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Afterlifelines: Double-Album Awesomeness from Rage!

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The legends of power metal, Rage, are back with their whopping 26th studio release. Rarely, if ever,have a band been this consistent with musical output over the course of four decades. And, it’s even rarer that a band stay this consistently high quality throughout almost that entire time, too! I’m a big fan of the band, and we haven’t had any new music from them for three years at this point, so I’m excited to dive in! And strap yourselves in guys, it’s a double album, so this one’s gonna be long!

After a suitable epic intro track, the guitars ring true immediately with a sick opening to ‘End of Illusions’. I know old-school fans will hate me for this, but it really did remind me of ‘Hail to the King’. Especially with the rest of the instruments building in. It builds into a massive, lightening quick riff, almost thrash at the pace it sets. Both the drumming and guitaring is off the charts immediately, not at all making me jealous of their talent. The vocals fit perfectly over the top, adding an almost NWOBHM vibe to the proceedings. And the chorus is big, open and pretty damn catchy. The few screams fit perfectly too, and the one after the second chorus leads into the heavy breakdown amazingly. What a breakdown riff too, damn! It also had a sick guitar solo over it, because why not, and then the final chorus takes us home in style. This was an awesome way to open the album, and an easy choice for our playlist!

The epic, heavy riffs continue immediately with ‘Under a Black Crown’. The guitars almost have a black metal feel to them, which was awesome. A speedy pre leads to another awesome, infectiously catchy chorus. I prefer this to the previous one, and the vocals are very much giving off Paul Di’Anno vibes. It’s certainly a good thing, as it’s like a heavier early-Maiden style. We get another incredible breakdown in the middle of this too, them definitely being a massive highlight of the album so far. I love that the power metal just takes a sharp turn into deathcore for a few seconds, more genres need to adopt the tactic! It’s another great song, as the chorus is going to be stuck in my head for hours to come, I’m sure!

Check out a similar review here!

One half of the title track, ‘Afterlife’ is up next. It opens on a really awesome riff, giving off heavy metalcore vibes. The vocals fit perfectly over the top of it, all building to a bigger, more power metal chorus. However, the lead guitar lines through it are so very early BFMV/Killswitch Engage that it very much retains that metalcore edge. I love it; the two styles blend together rather perfectly and I’m shocked we haven’t had more of it before now. The now typical breakdown and shredding guitar solo ring true to fill the gap between choruses, showing off the insanely high musicianship in the band. The harmonies in the solo were also incredible. It’s another song that I just have to put on our playlist!

Tracks like ‘Dead Man’s Eyes’, ‘Mortal’ and ‘Toxic Ways’ are all great, but it was at this point that I was starting to feel the length of the album a little. Honestly, the whole rest of the first ‘disc’ is all pretty similar. I completely get that after 40 years as a band, the trio have a very refined sound, and it’s a fucking awesome one at that, so of course that’s what they’re going to write. As I said, none are bad by any stretch; in fact, all are awesome, to put it lightly. Heck, ‘Justice Will be Mine’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album and another easy highlight. Clearly, the concept of the album is too much for my impatient brain!

Speaking of the concept, it all changes with ‘disc’ two and ‘Cold Desire’. Opening on a beautiful piano and string arrangement instead of a crushing riff, it’s more like orchestral folk than power metal. Having said that, it still has a dark, almost Nightmare Before Christmas vibe to it. The metal soon comes in to accompany it, a massive riff and drumbeat filling out the sound. It still has all the prototypical big choruses and heavy riffs of the first half of the album, but the symphonic parts add a hell of a lot more to the sound, filling it out and making it suddenly a lot more power metal-y.

Also, check out our review of the band’s previous album here.

Much of the rest of the album has a similar feeling, too. As I said, that isn’t a bad thing, I just run out of things to talk about when an album is a lot of the same!

The two tracks that buck that trend are ‘Dying to Live’ and the proggy epic, ‘Lifelines’. The former is the ballad of the album, a beautiful acoustic track enhanced no end by the orchestral arrangement behind it. It still builds in the distorted guitars and drums around the halfway point, but the slower pace and more emotional delivery and feel keeps it a ballad. It’s amazing, and another huge highlight of the album!

Meanwhile, ‘Lifelines’ feels like it combines every sound that has come before and after it into an incredible near-10 minutes of music. Want huge riffs and heavy breakdowns? Check. Want epic, arena-filling choruses and bridges? You got it. Want beautiful orchestral pieces and stripped-back, cleaner rock parts? Sure, it’s here too. It’s a truly fantastic song and one of the most impressive prog-power metal songs I’ve heard. If you can stand the length, check this out!

Overall: This was amazing. Though I have been slightly critical of the In Your Honor-style structure of it, it’s a fantastic idea for the band to do, and they pull it off masterfully. I truly think there isn’t a bad song on the album; it’s 90+ minutes of pure metal awesomeness. It is certainly a tall task to get through it all at once, and one I will probably not attempt again in all honesty. However, I’ll be listening to a lot of these tracks a lot in the coming months. If you are a fan of the band or genre in any way, you’ll love this!

The Score: 8.5/10

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New Music Mondays: Kenny Chesney, Chris Young and More! 

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This week is for the country fans! Sure, there is some power metal and NWOCR sprinkled in for good measure, but at least four of the albums this week are considered country. Not that I’m complaining at all, in fact I’m excited. Let’s dive in!

Kenny Chesney: Born

The country legend is back with his whopping 20th studio release. It’s somehow the biggest gap in albums in his 30+ year career, too, with Here and Now being released back in 2020. It’s also rare to see someone have such a long, prolific career in the genre, with almost every album from 1997 through to 2020 producing one of his biggest hits. It’s honestly insane.

Shockingly, this album is no different, either. A couple of the singles have already received huge country-radio airplay globally, and it’s easy to see why! ‘Take her Home’ channels very ‘Get Along’ vibes and feelings, but a love song version. Meanwhile ‘Just Say We Did’ is a typical modern era Kenny banger. The album is pretty front loaded though, as the opener is one of my favourite tracks on the album, and songs like ‘Few Good Stories’ and ‘Guilty Pleasure’ are good, with the latter also being a single.

However, it was at that point that I started to feel the length of the album. There are certainly still good songs after this point, don’t get me wrong. But there are eight more songs, and a lot of them all have a similar feel and tempos. I can complain all day about the too-long length of modern country albums, but I’ll leave it at: this definitely suffers with that issue. Still, it’s a good album with some great songs on it. And regardless, it’ll still be massive just like Kenny’s other releases. I’ll be listening to plenty of this a lot moving forward, so it’s an easy 8/10

Chris Young: Young Love & Saturday Nights

A modern country megastar, Chris returned on Friday with his ninth studio album, and first since the dreaded Covid times. I feel like I’ll never see him at this point after he dropped out of his UK tour and The Long Road 2022 headline slot, so at least new music’s something, right?

It helps that said new music is really quite good. The opener is classic Chris Young stadium-country goodness, while the ‘Rebel Rebel’ homage of a title track is incredible. Other big highlights include ‘Country Boy’s Prayer’, the almost TC3-like ‘Double Down’, the beautiful ‘Gettin’ Older’, ‘Knee Deep in Neon’ and ‘Right Now’. Don’t get me wrong, it very much has the same issue as the previous album in that it is so long. 18 songs and nearly an hour is a lot, especially when the vast majority of it sounds pretty similar. The album definitely hits a slump between ‘Double Down’ and ‘Gettin’ Older’, even if all five of the tracks between them are great. I also love the final three tracks a hell of a lot. That’s 12 incredible tracks that I am in love with, and six that are really rather easily cuttable.

Because of this, it makes it very hard to come up with a ranking for this. On the one hand, at least half of this album is up there with some of his best work, in my opinion. The seven tracks I’ve mentioned I will be listening to a hell of a lot, and have made me want to see him live somehow even more badly. And as I’ve said, none of the other tracks are especially bad. They’re just slow-ish and samey and one after another. Still though, it’s a truly fantastic country album, and will most likely not get the love it definitely deserves, given how many other major players there are in the genre these days. I’ll be playing this a lot moving forward, and would recommend it to anyone. 9.5/10

Hammer King: KÖNIG UND KAISER

We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here!

Gossip: Real Power

The US indie band are back with their first album since 2012, and a whopping two reunions later. I was a fan of their stuff back in the day, with Standing in the Way of Control and Music for Men being awesome albums. However, I didn’t even know they’d broken up, let alone gotten back together. Sadly, this album doesn’t quite do it for me. The title track is fun, as is ‘Turn the Card Slowly’. However, in general, it feels like the band are simply trying to recapture an old magic that died long ago. It’s less Brave New World and more Chinese Democracy. It all kinda blended together into a blur of meh, sadly. It’s not bad, but the genre and music industry as a whole has evolved so far past this in the last 12+ years that this feels pretty stale. I know I’m certainly not the biggest indie fan so I’m sure there will be some out there whole like this. I’m not one of them, though. 3/10

Sierra Ferrell: Trail of Flowers

Owen: The follow up to a strong debut in 2021, it’s hard to believe ‘Trail Of Flowers’ is only the second release from Sierra Ferrell. The success she’s seen in the time between these two albums (a  myriad of featuring spots with artists big and small, as well as involvement with major film and tv productions) seems only to have empowered the blend of styles unique to Ferrell’s solo work. The
12 tracks presented are expertly paced; winding paths from upbeat galloping beats such as 2023 single ‘Fox Hunt’, through to the slow wrenching ballad of ‘Wish You Well’.

In the latter stages of the album, we are given two songs that have suffered the same fate. Fans that discovered Ferrell through YouTube will be familiar with both ‘Why Haven’t You Loved Me Yet’ and ‘Rosemary’. Both songs have been circulating the platform with various performances over recent years, each rightly celebrated by the fanbase. As a long-time fan, I’m sure I’m not the only one happy to see both of these stand proud on a full-length release. In future releases, it would be great to see Ferrell push the limits of her vocal range and natural talent a little further. Having witnessed the power of her voice live I wish this came across more in the album recordings. 8.5/10

Borris & Coaltar of the Deepers: “Hello There”

The odd Japanese band are back, this time experimenting with a 90s alt rock band. The third helping of the band on this series, and sadly I think it’s the one I enjoyed the least out of them. It had more of the band’s psychadellic inspiration to it, adding it to Coaltar’s alt rock in a very weird way. I feel like live some of the stuff wouldn’t be too bad, especially with a good stageshow, but on track it did nothing for me. I honestly can’t even pick out a highlight track; it’s all one big blend of weird noise.

Don’t get me wrong, I have massive admiration for Boris. Being able to collaborate with so many different artists for full albums and adapt their sound accordingly takes insane amounts of talent. There are certainly going to be fans of this music out there too, as Coaltar have tens of thousands of monthly streamers. But yeah, this is not for me at all. A couple of nice riffs but that’s sadly it. 3/10

Cody Jinks: Change the Game

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

Stone Angels: Up in Smoke

An interesting release up next, as the NWOCR band have decided to release solely physical copies of the album currently, releasing each track as a single on streaming in the coming months before putting out the full album on them after. It’s a bold strategy for sure, and one I haven’t seen before, so I’m curious to see how it plays out!

As for the actual music, it’s pretty good! There’s a grungy/alt metal edge to their brand of hard rock which keeps things interesting and made it a fun listen. The riffing throughout is amazing and there are plenty of catchy vocal hooks and melodies to appease more radio listeners. Tracks like ‘Gambler’, ‘Western Dreams’ and the more ballad-like title track are all personal highlights.

I’ve already seen a lot of fans of this album, and I did really enjoy it myself, though it does feel like it’s missing something that puts it on the upper level of albums in the genre. I have no idea what that something is, but it does feel just a small step below the likes of Bed of Nails or Inhale/Exhale. It’s still good, don’t get me wrong, and I’ll be listening to it a bunch after this review still. But at the time of writing, I’mma give it a 7.5/10

Gary Clark Jr.: JPEG RAW

The blues master returned with his sixth album last week. It immediately gives off an old-school, more raw sounding Lenny Kravitz style. Between the obviously awesome, grungy guitar work and great vocals, the album had me hooked right from the opener, ‘Maktub’. There’s also some clear jazz/soul influence on songs like ‘Alone Together’. Meanwhile, tracks like the title one and ‘This Who We Are’ incorporate more of Gary’s hip hop influences, which I LOVE. The latter is a huge highlight of the album and one of my favourite tracks Gary has put out. Other highlights include ‘Hearts in Retrograde’ and the almost proggy ‘Habits’.

The talent and variety on display throughout the album is incredible and I was never once bored. The nearly-hour went by in a flash. It’s certainly not going to be for everyone but damn, I really enjoyed the album! It’s an easy 8/10 from me!

Hideous Divinity: Unextinct

The tech/brutal death metal band are back with album number five and damn, it’s a good one! I usually don’t get a huge amount out of stuff quite this straight-forward heavy, but the band had me hooked on this album from ‘The Numinous One’. It was a big highlight track of the album, as is the epic, Zach Jeter featuring ‘Atto Quarto’. However, the whole album is pretty great, and if you’re into the heavy stuff you’ll love this! There isn’t too much more I can say about it, if you’re familiar with the genre you know exactly what to expect, and it delivers in spades! 7.5/10

Leaves’ Eyes: Myths of Fate

The German symphonic metal band’s first album in nearly four years is fucking awesome. Of course, it’s easy to draw comparisons to genre giants like Nightwish and Within Temptation, but from the soaring, powerful operatic vocals to the awesome growls and screams and the overall epic feel, I’d say this is definitely up there with those two. Right from the excellent opener to the massive closer, this album had me hooked throughout. There isn’t a bad track on the album but songs like ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’, ‘Fear the Serpent’ and the beautifully folky ‘Godess of the Night’ are definite highlights for me.

My only ever so slight issue with this album is that it doesn’t really do anything different. All are great songs, but there is so much amazing power/symphonic metal coming out these days that it may just fall into the sea of white noise. Still though, that shouldn’t dissuade anyone from listening to it. If you’re a fan of any of the bands or genres I’ve previously mentioned, you’ll love this. 8/10, it’s a great album!

The Staves: All Now

The folk duo of sisters have grown pretty darn popular over the last decade or so thanks to a rabid fanbase and some consistently high-quality releases. It’s an incredibly chilled-out album filled with big, open choruses and almost hypnotic vocal harmonies from Jessica and Camilla. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not especially my sort of thing, but I can appreciate how well written and performed it is. It doesn’t have as much of a folk sound as it does electro/synth pop with Fleetwood Mac-style vocals over the top. The highlight for me was probably ‘Make a Decision’, but honestly I wouldn’t turn any of it off if it came on again. If you’re into more chilled out music, check this album out! 7/10

Reviews

The Fear: Have Ashen Reach Released the EP of the Year?

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NOWCR’s heavy-end Ashen Reach released their highly anticipated new EP, The Fear, today. I’ve been a fan of the band for a while now, seeing them a couple of times and seeing their name on bills all over the country. They have gotten quite a bit of momentum behind them, and I am certainly not the only one who has been impatiently anticipating this release! Let’s just jump right in, shall we?

‘Ghosts’ opens on a suitably heavy, almost metalcore riff, which is fantastic. I love the new sound growing at the minute that combines the heaviness and riffing of the genre with hard rock. Shadow Smile do the same, and it’s an incredible new sub-genre that I’m so shocked but glad has been adopted into the NWOCR movement for now. It also has a hint of symphonic metal, just a touch of Nightwish in there. And heck, even the symphonic-nu blend of Evanescence! The riffing is awesome, the vocals are powerful and infectiously catchy, and the strings in the back add to a HUGE sound. I love the odd scream that goes on, too. In fact, any time we get the backing vocals, it’s amazing. It’s a fantastic way to open the EP, and an easy track to make our playlist!

Check out a similar review here.

‘D1V1DE’ keeps the heaviness rolling with another awesome riff. Surprisingly though, it drops down into a stripped-back, clean-guitared verse. It almost gave off modern Avenged Sevenfold vibes with its experimental sound and structure. It all still builds to another massive, arena-filling chorus too, which I love. The screams through the second verse heavied it all up massively too, almost sounding extreme metal for a moment. I love the different sounds the band utilise, they really strive to do their own thing, it shows in their writing. It’s another fantastic track that I can’t get enough of!

‘Neophobia’ follows a surprisingly similar structure to the previous track, not that that’s in any way an issue. The duelling clean and harsh vocals in the verses are amazing, definitely metalcore-inspired. The band transition so cleanly from the heavy stuff to the huge, hard rock choruses, showcasing their exceptional talent at songwriting. And their performing is not to be sniffed at either, with the riffing, drumming and all vocals being incredible here. Everyone works their asses off to make this a truly fantastic, interesting song, and another that easily makes it onto our Spotify!

The most recent single, ‘The Dark’ has a bit of a slower pace and feels more like the ballad of the release. Having said that, it essentially has a breakdown for its second verse, the riff and screams being FILTHY and feel ripped straight from I Prevail or Electric Callboy. The slower pace if anything adds to the heaviness of it all, too. And the chorus is SO good. It’s gonna be stuck in me head for the rest of the day, easily. We even get an awesome little guitar solo tucked in the middle, which I love. And the actual breakdown at the end… DAMN. The third song playlisted and damn, it more than deserves it. This was fucking awesome!

And with that, we sadly already reach the final track, ‘Lost’. Honestly, the riff was awesome, having an almost black metal feel to it. However, outside of that, it does fade into the background ever so slightly. It’s still a fantastic track, don’t get me wrong; on any other release it’d be a huge highlight. If anything it just goes as a testament to the insanely high calibre of release this is, that a song this good is more of an overlooked gem. Still, it’s an amazing track and the perfect way to close out a release like this.

Overall: Wow. What a fucking EP! This is how you do a 20-minute release. I sometimes find it hard reviewing these, as they get samey and I get a touch bored. However, this blew me away from start to finish and the words just flowed out of me. I can’t get enough. As much as I love their previous stuff, this is the best music they have put out. It really is incredible, and with it the band seem primed to take a step into the mainstream. I didn’t want it to end, and fully hope we get a full album from the guys sooner rather than later. Every track was awesome and I’ll be listening to it over and over for weeks to come!

The score: 9.5/10

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New Music Mondays: Dragonforce, Kacey Musgraves and More!

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Another stacked week of New Music Mondays, covering everything from country to death metal. Let’s check it out!

Dragonforce: Warp Speed Warriors

The British power metal legends returned with their first album in half a decade this last Friday. Any fans of the band already should know exactly what to expect. They have unashamedly stuck to pretty much the exact same sound and formula throughout their careers, the ACDC/Slayer of power metal, if you will. However, every single band member is insanely talented players and songwriters, with Li of course having reached guitar god status years ago. And while, even five albums in now, I can’t quite get into it as much without ZP’s vocals on it, Marc is the best I’ve heard him on this album, and it’s easily the best he’s fit.

The album has plenty of awesome tracks, too. The Gloryhammer-esque ‘Power of the Triforce’ and epic, slower, movie-soundtrack-like ‘Kingdom of Steel’ is a fantastic one-two punch early on. ‘The Killer Queen’ is also a big highlight. However, unless it is a tongue-in-cheek parody song, I have to say ‘Space Marine Corp’ is one of the cringiest songs I’ve heard in a while. But still, in general it’s a great power metal album, and honestly up there with some of the bands best work. Everyone does a great job and it’s packed full of awesome songs. 8/10

Kacey Musgraves: Deeper Well

The country/Americana/folk singer-songwriter is back with her fifth studio album. Considering how massive a name she is, and I certainly knew the name, I can’t think of a song she’s done that I’d heard. Though, having listened to this, I may have heard loads of her stuff and just forgot about it. It’s very… okay. It’s simple and slowish, which does contrast interestingly with the massive choruses of stadium country or even the likes of Chris Stapelton or Drake Milligan. Reaching this size without that is at least admirable. But it’s just like more boring, less well-written Cam. I had this whole album on while I was doing work and honestly couldn’t tell you a single standout track or thing about it. It’s not bad, per say, it’s simply rather dull and not really my sort of thing. 4/10 is the highest I can give it, as it isn’t badly written and I’m sure plenty will love it!

Scott Stapp: Higher Power

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

Mad Caddies: Arrows Room 117

The Caddies have been one of my favourite bands for close to a decade now, so when this album was announced, I was understandably excited. Having almost completely abandoned their punk roots at this point, the bands slower, chilled-out, almost easy listening ska/reggae sound is still a huge amount of fun to listen to. The closest they get to punk is on the Social Distortion-esque ‘Backroads’ or ‘Baby’. Heck, the latter even has a slight country tinge. Outside of that, it’s just relaxed ska indicative of their SoCal style. If anything I find it admirable that a band nearly three decades into their careers are continuing to evolve and write what they want to. Too much recently have we heard punk bands try to go back to their agro, adolescent roots to, more often than not, middling results at best.

The album is packed full of highlights, with there not being a bad song on it. However, personal highlights include the previously mentioned songs, ‘Palmtrees and Pines’ and ‘Everywhere You Go’. Honestly though, the whole album is good and worth a listen through from start to finish. If you’re a fan of ska, Reggae or punk, you certainly won’t be disappointed. It’s the first release of original music in a decade, and it’s a worthy successor to Dirty Rice! 9/10

Necrophobic: In the Twilight Grey

The Blackened death metal Swedes put out a pretty interesting and good album to mark their 10th release! It’s very much like if Amon Amarth had a baby with a black metal band, and I kinda love it. Tracks like the opener and ‘Stormcrow’ blew me away and were clear highlights! Having said that though, there really isn’t a bad track on the whole thing. Honestly, there isn’t much to say about the album aside for that if you like any of the genres or bands I’ve already named, you’ll probably love this. I’m not even typically a black/blackened metal fan, but this was interesting enough for me to love. If you’re a fan of the heavy, you’ll like this! 7.5/10

The Black Crowes: Happiness Bastards

The southern rock legends are back with their ninth studio album, and first in a decade and a half. Honestly, it was so good to hear the band were coming back at all after all their issues in the last decade or so, but to have new music released is truly awesome. And what an album it is, too! Whether it’s the classic Crowes sound like their opener, a more punk-infused sound on ‘Rats and Clowns’ or all-out acoustic-country-ballad goodness with ‘Wilted Rose’, there’s plenty to keep someone entertained. The latter also features everyone’s favourite country lady at the minute, Lainey Wilson, and is a fantastic song!

It’s one of the strongest return albums I’ve ever heard, and every track is really amazing. Songs like the opener and ‘Dirty Cold Sun’ are also huge highlights. It’s awesome to hear a band that clearly influenced some of my more local favourites like Bad Touch and The Answer back and going strong again. If you’re a fan of southern or hard rock, or country or rock just in general, I’m convinced you’ll love this album as much as I do! 8.5/10

Luke Dick: Lockeland

I spent the entire album trying to work out if this classed as country or not. I came to the conclusion that a) it doesn’t matter, and b) it’s closer to an acoustic easy-listening, Jack Johnson-esque sound most of the time. Either way, it’s a great listen. It’s an incredibly relaxed album with some beautifully written lyrics and guitars. It’s short too; only eight tracks and 27-minutes. It’s only just an album, but it also makes it nearly impossible to pick out highlights. It’s the antithesis of all killer, no filler, and each track feels meticulously selected. Having said that, I haven’t stopped listening to the opener or ‘True Companion’ all weekend! It’s certainly an album worth listening to in full, though! It’s certainly not going to be for every reader, but I loved it! 8.5/10

Reviews

Animal: A Great Collection of Singles from Dead Reynolds!

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The awesome alt rock/metal band Dead Reynolds have been releasing great singles for a while now, finally bundling up the last five into an EP to show off to the world. I’m not particularly familiar with the band, but I do like the bands they claim to sound like, so am exited to check this out!

After intro ‘Unite’ sets the scene and themes perfectly, as well as building up the soundscape fantastically, ‘Hurricane’ blew me away (pun very much intended). The big riff exploding in with the synth on top created a massive sound. It’s very akin to modern Bring Me or Architects, in all the best ways. The clean vocals and stripped-back instrumentation through the verses makes it a bit lighter, definitely earning its alt moniker and Mallory Knox comparisons. It all builds to an awesome chorus, massive and built for massive stages. And we also get a surprisingly excellent guitar solo tucked in the middle, a rarity in this sort of music. However, it was technically excellent and fit the style of the track perfect. It’s a fantastic album opener that really showcases everything that the band are about in just over three minutes. Great stuff!

Single ‘Fly Away’ has more of a modern pop-punk feel to it, which is pretty awesome! It gives Neck Deep or even our friends over at REDSMITHVII vibes, yet still has that underlying synth that really makes the sound massive. It’s another massive, hugely catchy chorus, too. Meanwhile, a couple of riffs are still chunky enough to keep it sounding heavy overall. The track’s arrangement is a bit more simplistic and radio-friendly, too. There’s less wiggle room for some awesome instrumental parts, but it’s still a fantastic song. That chorus is gonna be stuck in my head for days to come!

Most recent single ‘Animal’ slows things down a tad, the piano intro setting the pace for an almost Linkin Park-like riff and feel. It brings in the punky attitude again with the vocals; it following a similar formula as the opener with the more stripped-back verses building to the massive choruses. I love the lyrics throughout this song too, they’re really well written and the emotion in the delivery fits them perfectly. Oh, and of course it’s catchy yet again. The band write arena anthems for sure. The drop-down to the rapping in the middle was surprising but AWESOME, too. It almost gave off Enter Shikari vibes. I’d love to hear more rapping from them, if I’m honest! It’s another fantastic song overall, and one that easily makes our playlist!

The same structure is followed in ‘Save Me’ and closer ‘Wake Up’. Both are still fantastic tracks, don’t get me wrong. I always find it’s easier to stick to a similar style with an EP, given the smaller length. And the band do a great job at showcasing some incredible tracks here; there isn’t a bad one at all. I just feel like it’s hard to talk about a few tracks that are all fairly similar. That and my tiny attention span makes it harder for me to listen consistently without a change in styles or pace. But they did enough to keep my dumbass brain entertained throughout all five awesome tracks.

Overall: This is a great little EP! Every song packs plenty of punch and is certainly memorable. There isn’t really a highlight too, as they’re all great! If you’re a fan of the genre you should definitely check this out, you won’t be disappointed.

The Score: 8/10

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Higher Power: Does Scott Stapp Put Out His Best Album In Two Decades?

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This was not something I was expecting to be released right now. With the huge buzz around the (admittedly massive) Creed reunion, a solo release from their frontman didn’t seem like it was on the cards. However, here we are! I have enjoyed his solo stuff to this point, and having checked out the lead single off this already, I think we’re in for something great. Let’s dive in!

Speaking of the title track, it’s up first! The heavy, chunky riff certainly reminds me of some of Creed’s earlier, heavier stuff; it definitely has a Tremonti-style to it. Scott’s voice is very much back on top form, coming in perfectly over the top with an awesome verse melody. It’s early 2000s radio/dad rock in all the best ways. It all builds up to a HUGE, catchy, arena-filling chorus. It was pretty expected given his back catalogue, but the chorus is definitely up there with some of his best. Some of his cadence and vocal delivery throughout is also a lot of fun, full of emotion and attitude. We almost get a breakdown in the middle too, building up to a huge riff. It’s a fantastic song, and one that easily makes our playlist. What a great start!

‘Deadman’s Trigger’ opens on an equally ch0nky riff, setting a steady pace and sludgy tone. It almost gives off Black Stone Cherry vibes as much as anything else, which certainly isn’t a bad thing! It’s a great verse, Scott Stapp ‘s voice again sounding fantastic, and it builds once again into a massive chorus. It goes up for it, feeling almost uplifting in its tone. It’s interesting, given that it contrasts pretty perfectly with the lyrics. We get some awesome lead guitar work in the middle, if anything it being far too brief. A final huge chorus then takes us home. It’s another incredible song, and the second of two to make it onto our Spotify!

The first album track, ‘When Love is Not Enough’, slows things down a little. I LOVE the acoustic guitar tone from the intro, and everything builds over the top of it perfectly to create an amazing soundscape. Stapp’s vocals fit just as well over the top of this as it does the heavy stuff. It gets a tad heavier for the typically massive chorus, the distorted guitar coming in over the top and adding a great layer. However, it stays at a slower, introspective pace and tone. We get another awesome guitar solo in the middle, this one getting a bit more time to shine. It fit the tone and feel of the track perfectly. Then a final chorus, with some awesome vocal work from Scott, finishes off another amazing track.

‘What I Deserve’ is another slower track, and my god is it beautiful and full of emotion. The subdued verse explodes into an epic, almost power metal chorus that is going to be stuck in my head for weeks to come. That chorus alone got the track on our playlist, but the rest of the song serves as the perfect build to it all. And that bridge riff and solo, damn, tasty. What an incredible song. Easily my favourite off the album, and that’s saying a lot!

The amazing Dorothy lends her amazing vocals to ‘If These Walls Could Talk’. Their voices compliment each other perfect, and it’s a truly beautiful duet. Their harmonies together in the choruses are incredible, especially that last one. The track as a whole is closer to a acoustic-country ballad than a rock one, but it’s a really great track. The emotion throughout is powerful and the minimalist instrumentation all compliment it perfectly. Yet another phenomenal track on this album.

‘Black Butterfly’ finally brings the heavy back in a big way with that awesome riff. It follows the early formula of the lower verse and then massive, heavier choruses. However, it’s so good that it’s hardly a complaint. The lead guitaring throughout this entire track is amazing, too. Especially that Egyptian scale in the middle. It’s a tad standard in terms of the arrangement and feel, but it’s still a fantastic track.

The same could be said about the following track, ‘Quicksand’. It’s a great track, but another that follows the radio-rock formula to a tee. Meanwhile, the final three tracks are ballads. All three are not only amazing songs, but equally beautiful and incredible well written. ‘You’re Not Alone’ in particular has some hugely emotional and well delivered. However, that shouldn’t take away from the other two tracks, with ‘Weight of the World’ being a very good, grandiose closer. Don’t get me wrong, I kinda wish they’d have had another heavier one in the middle of the two, as ‘Dancing in the Rain’ is maybe the most average track on the album. However, all three are still good, with the first and last one being AMAZING. Damn, what an album.

Overall: This is a really great album. As you can tell, I’m a fan of Creed and Scott Stapp in general, but this was honestly better than I was expecting. There isn’t a bad track on it, and every single one had me bobbing along in enjoyment. As stated previously, my only one point is that I’d have maybe preferred one more heavier track in among the last few. However, they’re all still insanely solid songs, and they fit the tone and pacing of the album perfect, so it really is a minor gripe. I’ll be listening to this a lot in the coming weeks, and only hope that it isn’t a sign that we won’t get new Creed music in the future!

The Score: 9/10

Reviews

Negative Energy: Are Vexed the Futures of the UK Heavy Scene?

British alt metal/deathcore band Vexed returned last week with their sophomore album. After setting the underground scene on fire with their debut back in 2021, the band return with even more anger, heaviness and drive. Without further ado, let’s dive into the review!

After a brief, perfectly building intro track, the album explodes in with the lead single, ‘Anti-Fetish’. A sludgy, modern deathcore riff leads to some fantastic heavy growls from Megan Targett. Despite the heaviness, the chorus is surprisingly catchy, the vocals cleaning up slightly at times. This heavier edge than their previous sound reminds me a lot of Darko US, which is fine by me. It definitely has the same quirkiness and energy; aggression and talent and passion.

Check out similar music here.

‘We don’t talk about it’ is pretty similar in feel and structure to the previous track. However, it does have a slightly more radio friendly feel to it. The spoken work stuff was cool, too, adding an almost Marylin Manson quality to it all.

‘X my <3’ is a banger, despite it’s cringy (albeit clever) title. Opening with the catchy, almost radio-friendly chorus was a great call. The guitars are a little less out there and technical, too, it being more of a sludgy, groovy wall of heavy. The fully clean vocals were a nice touch too, only making the screams even heavier. The breakdown was tasty too, the bends being amazing and reminding me a little of early Architects. It’s one of my favourite tracks on the album and easily makes the playlist.

The chuggy opener of ‘Panic Attack’ is fun, the drum tone almost giving off Slipknot vibes with that massive hit between guitar notes. The quick vocal delivery almost confirmed the sound too, while the brutal screams for the chorus backed by the rather open groove-metal instrumentation made for an interesting dynamic. It somehow fits the subject matter perfectly too, the claustrophobic, fast riffing combining with the slower(ish) drums making everything feel close and anxious. Another amazing track.

Alpha Wolf lends their talents perfectly for ‘Lay down your flowers’. The added male screams added some fun variety, especially when they are higher and more metalcore. The whole track has a metalcore style to it, from the quick guitar runs to the quieter interlude in the middle. It was a nice way to break-up the album after a few fairly similar tracks. Clearly, I need to check out more Alpha Wolf, as his vocals were great!

Unfortunately, ‘There’s no place like home’ is where I start to really feel the album. While Overtone has helped me get into the heavier end of music a lot, like this band and album, I’m a sucker for variety. My brain gets easily distracted and if a lot of tracks sound similar, it’ll want to check out something else. As much as I love this album and love each individual track, it did start to wear on me a little by the halfway mark. 45+ minutes of balls to the wall melodeath is a bit much for me, where’s the ballad, Vexed? Still, as I’ve said, I loved each track individually, and feel like this all would be INCREDIBLE live.

Ironically, I’m obsessed with the following track ‘Extremist’. The way everything was stabbing on each beat, the drums, vocals and guitars all working in sync together, was AMAZING. It’s so incredibly written and packs one hell of a punch. The whole track is great, but those verses are somthing else. It’s another massive highlight of the album, and another track that makes the playlist!

Tracks like ‘Default’ and closer ‘Nepotism’ are similar to a lot of the rest. However, to Vexed ‘s credit, single ‘Trauma Euphoria’ and ‘It’s not the End’ both mix it up a bit. Both feature more of a focus on cleaner vocals and slower, radio-friendlier sections around the heavy, harsh screams. The former is a very good choice as a single as it combines the bands trademark heaviness with a genuinely huge, anthemic and catchy chorus. Oh, and it also has a fantastic guitar solo, something I have only just realised now have been absent for much of the album. It only made this one hit harder, though, it was awesome. The track could be massive off that chorus alone, and it should, as it’s amazing. Playlisted!

Meanwhile the latter feels the closest thing to a ballad the album has. It opens slow and clean, decending into a very angry chorus. The ambient sounds behind it though is so beautiful and so Spiritbox. Controversial opinion though, Vexed do it better than Spiritbox. It’s another highlight track of the album, and I only wish it was put earlier on to break things up a little more.

Overall: I LOVED THIS. While the whole album was amazing, there’s a good 5/6 tracks here that are going to stay in my frequent rotation for the rest of the year, guaranteed. Given that I am typically not as into this style as a lot of others are, I couldn’t get enough of it. They’re the sub-genre leaders after this, in my opinion, and they are going to be a massive deal in the years to come. They have a big new fan in me, and now I just need to see this live!

The score: 9.5/10

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Slipknot, Monster Truck and More!

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Another week, another batch if great new music for us all to check out. Let’s not waste time, and Let’s get into it! However, also a big shout out to Burridge. and her new EP, which also came out this week and we reviewed here!

Slipknot: The End, For Now

One of the biggest albums of the year from one of the biggest bands of the century, and boy has it got people divided. Check out our opinion of it here.

Monster Truck: Warriors

The Canadian southern rockers returned with their much anticipated fourth album this last week. I’ve been a fan of the band since their debut, but even I can admit that you know exactly what you’re getting from the band. Big riffs, powerful vocals, plenty of fuzz and attitude and a good guitar lick or two. This album is that to a T. Tracks like the opener, ‘Golden Woman’ and ‘Wild Man’ are all great. However, they don’t quite stack up to the likes of ‘Sweet Mountain River’ or ‘Old Train’. The issue with doing the same formula over and over is that if you already perfected it the first time it’s hard to capture that same magic again. 7/10. Definitely good, but I’ve heard better from the band.

Pixies: Doggerel

This went harder than I ever expected it to. The alt/indie rock band hit us with their eighth studio album and it caught me off guard, at the very least. From the punk AF opening track to a more Americana sound on ‘Thunder and Lightening’ to even some classic rock leanings and inspiration throughout, there is a LOT of variety here. Not all of it is my sort of thing and I do think that if a few of the tracks are going to sound so similar maybe cut a few out as it feels a little bloated. However, there isn’t really a bad song on the album and it’s definitely one I’d chuck on if I was driving or had stuff to do. Clearly I need to check out some more Pixies stuff. 7/10

Drowning Pool: Strike a Nerve

A band that 90% of people wrote off after the untimely passing of Dave Williams, the band are now seven albums deep into their careers with generally some pretty great output. I have to say, though, that while Jasen Moreno is good live with them, I haven’t enjoyed all too much of their last two albums since he took over vocals.

However, despite the ugly album artwork, I really enjoyed this. It finally feels like Jasen fits in the band. It has a renewed sense of attitude, aggression and motivation behind it. It sounds like the band wanted to make this album, not just put it out because of the label or as an excuse to tour. ‘Hate Against Hate’, ‘Stay and Bleed’, ‘Mind Right’ and ‘Down in the Dirt’ are all huge highlights on a very good album. I’d put them up against any other single the band have done, including any of Sinner. People definitely need to give this and another chance, and this is a fantastic album to dive back into them with. 8.5/10

Adam Doleac: Barstool Whiskey Wonderland

It feels like it’s been a couple of quiet weeks for country, so let’s dive into the next rising star in Nashville’s debut album.

Firstly, to get my usual gripe with country music out of the way, 18 tracks is just far too long. I love the genre, but nearly an hour spread out into 18 songs is going to bore the hell out of me at times unless Adam plans on exploring different forms of the genre too. Spoiler alert, he doesn’t. It’s 18 slower tempo country ballads. Now typically that wouldn’t be an issue, and there’s some great songs on the album, but my ADD made this album rather had to make it through in one sitting.

Tracks like the title one, ‘Drinkin’ it Wrong’ and ‘Somewhere Cool With You’ are really good and definite high points of the album. However, between them is a lot of slowish, similar music. I’d had enough around 10 tracks in, and I do think there are nine tracks you could cut to make this a fantastic, concise album. It’s another album that I’d happily stick on in the car, but outside of that I fear a fair few of the tracks will be lost to obscurity, only listened to on full album listens. And it’s a shame, because Adam is a fantastic songwriter, and half of this is amazing. 6/10

The Dead Daisies: Radiance

Another album we’ve already reviewed, this time ahead of release! Check out our thoughts and score on the supergroup’s sixth studio album here.

Darko US: Oni

If you want to know what hell sounds like, this is it. It’s like the Doom soundtrack on acid. It’s ludicrously heavy, and even if you aren’t into the music at all, you kinda have to admire and love them for that. The pair push every boundary they come across and the results are honestly like your favourite horror film. I honestly don’t understand how Tom Barber does most of this with his voice, and Josh Miller’s instrumentation is off the charts. Tracks like ‘Hyper Kill’, ‘Dragon Chaser’, ‘Evolving’ and ‘Acid Inject’ all had my face both scrunched up and grinning throughout, in the best ways. But it also has variety too, as ‘Infinite Beauty’ veered into an ethereal, almost Spiritbox style.

It’s definitely not going to be everyones cup of tea, I get that. I didn’t think it’d be mine, but it’s so heavy it’s come out the other end and laugh in far, shock and adoration. It’s insane in every way and I couldn’t stop listening to it. 9/10

Pulled Apart by Horses: Reality Cheques

Another indie/alt rock band suddenly channelling a lot more punk influence than they normally would. Heck, the bands 5th album wouldn’t look out of place in the Ramones or Iggy and the Stooges discography. The band are a bit more known for this sound than Pixies, but it still caught me off guard for some reason. And being a big fan of this style of early punk, I loved this. Being just eight tracks and half an hour in length too, I can’t really pick out a highlight. If you’re a fan of the other bands I mentioned or of punk at all, check this out, you’ll love it. I’m going to have this in rotation for the rest of the ye3ar now. 8.5/10

Icon for Hire: The Reckoning

I’ve heard the band name around for a while now and don’t know why I thought these were more of a deathcore band. Instead, they are a more pop/metalcore In This Moment. While I wasn’t sold on their opening track, they really grew on me by a few tracks in. Whether it’s ‘Ready for Combat’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Garekeepers’ or ‘All I See is Darkness’, there are some fantastic heavier track on here.

There are one or two duds too, though. ‘Sunflower’ is a glorified pop song and ‘Emo Dreams’ is probably a fair bit more cringy than they’d have hoped. Having said that, she is actually a good rapper, and I think if the lyrics had a little more substance than ‘I’m good’ then the track would have been a huge standout on the album.

However, it was far better than I was expecting. I can see it becoming more and more of a favourite with each listen. I need to.cjeck out more Icon for Hire, because this was sick. 8/10

Coldworld: Isolation

It feels like it’s been a while since I covered straight-up black metal here on New Music Mondays. Don’t get me wrong, my feelings generally haven’t changed about it, but the ambient nature of it, mixed with the very infrequent vocals, made this at least listenable. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it, but I also wouldn’t go out of my way to turn it off if it came on again. It was atmospheric as hell and really well put together and produced. I also haven’t found an album that matched its artwork so well in a while, this was a eerie, depressing album, and while I won’t probably listen to it much going forward, it was good. 6/10

Autopsy: Morbidity Triumphant

Old-school, straight up death metal from one of the pioneers of the genre in the US. It’s aggressive, it’s brutal, and it’s insanely fast. I don’t really know what else to say, really. It’s exactly what you’d expect when you the words ‘death metal’. If you’re a fan of Cannibal Corpse, you’ll love this. I’d love to see them live, even if on track I could take it or leave it. Still though, the band are insanely talented players and it shines through in every track. 5/10

Kristian Bush: 52/New Blue

A fantastic, but this time appropriately lengthed, country album. It’s heavily blues driven, meaning it’s a little more rock than Adam’s album earlier on, too. It’s another album that I’m struggling to pick highlights from too, as it’s all great. The first five tracks are how to do country perfectly, but the whole album is a masterclass in good songwriting really. I can’t praise this album enough, 8.5/10

Amaurot: …To Tread the Ancient Waters

And onto the last album of the week, a dark, symphonic power metal one. I have to admit, while this was definitely atmospheric and epic, it didn’t grab me much. It’s an incredibly cluttered sub-genre, especially this year, and I unfortunately feel like I’ve heard better. It’s not bad by any stretch, but it didn’t hold my attention at all. ‘Des Wanderers Leid’ is probably my highlight. 4/10

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Derby Alt Fest 2022

Derby Alt Fest is the biggest metal festival to hit Derby city in maybe ever, we just had to cover it, right? Go and check out the line-up now if you haven’t already, it’s insane. Liam has put on one hell of a bill for everyone this year at the famous, already nearing packed-out Hairy Dog, and we’re here to give you a taste of what to expect!

Thursday:

‘Thrash Thursday’, as it has been dubbed, plays host to six of the very best in the genre in the UK scene right now. From Elyrean, Helgrind and our good friends at Thrasherwolf, it’s a damn strong opening to the day and the festival. We managed to get a few words from the frontman of the latter band, sharing his thoughts on the festival:

“Hi wolvers! Dan from Thrasherwolf here! Just to say we can’t wait to bring the pack down to ALT FEST and get some good old-fashioned violence started! We hope you’re ready for the carnage that night because you won’t be leaving the same way you came in! 🤘😝🐺“

The evening then continues on its brutal ways with All Consumed and Hellfekted. Both are fantastic bands which you have to see live to get the full brunt of their energy and force. Then we reach the headliner of the evening, the mighty Cage Fight. The band have gone from strength to strength in the last few months since dropping their monster of a debut album, and this writer in particular cannot wait to be in the pit for them! They’re all worth the price of admission alone, and we still have two days left!

Check out us talk about the album here.

Friday:

The more alternative day on the wonderfully odd Dacara. The band bring their big hooks and huge guitar tones to the Dog to open up a stellar day of music. Medusa Touch bring an air of old-school, NWOBHM sound to the proceedings while WarlocK A.D. bring the power metal in spectacular fashion.

Then we reach possibly the most interesting band on the line-up, Luna Kiss. They are the lightest on the bill by quite a margin, being the only real rock band on the bill. Despite that, the band seem more than excited to be playing:

“Wil here from Luna Kiss. We’re stoked to be playing on the bill at this years Alt festival at the Hairy Dog. We’ve got a beast of a set planned and it’s going to be a good ’en’”

They are going to be a band not to be missed, and I’m curious to see how the crowd will react!

The insane local boys, Raised by Owls, are up afterwards, sharing their own brand of craziness and heaviness with the attendees. The guys have been going years at this point and have perfectly honed their craft with a show that should definitely not be missed.

Then we reach the awesome headliners of the evening, the death metal legends at this point themselves, Evil Scarecrow. The comedic, heavy band are possibly the biggest to ever grace the Alt Fest stage, and always bring with them one hell of a stage show to entertain their audience with. Not to mention, their songs are incredible, and they are all at the top of the game at what they do.

We managed to get a few words from the band too about their sure to be legendary set:

“Evil Scarecrow are so excited to be back at The Hairy Dog for the first time in a long time and looking forward to be returning back since the big room was opened. So get them crab claws, karate moves and robotic dancing at the ready as we look forward to seeing you all on the Friday night!”

Saturday:

The final day is packed full of incredible bands, with a whole afternoon and evening of great music. OATHS bring the heavy straight away with some great deathcore while Past the Fall are set to follow them with their own brand of brutality. The crushing heaviness continues with the likes of Beyond Extinction, Worship the Sacrifice and Hounds before Abduction give us a more black metal tint.

Inhuman Nature bring it back to the thrash sound again but with an extreme edge while Monasteries look to blast everyone away with their heaviness and insane talent. Fairly local band The Five Hundred return to blow the roof off the Dog as they always do, while crowd favourites Osiah pile on more insane brutality to the proceedings.

Then we reach the headliner and final band of the festival, the incredible Martyr Defiled. What more could you ask for? They are the perfect way to close out a heavy festival. Huge, heavy, at the top of their game and ready to put on an insane show to a roaring crowd. This is going to be a fantastic set, I’m sure, and one that I cannot wait to see!

We also managed to get a quick interview with the organiser and Unearthed main-man Liam about the festival, which you can check out below!

How did you decide on the bands?

Alt fest has always been as alternative as I can make it. It used to be a lot more difficult when I had just one day to smash as many genres as we could into it but now, we can really experiment. For this year I’ve based it on Thrash Thursday, Alternative Friday, and Heavy Saturday, so then I built it around that model.

How long does it take to plan an event like this and how many people are involved?

Planning pretty much starts when the previous year finishes, you look at what went well and what might have not and then begin building from there, looking at potential headliners and then opening applications and seeing who’s about. I have to shout out my guy Harry who I run Unearthed with, he’s not only helped structure the line up with me this year but also done all the graphics internally, and also everyone at The Hairy Dog, for continuing to allow me to put as many bands as physically possible on over the weekend and looking after us all.

What’s the history of Derby Alt Fest?

I actually started it as a standalone in 2016 to go along with my old bands EP release show, and it really just spiralled from that. I’ve tried to make it bigger and better every year and to not only bring bands back who have become fest favourites but also bring bigger bands who have never played. Were now in the sixth year of the event.

What can we expect at the festival this year?

Every day is going to be different. The style of bands make the shows great as standalones as well as forming into the three-day weekend. Thursday we have Cage Fight who are just rising at a rapid rate, and after just smashing Bloodstock second stage I can’t wait to see them destroy the Dog. Friday really is mental thinking about it, EVIL SCARECROW. I’ve seen this band on huge stages in the past and it’s going to be an incredible show. The Saturday is just going to be flat out brutal from start to finish. Headlined by Martyr Defiled.

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Halestorm, Three Days Grace and Much More!

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An absolutely HUGE week for New Music Mondays. 12 massive albums from some of the biggest names in rock and metal all out on the same day. I don’t know what it was about May 6th, but I’ve been waiting for it for a while. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Halestorm: Back From the Dead

Back from the dead indeed. After four years the band returned with their follow-up to 2018’s Vicious. The two singles from the album were both fantastic, setting the scene for the rest of it perfectly. However, you are going to have to wait just a little longer for my review and score, as there is no way I’m NOT doing this in depth! It should be on the site and socials within a couple of days, so keep an eye out!

Three Days Grace: EXPLOSIONS

One of the leaders of the affectionately dubbed ‘butt-rock’ sub-genre, Three Days Grace have been around over two decades at this point and show no sign of slowing down. I have to admit, I haven’t really actively listened to this band since One-X all the way back in 2006. So, it was nice to find myself rather pleasantly surprised by this album!

Three Days Grace’s Official Facebook

All the elements of butt-rock are here, the basic, heavy guitar riffs, the electronic melodies to help build the track and the edgy lyrical content. However, it is clear it is being written by a band that know exactly what they are doing, and do it exceptionally well. While the opener and lead single was a little too edgy for me, tracks like ‘I Am The Weapon’ and ‘No Tomorrow’ are just as good as anything else they’ve put out. Even the slower tracks like ‘Lifetime’ and ‘Redemption’ are fantastic, even if they are pretty depressing lyrically. Still, the emotion is definitely there, in every track. It’s made me want to check out the albums from them I’ve missed and I’ll definitely be listening to this a lot in the coming weeks! 7/10

Simple Plan: Harder Than it Looks

The Canadian pop-punkers have done a lot more than just ‘What’s New Scooby Do?’. The band have had some amazing, huge tracks over their now six album career. Their latest looks to continue that trend, being packed with huge, catchy, arena-filling choruses and vocal lines… and not a great deal else. Don’t get me wrong, the instrumentation is fine, but there isn’t really any of it that I would consider memorable. It’s a usual issue with pop punk, but it’s more prevalent in more anthemic bands like these or Good Charlotte. Still, tracks like the opener and ‘Million Pictures of You’ are good fun and highlights of a fairly standard, samey album. 6.5/10

Fozzy: Boombox

Another album I have to do an in-depth review of I’m afraid, as I have been a Jericho fan for as long as I can remember. Still though, from what I’ve heard so far, it’s going to be pretty good, and certainly better than their last couple of albums!

Silverstein: Misery Made Me

The pop-punk/emo/post hardcore(?) band hit double digits on their discography last week. This sort of music was never really my thing as a kid, in fact I actively avoided most ’emo’ music aside the odd AFI song. So, because of that, I know the band by name only. However, I did enjoy this album. The band managed to put together some interesting different styles throughout. I didn’t think the opening track was that heavy at all and leant heavily into pop-punk so it had me wondering where the post hardcore was. Then the heavy second track came in and I understood a lot more.

Tracks like ‘Ultraviolet’, ‘It’s Over’ and ‘Slow Motion’ also perfectly blend these two styles. The tracks have some awesome catchiness blended with the heaviness too. I’m actually pissed at myself for not giving this band a chance sooner, I’ll definitely be checking them out more! It’s an effortless style of arena-heavy-rock that bands like Asking Alexandria and BVB have tried to varying degrees of success recently. Awesome stuff! 8.5/10

Ibaraki: Rashomon

Trivium frontman and all-round metal legend Matt Heafy finally put out his solo album last week. This is said album. Oh, and it’s death/black metal, so I have been even more excited! Opening on a seven-and-a-half minute death epic for an essentially debut album is a ballsy move, but Heafy pulls it off masterfully. Insane riffs and a harsher scream than I have heard him use in a while, as well as still some of his powerful cleans, start the album off strong.

Ibaraki’s Official Facebook

Then there’s the all out assault of ‘Ibaraki-Doji’ and the darkly beautiful black metal slow build of ‘Jigoku Dayu’, both of which are massive highlights. Oh, and Behemoth’s own Nergal also makes an appearance on the awesome ‘Akumu’, another highlight. There is also guest appearances from the legendary Ihsahn of Emperor and even My Chemical Romance Frontman Gerard Way. Oh, and yes, you guessed it, both tracks are also awesome. Especially the latter, which sees the usually clean vocalist scream his fucking lungs out. I honestly didn’t think he had it in him, that was awesome. Heafy does a good job of managing to make it sound not too much like Trivium, but still have that recognisable edge to it. While I wouldn’t put it quite up there with Court of the Dragon, it is still an insanely strong album. 9/10

Otoboke Beaver: Super Champon

I don’t understand how these girls have over 100k monthly listeners. Then again, the punk scene is and always has been weird. I’m going to be honest with you, I didn’t make it through the whole album. I couldn’t. The vocals were barely in tune and the lyrics were SO VERY REPETITIVE. For a guy who complains about the Killers’s magnum opus ‘Mr Brightside’ being ‘lazy’ for having the same verse twice, this band make them look like J.R. Tolkien. I don’t get it, it sounds awful. If you like it please let me know on our socials what I’m missing, because this was not good. 2/10

Depressed Mode: Decade of Silence

The doom metallers returned after… well… a decade of silence (13 years, to be exact). I’ve already reviewed this very good album, so you can check out what I had to say, alongside my score, here.

Terror: Pain Into Power

This is the first ‘beatdown hardcore’ band I believe we have (at least knowingly) covered here at Overtone. While I feel like I have heard the term somewhere before, it doesn’t sound like my sort of thing so I suspect this will be a review of my first time listening to a whole new sub-genre today, rare these days.

It’s alright. Better than I expected it to be, given the name of the subgenre. It wasn’t anything special but there were a few good riffs, like the one at the end of ‘Boundless Contempt’. And it didn’t overstay its welcome either, being just 18-minutes spread across ten songs. Even the lyrics weren’t terrible. It’s not the best thing I’ve ever listened to but I’ll happily listen to it again. 6/10

Puppy: Pure Evil

This was somehow a more doom version of Smashing Pumpkins. The intro track made me think the album was going to be pretty slow and heavy, but then ‘The Kiss’ flipped it all on its head. It’s an interesting blend of styles: doom/stoner, metal, grunge and even some desert rock. I enjoyed it a fair bit, with ‘Spellbound’ being my particular album highlight. 6/10

I Am The Night: While the Gods Are Sleeping

It’s black metal. That alone should tell you exactly what to expect. I’ve really tried, guys. I’ve been doing NMM for over seven months now and have since listened to a fair amount of black metal. It’s the only sub-genre that does absolutely nothing for me. The musicians in this band are clearly very good at what they do, and the vocalist has one hell of a scream on him, but the actual songs kinda bore me. This is what people think of when they use phrases like ‘all metal just sounds the same’ and ‘you can’t tell what they’re saying’ and you know what, they’re absolutely right. I am the Night are a solid band and probably a great black metal band, bit it isn’t for me. 3/10

Stand Atlantic: f.e.a.r.

I nearly didn’t cover this. Then I remembered I covered Avril Lavigne in one of these and realised I kind of had to. It is still guitar based, even if it is more pop than rock. It reminds me very much of the likes of Olivia Rodrigo or Gayle in its melody, just with slightly more guitars. It isn’t a bad thing and is certainly catchy. It’s simply very basic catchiness and the lyrics are not really my sort of thing. It’s clearly inspired by modern female pop and punk (like AS IT IS) alongside the likes of Avril and P!no. It simply doesn’t quite live up to those influences. Tracks like ‘Deathwish’ and ‘Don’t Talk’ are pretty decent though and definite highlights. 5.5/10