother Mother vibes, especially when that band turns to their heavier side. The guitars are grungy and distorted to high heaven, giving it an almost dangerous edge and making the songs drip with attitude. And, despite the distortion to the vocals too, there is still plenty of catchiness and great hooks throughout, especially with the backing-vocal-filled choruses. And yet the band can switch up in an instant into a more calmer, indie-folk feel and back again at the drop of a hat, showcasing their playing and writing talent perfectly.

Songs like the opener, the grungy ‘Another Moon Song’ and ‘Great White Nothing’ are all big personal highlights. However, as I said before, if you listen to this album as a whole, it really shines brightly. If you’re into all things psychedelic, indie or even desert rock, this may be the album for you! The band’s talent is off the charts, so even though it won’t be a regular listen for me moving forward, it’s an easy 7.5/10

Cognative: Abhorrence

The fifth album from the tech death New Jerseyans came out last Friday, and is a full-on assault on the ears from the first second to the last. And, of course, I mean that in the best possible way. It’s technical death metal at its very best, and really builds upon what the band have put out so far in an excellent way. The guitaring is an insanely massive highlight of the album, but that’s not to take away from everyone else in the bad, who work their ass off throughout. Tracks like ‘Insidious’, ‘Ivory Tower’ and ‘Savor of Suffering’ are all huge highlights on an album stacked full of them. It’s certainly not an album for the faint of heart, but if you’re into the heavier side of metal, I’d certainly recommend checking this album out in full! It’s certainly one of the better albums I’ve heard in the genre, not that I’ve checked out many so far! 8/10

Troy Redfern: Invocation

This is an awesome heavy blues rock album. Troy’s seventh studio release is so very Love/Hate in all the best ways. It’s just as much sleaze as it is blues, and packed full of awesome riffs, blistering soloing and some really catchy vocal hooks. It’s like all eras of Slash’s career blended into one sound, it’s amazing. Songs like ‘Getaway’, ‘The Calling’ and ‘All Night Long’ are personal highlights, but honestly this whole album is just hit after hit.

The NWOCR scene has such a talent on their hands with Troy, and this could very well be the album that helps break him out into the massive star he deserves to be. The fact that this is his fifth album in four years, too, and the songwriting and playing is still to this high quality is insane. I’mma be spinning this a lot going forward, and would recommend the whole album to anyone! It’s a very easy 9.5/10 from me!

Devitalized: State of Agression

The deathcore band’s debut album goes hard. It has more of a hardcore and metalcore edge to it than the big bands of the genre these days, which I loved just as much as the power metal-infused likes of Lorna Shore. The riffing is heavy and awesome, the drummer goes HARD throughout, and the screams fit perfectly and sound awesome over the top of it all. Heck, even the clean vocals on tracks like ‘Karma Sutra’ sound great and fit amazingly, causing the contrast between the two to make the screams even heavier! And of course the ever-imressive Tom Barber kills it on ‘Godslayer’, giving off instant Darko vibes in the best ways.

It’s hard to even pick highlight tracks, partially because they’re all awesome, and partially because in my new-to-deathcore ears, they all blend together and sound kinda samey. That’s hardly a complaint, though. The album as a whole is a great listen and certainly worth checking out in full if you’re a fan of the heavy stuff! 8/10, this is sick and I have to see it live!

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Of Mice and Men, Joe Bonemassa and More!

Another week and some more awesome new music for us to check out. Let’s look at it all below!

Of Mice and Men: Tether

Joe: The Californian metalcore band are back with their eighth studio album. This is now the fourth album without Austin and with Aaron at the front, and the band have changed a lot in those four albums. The band have adopted a lot more of a synth-driven, lighter sound than their early work. That’s not exactly a bad thing, and there are still some big riffs and unclean vocals throughout. However, this album reminds me a lot of their last one, Echo. As you can see by my review of Echo, it didn’t really feel like anything special. I’m not sure if it’s because my music taste has gotten a lot wider in the last two years since that review, or whether the quality has genuinely dipped. Either way, this won’t be getting reviewed as highly.

‘Integration’ is a terrible opening track, having the most basic of ‘heavy’ riffs but outside of that piggybacking on the early 2000s post-grunge/butt-rock sound. ‘Warpaint’ is at least a tad heavier and one of the closer tracks to their old sound. Tracks like ‘Shiver’ and ‘Enraptured’ are simple radio-bating dark, synthy rock songs with little to no substance, simply a big hook. Meanwhile tracks like ‘Eternal Pessimist’ try to do the heavy thing with the harsh vocals and heavy instrumentation, but hidden amongst the other songs it simply feels kinda cheep.

The way the band flipflop between the two sounds feels messy. Aside for a couple of tracks in the middle, it feels like a band that don’t know who they are and want to write two separate sounds. ‘Eternal Pessimist’ and ‘Into the Sun’ are the two tracks closest to highlights for me. And even then, they don’t particular measure up to a lot of the stuff out there in any genre that they mix together. And it’s a shame too, as this may be some of Aaron’s best vocal performances. There’s almost a MJK vibe with a lot of it. I was never much into the lighter side of 2010’s metalcore, and this is some of the worst of it. 4/10

Max: The band has moved away from the hard-hitting metal core of their earlier days and more towards the modern metal style that has found popularity in recent years. This is not necessarily a band thing and there is clearly and audience for this genre and it is clear that Of Mice And Men do it well. The self produced album definitely has its shining moments and it will definitely be fun to see it live. Whilst some people will and always will find issue with bands moving away from the genre that gained them fame but it is good to see bands develop and find their roots in different genres. Overall this album doesn’t have the same kick for me as their earlier albums but the band is still very good and is still on the top of their game. 7/10

Joe Bonamassa: Blues Deluxe Vol. 2

Joe: The sixteenth studio album under the guitar god’s belt is a follow-up to his 2003 album. In is words, Bonamassa wanted to see how much he progressed as a musician in the span of 20 years. Remembering how much I loved the first volume when checking it out for this, this new release has a lot to live up to.

It does just that. Being huge fan of the soulful, jazzy blues style of the album, of course I was going to love it. However, the playing and writing are both off the charts, as well. Tracks like ‘It’s Hard But It’s Fair’, ‘I Want to Shout About It’ and ‘Hope You Realize It’ are all amazing. But honestly, there isn’t a bad track on the album. There are plenty of catchy vocal lines, especially when the backing vocals come in over the top, and I can’t get enough of the insane guitaring or the amazing horn playing. For anyone into jazz, soul or blues, this is definitely an album for you. And, compared to Vol 1, it is just as good, and Bonemassa should definitely be proud of his progression as a musician! 9/10

Carnifex: Necromanteum

Joe: I really didn’t expect to love this as much as I do. While Overtone has certainly helped me get into the heavier end of metal, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy a deathcore release quite this much. Right from the brutal punch to the face that ‘Torn in Two’ opens on, it has the listener gripped and hooked throughout. From the crushing riffs and drumming to the brutal gutturals and screams, to the insane lead guitaring and even the amazing orchestral parts behind it all, it’s all a masterpiece in heavy music.

It’s definitely not an album for the faint of heart, as far as metal goes. However, tracks like the opener, the title track and ‘Architect of Misanthropy’ are huge highlights. It’s a truly evil sounding album that, between the brutal instrumentation, Nightmare Before Christmas-like synth and orchestration in the back and the fitting album artwork, feels like the perfect release for this spooky season. If you’re into all things br00tal, check this out! 8/10

Darius Rucker: Carolyn’s Boy

Joe: The country/blues singer-songwriter is back with his eighth solo album. The Hootie & the Blowfish alumni sounds just as amazing as he ever has, his voice being so effortlessly powerful and beautiful, and his playing and songwriting being top notch.

It’s hard not to have a smile on your face all the way through opening track ‘Beers and Sunshine’ and follow-up ‘In This Together’. They contrast very well with slower, more reflective tracks like ‘7 Days’, ‘Sara’ and ‘?’. Also, the track featuring the amazing Chapel Hart (review of their debut album here), ‘Ol’ Church Hymn’ is fucking fantastic too. Their style and vocals fit perfectly with Darius’. Then you have the slightly rockier, slightly Hootier single, ‘Fires Don’t Start Themselves’ that is an instant modern country classic.

My only slight issue with the album is that it’s 45+ minutes and 14 tracks long, and a fair few of them are similar in feel and sound. Every track is amazing and this is a fantastic album, country or otherwise, I just get a little bored quick with slower tracks. However, I can’t not give this a 9/10, amazing stuff!

Iron Saviour: Firestar

Joe: The German power metal titans put out their 14th studio album last week. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band quite this consistent with their releases, with most only have a year or two between them. So, the fact that the quality is still so high, especially when they put out an album just last year, is impressive. Tracks like ‘Curse of the Machinery’, ‘Through the Fires of Hell’ and ‘Across the Wastelands’ are all awesome. It’s honestly hard to say much about this. If you’re into power metal or NWOBH you know exactly what to expect out of this album, and will love it. Everyone does their job well and it’s a good, fun album! 7.5/10

Dogstar: Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees

Joe: Firstly, I love this album title and artwork. I don’t know quite why, it’s just awesome.

The first album in 23 years by our lord and saviour Keanu Reeves and his band is an uplifting slab of pop/indie rock awesomeness. Their 90’s/early 2000’s sound is refreshing in 2023 when bands of this genre try to sound like Cold War Kids or Arctic Monkeys. They sound a combination of Arcade Fire, U2 and Foo Fighters, which I can’t help but love. Tracks like ‘How the Story Ends’, ‘Lust’, ‘Breach’ and ‘Glimmer’ are all solid highlights. Heck, ‘Breach’ reminds me of something Johnny Silverhand would have put out, which is very cool. However, the album is full to the brim of chilled out, awesome tracks.

I’m so glad this band got back to putting out music again. At least something good came from Covid! It’s just a shame that their older stuff isn’t on streaming stuff, as I’m not all too familiar with it and would love to go back and check it out! Unfortunately, my only complaint is a similar one to Darius’ album. However, it still didn’t take away from my enjoyment! 8/10

Old Dominion: Memory Lane

Joe: 18 tracks at just under 55-minutes. *sigh*. Let’s do this.

This is actually a phenomenal album. Opener ‘Stay Drunk’ is a modern country masterpiece; a catchy, stadium-filling ballad full of huge vocals and great harmonies. So is the title track. So is ‘How Good is That’ and ‘?’. Do you see where I’m going with this? Don’t get me wrong, there are tracks that have a slightly different feel to them. ‘Different About You’ has a slightly more upbeat feel and some jazzy/John Frusciante style guitaring. ‘Sleep Without Drinking’ has a real emphasis on the bass that the other tracks don’t which was great. And the incredible Megan Moroney adds a beautiful layer to ‘Can’t Break Up Now’ with her duet with Matthew Ramsey. However, generally, it’s a long-ass album with a lot of similar (yet awesome) tracks.

Nashville has such an issue with quantity/quality control over these last few years. I completely get it, more tracks to stream equals more money. The math adds up. However, it makes for these slogs of albums with a lot of similar tracks and filler. I’d have preferred 10 fire tracks. However, I suppose it’s a testament to the artists (*writers) to be able to produce so many great tracks.

I enjoyed a lot of this album, but as a whole it’s not something I want to revisit in full any time soon. 8.5/10

Prong: State of Emergency

Joe: The thrash/heavy metal veteran’s 13th album is fucking awesome. Now, I’mma hold my hands up and admit that until this review, I’d never even heard of the band. Being from the UK where they seemingly never tour, they have slipped completely under my radar. It’s a shame too, as I love this album!

Firstly, to get this sound out of just three people is insane. They’re gonna have to come over to the UK, or I go back to Europe, to see how well it translates live. Curiosity doesn’t even cover it! Secondly, those three guys work their asses off throughout this album. The riffing, technical soloing and powerful vocals Tommy Victor gives out are all amazing, while Griffin McCarthy’s first outing with them on drums proves that he’s wickedly talented. And of course, Jason Christopher is the usual underrated bassist.

And the variety in the sound is great, too. Whether it’s the crossover thrash elements of ‘The Decent’ or the more groove oriented riffing of the title track or straight up thrash of ‘No-Existence’, it’s clear that this band are masters of the late 80s heavy sounds. All of the tracks I mentioned are awesome, but honestly it’s so hard to pick certain highlights. All the tracks are great in their own way and all have their own highlights within.

This band have a HUGE new fan in me and I can’t wait to go and check out their back catalogue! 9.5/10

Citizen: Calling the Dogs

Charlotte: Citizen’s ‘Calling the Dogs’ feels semi-commercialised grunge/ alt-rock. I’m not sure what genre it can be assigned to, but I like that about this album and makes it my favourite one of theirs so far. It switches between upbeat anthems to gritty vocals, almost reminiscent of the Arctic Monkeys or The Sherlocks. Favourites on the album are opener ‘Headtrip’ and ‘Lay Low’. 8/10

Svalbard: The Weight of the Mask

Joe: The album artwork is sick. However, I didn’t quite ‘get’ this. The hardcore vocals over the sometimes pop, sometimes black metal instrumentation felt messy and confusing. I don’t get black metal at the best of times, but taking away the usually at least atmospheric vocals with something more in-your-face didn’t appeal to me. Everyone involved is clearly talented at what they do, the finished product simply isn’t for me. It all sounded the same, too. I do have to say, thought, that the mixing is fantastic, at least. And on the rare occasions where the vocals cleared up, it sounded great! It’s definitely going to have a lot of fans, but I’m unfortunately not one of them. 3/10

Torn the Fuck Apart: Kill. Bury. Repeat.

Joe: With a band name and album title like that, of course it’s some brutal death metal. I’ll tell you what, it goes hard for it’s 40+ minutes, too. Heck, even the mixing is in-your-face, with everything feeling like it’s turned up to 11 and right there at the front. If I’ve written those in a way that make them sound like bad things, they aren’t at all. I surprisingly liked this album way more than I thought I would! There are a lot of fantastic riffs throughout, and the low growls are really impressive. It’s probably not something I’d revisit often, but I’d LOVE to see these tracks live and if anyone’s into this sort of music you’ll love it! 7/10