The surprisingly Canadian (hearing them I thought British for sure) band Excuses Excuses made waves with their previous few singles, especially earlier this year with ‘Far From Perfect’. Capitalising on that success, the band are releasing their much anticipated debut album this coming Friday. We managed to get a sneak peak of it and, if the singles so far from it are anything to go by, this is going to be good! Check it out with us down below!
The band waste little time with their opening track, ‘Say’. Opening on a pretty fun riff, the vocals soon come in over the top, walking the line between indie and hard rock pretty masterfully. It all builds through the catchy verse and pre into a huge chorus, the echoed vocals making it sound massive. Speaking of the vocals, the lyrics are great, a fantastic ‘be yourself’ anthem. The brief guitar solo bridging the gap between the 2nd and 3rd choruses was fun, even if it did just follow the same melody as the vocals. Still, it’s an effective way of making both more catchy and memorable. Then we get a final pre and chorus to take us home in style. Good stuff to start the album with, and easily playlisted!
The title track bursts right into the chorus, full of attitude and swagger. A call not just to ‘Listen Up’, but also a call to arms, this track perfectly encapsulates the whole feel and message of the album. The guitars dropping out for the verses is a very well used trope but never gets old, and it works perfectly here. The pre is somehow even catchier than the chorus due to the fantastic backing vocals, the band channeling their inner Queen or Muse. It’d be great to hear live. Even the bridge is catchy. The whole track screams massive radio hit, which is perfect given the lyrics. Another fantastic song and another that makes its way onto our playlist!
‘Feeling Sorry’ is another typical heavy indie rock track. Bouncy, lower verses build up into huge, catchy choruses, with plenty of great lyrics across both. The structure was interesting though, given that it was essentially just verse-chorus three times and then done. In and out in just over two-and-a-half minutes. Straight to the point and I love it. We even get a scream for the last second of the track, which I was not expecting. Good stuff!
‘My Nicotine’ is a little slower paced but channels the same sort of energy as the tracks proceeding it. It’s a love song this time, in case you couldn’t guess from the title. The lyrics are well written and it’s a catchy track. I’m struggling to say much more about it, it’s pretty standard but great radio rock! I guess it’s a ballad, and a good one at that!
‘Wasted Alone’ is another slower track, opening on an almost sleazy guitar riff before the vocals come in over the top. It’s a nice touch to break up the album with something different and it honestly sounds great. The drums come in before the verse ends and turns it into ‘just’ another ballad, but that intro was certainly cool. From there it’s fairly similar to the previous track, but I’d argue it’d make a better single, it’s definitely catchier vocally. The guitar solo, while short, was a nice touch too!
‘Breakdown the Silence’ is another typical indie/punk rock track. Then we reach the final two singles of the album to close us out. ‘Meaning of Life’ is another slower track but all of the vocal lines will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. They’re so memorable and well written. It’s the most indie track on the album so far but to my surprise it’s my favourite. It makes the playlist.
Then we reach the final track, ‘Hardship to Sail’. It’s very similar to the previous track. It’s mid-tempo, fun and catchy. It is just a little samey and not quite as good as the previous track, in this writers opinion. That being said, it’s a fantastic way to close an album, epic, memorable and just a damn good track. The build-up to the final chorus is fantastic and adds to the pay-off perfectly. Plus, the gang vocals in the background of the final chorus makes everything feel more granduous and final. A good closer, but I wish the second half of the album had a little more umph. One more faster track would have been perfect.
Overall: I really enjoyed this. As not typically a fan of indie music, there was enough grit and heaviness here to keep me entertained and make me want to listen to it more. The guys are already making a big splash in the underground scene, but if they keep going like this they’re going to be massive sooner rather than later. A short, to the point album packed full of good songs, catchy vocal hooks and some good riffs!
The Score: 8/10
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A STACKED week of new music from the rock and metal world this week. Join us in checking it out!
Five Finger Death Punch: AfterLife
Okay, let’s get the controversial one out of the way first. I know that if I give this band and album any praise at all y’all will disagree, and that’s fine, I’ve made peace with it. But underneath the Monster guzzling, Drywall and partner punching Kyle energy, there are some damn talented musicians. Heck, ANDY FUCKING JAMES guitars for them these days, the talent is there. And their first couple of albums were honestly fantastic. I haven’t heard the new singles or much after Wrong Side of Heaven as they began to bore me, but hopefully this album brings them back to their roots more!
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. It’s nowhere near as bad as people will make it out to be, it’s still okay. It’s just incredibly generic radio metal. The riffs are still phat and fun and the production is still up there with some of the best. And of course James shreds some of the best highlights of the album. The issue, much like with most of their music, is Ivan’s lyrics. The angsty, angry, juvenile writing is really something a man in his 40s should have grown out of by now. He has a great voice still and is clearly good at writing catchy, huge vocal melodies and choruses, they’re just dampened considerably by the lyrical content. If they were a bit deeper or had more to them or had changed at all in the last decade+, I feel like this would be great.
‘Times Like These’ was an okay ballad and the title track is okay. But for every good track on the album, there’s a ‘Roll Dem Bones’ or the utterly terrible ‘Judgement Day’. Honestly, the good was few and far between and this was a really tough listen. I was bored way before halfway through. It’s such a shame because their thrash-Slipknot sound and attitude of Way of the Fist was fantastic and they have yet to get close to its quality. It’s a pretty slow album all-round, actually. The biggest praise I can give it, I guess, is that it’s somehow easy-listening metal. But still, it’s the worst album I’ve heard from them, of the five I’ve heard. 3/10
Panic! At The Disco: Viva Las Vengeance
Brendan Urie and friends (it stopped being Panic! years ago) are back with the follow-up to their massive 2018 album Pray For the Wicked. I have to admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of this band at their rock peak, I always preferred Fallout Boy, but I like a few tracks here and there. Heck, even ‘High Hopes’ isn’t bad as far as earworms go, just incredibly overplayed. With how poppy the singles have been so far, I feel like they’re going to be the same.
While a terrible album opener, the title track is a fun, Vegas-inspired pop-rock song. That’s pretty much the entire story of the album, if I’m being honest. And I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing. It’s not bad music at all, just a tad boring. It’s okay chilled out pop ‘rock’, but it’s a far cry from ‘I Write Sins not Tragedies’. It is pretty much musical music, which is exactly where Urie wants to be. Honestly if this was a musical I’d probably enjoy it a lot more than I do. Brendan is still one of the best vocalists alive today, but outside some pretty basic instrumentation behind his voice, that’s all there is to this album.
‘God Killed Rock And Roll’ is maybe the highlight of the album, but that’s because it’s so obviously and unapologetically Queen that it’s almost laughable. It’s a good album and I wouldn’t turn it off if it came on again, but it’s not really my sort of thing. 5/10
Demi Lovato: HOLY FVCK
It took Demi adding one of the most acclaimed rock guitarists currently in Nita Strauss in order to go back to pop punk. However, that was a relatively new addition so maybe this had been in the works for a while. Either way, a minute into the album and it’s already better than anything else she’s ever done. That riff for FREAK is tasty and for once the awful Yungblud doesn’t even overstay his welcome on a guest slot.
I’m so glad artists of this ilk, the latest being Avril Lavigne, are returning to this rock-inspired sound, and that a new generation is stepping up to join them. Hopefully it starts to lead towards more rock in the mainstream again. Plus, hopefully P!nk comes back to join the style soon too!
This album is fucking incredible, by the way. This is the album she should have put out after her return from rehab last year. Its full of emotion and a look into her thoughts and feelings about her past few years. And musically it’s catchy, radio friendly and, most importantly, ROCK. The genre that (kinda) introduced the world to her, and she returns with a vengeance. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the album art seems pretty similar to The Pretty Reckless’s last album, it’s clear that album’s inspired this one quite a bit. There’s nothing to really complain about anything, aside maybe the bloated track listing, but the album is that well paced that it doesn’t really even matter. I can’t believe I’m putting this but 8.5/10, it really is that good!
I Prevail: TRUE POWER
Another band I feel like I should have given more time to before now. It’s metalcore and has everything I should like in a band. I have one of their tracks on my Spotify (Gasoline, I think) and do enjoy it. So, I’m excited to sink my teeth into this album.
Truthfully, this album is a bit of a mixed bag. I liked when they got heavier on tracks like ‘Body Bag’, ‘Fake’ and ‘Judgement Day’. However their lighter stuff didn’t do much for me and their pop-punk, clean choruses almost felt a little… generic? I feel like that’s not the right word but I can’t think of a better one. I feel like I’ve heard them before. And some of the rap didn’t do it for me either, while some parts of it really did. Overall there was enough to keep me coming back, and plenty of it has made our playlist. 7/10
Soilwork: Overgivenheten
This was all over the place in the best way. So much so that I had to listen to it multiple times through over the weekend in order to just compose my thoughts. Sometimes melodeath, sometimes prog, sometimes power metal, sometimes straight up Scorpions-style hard rock, this had a bit of everything.
Having said that, everything they do sounds great. The heavier, epic opener into the lighter, clean-centric following track did a great job of showing what the band are about right from the offset. From there the quality stays, as does the variety. ‘Electric Again’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album, as is ‘Is It in Your Darkness’. No two songs are alike, especially when next to each other on the album, a fantastic display of songwriting prowess and honestly made for an insanely fun listen. Every track is good, not just the highlights, and this is an album I’ll be listening to a lot going forward! 8/10
The Chats: Get Fucked
Unapologetically punk as FUCK. Basically The Sex Pistols but with actual talent. I don’t even know what else I can say about it, it’s that straightforward an album. It’s punk, if you like the genre, you’ll like this. I’d struggle to even pick some highlight tracks as, due to the style, they all sound pretty similar. However, the album is so concise at 27-minutes that it never overstays its welcome. Good stuff! 7/10
Silversun Pickups: Physical Thrills
This was not what I was expecting, but I have no idea why. I’ve seen the name floating around for a good few years and always associated them with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead. And guess what, this was exactly like those two bands. I guess I was simply expecting a little more, however foolishly. I’m not really a fan of either of the aforementioned bands, and I can’t get into this much either.
It’s dark, moody prog rock with just enough of a commercial edge that it could be considered radio-friendly. I wasn’t a fan of some of the artier tracks, but then songs like ‘Sacred Together’ and ‘Hereafter’ were so good it made me almost forget how much I wasn’t fussed by the rest of the album.
Conan: Evidence of Immortality
Heavy prog doom metal from the UK, this feels like the most ‘true metal’ thing I’ve ever listened to. When the opening track is 10+ minutes long, you know you’re in for one hell of a ride.
Unfortunately, that ride is pretty slow and takes a while to get to any fun sightseeing locations. I’m a fan of doom, but the same riffs repeated for two minutes or more don’t do much for me. The vocals help breakup the repetitiveness of the tracks a little, and the scream is very good. But it wasn’t enough to hold my attention for too long.
I remember seeing them a few years ago at a small venue my old band played at and remember enjoying them live, so maybe that’s what I need. Seeing music live helps it translate a lot better, being surrounded by likeminded people and having it all much louder and seeing them play it etc. Until I can make it down to one of their gigs, however, I feel like I can only give this a 4.5/10. Sorry guys.
Thundermother: Black and Gold
A controversial band next, at least in the UK underground rock scene. The NWOCR band return with their fifth album, looking to shake some of that negative energy off them, and honestly it’s very good.
Opening track ‘The Light in the Sky’ sets a great stadium-filling sound and precedent that continues throughout. The title track is mid-tempoed, catchy awesomeness and the riff for ‘Raise Your Hands’ is sleazy greatness. The soft, almost jazz rock ballad ‘Hot Mess’ is another massive highlight of the album too, as is the Thunderstruck-esque ‘I Don’t Know You’.
It’s all massive, catchy, radio-friendly hard rock, and it’s great. Some bands you can just tell from their sound and songwriting that they’re going to be massive, and these are definitely one of them. I could easily hear this opening for amassive stadium tour like GnR or the Crue/Leppard one, it’d go down a storm. I can’t praise this enough. 9/10
Hammer King: Kingdemonium
We checked this out already and loved it. Check out the full review and score here.
Lillian Axe: From Womb to Tomb
The first new album to be released by the band in over a decade, it’s not as black metal as the album title suggests it is. If anything a lot of it channels more soft/prog rock sounds than the ‘hard rock’ they are. While the opening track sounds ELO-like, the second goes in a completely different direction and goes full Dream Theater. I actually quite like the prog sound they go for for the most part, but it is so very DT I might as well just be listening to Octavarium. There’s some fun riffs none the less and the vocals are powerful and fit the music well. Good stuff, but nothing that I haven’t heard plenty before. 6/10
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You know what’s happening by now. Lots of new music from ten awesome bands. Lets check them out together down below!
Amon Amarth: The Great Heathen Army
Scandinavian Viking metallers return with their 12th studio album, and once again it’s awesome. However, the first thing I noticed was that the fantastic single ‘Put Your Back into the Oar’ that was released earlier this year did not make the album. An unfortunate omission as it’s a great track, but so are the others that made the album’s cut. It’s a concise nine tracks of great death metal. The opener sets the scene perfectly while the title track is simply awesome. However, tracks like ‘Heidrun’ and ‘Find a Way or Make One’ are definite highlights of the album. And of course, the collab between them and Saxon, aptly titled ‘Saxons and Vikings’, is as amazing as you’d expect it to be. While I do have to admit I did prefer the bands last two albums over this one, it’s still a great album I’ll be listening to a lot going forward!7.5/10
Soulfly: Totem
A band that I really should listen to more given how much I like Sepultura, Soulfly have now released a whopping 12 albums for me to catch up on. The groove/death metal band go hard right from the opening track, ‘Superstition’, and to little surprise also go hard through all ten tracks. It shares similar characteristics to the previous album in that both are a similar genre and draw on their culture for inspiration (though Max doesn’t do it as much here as he used to). However, I do think Amon Amarth did it slightly better. Soulfly definitely have the more aggressive edge to their sound, but I found the catchier element of AA funner and ultimately more enjoyable. I know I shouldn’t compare the two bands, and tracks like ‘Souring the Vile’ and ‘Ancestors’ are great, but it’s hard not to when both come out on the same day. Maybe it would translate better live for me! 6.5/10
The Interrupters: In the Wild
We don’t have enough ska on this site, or in the music scene in general any more, so I am so glad The Interrupters are flying the flag for the fourth wave of ska. The Distillers-inspired band have put out three of the best punk albums of the last decade in their short career, and look to continue their streak with this one. Starting out punky it soon goes full ska with the awesome ‘As We Live’ (anything with Tim Armstrong is awesome). The rather silly ‘Raised by Wolves’ gives way to the fantastic lead single, ‘In the Mirror’, and the album is off to a fantastic start.
My only issue with this album is how bloated it is. I love the band and genre as much as the next guy, but 14 tracks is a lot for a ska album. However, having said that, each song is amazing, so I don’t know how they’d have cut any as I wouldn’t be able to choose which to get rid of. The tracks are short enough too, the album is still less than 45-minutes long. I guess it’s just my easily distracted brain wanting slightly ore variety when listening to so many tracks at once. Still, every track on the album is awesome, especially ‘Love Never Dies’ featuring the criminally underrated Skints. Check this out, as it really is a fantastic album, and definitely continues their winning streak! 9/10
Dub War: Westgate Under Fire
Skindred mastermind Benji Webbe’s original band have been on and off active for the last eight years now, but their first new music release in 24 years is a pretty massive deal. The reggae punk-rock works just as well with the political subject matter that ‘Blackkk Man’ explores as it does the slightly lighter subject matter of Skindred’s lyrics. For anyone who isn’t as familiar with the band, it’s more closely related to Public Enemy, Suicidal Tendencies and even Wildhearts than the heavier riffs that Mikey Demus brings to Skindred. However, tracks like ‘Vibes in the Place’, ‘Mary Shelley’ and ‘Fun Done’ are all awesome. A good album and a great return from a band that should have gotten further the first time round! 7.5/10
Psycroptic: Divine Council
The death metal Aussies put out one hell of an eighth studio album last Friday. I cannot get over how fucking incredible the riffs are throughout the entire album, and just the guitars in general. Joe Haley is another criminally underrated guitarist, creating a dream album for those into the rhythm side of the instrument. Just check out ‘A Fool’s Errand’ to hear what I’m talking about. The rest of the band are fantastic too, the drummer working overtime throughout and all the different screams fitting the genre perfectly and being amazing. This is the sort of death metal that I love and holy crap, what an album. At just nine tracks and under f40 minutes, it’s also compact and concise awesomeness. Check this out, you won’t be disappointed! 8/.5/10
The Flatliners: New Ruin
The punk/almost post-hardcore band released their first album in half a decade last week. I wasn’t familiar with the band before writing this review and, honestly, I’m not sure how to feel about the album even after listening to it all. It wasn’t bad at all, it just felt like nothing really stood out to me. It reminds me of this year’s Static Dress album in that it’s a genre that I should LOVE, but for some reason it just doesn’t resonate with me the way I thought it would. However, the more indie-like chorus for ‘Rat King’ did have me singing along pretty quick and is definitely a highlight o the album. 6/10
Abbadon Incarnate: The Wretched Sermon
This at least wins the award for best album artwork of the week. It’s fuckin’ awesome. As for the music, it’s impressively fast death metal. Like, if thrash and death had a baby and then gave it speed. It’s a lot of fun. However, I did find myself loosing track of which song was wihich rather quickly, they all blended into one. Outside of the more up and down, longer ‘Isolation and Decay’ it was all rather samey. It was still a good listen and worth it for anyone who’s into the heavy stuff, but it’s exactly what you’d expect it to be. 6.5/10
StormbounD: December
Check out our full review of this awesome album, alongside it’s score, here.
Grave Bathers: Rock’n’Roll Fetish
The stoner/doom rock band’s debut gives us more riffs than 99.99% of other albums combined, so it feels. The band seem like the second coming of The Sword, something that the industry has needed ever since said band released High Country. ‘Ghost ‘Em All’ pens the album in spectacular fashion and perfectly encapsulates what the band is about and going for It’s amazing. The rest of the album is just as spectacular, too. Again though, and I feel like a broken record at this point, it’s a damn long album. 12 tracks spanning 81-minutes is a lot, even if given the genre it’s a little more forgivable than others. However, the sheer talent of the bands playing and songwriting on display means that even at the insane length of the tracks, it is still one hell of a great listen. No highlights again here, all the tracks are great. 9/10
Devil’s Paradise: Post Mortem
17 tracks for 80-minutes of music. What is it about this week and really long albums? It feels like the bands are cottoning on to how many albums I listen to to review a week and are taking the piss a bit now!
In all seriousness though, this was fantastic. Another great debut album (even if some of these tracks have been out nearly a decade already), making a whopping three in the same day! They remind me a lot of one of my favourite newer bands this year, South of Salem. I really hope this combo of Misfits style goth-punk and modern-day sleaze sticks around and continues to get bigger, because it’s a fantastic sub-genre. This does have a little more of a US radio rock edge to it too (think Burn Halo, Soil etc), especially on the slower tracks like ‘Ghost’. There’s also a handful of slower tracks that sound like Avenged Sevenfold when they they to sound like GNR. I love all of it, these ballads or the heavier, faster goth-sleaze tracks.
There are plenty of highlights from the album, a handful of which made our playlist. This is DEFINITELY worth checking out, these guys are gonna be huge. 9/10
And there we have it, an absolutely fantastic week for new music, a lot of it coming from the youngest bands on the list. Rock music is in an incredibly strong place right now with the next generation coming up, and I cannot wait to see where they all go from here!
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Another big week for new music in rock and metal, both for younger bands and older ones. 11 albums in total, so let’s not waste time, here they are!
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Unlimited Love
I’m just going to leave a link to my full review of the album here. I hated that I wasn’t a big fan of it , and given that it’s had mixed (at best) reviews, at least I’m not alone. But hell, I don’t want to talk about this album any more, I want something funner. Find the score from the link, but it was not great.
Meshuggah: Immutable
The extreme-prog metal band have been on the roll of their careers the last 15 years or so. Despite forming way back in the late 80s, it wasn’t until 2008s ObZen when it felt like the band truly hit their stride commercially and artistically. The two albums that followed that were also amazing. Does this one live up to them?
After a slow start, we reach the single ‘The Abysmal Eye’ and the album takes off into a gear only few can hit. It’s heavy and crazy proggy while somehow still maintaining an almost Mushroomhead-like catchiness to it all vocally. It’s a good album, but I do have to admit it does get a little repetitive at times. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to have a reprieve from the brutality momentarily thanks to ‘They Move Below’ (what a track, by the way), but otherwise it’s pretty full on. Still, I cannot complain about having too much of a good thing really, can I? If you are a fan of Machine Head, Parkway Drive, or just general industrial, prog or extreme metal at all, check this out! 9/10
Islander: It’s Not Easy Being Human
The South Carolina alt-metal band has a lot of guests on it. Eight of the 17 tracks on the album has a guest vocalist or band member be a part of it. I’m not sure if that’s cool or overkill or feels cheep and like they couldn’t write a full album by themselves. Especially since tracks like ‘Evil’ and ‘The Outsider’ are just the band on their own and are both awesome tracks. Having said that though, some of the tracks with guests are also fantastic. In particular, ‘Skin Crawl’ with members of Korn, Zao and Living Sacrifice. It somehow sounds like a mixture of all four bands, blending the styles perfectly. The album as a whole is a diverse blend of styles, a melting pot of the early 2000s metal scene, from Linkin Park to Machine Head to Papa Roach to Korn. I love the whole scene they are going for, so the band have definitely gained a new fan in me! It’s maybe a tad bloated at 17 tracks, but it’s worth a listen from front to back, for sure! 8.5/10
Nekrogoblikon: The Fundamental Slimes and Humours
And now it’s time for a band that I don’t really get. I’ve always seen it as a gimmick that’s fun at first but the appeal never lasted too long. After this new album, I still don’t think I get it. I enjoyed it more than everything else I have heard from the band (which admittedly isn’t a lot), but I still don’t think I liked it. There’s some fun, catchy vocal lines and keyboard melodies, and the vocalist that sounds like he’s trying to be Axl Rose has a good voice. If it was just him and the carnival-style metal instrumentation behind it I could at a push enjoy it. But switching between that and the growling goblin and the sheer mess of songwriting each track is, I found myself getting lost and bored easily. ‘This is It’ is kind of a bop, though. I get that a lot of people like it and they aren’t the most serious of bands so maybe I’d appreciate it more live. But for now, 4/10
PUP: THE UNRAVELLING OF PUPTHEBAND
Pathetic Use of Potential, the band, are a fantastic Canadian punk band. Another band I hadn’t even heard of before I’d started doing this NMM, I’m disappointed that I hadn’t found them sooner. This album is amazing. It’s so refreshing to hear bands actually having fun with their music these days, especially when talking about some pretty deep subject matter at times. All of the ‘Four Chords’ parts are hilarious and tracks like ‘Totally Fine’, ‘Robot Writes a Love Song’ and ‘PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing for Bankruptcy’ are all amazing. They can get pretty heavy at times, almost feeling like a punk version of early Biffy. And it all fits so well with the concept of the album. There isn’t a bad track on here and I’ll definitely be listening to it a lot over the coming months! 8.5/10
Wolf: Shadowland
The Swedish heavy metal band have worked hard since forming in ’95, on their 9th album since the turn of the millennium. Shadowland is exactly what you would expect out of a band heavily inspired by NWOBHM in 2022. It’s a good, fun rock album, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the sub-genre that arguably peaked nearly half a century ago. All the band members are immensely talented at music and songwriting, and tracks like ‘Dust’ and ‘Seek the Silence’ are definite highlights. I simply feel that after so much from Saxon and Priest and Accept over the years that new music like this isn’t too interesting to me. But as I said, I did enjoy the album, and I feel like I would love it live! 5.5/10
The sophomore album of fast-rising indie-punk band Crows feels like a big deal for them. Having toured with the likes of Wolf Alice and IDLES before and their first album being well received, this second seemed a little make or break. While I’m not really down with the whole indie scene, it definitely feels like it’s a big deal album for the scene. It’s pretty heavy and dirty, almost transcending the typical genre restraints. It definitely meant I enjoyed it more! The singles from the album are definite highlights, but I managed to listen through this whole thing without getting bored, which is rare for me! 5/10
Carpenter Brut: Leather Terror
I had never heard darksynth before today but came across this album when I was doing my research for this article. It’s pretty fucking heavy. Like, surprisingly so. And I kinda love it. Whenever the guest vocalists come in it feels like it takes away the heaviness a little, but it only drops down to around a BMTH level. If you are into industrial or techno influenced music or not I’d recommend checking this out anyway, it’s a completely different approach to heavy music and is interesting if nothing else. However, I found it damn enjoyable, with highlights including ‘Straight Outta Hell’ and ‘Night Prowler’. 7/10
Satan: Earth Infernal
The Geordie heavy metal band were around during the first surge of NWOBHM and have been on and off again ever since. Their fourth album since their 2011 reunion, Earth Infernal continues the band’s legacy pretty well. Some tracks, like ‘Twelve Infernal Lords’ and ‘Poison Elegy’ were enjoyable and highlights, but as I stated when it came to Wolf, I’ve simply gotten a tad bored of NWOBHM recently. At least new tracks in it, anyway. It’s not a bad album and it’s not like I’d skip a track if it came on or anything, it’s just not something I’d go out of my way to listen to. 5.5/10
Evil Invaders: Shattering Reflection
And finally we end this week on some thrash/heavy metal. The Belgian band have been around since 2007 but this third album may be their best yet. The riffs are fantastic, the vocals powerful, high and impressive and the song writing top notch. ‘In Deepest Black’ is one of the best ballads I’ve heard this year and ‘Eternal Darkness’ is a masterclass in old-school thrash metal the kind I haven’t heard in a long time. It reminds me a lot of Judas Priest’s Painkiller album, and it’s right up my street! Check this out! 8/10
And there we have it! What a week for metal music! As usual join us again next week, this time for nu-metal legends Papa Roach!
Neptune Rain is one of the few bands that started during the pandemic era of music, not gigging until just a month or so ago after having an EP out for nearly a year. To support the fact that they can now play their stuff live, the band has released a reissue of said EP with a few bonus tracks on it, which is available everywhere from today. We managed to get hold of it a little early so that we could get it out to you as soon as it dropped, so check out said review below!
‘All Pain no Gain’ opens on an electronic sample sound and some awesome drums before a great guitar riff comes in over the top of it. It unfortunately stops pretty quick, and I’d have loved it to have lasted longer, but the stripped-back verse afterwards is also awesome, working very well with the same drumbeat and just simpler guitars. The soft, almost whispered vocals also add so much depth and atmosphere to the track, filling it out a bunch. Some rapped vocals come in for the pre, sounding great and building the track up perfectly for a MASSIVE chorus. The duelling vocals were awesome, adding to the catchiness, and the slightly rappier second half was great fun! A brief bridge filled with more awesome vocals leads to a final chorus to finish things off. A simple, radio-friendly structure to a song that was infectiously catchy and fun to listen to. Easily playlisted!
New track ‘Bitter Pill’ opens on some rap-inspired vocals, giving off massive Linkin Park vibes. The instrumentation behind it builds perfectly up, getting heavier and heavier before exploding into another HUGE chorus. The vocals are all sung in this one, and it’s catchy and very enjoyable, written to fill a huge stage by the sound of it. The build-up through the bridge was also a nice touch, especially with the vocals moving up an octave or two as it got heavier. We then again get a final big chorus to finish off another AWESOME song! Another that makes it straight to the playlist!
‘If That Was Love’ opens on a pretty mid-tempo yet heavy riff, the synths in the back adding so much depth to the sound. It drops back again for the verses, being very drum-led, although that may be more down to the production than anything. The pre was also amazing, the guitars getting heavier and a great, catchy vocal melody being present over the top. It all leads into a typically huge, open chorus, the harmonies on the vocals making them hugely catchy and the instrumentation filling out the section massively. We get a rappy bridge after the second chorus, a breakdown almost behind it from the guitar and drums. We then head into a final chorus again to take us home. Damn this was also excellent!
Another new track, ‘Legend’, is one of the slower tracks on the EP. It follows the same sort of formula as the other tracks and has another awesome, huge chorus, but definitely feels like the ballad of the release. Having said that, ‘Taste of Air’ is also another slower track. It’s not bad at all, both are fantastic tracks, with the latter being a particular highlight of the entire EP. It’s simple, just vocals and guitar, but it is so emotional and the vocals and lyrics are fantastic, a really good track and one I am shocked didn’t make the initial release.
OG EP track ‘Nothing Left to Save’ is another heavy one, the opening riff giving off Bring Me the Horizon vibes as much as Linkin Park ones. It doesn’t slow up through the verses either, staying at a quick, almost thrash pace, a nice change from the other tracks I have checked out so far. The chorus keeps the same quick pace but opens up perfectly. The rappier bridge after the second chorus was awesome as always too before it drops down to a beautiful little string section. It’s another part that I’d have happily had go on a little longer, but it’s a small gripe to have with an otherwise amazing song. It ends with another big chorus, the drums working double-time for the last part and adding even more craziness to it all. Another playlisted track!
Added track ‘Rise’ opens on a great guitar riff, the call of ‘1234’ adding even more bounce to it, somehow. It’s another track that stays pretty heavy from start to finish, the riff in the verses keeping me headbanging, especially with the little dropouts from the guitar. The chorus is now expected awesomeness, too. The little ‘woo’ after the first chorus was a nice touch too, it makes it sound like the band had some real fun recording the track, making it a funner listen as a result. The breakdown riff after the second chorus was awesome too, and the singing coming in over the top added some more depth to it all. Again, it didn’t last as long as it could have, but the final chorus is so infectiously catchy that I just cannot complain.
The final two tracks on the EP, OG ‘The Weight of Giving Up’ and ‘We Breathe the Same’ are both two more great tracks. Unfortunately, they have gotten a little lost in the shuffle for me at this point. I LOVE the band’s sound, I really do, but outside of the two slower tracks, they all follow roughly the same formula. I’d happily listen to these tracks a bunch on their own, but when they are part of an album of similar songs, it’s ever so slightly a slog for me to listen to all in one sitting. Heck, that might just be because I’m more of a prog fan than a more radio-friendly sound, but still! As I said, both are good songs, but I’ve run out of praise to give them or stuff to talk about without me repeating myself from previous songs!
Overall: I loved this! It’s a fantastic blend of Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Bring me the Horizon and even stuff like Fall Out Boy that I truly think hasn’t been attempted before (not that I’ve heard, anyway). It’s fresh, catchy, and all-round enjoyable. It’s clear that every member is incredibly talented too, at both their roles and as songwriters. I cannot wait for the chance to see these guys live hopefully next year, and I look forward to hearing what they put out in the future!
The Score: 8.5/10
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A Joker Among Thieves are a three-piece heavy rock band hailing from Yorkshire. The band have released a couple of tracks over the last two years to pretty great success, and now they are gearing up to drop their latest one, ‘Don’t Run Away’, at the end of this month. We discovered the band through their awesome set at Rockin’ The Bowl last month and we were kindly given a sneak preview ahead of the big release in order to review it. Well, here is that review!
Starting out pretty fast and heavy, the drums keep a steady beat behind an awesome little guitar riff. The vocals come in, powerful and melodic, almost giving the track more of a punk feel than anything else. If it is punk, though, it’s still pretty heavy. The pre is pretty fun, building up perfectly into a catchy, massive chorus. It’s easy to sing along to vocally and the instrumentation behind it makes it all sound massive, a real credit to the producer of the track for that one too! The vocals ever so slightly remind me of Rob Zombie at times, for whatever reason.
The awesome riff continues out of the second chorus, the bass being turned up and the bassist really getting to show off his awesome skill. It reminds me a little bit of Frank Bello’s playing, or even Cliff Burton. We also get an awesome, pretty technical guitar solo over the top, something that shows off even more of the bands thrash influences. We then get a great stripped back final verse, this time having some extra vocals that repeat or mirror the main ones, giving a sweet echo effect but also giving a slight unnerving tone, which I imagine is exactly what they were going for. We then get a final chorus afterwards with an awesome, catchy outro, the repeated vocal of the song’s title being the perfect thing for a crowd to sing back to the band in a live setting.
Overall, it’s an awesome track, and one that will easily make the playlist as soon as it is out on streaming services. I would recommend the track and the band as a whole for anyone who is into rock music, as they are also damn good live. Good stuff!
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They Fell From the Sky are comprised of members of both Bullet for my Valentine and Hundred Reasons, two bands I am very much a fan of! I hadn’t heard much of the band before getting asked to do the review, but the people involved made me pumped enough for its release. Add onto that the fantastic latest single I heard, and this should be one hell of a review. Join me in checking out this hard rock/metal/punk fusion band!
‘Dry’ opens on a fantastic building guitar riff backed by a solid drum roll before exploding into an even better riff. The vocals soon come over the top, having a harsher, hardcore edge to them than I was expecting. It also gives the track a lot more of a punky edge, like a heavier Frank Turner vocally. The verse builds perfectly into a catchy chorus, the vocals being an instant ear-worm. There’s a short bridge part after the second chorus as it drops down a bit, but it doesn’t really go anywhere before the final chorus comes in to take us home. There is an AWESOME scream at the end though, and the stopping dead was pretty cool!
‘Crush This World’ opens on an aptly crushing riff, heavy and huge. It drops down a little in the verse but still maintains a bouncy heaviness, while also having a great vocal hook. If anything it’s a little more catchy than the chorus, but that’s saying a lot as the chorus is also very good! We get an awesome bridge that leads suddenly into a pretty heavy (if short), breakdown, more awesome heaviness. We then get a quick final chorus to take us home. This was an awesome under three minutes, especially with the breakdown being reprised for the outro. Playlisted!
One of the singles from the album, ‘The Line’, is the song that got me into the band in the first place after being sent it to us for promotion. It’s a slower track than the previous two, more of an emotional ballad, but it’s awesome. The intro gives off almost Foo Fighters vibes with the powerful vocals over the lighter guitar riff, and the chorus is honestly beautiful thanks to the profound lyrics. The bridge is even very entertaining, the duelling vocals and harmonies over the top of the riff giving off Biffy Clyro vibes too, another fantastic band to be compared to. It’s just an awesome song all around and definitely one to check out!
‘Can’t Think of Anything’ opens on a chord build-up which gave me slight Offspring vibes before the main, pretty heavy riff kicked in. It drops back down for the verse, a beautiful vocal melody over the top of an equally beautiful guitar riff. The chorus is again very Foo Fighters thanks to the descending vocal melody at times; it sounds great. However, the song had a pretty odd structure. Because the intro and verses were so long, it meant that even at three minutes in length it only had two verses and choruses before fading out. It might have been nice to have had a longer song and had a bridge or changeup in there somewhere, but it was still a decent song nonetheless!
‘Take it or Leave it’ is the punkiest of the songs on the album simply due to the main riff, it’s light and bouncy and quite frankly Punk AF. The pre and chorus are also much of the same, both massively catchy in their own right and very enjoyable, maybe also the best of the album. The bridge riff is still pretty heavy, and the effect on the vocals for the first part of the last chorus SCREAMS pop-punk, I love it all! It was another easily playlisted song!
‘Mantrap’ heavies things up a bit again, the main riff being down-tuned awesomeness from the guitars and the drums follow it perfectly. Speaking of the drums, Jason has been solid throughout this whole album, a real unsung hero in this review so far as he has been so crazy consistent. The effect on the vocals in the verses was also awesome, adding some great dynamics and even more heaviness to it all. The screams coming out of the choruses were also awesome, really giving the band plenty of styles to work with after the punkier previous song. I always love it much more when the bands keep it interesting and have some different sounding songs on their albums, not just the same sound recycled ten times over, and this album does exactly that. Again bringing up the drums, the fading out drum solo at the end was another massive highlight of the song!
‘The Joy of Hindsight’ opens on a pretty great riff, but for some reason outside of that, the track didn’t grip me as much as the others. It was a steadier number and I think it just wasn’t quite as good as ‘The Line’, which I wasn’t expecting it to, but yeah, it was good but not as great as the others. The same could be said for the following song, ‘One More Obstacle’. It’s a good song in its own right, but other songs have done heavy better on this album so it gets a tad lost in the shuffle.
‘Staring at the Sun’ is another great combination of their heaviness and punkier aspects, a thoroughly enjoyable song. There isn’t much I can talk about with it though, or I’d just be repeating what I’ve said already at times in this review. It’s good, check it out. It also fades perfectly into the final track ‘Birth of the Stars’ something I always appreciate when listening to albums. Said song is unfortunately nothing to gush over, it’s again slightly more of an album track like the previous one. However, after ten minutes of dead air after the track, the band explode back in with a bonus track! I’m not 100% sure what the title of the track is, but the chorus is damn heavy and FULL of screaming, which I loved. The structure itself was weird (of course it was, it’s a bonus track) and mainly consists of a riff, verse and chorus before it spends a couple of minutes fading out, but it was a very enjoyable track, more so than the one it was attached to, in my opinion!
Overall: this was awesome. Almost every song was fantastic, the singles definitely not being the only ones. There were a couple of album tracks feeling songs by the end, but overall it was a damn solid release that was massively enjoyable, and it is an album I shall be listening to for a while. I look forward to hearing where the band goes from here!
The Score: 8/10
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Chicagoan punk rockers Rise Against have been established as a force in the rock world for years now, their breakout album The Sufferer & The Witness being released back in 2006. Putting out a further five albums since then (including the one being reviewed here), the band has continued with their solid, fantastic releases, having huge singles like Saviour, Satellite, and The Violence. However, despite that, for some reason in the UK, they have never quite reached the pinnacle of the scene. I’ve been a fan of them since hearing Saviour on Kerrang!, Appeal to Reason being one of the first few albums I brought soon after. I have been a fan of the band ever since; they are some of the best lyric writers in the game right now and their brand of punk is awesome. So, it’s safe to say I’m pretty excited for this one. Let’s get into it!
One of the album’s singles, ‘The Numbers’, is up first. Starting with some distorted, distant-sounding pre-war song, it soon fades out into a quite beautiful clean guitar chord progression. It doesn’t last long, though, soon bursting into a fantastic and very Rise Against-y riff, the chords and lead parts working perfectly together. The pace keeps pretty quick, Tim McIlrath’s distinctive vocals already coming in with some great lyrics that sound like more revolution ‘call to arms’ types. They follow the formula that has worked so well for them until this point, a fast yet catchy pre that gives way to a slower, more open chorus, the vocals soaring through their catchy melody and the lead instrumentation behind them only adding to the epic feel. It strips back a little after the second chorus, dropping down to just bass and vocals for a bit before slowly building up more and more as more instruments come back. The analogy of us being horses oppressed by our owners was fantastic here and so masterfully written. My god, I’m going to gush about the lyrics a lot. Sorry in advance! I just love the whole anti-establishment style that punk has lost so much of recently outside of these guys. “Fuck what you call normal” is just such a fantastic line, and delivered with such anger and emotion. It all builds into a great little riff before launching into a massive final chorus. This was a great song and album opener. It was formulaic for the band at this point, but any time we get new music by them I can’t help but enjoy it. This easily made the playlist.
‘Sudden Urge’ opened on another great yet pretty simple riff. The pace is much slower here, a nice change from the breakneck speed of the opener. The vocals and lyrics are still great, and the guitar chords behind them sounded good. The pace picks up heading into the pre before we get a middle-of-the-road chorus. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t quite as good as the previous one, in my opinion. I actually thought that the second verse was catchier and better written than the chorus, which is always a little odd. The bridges were enjoyable again but not as memorable as the previous song’s. The song as a whole was good, a good album track, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to listen to it on its own.
The lead single and the album’s title track is up next. It opens on just vocals and a simple guitar chord progression and it sounds awesome. There are some more fantastic lyrics, the same ones that make up the chorus, more talk of being the outcasts of society, and it just fits the genre perfectly. The verses sound almost a little bland after just how great and catchy the chorus is, but that’s kind of the point of them, no? There isn’t too much of a bridge in the middle but the even more stripped-back chorus afterwards was fantastic, adding some great dynamics to a genre of music that is notoriously hard to do that to. Also, I have to give some love to the backing vocals, which have been on point throughout this. I cannot praise this song enough, it’s easily playlisted. Check it out if you like catchier, slightly slower songs.
The album’s most recent single, ‘Talking to Ourselves’, is next. Bursting straight in with an almost pop-punk riff was interesting, but it soon slows down again heading into the verse. There isn’t too much I can say about the verses and choruses, it follows a very similar formula to the first couple of songs. It’s all massively catchy and there are some more great lyrics scattered throughout. A good song in its own right, there just isn’t really anything special about this song like the other singles so far have shown. It feels more of an album track to me, which is probably why it was only released a week or so before the album was. A good song, but not quite as good as the others so far.
The final single on the album, ‘Broken Dreams, Inc’, opens on a few seconds of a pretty cool bass riff before the guitar comes in to drown it out a little. It again slows down for the first half of the verse before speeding back up again. It’s another good, fast punk rock song, the chorus being the fastest part of the song this time. It was a nice change from the slower, epic feeling choruses that we’ve had so far, but it did result in it feeling a little less catchy. The breakdown after the bridge was nice, but that might be me being bias as it was just bass and vocals. The final chorus felt a little catchier with the backing vocals doing the call and response thing, but it still didn’t do a whole lot for me. Another album track, for me.
‘Forfeit’ was an immediate change of pace, Tim and his guitar starting off the track slowly and calmly with some beautiful vocals and picking work. It builds and builds so much while it’s still just him, his vocals soaring in the very catchy chorus and the guitar playing solid chords behind them. There wasn’t much to this, and it was perfect. I think the band does just as good at the slow, emotional ballads as they do with their faster, punky stuff. The emotion rings through so well, it being maybe my favourite slower song by them since Hero of War. This would be one I would LOVE to see live, and has easily made the playlist!
‘Monarch’ immediately picks up the pace again, a blisteringly quick drumbeat driving through the whole song, it barely slowing aside for a little bit in the chorus. Having this after the slower song was a great choice as I felt there wasn’t much particularly special about this song again, aside from some more great lyrics and an awesome guitar riff around the middle, but I found myself enjoying this a lot more than a couple of the other songs on this album so far. I also loved that it had a few faint noises as an outro which then led immediately into the next song, something I always love when albums do.
‘Sounds Like’ has some great lyrics throughout again, but outside of that feels like another fairly standard Rise Against song at this point. However, ‘Sooner or Later’ is another slower song, opening on some distorted keys before drums and vocals come in over the top. It’s pretty beautiful, especially some more great, profound lyrics. It doesn’t pick up the pace much, just in the slightly bigger, very catchy chorus. There isn’t much to the song but it is really great, catchy, and even features a scream from Tim at one point, something I feel like I haven’t heard in a long time! It’s another that made the playlist!
Unfortunately, the last couple of tracks, ‘Middle of a Dream’ and ‘Rules of Play’ fall into the same sort of formula that I have spoken about before. Both are again very good, enjoyable songs, and the latter has a damn good, catchy chorus, but neither piqued my interest quite as much as a few others on here. It’s a shame the album didn’t end with one of the biggest hitters it has, but Rules was still a damn good song, and at least it was pretty fast-paced!
Overall: I loved this. Rise Against always impress me and while it wasn’t necessarily a ground-breaking song for the band in terms of the sound, it was still a damn enjoyable one filled to the brim with good to great songs. There are a few here that I will be listening to a lot over the coming weeks and months, and the whole album as a whole will get listened to again more than a few times!
