The amazing German hard rockers are back with their highly anticipated sophomore album. Arriving less than two years after their debut, the quintet have been hard at work on both their live shows and recorded work to follow it up. The singles so far have been kick-ass, so if the record is anything like that, we’re in for a treat! Let’s dive right in, shall we?
The album starts with a shot of adrenaline curtesy of ‘Sick in the Head’. An amazing riff, a fast drumbeat and some chaotic police stuff, it all screams Brad Marr in the best way! I love the guitars dropping out between the lines in the verse, the vocal delivery keeps the same sense of urgency but it adds some great dynamics to the track. Heck, some of it boarders on rap in the second verse, being an awesome addition to the track and something I didn’t realise Brad had in his repertoire! It all builds to a catchy-as-anything chorus, the pace staying high but it opening up a little, and the call and response vocals were a nice touch! A fun bridge leads to an excellent guitar solo, getting some Egyptian scaling in there that fits surprisigly well! The whole track is amazing; a lot of fun and the perfect way to kick off an album like this. An easy early highlight!
‘Mexico’ keeps the fun vibes going, but adds more of a punky flavour to the mix. The drum intro into the higher, pop-punk chords, coupled with the vocal delivery and harmonies, scream Green Day in all the best ways! It all builds into a massive, again infectiously catchy chorus that almost injects just a touch of Britpop/soft rock into the mix. The track is completely different to the last, yet both still fit surprisingly perfectly together, and feel so very Sweet Electric. The dynamics of the track are cool too, more of a harmonic lead line than a solo in the bridge, before it all drops down and explodes back in perfectly. It’s another amazing song, and another firm highlight for me!
The hard rock vibes return with ‘These Guns’, the riff and driving bassline giving big AC/DC vibes. For my money it’s the most Massive track on the album, and given how much I miss that band, that’s fine by me! It’s just a great, straight-forward rock song, and is a damn fun listen. The lyrics walk the line between swaggering and dripping with attitude with a little tongue in cheek, but either way it goes it works! The solo tucked away in the middle is awesome too, fitting the track excellently. It’s technical, packed full of feeling and also given plenty of time to breathe, both guitarists duelling fantastically. It’s another fantastic song, and if you like either of the bands I’ve mentioned, or Sweet Electric I’m general, you’ll love this!
‘Somewhere in the Middle’ opens on an insane, blistering guitar solo, before dropping back into a clean guitar and Brad’s great vocals. For some reason the first thing that came to mind to compare it to was The Darkness. A combination of that and Status Quo. It’s again another change of pace from the album, but is another infectiously fun and catchy song! The band have shown just how insanely talented they are throughout this whole album so far, and it’s hard not to love each song in its own right! It’s yet another song that I’d recommend to absolutely anyone, and another that I’ll happily be revisiting plenty.
We get some more punky vibes in ‘D3AD!’, but they’re heavier than in ‘Mexico’. It’s higher paced and energied and heck, we even get a scream! It’s another fun, catchy track that feels like a combination of the opening two songs from the album. It’s a lot of fun, but is maybe the first song that feels slightly ‘album track’-esque. Still, it’s a damn good song in its own right, though!
Single ‘I Remember You’ is a beautiful, emotional ballad dedicated to his mother. The opening minute is pretty punky, starting with Brad’s vocals over some massive sounding guitar power chords. The track builds excellently, adding in some more guitars and drums and vocal harmonies into a massive soundscape around the midpoint. Honestly, the darker, emotional tone gives off slight MCR vibes, and I am all for it! And, on top of all of that, we get an amazing, bluesy riff in the back half, and another phenomenal guitar solo. The lyrics speak for themselves, and I’d highly recommend the music video to accompany it, it certainly made me a little misty eyed the first time I did both. It’s such an excellent song and a really touching and memorable tribute. Another firm album highlight, and a fantastic choice for a single.
The other single from the album, ‘Long Way Back’, picks up the pace and the mood again. Tracks like it, ‘Get Up’ and the other two are all higher energy rock stompers, but then yet again all feel so different and unique. ‘Get Up’ has almost a country/bluegrass twang to it, while ‘OMG’ does have a slight bit of the disco vibe the album title eludes to, though is also heavy on the DC again. Then the closer, ‘Psycho’, has a bit of an epic arrangement to it, boarding on metal almost. However, that awesome bluesy riff firmly keeps it grounded in hard rock! Then again, we get a metalcore breakdown that is so very Trivium. Though, it still fits somehow not just the track, but the album as a whole, once again showing how effortlessly diverse and fantastic they are at writing. All are amazing in their own right and ways, and add to the album perfectly. And damn, ‘Psycho’ is such an excellent closer, and one of my favourite songs on the album. One that easily makes it onto our playlist!
Overall: I absolutely LOVED this whole album! There really isn’t a bad song throughout, it being pretty short and the very definition of all-killer-no-filler. As much as I enjoyed their debut, this is a step up from it, and really knocks it out of the park! It honestly gave me the same excited, fuzzy feeling that Massive’s debut did, and I am now desperate to see all of it live; I can’t wait for November! I’ve said it already, but I’d recommend this album to absolutely anyone, so make sure you spin it ASAP! It’s certainly going to be high on our top albums of the year list come December!
Another week, another stack of amazing releases, from rock to metal to country. Let’s dive right in!
Airbourne: Self-Titled
The highly anticipated new album from the Aussie hard rockers comes nearly seven years after their last, marking the longest gap between releases for the band by quite a margin. Having said that, you still know exactly what to expect heading into an album of theirs, and this is no exception! It’s 47-minutes of high energy, head-bangin’ rock, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s honestly hard to find much to say about it, it is very much just the standard Airbourne formula. But if it ain’t broke, and all that! Tracks like single ‘Alive After Death’, ‘Kid in a Candy Store’ and ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Ya’ are all personal highlights, but there really isn’t a bad song throughout. It’s an easy, fun listen and a throwback sound from a band that are known to provide exactly that. Then again, the vague Christmas song was a bit unexpected, especially in September. The band have always felt like a greatest hits one to me over full albums, but then every album they’ve put out is beyond solid and packed full of great songs! While I’m more likely to put the band on shuffle over listen to a specific album, I had a good time with this and will certainly revisit it again! The more I listened the more I enjoyed it, and I can’t give it any less than 7.5/10. Great stuff!
Behemoth: I, Scvlptor
Coming just one year after the awesome TheShit Ov God, the black metal titans once again knock it out of the park with this release. Bridging the gap between an EP and an album rather perfectly, the output sees the band tackle re-recorded early tracks, previously unreleased songs, and even a couple of covers. And, honestly, it’s 37 minutes of brutal awesomeness! The covers are incredible, not only being of great Venom and Bathory songs (the latter is awesome live and I’m so glad we got that version!), but featuring incredible guests in Shagrath and Sakis Tolis. However, I genuinely think my favourite song on here is ‘Lord Ov the Horizons’, Nergal singing cleanly in his heavier project is crazy but so awesome to hear! However, if you like the heavier end of metal, this is absolutely a release for you! They are my favourite black(ish) metal band, and honestly have been knocking it out of the park for well over a decade now. It’s a fantastic stop-gap while we wait for another full new album from the band, and is certainly something I’ll be revisiting again sooner rather than later. A very solid 8/10 from us!
Kasabian: ACT III
The indie legends return with album number nine. I remember checking out Happenings a couple of years ago, and feeling almost identically about this release. There are a few good tracks on it, like ‘Hippie Sunshine’ and ‘SILVER APPLE EYES’ and ‘THE GURU…’ but the rest of it generally blurs together into a gloomy, mid-tempo plod of nothingness. Hey, at least it’s another short release at 32 minutes! I keep trying with the band, hoping that they’ll change my mind and hook me in with an album, but so far it continues to only be a song or two per album that catches my ear. Much like with our last review, if you’re a fan of the band it’s most likely an excellent album. It’s certainly not a bad by any stretch, just not really for me. So, again, I can’t give it much more than a 4/10. I would say it’s slightly better than their last release though, certainly a stronger 4!
Ricky Warwick: Fire & Vengeance
The Almighty and Black Star Riders frontman is back with his second solo album in two years. We enjoyed last year’s Blood Ties, and this is more of the same! The title track/opener is great, as is ‘The Angels’ Share’ and ‘Tumbleweed Town’. It’s also packed full of some truly awesome guests. Doug Aldrich adds a punky flavour to his number, while Phil Collen adds his stadium-rock heritage to ‘Seek Zen Destroy’. Michael Starr and Darren Holden also kill it on their respective tracks. As you can tell, it’s packed full of great songs. It’s everything I love about Ricky rolled into one 40 minute package, and I’ve had a blast listening to it a couple of times over this weekend. I’d recommend this to absolutely anyone even vaguely into him or his various projects, you certainly won’t be disappointed. It’s one of my favourite solo releases from him overall, and gets a very easy 8/10 from us!
Space Pistol: HEADLOCKER
The sophomore album from the alt-rock/grunge trio is every bit as good as their debut. It’s heavy, packed full of chunky, distorted riffs, but also has plenty of great melodic, indie-like vocal melodies. It feels like a combination of Smashing Pumpkins and Royal Blood, but also feels incredibly fresh and innovative in its own way. From the opener to ‘New’, the hardcore/Manson-esque ‘I Can’t Sleep’ to ‘Ambulance’ there is plenty to love, and every song is pretty damn good! The band have a real infectious energy, and something about them kept me hooked from start to finish. I’d certainly recommend giving it a full spin if you are at all interested, you won’t be disappointed! The band are all so very talented, both at their chosen instrument and collectively as songwriters. They are certainly set to continue their upwards trajectory and momentum with this album, and I can’t give it any less than 8/10. Great stuff!
Those Made Broken: A Door You can Never Close
The sophomore album from the Scottish alt metallers comes nearly 12 years after their debut release. Honestly though, the band knock it out of the park with this, and prove that they are very much at the top of their game still. It’s got a touch of everything too; heavy riffs and grooves and drums, some huge, catchy vocal melodies and plenty of proggy arrangements and technicality. Hell, we even have touches of groove metal at times which were honestly sick. And, of course, it’s packed full of awesome songs! From single ‘Simpleman’ to ‘Echo Chamber’ to ‘Little Keeper of Light’, there is so much to love, but there really isn’t a bad track throughout! 40 minutes goes by in a flash, and if you are at all into the genre, I honestly cannot recommend this album enough. The band have a big new fan in me, and I’ll certainly be spinning it plenty in the weeks and months to come! I can’t give it anything less than 8/10, great stuff!
Theory of a Deadman: Part 1: Funeral Songs
The Canadian radio-rockers’ first release since their return to form with 2023’s Dinosaur, the first part in their new EP series kicks things off with a massive bang! It’s six great, high energy rock songs like only Theory can do. ‘Barricade’ is an excellent opener, being heavy while reminding me of the very best from the bands back catologue. It’s pretty much the story of the whole release, too. ‘Funeral Song’ and ‘Monster Truck’ bring back some of their more tongue-in-cheek lyric writing, while single ‘Winnebago’ and ‘Deep End’ bring back that Nickelback-esque country edge to their sound. Hell, the latter is one of the bands best ballads they’ve done in a while. Even the pop-infused closer will probably be one that some have an issue with and make fun of, but I really enjoyed it! It’s not designed to be taken seriously, and is catchy as hell. The EP feels like a fusion of their last album and The Truth Is, and I’m all for it!
Bigger bands have been killing it on the EP front this year, and this is very much more of the same! It honestly feels like the perfect lenfth for them, too. This will certainly be a release I’ll be listening to a lot over the coming weeks and months, and it has gotten me already hyped for Part 2, whenever that is set to drop. The band were a big part of my teen years but I did fall out of love with them a bit around the turn of the decade. However, they are back in a big way and are getting to the point of being rather criminally underrated. I can’t recommend this release enough to anyone at all, it has a bit of something for everyone! 8.5/10
Lifeswallower: Self-Titled
This is an absolutely WILD EP! Nestled somewhere between prog, nu and tech-death, it feels like something Mr. Bungle would come out with if given this sort of heaviness to work towards. And, what’s more, it’s fucking amazing. Each track is as great as the last, and the whole thing is well worth a listen from front-to-back, flowing fantastically. It doesn’t feel like 23 minutes at all, it’s such an easy listen. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a release for everyone, but I fell in love instantly, and have listened to it a good few times since it dropped last Tuesday. The band are all hugely talented, the playing and vocals throughout being off the charts, and I can’t recommend it enough for anyone even vaguely interested. It’s a very easy 9/10, and will certainly end up being high on our EPs of the year list come December! Wow!
Angus & Julia Stone: Karaoke Bar
The first album in a couple of years from the indie-folk brother-and-sister duo is somehow also my first experience with them. It’s 35 minutes of chilled out music that I found a little hard to get into, but certainly did by the end! The two are incredibly interesting songwriters and performers, but it was the rest of the arrangements and instrumentations around them that I found hooked me in more. The guitaring throughout is fantastic, and the synths and subtle horns are also great. Tracks like ‘Monroe’, ‘Strangely Strangely’ and ‘Take Me Back to Japan’ are personal highlights! Honestly, some of it reminded me a little of the slower, quirkier Gorillaz stuff, though that may just be because of the vocal effects. It’s beautiful and ethereal at times, and if you’re into this sound you’ll probably get a lot out of this. It’s not something I’d revisit often, but I certainly wouldn’t turn it off if it came back on! A solid 6.5/10
Kingcrown: Moonfall
Following up their awesome 2024 release Nova Altantis, the French power metallers once again kill it on album four! It’s nearly 45 minutes of great riffing, soaring vocals and some massive, catchy melodies. Tracks like ‘Nothing’, ‘Rise of Machines’ and ‘Oblivion/Resilience’ are personal highlights. However, if you are into the band or their overall sound, the whole album is worth a listen, as it’s really damn good! The band are all so damn talented, and work together excellently throughout, really finding a winning formula together. It’s heavy, melodic and epic throughout, and will definitely be an album I revisit again soon. While I don’t think it stands out quite as much as their last release for me, it’s still great, and gets a solid 7.5/10 from us!
President: Blood of Your Empire
Max: So the awaited first full album by the masked outfit president is here, and I think it plays for the most part as you would expect. With about half the songs having been released as singles, as seems standard with album releases these days, it is up the the remaining tracks to really sell you on why the wait for this album was worth it. There are, in my opinion, two parts that do that exactly.
First you have the rerecording of the song ‘Dionysus’. This doesn’t change the fabric of the song wholly or have you freaking but it is a nice touch to just update the sound of an older track to better fit with the album it is being put in to. Second, a lot of the songs on the album are really good. ‘Pink Noise’ is a particular favourite of mine that shows the ability to quickly switch up genres that the band clearly wants you to know they can do. And, whilst it is not my favourite track on the album and I fear might prove somewhat divisive, ‘Hate Figure’ has a more rap metal genre which is a fun and unexpected switch up in the later stages of the album.
I think it is clear that there is room for the band to grow and develop but they certainly have a good footing and many, and I mean many, directions that they can take their music in the future. But for now the focus is in this album and it’s definitely worth listening to! 8/10
Josh Mitcham: Gonna Be Alright
Album seven from the Kentucky singer-songwriter is a fun romp through country and folk/Americana pop. It’s a pretty stripped back release, mainly consisting of Josh’s guitar and powerful voice, a simple drumbeat keeping the tempo alongside the odd extra accompaniment here and there. It’s interesting too, as a good few of the tracks and parts almost beg for a rockier arrangement, but having it more stripped back gives the release a unique sound and quality to it, and almost reminds me a touch of someone like Jack Johnson, just with a country twang to it. He’s a damn interesting songwriter, and his lyrics throughout are also awesome! It’s catchy and full of hooks, yet still maintains a more DIY, chilled-out tone. Tracks like ‘Something to Get Into’, ‘Break it to Me’ and the title song are all personal highlights, but the album as a whole is packed full of great songs. It’s 34 minutes of chilled out, catchy, well written country music, and I’d recommend it to anyone even vaguely into the genre! A solid 7.5/10 from us. This is the first full album by him I’ve checked out, and I’m gonna have to head back and visit the others soon!
Benjamin Tod: Country is Dead
The second solo album from the Lost Dog Street Band’s frontman this year alone is 42 minutes of traditional country awesomeness. It’s stripped back and very much in the vein of modern old-school revivalists like Zach Top, Drake Milligan and Braxton Keith, except very much focusing on the slower side of the sound. Still, it’s impossible not to love it! Tracks like ‘Natrual Thing to Do’, ‘Nashville Women’ and ‘Only a Hobo’ are personal highlights, but the whole album flows spectacularly and doesn’t feel its length at all. It’s a lot like his other music but if it’s not broke don’t fix it, right? The more I listened the more I fell in love, and I’d happily recommend this to anyone into their older school style of country! An easy 7/10 from me!
SiM: HOOMAN AFTER ALL
The “Reggae PUNX from Japan” are back with their seventh album, and what a wild album it is! Right from the offset, the massive opener ‘FiVE TiMES DEAD’ sets the tone for their heavy, experimental sound perfectly, and the rest of the 35 minutes follow in much the same vein. ‘BLiNDEYES’ channels more of their reggae and nu metal leanings, and features the amazing Hanabie., being a firm highlight. The same can be said for ‘HOLD MY BEER’ and the title track, being so very Skindred in the best way. Then you have more of the Japanese punk-metal sounds of ‘Karen’s Son’ and ‘ZiON’. And hell, we even get a J-Ska track in ‘The Sniffing Cats Ska’. Oh, and a hip-hop track in ‘BLACK SUNSHINE’, so very Hed(PE) and I love it!
So yeah, as you can see, the whole album is pretty fucking awesome. Oh, and did I mention that it’s roughly about cats? That makes it even better, doesn’t it? The band are all insanely talented at what they do, and every track on here is as good as the last. After a slightly lesser reaction commercially to their last album, this feels like it should surely catapult them back on track as being one of the biggest bands from the country. I’d recommend this to absolutely anyone, there is something for everybody throughout. It really tickles my brain and ears in all the best ways. 9.5/10, it’s certainly a contendender for album of the year!
Follow Thru: Eat Your Heart Out
This is an awesome little pop-punk debut album! Under half an hour of up-tempo riffing and drumming, with some fantastic lyrics and some really catchy melody lines. It’s the perfect combo of the late 90s boom of the genre and a more modern take on it; think Pennywise or Less Than Jake’s heavier stuff mixed with Homesick. It’s pretty heavy for the genre, but also plenty catchy in equal measure, making for a lot of fun. Tracks like ‘Less Than Civil’, ‘We’ll Surivive the Apocalypse’, ‘This Inevitable Ruin’ and ‘American Drift’ are all personal highlights. However, the whole album is good from start to finish, and is such an easy listen. If you are at all into the punkier side of music give this one a listen, you won’t at all be disappointed! The band have a new fan in me, and this gets an easy 8/10!
Stormbringer: Transcendence
A band that I’ve been a fan of for well over a decade now, it’s awesome to finally get to review them! I remember enjoying their last release nearly five years ago now, and still revisit their debut to this day. It very much feels like a revisit to that early work, both in terms of sound and quality. ‘Energy’ is one hell of an opener, while the likes of the AIC-like ‘Dirt and Bone’ and ‘Whole Again’ are also big high points. The whole album is awesome though, packed full of groovy riffs, plenty of heaviness and some amazing melodies and massive choruses. The quintet are seasoned vets at this point, and are truly masters of their craft. The more I listen to this, the more I fall in love, and it is certainly up there among my favourite releases from the band. If you are at all curious, I can’t recommend it enough! It’s an incredibly easy 8.5/10 from me, and I’ll certainly have this on sporadically for the rest of the year!
The Media Project: Kharon:Forbearance
Another release caught somewhere between an album and an EP, this follows up their 2025 previous output perfectly. A blend of doom, gothic, sludge, primal death and black metal; the atmosphere created is dark, brooding and massive. And, while it’s not typically my sort of style, I actually found myself enjoying myself listening! While there aren’t certain highlight tracks, the release as a whole flows excellently and is well worth a full listen if you’re curious. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure, but they are so very good at their craft. I also feel like it would be really awesome live, and I’d be into it even more! Honestly, I don’t really have much more to say about it, but the band at least have a curious new fan in me. 6.5/10
Audrey Horne: Achilles
The Twin Peaks-inspired melodic hard rockers are back with their first new album since 2022’s Devil’s Bell, and they once again knock it out of the park! Right from the opener/title track I was hooked, and not let go for its entire 44 minute runtime. There are some excellent riffs running through it, and a real arena-filling vibe to the melodies, choruses and overall massive size to the sound. ‘Vampires’, ‘Prodrome’ into ‘Insanity’ and ‘Six Feet in the Ground’ are all massive highlights for me but, as I said, the whole album is excellent and goes by in a flash. The band are so damn talented and I’m so glad they are back with new music. This kind of melodic/AOR rock is really gaining some traction and momentum again in recent years, and Audrey Horne are very much towards the front of the pack because of releases like this. 8.5/10, amazing stuff!
We kicked things off with a bang on the Sunday with last year’s talent contest, Liam Price. The guy has had a real whirlwind year since that contest, and has gained quite the rabbis following in the process. It’s easy to see why too, as he put on an amazing set, especially for so early in the day. Something that I did appreciate that I haven’t touched on until now is that all the sets across the weekend have been pretty long, giving every artist plenty of time to breath and really showcase what they’re about. I think it worked fantastically for Price, who had the packed-out crowd hanging on every word through the entire half-hour. And, of course, the highlight was the beautiful ‘Little Star of August’, though that may be mainly due to my own impending child! The whole set was great though, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here. I can see a very bright future ahead!
Ryan & Rory absolutely blew me away on the Rhinestone after Liam. I have been a fan of the duo since I interviewed them last year, but I wasn’t expecting them to be quite this fantastic live! And, as a running theme this year, they were pretty heavy in a live setting compared to the track, though some of that may be attributed to the volume of the stage. I certainly wasn’t complaining though, them walking the line between southern rock and radio-country perfectly! The duo are born showmen and work so well together, while their band for the show also put in the work and made them sound awesome! And their setlist was packed with awesome songs, from their brand new one that dropped a couple of days before to their older stuff. They really impressed me, to the point they have been one of the bands I’ve not stopped listening to since getting home.
Dan Byrne was an interesting one. Taking Rivers’ spot from last year of ‘why the hell is this act on this festival?’, the crowd once again showed up, filling Buddy’s more than for most artists I’d seen that weekend. And, being a fan of him since his days in Revival Black, I knew he was going to be good. He had one of the best voices of the festival, and seemed genuinely appreciative of people actually showing up for his set, putting on an energetic performance because of it. And I knew his music was awesome too, having loved his album the other month, so to hear a lot of it live was awesome! It was great to see the set so popular as he fully deserves all the love, and I’m somehow an even bigger fan of the guy and his band coming out of the weekend!
Rosalie Cunningham followed Dan, continuing on the wild Snakefarm takeover of ‘let’s see what out there genres Baylen will let us book’. However, I’m not complaining, as I thought she put on one of the most fun and interesting sets of the whole weekend! My brain kept comparing it to Jethro Tull, however right or wrongly, but her prog-infused folk-rock was fantastically crafted and written, regardless. And, what’s more, is her and her band performed it masterfully. Her vocals are just as amazing live as they are on track, and some of the riffing and arrangements honestly blew me away. It certainly wasn’t for everyone at the festival, but I had a blast and will certainly be keeping an eye out for when she’s next near me to see her again!
On the way out we caught a little bit of Buddy’s we caught a little bit of the legendary Jim Lauderdale on the Front Porch. After two full-on rock bands, Jim just sitting there with an acoustic and some slow traditional country was a bit of a comedown. However, it certainly wasn’t bad, and I’m glad I got to see a few songs. Then, it was over to Rhinestone for Ann Wilson. Musically and vocally she was brilliant, but my gosh was it Jesusy. Some of her songs are really well written and catchy, but when I feel like I’m being beaten over the head with a bible every couple of minutes I kinda zone out. I get that she was here for the Christian festival that sadly and tragically got called off, but it was like her religion got more concentrated and spilled out doubly at TLR. I’m not massively well versed on her music, so if she has less religious songs, please let me know as I’d love to hear them!
We took a bit of a wander afterwards, catching the cutest dog show every for a bit before catching the back half of The Felice Brothers. Both were fun and entertaining in their own way. I learnt that some owners have so much better control over their dogs than me and the wife do, but also how to try and make them do tricks better (it didn’t work). I also learnt that the rockier, higher tempo Felice Brothers stuff is right up my street, while the slower stuff wasn’t so much. Still, it was nice to sit and relax and watch both from a little further back, especially when the weather had held out all day!
Story time. I went travelling in the US back in the before times (2019), and when I was working for a woman in Santa Cruz she took me to a bluegrass show one night. I loved it, but was slightly too tipsy and lost the ticket stub, so forgot who I’d seen. Fast forward to when The Brothers Comatose were announced as Shakey Graves’ replacement and I went to check them out on YouTube I realised… I’d found them! You couldn’t make this up, folks!
As for the band and their set, HOLY CRAP. They were my introduction to live Bluegrass music, they’ve been the marker to which I compare all others from the genre, and they still hold up as the best I’ve seen. It was an hour of some of the best musicianship and playing I have ever seen, each and every member getting their own chance to shine throughout. The fiddle, banjo and mandolin solos utterly blew my mind, while the actual songwriting and vocals from Ben and Steve were excellent throughout. The crowd were surprisingly big into it too, given how short notice they had to check it out beforehand. Plenty were singing and dancing and clapping along throughout. And it was clear the band were enjoying themselves, laughing and joking around and all huddling up to jam together. The covers were certainly highlights, with an epic rendition of ‘Dreams’ being my highlight of the weekend, alongside their absolutely ridiculous Wheeler Walker Jr. nod. However, their own songs were just as excellent, with ‘Golden Grass’ and set closer ‘The IPA Song’ also being great. I honestly can’t gush over the band enough, I am so glad I got to see them again and already want to once more. I’d recommend them to absolutely anyone, on track but especially live!
And with that, we reached the closing headliner of the weekend, Maren Morris. I have to admit she wasn’t really my thing heading into the festival, though I had heard lots of people say how good she is live. I do have to say, she sounded great, that much is for sure! However, I’m not sure if it was the sheer exhaustion of the weekend catching up with me or the generally slower, poppy nature of her music, but I found myself flagging in the last third, and we left a couple before the end. As I said, she was so very good, but I don’t think it was quite my sort of music. Plus, there wasn’t much of a show, just her walking about the stage, barely acknowledging her band. As good as she sounded and as well written as her songs were, it was a touch boring to watch. I know plenty who loved the set and I’m so glad, I’m certainly in the minority. But it was still a fittingly big name, and a fittingly big conclusion to a great festival!
And there we have it, another great year at The Long Road! Some amazing bands and some of the loveliest people around, gathered at still my favourite site in the country. Despite the rumblings of unhappiness before the event, it is still run phenomenally well for the customers, and there is almost too much to do in just a weekend. I’d recommend the festival to anyone even slightly into your country or Americana music, and already can’t wait to go again next year!
Our second day started out with another artist we’d seen before, this time pretty recently, in Bec O’Malley. He opened for Mr Pardi back in May, and we really enjoyed him then. However, we enjoyed him even more this time around! The sound on the Rhinestone stage was pretty great all weekend, and Bec having a full band backing him this time filled out his music to a fantastic degree. It was a similar setlist to when we saw him previously, but it felt fresh and still excellent seeing it again, especially on an outdoor, festival stage. I said it then and I’ll say it again now, Bec is already set to be a MASSIVE name in the coming years, so I’d recommend seeing him in smaller slots like this while you still can!
Next we had a bit of a stroll up to the Interstate to check out the opening few of Brennan Leigh. She certainly caught our ear heading into the festival, and she didn’t disappoint live! She’s the perfect blend of old-school country and bluegrass, a style I hadn’t gotten much of so far over the weekend, so I was certainly down. Her and her band performed it masterfully too, everyone working together to produce a great sound. Sadly we could only stay for a few, as our good friendsFirst Time Flyers made their triumphant main stage debut after a few years on other stages. Now, they always sound excellent, the quartet being a contender with Shires for best harmonies, but the level of show they put on on the bigger stage was fantastic. Right from the offset they had the big intro, making them feel like a massive deal, and the four of them (and their band) performed like their lives depended on it for the full hour! They have been kicking ass at this festival, and across the UK as a whole, for years now, but this felt like a band at the next level. Another artist I’d recommend absolutely anyone reading this to check out!
One of my most anticipated sets of the weekend was up next in Zandi Holup. I loved her album last year, still listening to it on the regular, so getting to hear it in a live setting was truly special. Honestly, her opening on her big breakout hit ‘Gas Station Flowers’ was unexpected, but set the beautiful, bittersweet tone of the set perfectly. From other album highlights like ‘Dirty Wings’ and ‘Wildflower’ to upcoming new tracks, it was a really great setlist. Her voice is so unique and powerful, and had me misty eyed on more than one occasion. And there was something about her stood there with her guitar, the only other accompaniment being an incredible fiddle player, that was so captivating, and filled out the sound so well in the packed out tent. It’s wild to me that I actually didn’t mind it not being a full band setup, and would love to see this sort of set again! She teased a new album for 2027 and I already can’t wait; hopefully we get a full tour off the back of it over here!
Another artist we were familiar with was up next on the Rhinestone, Uncle Lucius. Much like with Bec above, as much as I enjoyed them at The Bodga, they blew me away here! It started a little low energy which was odd, but the rockier numbers really hooked me in, and I was obsessed just a few songs in. They were another band that had had a big feel and vibe to them, the show being so well put together and flowed excellently, as well as sounding perfect. The band are so insanely talented too, playing their asses off throughout. It was a similarish setlist to when we saw them before, at least in terms of their own stuff, but it hit that much harder on a massive open field, and the crowd ate it up too!
Twinnie packed out the Interstate stage, and for good reason! She was fucking awesome! One of the most born-performers I saw all weekend, she kept everyone in the palm of her hand from the start of her set to the very end. Being another leading light of the UK country scene it’s no surprise, and her pop-infused sound had everyone singing and dancing along throughout. I don’t think it’ll be too long before she’s up in The Shires’ spot on bills like this, and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving artist. Another firm highlight of the weekend!
A lot of people had been impatiently waiting for Josh Ross all day. So imagine my surprise when the track I most wanted to see from the guy was what opened the setlist. ‘Hate How You Look’ is a banger and was awesome live. So, sadly, the rest of the set felt a touch deflating for me. I’m certainly not opposed to some pop-country, but opening the show on one of your rockier numbers and then slowing the pace way down for a bit kinda ruined the hype for me. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great performer and a fantastic vocalist. However, I’d kinda checked out by the middle of his set. It’s a bit of a shame too because I was looking forward to him, especially with the hype surrounding his set. He certainly wasn’t awful and if you enjoyed him, that’s great! But I found myself struggling to get into it at times.
Over on the Front Porch, Ken Pomeroy was treating us to a fantastic acoustic set. She has such an interesting voice and way of songwriting, that I certainly enjoyed standing and watching for a few tracks. If it was a typical year where the weather was better, I’d have loved to chill out on the grass and watch the full set. Still, I am a fan of her work and it translated well live, even if there were a couple of slightly awkward pauses between songs. Then, back at the Interstate Jason Scott & The High Heat blew the roof off the joint. Their blend of country, Southern rock and Americana is fantastic and pretty unique, and translates excellently to a live environment, especially a dark, packed-out tent! And, from tracks from the upcoming Play Boy album to more firm classics, the setlist was pretty damn excellent, too. The strutted around like they owned the stage, and the crowd very much were on board with it, hanging on every note! I had a blast from start to end, and very much need to see them again ASAP!
The replacement for Bailey Zimmerman, as well as being a living breathing Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood took to the stage to close out the Saturday. Honestly, I didn’t really have much expectation heading in, but I ended up having a blast! Ronnie is a larger than life character, and his energy and happiness is infectious. And, to his credit, he still sounds pretty good for his age. Not only that, but he makes his rather brilliant soloing look so effortless… I’m not jealous at all… However, his band killed it too, matching his energy and drive and ability. It felt a touch odd waiting so long to bring out Imelda May, but when they did HOT DAMN, she was incredible. Honestly one of the best voices of all time, and hearing it live was phenomenal.
And, in terms of the setlist, it was pretty damn fun. Covering the expanses of his decades long career with tracks from both the Stones and Faces to even a couple of his solo bits thrown in for good measure. But, he threw in plenty of covers too, some even being country to fit in with the theme of the festival. From Willie to Hank, Chuck Berry to Aretha Franklin to, of course, a couple of Dolly, there was plenty of massive and fitting music to love. Sadly, the rain picked up rather lots towards the back half, and the crowd thinned out substantially. It did take away a slight bit from the set, but it was still enjoyable, regardless. It was a real party vibe, and a great way to close out the day!
We returned to Stanford Hall for our fifth straight Long Road festival, and boy oh boy what a memorable year it was! The festivals curse reared its ugly head after a couple of years off, with Bailey Zimmerman having to pull out relatively last minute and being replaced by the Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood. On top of that, it was the first year out of those five where we didn’t have good weather, it being rainy for the most part and a couple of electrical storms actually stopping things at times. Despite that, it was a fantastic weekend still through and through! We saw plenty of incredible artists across all three days, and wanted to tell you just how much we loved them!
The first artist for us this weekend was Chanel Yates on the Interstate. I wasn’t too familiar with her outside of a song or two we checked out beforehand, but she honestly blew me away! Her particular brand of pop country is incredibly modern, drawing comparisons to the likes of Carter Faith and even Ella Langley at times, and translated fantastically well to a live environment. And, what’s more, she fully owned that stage! For a relatively new artist, she really had the crowd in the palm of her hand throughout. And, what’s more, her band killed it too, backing her up perfectly. Her massive hit ‘Big Girl Boots’ was a clear highlight, but so was her upcoming single ‘Sugar Honey Ice Tea’, the crowd fully behind it even though it’s not dropping until later this month. She has a big new fan in me, and I already want to see her live again soon!
Next up we headed over to the Rhinstone stage for Irish folk pop-rocker Jordan O’Keefe. However, he’s another artists that I’ve come away being a big fan of! It all felt a little heavier live, maybe because of the full-band backing, but it served him very well here! And still, his catchy, massive melodies and choruses shined through, the crowd hanging on every note throughout. His big hit, ‘History’, was of course a firm set highlight, but every track was great in its own way. And, for still pretty early on, the crowd was pretty packed for him; it’s clear he has a bright future ahead of him!
We have been a fan of Gina Larner since first catching her at the same festival a couple of years back. To finally see her again was awesome, and she killed it once again! Back on maybe my favourite stage at the festival, Buddy’s Good Time Bar, it had more of an intimate setting, yet we still got plenty of rockiness and a huge sound. And, until the weather intervened, the set was awesome! She is a criminally underrated vocalist, and her songwriting skills are amazing, blending folk, country, indie and rock together seamlessly. ‘Cocktail Menu’ was a particular set highlight, finally getting to see that song live was awesome! Also, her cover of Chris Cagle’s ‘Let There Be Cowgirls’ is always excellent, and has caused the song to be stuck in my head for the last few days yet again. Sadly due to the storms, they had to cut her off a song to the end and send everyone back to our tents. It was certainly a shame, but it just means we need to go and see her again soon!
The sheer musicianship on display throughout Striking Matches’ set on the Interstate stage was insane. For just the two of them up there, they really packed out the sound, and put on an entertaining show from start to finish. The pair are masters of their craft, writing some amazing music and also jamming out some incredible instrumental parts in and around them. It’s clear that the band are seasoned veterans, as they play off of each other perfectly. My only hope now is that we get them coming back over here soon with a full band, as I’d love an even bigger show out of them, even if this was pretty huge enough as is!
The legendary Steve Earle showed up to the Rhinstone with nothing but his guitar, and blew away the packed out crowd before him. That was all he needed, as his soulful voice and incredible storytelling took the crowd on a journey. He has so many huge songs, with the legendary ‘Copperhead Road’ of course being the one a lot of the fans came to see, and Steve pulls it off amazing still all these years later. We also get an incredible yet-unreleased duet with Zandi Holup (more on her later). The fact that he can get such a captivating show and full sound when it is just him is a sheer testament to the man’s talent, and it was honestly an honour getting to see what he does best. I’m glad I finally got to see him live, and would still recommend him to anyone who is a fan of his work!
The second male-female duo of the day for us, Smithfield, were fantastic on the Front Porch stage. Right from the jump, the harmonies between the pair had me locked in, they were so good. And, much like Striking Matches, the pair clearly work the circuit back home a lot as they put on such a polished, professional set. The covers medley was especially smooth, weaving through their influences a verse-chorus at a time to the adoration of the crowd. However, their originals were also excellent. Whether it was stuff off their debut, sneak previews of tracks from their upcoming album, or standalone singles, we were treated to the very best of their catalogue to this point. They’re another act that I’d love to see with a full band, but I know they are doing a couple of stops on this run with one, so hopefully I can see that sooner rather than later! They’re another band with a hugely bright future ahead of them!
I had become a fan of The 502s when getting ready for this weekend, but I didn’t expect them to be this good. Y’all know by now how much I love some horns, so having an hours set with a saxophone on the main stage was amazing for me! The band are so upbeat and uplifting, a fantastic change of pace and honestly it felt more akin to some of the ska bands I’ve seen recently. They were just so much fun, and had the majority of the crowd dancing along throughout. From heavy hitters like ‘Your Nonsense Makes No Sense’ and ‘Just a Little While’ to lesser known numbers like ‘Friday Night’ to even the so-far unreleased ‘Gang’s Back Together Again’, the setlist was packed full of awesomeness. It helped that they had a pretty hefty amount of time too, but I loved every minute of it. And, of course, the band played their asses off throughout, and looked like they had a genuinely great time doing so. This was easily one of my highlights of the weekend, and a band I’d recommend to anyone!
Before we knew it we were at the headliners, the might Shires. Returning to the festival for the first time since its inaugural year in 2018, it was one hell of a triumphant comeback. And what followed was an absolute masterclass in live music from the very top of the UK country scene. Whether it’s the best of their brand new albumin ‘Bonfire Song’ or ‘Getaway Car’, or career spanning hits like opener ‘Lightning Strikes’, ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ or the massive ‘I Just Wanna Love You’, the setlist was amazing. We also got the perfect Dolly cover from them in ‘Islands in the Stream’. The pair have maybe the best harmonies in the game right now, working excellently not just on that track, but throughout. They are born performers too, even with the slight technical issues in the middle they handled it professionally, and the crowd ate up every minute they were on stage. And the band behind them killed it throughout too, playing excellently and providing the perfect backdrop of the duo. It is clear to see why they are such a massive name in the UK country scene, and they are born to out on sets of this magnitude and grandeur. What a way to close out day one!
We had the pleasure of chatting to Brendan of the amazing Nocturnal Affair again last week. We caught up about how the last year has been since our last chat, as well as the bands new and upcoming music, and tour with Fear Factory. Check it all out below!
Sadly our stupid video didn’t record fully again, but I have some potential plans for still getting bits out… watch this space!
It’s been just over a year since we chatted last time. So, how’s the last year been?
Crazy, bro, crazy! Did you chat with me before or after Drowning Pool?
I think it was just before.
Yeah, that was crazy. They took good care of us. It’s just been great, dude. We’ve been working on a ton of music. We’ve got a bunch of songs we recorded forever ago, that we’re still waiting on the schedule of release. And then we’re mixing it up with even crazier songs. After that, people are going to think I’m a crazy person, more so than usual! But, I’m really looking forward to that.
We’ve had three singles since the start of the year, right?
We’ve got ‘Deep’, ‘Oxygen’ and ‘Place in Time’. And I’ve got two more that are we’re kind of pushing the limits here as far as how many we can release at once. I don’t know if we’re doing two at once or if we’re doing one at one time while we’re on tour with Fear Factory.
All three so far seem pretty different in style as well. I assume that was a conscious decision to kind of put something out that was a different side of the band each time?
Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s I do my best to not write the same song again and again and again. I love so many genres. I’ll go to the gym and I’ll listen to like Ramstein. And then later in the day, I’ll go back for cardio and I’ll be listening to Bill Withers. Then I’ll listen to like, Hayley Williams’s solo stuff, like Hayley from Paramore.
Yes, oh, some of her solo is so good.
Her solo records are so good!
So, it’s just, because I love to listen to so many different things, I’m not trying to limit myself to metal, or hard rock. And I feel like if I tried to, it would show that I’m meant to do more. I feel like I’d be forcing it if I only tried to do rock. I do rock when I feel like doing rock. When I want to do a piano ballad, that’s what I do. When I want to do an alternative, I’ll release something like ‘Oxygen’.
Yeah, definitely. I was reading the press release for Place in Time as well, and it was a really It’s a cool kind of concept and story to it. I feel like it’s really kind of touched quite a few people.
Yeah, it’s really cool that a lot of people have enjoyed the song and and and kind of felt the the power that was behind it when when we wrote it, because it It wasn’t a personal story for me. ‘Place in Time’, it happened to somebody who’s one of my best friends. He’s such an inspiration to me as far as just the type of man he is and and how good he is to people, and I’ve watched him fall apart from this sickness that just like chooses anyone. I mean, it’s scary. That bacteria that whatever it is is fucking scary.
It’s so funny, like they used it for our video. The thing that you see, I don’t know if you’ve seen the video yet, the big yellow thing with the tentacles, that’s the actual virus. That’s the actual cell, that is the thing that tries to kill you and and it’s antibiotic resistant.
I mean he died on the table four times. Yeah. Four times. The last time he heard his father’s voice screaming at him to get up. So that’s why we put that in the song. And also, what’s scary is like something that kind of creeps around and whatever, that’ll kill you if it if you let it. They’re relentless. When they pulled it out of him, it had grown so much, and they had to put it in a thing, and it had tentacles. Like the the bit that had grown and overpowered a lot of his body, they put it in a thing, and it reacted to light when when light showed on it, and it was moving.
God, that’s terrifying.
It’s crazy. It’s out of an alien movie. Yeah, and he fought it and he won. And thank God, he’s still here with us, and he’s stronger than before, and I’m so grateful.
Yeah, absolutely.
But it was just such a compelling story, and I don’t think we had planned to write about it. I think we was just going out to see him to hang with him in Jersey, and he was just like… He doesn’t play music; he listens to a lot of music, but he is definitely a creative mind like the rest of us…and he was like, “I have this riff that just like keeps playing in my head. I think it’s original. I don’t think it’s something that I’m hearing from something else” So, I just brought my writing stuff with me, put down my laptop. I was like, “Okay, just sing it out for me.” And we sang it out, and we kind of built it, and it turned into what it is.
I gave it to my the guy who produced it, Tony Carbani, and he took the instrumentals, and he just turned them upside down, added his little bits to it. There’s a lot of stuff we kept in the chorus that was originally written in Jersey with Rick, but then it became its own monster. Then we were just like, “We got to do this, we got to release this.” It went from being like, “Hey, let’s just kind of help you get everything going out of your head and onto paper,” to now it’s like, one of my favorite songs to play live!
All your videos seem pretty massive and ambitious. I imagine it’s quite a big undertaking, to do videos of this kind of magnitude?
Not for me! I get to sit back and watch them do their magic, which I have never done before.
So, it’s done by management. Mark Willis, and somebody else on our team named Larry Hinson, who has this whole media conglomerate, where he works with a ton of other people; our good buddy Dustin and various other people in other states. They have this like insane time machine Frankenstein’s monster computer that’s the size of Texas, and it’s like when you turn it on, it sounds like a plane engine. And this thing, they scanned our bodies. And it’s done in the Unreal video game engine. That’s what the videos are done in. So, we have avatars in this video game world. They just put their minds together and create this awesome madness. That I have nothing to do with. And it’s not that I prefer that, because I love to see what I create with what producers I’m working with at the time. But I love to see how that inspires other people, even if it’s management and my team.
I had ‘Deep’ written back in the in like 2022, right? ‘Cross Me Out’ was 2023. ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ was beginning of 2024. All three of those songs were so different. They were so, just unrelated, different parts of my life, different emotional experiences, I was a different person in each writing session. And my manager heard it, and he was like, “Cool, we’re doing a trilogy.” ‘Cross Me Out’, and ‘Benefit of the Doubt’, and we’re ending it with ‘Deep’. And I was like, “You’re crazy, but that’s brilliant. Let’s go.” And he just did it, and it works. I think we’ve got a super cut of all three videos too, and how they run together.
I’m so grateful. What they did with Place in Time is like next level. They have like a bunch of new equipment, new programs, like new editing, and like with the avatars of the other characters, I had, dude, I had no idea what was going on. No idea. We went there, we got in front of a green screen, we performed. We’re in the moment, we do our thing, we think we know what’s going to happen. And then they released it and I was like, “Are we in space? Are we on a spaceship?” It’s so cool!
Then what they did with ‘Oxygen’ was freaking awesome. Like, he heard the song and he went, “You’re going to be Eric Clapton, and when Eric Clapton tried to fuck George Harrison’s wife, we need to find George Harrison’s wife.” And I was like, “I’m going to what?!” That was just so fun, and just that he heard that song and he thought of that instance… I would have never have done that.
What’s the writing process? Is the rest of the band involved with it at all?Do you kind of bring some of the stuff to them and jam it out?
I have an open door policy on writing. So, since this band has started, I’ve kind of written and recorded everything, generally, except like guitar solos. Like for the entirety of Metamorphosis, I think except for one middle beginning solo on ‘Nothing left’, that was all done by our lead guitar player, Andy. Aside from that, I’ve written and recorded the lot. I mean, he did riffage and stuff and various other syncopated rhythms. But, I’ve generally been the the sole songwriter for the band.
Until kind of recently, I’ve been working with this Tony guy, he’s been kind of bringing stuff to the table that has just inspired. Like, we’ve got this song in the works that I really can’t say much about, that he wrote years ago for somebody else. That somebody else didn’t take it. I guess that’s what happens a lot with a lot of producers and songwriters. They bring them to many other songs, because he’s worked with many bands, so there there’s a couple other bands he’s worked with that he’s got stuff. Like they didn’t want it, and I hear it and I go, “Yeah, how? Are they crazy!”
I’ve learned to kind of check my ego and not worry about “Oh, everybody has to know that I write everything.” At the end of the day, who cares? So I’m like, instead of trying to be big tough guy, big writer on campus, I want to be creative and I want to surround myself with the most talented people I can and learn from, because I discovered when I work with other people and they write with me, oh, I become a better writer. So, it’s kind of a win-win. You get a great product, and then I also get better.
So I’ve told the guys, open door policy. If you’ve got a song idea, you can bring it to the table, but if I say no, you can’t be mad. And it’s it’s sometimes a little difficult, because I’m like, if I don’t feel like it’s Nocturnal, i’m probably going to say no. But the funny thing is, lately we’re throwing a lot of curveballs with the with the genre that we’re we’re dipping our tootsies in. So it’s going to be an interesting thing to see how everybody feels after these next few releases!
I feel like, outside songwriters are a lot more prevalent than a lot of music fans at least seem to think, as well.I know we’ve chatted to a few country artists and it’s even more of a thing in that genre, like everyone will just kind of get together and write everything and pass it around.Whereas it’s it’s less of a thing in rock, but I mean you’ve only got to look at Elvis barely writing any of his own songs, really.
Exactly, and he was so wonderful. And it’s kind of music should be, right? An expression of the artist to get through, or express whatever I would like, right? But it’s I’ve kind of discovered it’s really not about me. It is, but it’s not. Like, if it was about me, I wouldn’t be doing this in a public forum. I wouldn’t be writing this music and showing everyone I write this music, and it would be for me. But the moment I release it, it becomes whatever anybody is listening to it thinks it becomes. It is now now a soundtrack to a moment in their life, if they choose for it to be. I mean I’ve had people call me, you know, friends that heard when ‘Cross Me Out’ was being played a lot, and they’re like, “I just can’t stop thinking about this specific moment in my life,” and they tell me a story, and I’m like, “That is not what the song is about at all.” But I’m glad that it is a medium for you to maybe face demons you needed to face, or relive some happy nostalgia, or just maybe relate to it completely.
You said you’ve got another couple of singles that you haven’t to drop. Are we building towards something a bit bigger, like another album or an EP or something?
We might have an EP. I thought we had an EP a year ago, and then we kind of just took another turn with what we were doing musically. You know, it’s interesting, because the music industry is changing every 3 to 6 months on a crazy level. So you think you have an idea for what the next couple quarters are going to look like, and then you’re like, “That that’s not going to work out so well.” So, maybe… we sure as hell have enough unreleased music to release an EP. But I think anything is possible.
You’ve for a busy rest of the year planned, right?
Yeah, we’re going out with Fear Factory on Thursday. We leave, So we’ll be waving at you on the way to the rest of Europe. Then we’ll be finishing the tour with you in October.
Dude, I miss the UK so much! I just want like one just one English breakfast, which it’s never one. I’m going to have one every morning and I’m going to feel all like bloated while I get on stage. But it’s going to be worth it!
I saw it’s your birthday, right, while you’re out here?
Yep! Well, September 2nd, we will be in I believe either Lithuania or Latvia. And it will be Dino’s birthday, too. And what’s crazy is I do a sober tour, so I don’t know what I’m going to do. Kind of like have like a diet coke and maybe like a steak!
A massive week for new music, spread across the rock, metal and country world! Even with us having a busy weekend, we managed to check out plenty. Let’s dive in!
In This Moment: Witch
The first album from the alt metallers since 2023’s GODMODE, and I unfortunately have a similar sentiment to this release as I did that one. It’s fine; completely passable radio metal, some fun industrial and nu metal elements to it. Tracks like ‘Crawl’, single ‘Sleeping With the Enemy’ and the Kim Dracula-featuring ‘Heretic’ are all good, but outside of that I found a lot of the rest was just kinda there. If you like the band or their style, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot. However, I feel like they have inspired (or at least been the building blocks for) a lot of interesting bands like SKYND and even Spiritbox to a point. But those bands have moved past this core sound and added some funner elements to it, kinda leaving ITM behind doing the same thing they’ve been doing for 15+ years now. As I said, it’s certainly not bad, and I wouldn’t turn it off if it was on. But I wouldn’t rush to put the full album on again any time soon, more just the odd tracks I like. It’s at least a little more memorable than GODMODE, so for that it gets a 6.5/10. Maybe/hopefully it’ll grow on me!
Little Big Town: It’s a Dying Art
We’ve already reviewed this awesome album! Check out the full review here.
Beartooth: Pure Ecstasy
The first album since Caleb broke the internet, and their follow-up to 2023’s The Surface, it’s at least heavy! And, honestly, I enjoyed this a hell of a lot more than I expected to! The opener/title track was excellent, the perfect punch in the teeth to kick things off. Tracks like ‘Bullshit’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘You’ are also awesome and certainly highlights, the latter almost feeling as aggressive as modern Architects in the very best way. It’s not all fantastic; there’s maybe one too many slower songs and ‘Stadiums’ is an experimentally-arranged song that I don’t think works. However, there is far more good than bad! This is the most I’ve enjoyed the band since their early days, and they have certainly returned with something to prove with this release! Hopefully they can keep this heaviness as it will surely gain them some momentum back and put them back on track as a modern heavyweight band. While I’m curious to see where they go from here, I’ll certainly be spinning a lot of this plenty moving forward. A solid 8/10 from us!
Mastodon: Marrow Deep
The first studio album since 2021’s Hushed and Grim, and first since the untimely passing of Brent Hinds, this is a surprisingly excellent release from the Atlantan metallers. It’s proggy, sludgy, heavy and melodic right from the off-set, and has some real career highs. The opener, ‘Snakes for Dinner’ and the proggy ‘A Vampire’s Demeanor’ are all excellent songs in their own right. And, while the release may be a touch long at 65 minutes, especially when a lot of it is similar, there isn’t a bad song throughout, and I honestly wouldn’t be able to cut any to tighten up the runtime! This feels like the most focused the band have been in a good few years, and I genuinely had a good time listening to this. The band are masters of their craft, and if you are into their style or any of the genres I’ve named previously, you’ll most likely love this! If it was a little shorter it may have scored a touch higher, but it still gets a solid 7.5/10! Hell, it may grow on me even more with more listens.
Everlast: Embers to Ash
The first solo record in nearly eight years from the House of Pain alumni is a big slab of music at 17 tracks, but is well worth a listen if you are into his more bluesy, acoustic based work. From ‘Never Coming Home’ to ‘My Hollywood’, ‘Rubber Bullets’ to ‘Peace of Mind’, there are some awesome tracks on here. His vocals are still as great as ever, and some of his writing is still top notch and packed full of emotion. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Eat at Whitley’s or Whitley Ford Sings the Blues, but there is some good stuff on here and is a welcome return from the man after so long. If you are at all into his solo stuff, this is well worth a listen. I’ll probably not revisit the album as a whole much, but the stuff I like I really love. 7/10
Kamelot: Dark Asylum
We’ve also checked this album out in full, aren’t you lucky! Check out the full article here.
Wine Lips: TV Dinner
Album five from the psychedelic punkers is a damn fun 34 minutes of music! It’s rather urgent and balls-to-the-wall throughout, but it serves the release well and makes there never be a dull moment. Whether it’s single ‘Projector’, ‘Leach’ or ‘Fried V’, there is plenty of greatness throughout. The band are all insanely talented but also don’t take themselves too seriously, making for an album that is impossible not to like if you are into the punkier side of things. They have a new fan in me, that’s for sure, and I can’t wait to dive into their back catalogue and see what I’ve missed! For now though, this gets a solid 7.5/10 from us, good stuff!
The Warning: Everything’s Falling
Album five from the breakout Mexican rockers is every bit as good as their last. The trio are so good at blending heavy instrumentation with infectiously catchy, pop-infused hooks, and it’s no wonder they are becoming a huge name in both scenes in 2026. Whether it’s the singles, ‘Perfect Daughter’, ‘Why Do You Like it When I Cry?’ or ‘Waste Your Time on Me’, this thing is packed to the brim with amazing songs, with not a single dud or even lower quality track throughout. The women are really at the top of their game right now and show no signs of slowing down on their way to the very top. They feel fresh and unique yet also familiar in all the best ways, and this is certainly up there alongside their very best work. I’m going to be spinning this plenty in the weeks and months to come, and don’t be surprised to see it high on my albums of the year listcome December. A very easy 9/10!
Flotsam & Jetsam: Rats in the Temple
Following up their excellent 2024 releaseless than two years later, the heavy/thrash metallers once again prove that they are still at the top of their game decades into their careers. This is nearly an hour of insane riffing, drumming and soloing, backing some great, powerful vocals and melodies from A.K.. Tracks like ‘Damnation’, ‘Blame the Knife’ and ‘Last Rites’ are all excellent and clear highlights for me. And while, like a surprising chunk of this list this week, it’s probably a touch long, none of the songs are bad by any stretch. You know exactly what you’re getting into with a Flotsam & Jetsam record, and this is more of the same. That certainly isn’t a bad thing, though! It’s a damn solid album and, while I don’t feel quite as blown away as I did by I Am the Weapon, it is still a great addition to their discography, and a solid 8.5/10!
Ty Segall: Chrome
Following on from last year’s Possession, the garage rock revival pioneer is back with his fourth album in barely over two years. It’s somehow even quirkier than his last album, but honestly, I think it made it more interesting and enjoyable. And that’s coming from someone who enjoyed Possession! ‘Hospital’ is a wild open but sets the tone rather perfectly for the proggy, psychedelic style rest of the release, and is a personal album highlight. The likes of ‘Glass’ and ‘Let Go’ also feel like they fit that distinction for me. The whole album is heavier and a bit more experimental than the stuff I’ve checked out from him in the past, and it makes for an incredibly fun listen. Give this a listen if you are at all curious! A damn solid 8/10!
Olivia Prado: Dirty in the Sand
Following up her massive debut album from 2024, the LA-based singer-songwriter returns with another dose of pop-R&B. Now, as you can probably tell with everything else on this article, it’s not typically our sort of thing. However, I had a good time listening to this! It’s a simple 18 minutes of catchy, well-performed music, and Prado is clearly a damn talented artist. The title track is probably my favourite on the release, but all of it is worth a listen if you are into this style! It’s not something I’d put on often, but certainly wouldn’t turn off if it came on again. Give it a listen if you’re curious, a solid 6.5/10!
Xenith: To No Avail
The debut album from the UK melodeath band is a real epic collection of heavy music. And, spoiler alert, it’s awesome! The opening track alone is over seven minutes of amazing riffing, brutal screams and some amazing dynamics throughout. It sets the tone for the rest of the album perfectly. Speaking of the rest of the album though, it is just as awesome as the opening song! It’s 10 amazing Heafy-yet-melodic tracks each as good as the last. Having said that, personal favourites are ‘Bludgeoned’ and ‘Killer Instinct’ are personal highlights! The band are all insanely talented, and work together excellently. I feel like we don’t have enough new bands doing this style in the UK, and hopefully Xenith help change that. They have a very bright future ahead of them if they keep releasing music of this quality, and I already can’t wait to hear where they go from here! For now though I will certainly be spinning this plenty moving forward, and it gets a very solid 8/10 from us!
Black Spikes: Ydos
The first release for the Lithuanian modern folk metallers on their new home at Napalm Records, this thing is a grandiose, damn interesting album! It’s dark, heavy, proggy and plenty melodic all in equal measure, and sucked me in right from the jump. I definitely get the modern metal comparisons, as it does have elements of Spiritbox or Poppy in the arrangements and riffing, but it is also so much more than that. It combines it with a European folk edge that makes it a truly unique and fascinating listen. It reminds me closer of SKYND, but twisting the style in their own way. Or hell, even Igorrr with some of the riffing. The opener into ‘MOTINA’ is amazing, while the likes of ‘ZELVAR’ and ‘SENAS DEMONAS’ are other highlights. Honestly though the whole album is awesome, and well worth a listen in full!
Agni is one hell of a vocalist, providing some amazing screams and cleans throughout, while the rest of the band work their asses off to provide a massive, epic backdrop for her. If you are at all into the heavier or more proggy/grandiose side of metal, this is an album you need to be checking out ASAP! It’s a step up from their 2020 debut, and prove that the band are very much here to stay, and their ceiling is high! 8.5/10
Steve Cropper & the Midnight Hour: Watching the Tide
The posthumous release of The Colonel’s work is a bittersweet affair. It’s not been all too long since his passing and it’s clear he put a lot of work into it, so not to hear it go out is a real shame. However, it is a great album featuring a lot of his peers, and is a fitting tribute! From Clapton to Gibbons, Wood to May, there is absolute rock royalty throughout this, including Steve himself of course. And, on top of that, they all kill it, producing some awesome tracks alongside Cropper. ‘My Angels are Calling’ is a particularly beautiful, bittersweet number, while ‘Down & Out’ and ‘Tip Off to the Rip Off’ are other personal favourites. The whole thing is a damn good, blues-heavy album though, and well worth checking out if you’re a fan! As a posthumous album, you couldn’t ask for much more! 8/10
The US power metal legends are back with their first album in three years. There’s a lot of hype surrounding it, including here at Overtone, and the singles so far have been kick-ass. We reviewed their last one and certainly enjoyed it, so I can’t wait to dive in and see what this one is like!
The intro track sets the massive, epic scope of the album up perfectly, and leads seamlessly into the excellent ‘Ashen World’. A massive riff runs through its center, the drums, bass and accompaniments adding to it masterfully. Tommy’s unmistakable vocals come in as the instruments drop back, but the dark heavy vibe continues on still through it all. It all builds back up into a massive, arena filling chorus, one that is sure to be stuck in my head for days to come! The dynamics of the track are excellent from the jump, and exactly what I expected from the band! The bridge is awesome, the screams alongside the powerful cleans adding another great layer to it all. And, of course, a blistering solo never hurts! It’s a really fantastic way to kick off this big album, giving the listener a taste of everything they are in store for, and doing it in a way that only Kamelot can!
The epic, heavy, dark vibes continue through the title track and ‘Sanctuary’. Both are excellent tracks in their own right, and very Kamelot, but have pretty similar structure and vibe to ‘Ashen World’. Having said that, the latter is a massive highlight of the album. Clementine and Delaunay provide truly awesome guest features. It was a perfect choice for a single, heavy and grandiose and melodic, and is a very easy choice to make our playlist!
After brief, epic interlude, ‘One Last Masquerade’ blasts out, carrying the same level of swagger than before. It also features another very fitting guest appearance, this time from the legendary Tobias Sammet. It makes a lot of sense, as this album has been drawing comparisons to Avantasia from the start. Tobias is one of the most underrated vocalists in metal these days, and fits this track perfectly, the pair duetting the massive power metal stomper fantastically. The rest of the band kill it throughout too, it having maybe my favourite soloing on the whole album, and one hell of a huge riff! To I’m sure no shock by now, it’s another huge highlight of the album, and a song that will certainly be on heavy rotation for me in the coming weeks and months.
The pace slows up for ‘Ivy, My Dear’, it being a beautiful folk ballad, yet still fitting perfectly in with the rest of the albums work. Tommy’s vocals work just as perfectly over the simple string arrangement, hitting some of his very best notes and melodies. And those harmonies in the chorus… DAMN. It’s the perfect change of pace for this point in the album, and an utterly fantastic song in its own right. It showcases the bands range excellently, and is a damn fun listen. Another big standout track on an album so far full of them!
The other single of the album, ‘Godlike Alchemy’, is more of your standard Kamelot affair. Modern power metal through and through, full of soaring, catchy vocals and melodies, great riffs and solid drums. It’s a short and sweet song at barely three minutes, and was another solid choice for a pre-release.
The same could be said for the likes of ‘The Sleeping Mind’, ‘Kaleidoscope’, and ‘The Puppet King’. Again, all excellent songs in their own right, and very fitting for the band and the album in the best way. The latter is another firm highlight of the release as a whole, too. But, on a longer release, you are bound to get some similarity. It certainly doesn’t mean they are bad or even not worth listening to, and I couldn’t have cut any of them. They fit perfectly into the release and add so much to the story and epic nature of it, and are good enough to listen to on their own too, though I’d encourage at least a full album listen as well!
‘Enigma’, while having some heaviness still, maintains a great, slower pace throughout, and drops back massively for the verses. It gives Tommy chance to do some truly incredible vocal runs. The same could be said for ‘Cassandra’s Disease’. Both are catchy, melodic songs and are a great change of pace again for an album typically rather balls-to-the-wall. And, again, both are excellent in their own right, while also serving their purpose on the album perfectly.
‘Beneath the Moon’ is a return to the beautiful, stripped-back folk sound. It’s short and sweet, but works so well with the rest of the tracks, and both guests kill it. I love that the band can do stuff like this alongside their typical power metal sound and it all seems completely normal, making the album that much more interesting and repeatable. While it’s not something I’d revisit on its own much, within the context of the album it’s excellent! And then, on top of that, the closing instrumental being a reprise of sorts of the opener was perfect, bringing everything in a grandiose full circle!
Overall: This is yet another damn good Kamelot album! It’s packed full of amazing songs and doesn’t once feel it’s length; 51 minutes going by in a flash. The band kill it throughout, and are clearly all masters of their craft when it comes to writing. It’s every bit as good as their last album, and arguably even better! If you are into the band, power, folk or symphonic metal, this is absolutely the album for you, and you’ll definitely want to listen to it in full at least once!
The country vocal group legends are back with their 11th studio album (the Christmas one doesn’t count) and first since 2022’s Mr. Sun. The quartet have put out some of the biggest, most fantastic songs in the genre this millennium, and have had steady success throughout. I’ve been a fan of them for years at this point, and since the moment this was announced all of us here at Overtone have been excited! Without further ado, let’s dive in!
After a short vocal intro track, we launch right into their huge, Ashley Monroe featuring single, ‘Sucker for a Sad Song’. From the Western guitaring and vibes to the expectedly perfect harmonies, it had me in a chokehold right from the get-go. It’s a rather simple, stripped-back track throughout. Having said that, the chorus, while still a similar level as the rest, still sounds massive and catchy as anything with all the harmonies. The four work perfectly together, and have for decades at this point, and Ashley slots in amongst them amazingly. It’s a chilled out, Western-folky song that sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album! And, at nearly six minutes in length, everything gets plenty of time to breathe, which is really awesome.
The chilled vibes continue through ‘The Door’, but it was cool changing things up with a male-lead, shorter song. It’s mainly just one guitar and vocals, with some added leads and strings to fill things out, but again the harmonies on the chorus are phenomenal, nearly taking my breath away. The lyrics are amazing too, emotional and heartfelt and devastatingly bittersweet. If you like slower, more traditional country stuff, this is absolutely the track for you, and is a massive early highlight!
‘Dying Art’ picks the pace and the rock a little bit, more of what I expected from the band heading into this. A simple, guitar lead verse builds perfectly into massive, arena-filled chorus. The harmonies are excellent again, but the instrumental fills out the sound perfectly. The dynamics for the song is great too, really making the chorus hit that much harder when everything around it is a little lower. And it’s catchy as anything, certainly one to be stuck in my head for days to come. The whole second half is amazing, too. From the male vocals to the women building in over the top to the awesome guitar solo, it’s all SO GOOD. And it slowly all dropping out at the end is perfection. I’m honestly shocked it wasn’t a pre-release single, it’s that good, but will probably do excellently still on the radio post-release! This is a song that easily makes our playlist!
Singles ‘Hey There Sunshine’ and ‘We Could Have it All’ are beautiful piano ballads, both handled in very different ways. The first is an emotion-filled, slower, simple song that is very much focused around the piano and female vocals, the odd guitar and string swell and harmonies adding even more depth to the sound and vibe. Meanwhile the latter has almost a Bowie or ELO with the multi-tracked vocals throughout. Instrumentally it’s got more to it too, with the drums and guitars and even some soloing coming in throughout. Both are great in their own right and were absolutely great choices for singles. ‘…Sunshine’ is definitely more of the country side of their sound, with the other leaning into rock power ballad status, so there is still variety through them. And, them being broken apart through the album was absolutely the right call!
Another single, ‘Over and Over’, brings back the acoustic guitar as the focus, and definitely has a classic country vibe to it. It’s maybe the most Fleetwood Mac-esque track on the album, but also has an air of late 90s/early 2000s folk pop, blending the two together seamlessly. And, having said that, it still feels so very Little Big Town. It’s catchy and so well put together and performed. And by the end it builds into a rather grandiose, rock opera sound and feel, which I really loved. It’s easily another big highlight of the album!
Tracks like ‘The Idea’, ‘It’s a Long Way to Your Heart’ and ‘Jet Plane’ are all more steady acoustic songs. Once again, all are great in their own right, but certainly have similarities in vibe. The former has some of the most heartbreakingly brilliant lyrics on the album, and is another firm highlight. The latter closes things in perfect fashion, just like the way the album opens. It’s country AF, and packed full of some truly excellent harmonies. Plus, the guitaring it in is awesome, almost Buffett-like at times. Meanwhile ‘Long Way’ is your typical Little Big Town ballad in all the best ways. As I said, all the songs are good and beautiful, but they definitely have a shared vibe through them.
‘Crickets’ has a fun bluesy/jazz feel and riff running through it. The vocals over the top definitely fit that feel to a T. It’s another excellent change of pace for the album, and certainly a welcome one after a few slower ones. Hell, it’s arguably the most different one o the release, and I really love it for that. However, it’s also a fantastic song in its own right, that’s for sure! It’s a lot of fun that still had plenty of hallmarks of a great LBT song to boot. It’s simple in its arrangement and very Louisiana blues in the best way. Another song that I’d highly recommend, and another firm album highlight!
The final single of the album, the Kelsea Ballerini featuring ‘Closing Time’, keeps the blues vibes going but slows them down into more of an easy-listening/Southern soul style. And, what would you know, it’s another excellent song! It’s a sort, simple song that gets straight to the point, and is a truly fantastic listen. And, just like Ashley, Kelsea slots in perfectly in with the band. The sheer levels of harmonies and vocal levels throughout are incredible, and the lyrics are great too. It kept me hooked though it’s two and a half minute runtime amazingly, and is another song I’ll be revisiting a lot. Amazing stuff!
The last song from the album, ‘It’s Coming Around’, is another Fleetwood-like song, it building very much like ‘The Chain’. That rocky folk/country sound is one that the band do so well, and this track is a real testament to that! It’s massive and packed full of huge, catchy vocal lines. Hell, we even get an organ solo which was a lot of fun, especially since it duels with the guitar! Once again, the last third of the song is incredible, and the band do such a good job of their stuff dropping gradually out to its base parts. It’s a song I would absolutely love to see live, so hopefully they’re back out here soon!
Overall: This is a damn good album! It’s actually been a couple of releases since I’ve checked out a full album from them, and what a way to jump back into them! The album as a whole was maybe a touch too slow at times, but when all the tracks are so damn good and pretty it’s hard for that to be too much of an issue! There are plenty of great songs throughout, and the band prove that somehow even nearly three decades into their career, they are still firing on all cylinders. If you like the band, or their lighter, folkier brand of country music in general, I would certainly recommend giving this a spin!
Another stacked week of massive and great new music, from rock to metal to country! Let’s dive into it all!
Weezer: Weezer (Gold Album)
After the band finally took a much-needed break from writing/releasing following 2022’s middling SZNZ collection, they returned with their highly anticipated 20th studio album. Honestly, it proves if nothing else, quantity is definitely not directly proportional to quality. This is their best album in a while, easily since ’21s Van Weezer. It’s rather fitting too, since this is their first return to a self-titled release since 2019’s polarising (Black Album). The album starts on a massive high with ‘Say Yes’, while single ‘We Might as Well Be Strangers’ is also a banger. Heck, it’s a solidly great 32 minutes of rock music, with the only low-light being single ‘C.E.O.’ (the video is excellent but the track really hasn’t grown on me since its release). It’s some really good moody, melodic, punk-infused rock like really only Weezer can do. It’s the closest they’ve come to sounding like their early 2000s peak, and it was definitely a welcome return! I’m sure it will have its critics, but I’ve had a blast listening to it multiple times over the weekend. It’s a harmless album that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but certainly reinforces it! One of the easiest 8/10s I’ve ever given.
Dan + Shay: Young
Album six from the country duo finally dropped to a lot of hype this last Friday. If y’all can remember, we LOVED their last album, so this has definitely been a big one I’ve been waiting for this year. And, given how excellent the singles have been, we were even more excited!
The album certainly doesn’t let me down, that’s for sure! While the title track was maybe a little of an odd choice opening the release, it being a slower ballad track, it is still great. And, following it up with the massive, amazing, emotional single ‘Say So’ was a great call. ‘Marry You Again’ is a catchy pop-country banger of a love song that was another excellent choice for a single. Them adding another harmony into ‘The Old Guys’ with Cody Johnson worked incredibly well too, and is another excellent song. The closer is also a beautiful, bittersweet, piano-lead song, and another huge highlight.
The rest of it, while all great, is a touch on the slow side. They can get away with it because their lyric writing, vocals and harmonies are all excellent, but I’d have liked a couple more up-tempo tracks like from Bigger Houses, honestly. They are so very good at making fantastic, sappy love songs, so the wife will be happy, at least! It’s all first dance music, through and through. I do hope it grows on me, like the other did. It’s certainly not bad by any stretch, but it is a step below their last. But, I will certainly be listening to it again plenty moving forward, that’s for sure! So for now it gets a tentative 7.5/10
Chelsea Wolfe: The Dark
Just two and a half years removed from her critically acclaimed last album, the gothic musician is back with her ninth. Her beautiful, haunting dark-folk sound is back on full display, a style I feel only Wolfe can do like this. Honestly, it’s a welcome return to the sound after her recent more electronic/industrial sound. From the opener to ‘Swallower’ to ‘I’m Not There’, there’s some really great songs on here. Honestly, the album begs for a full listen from front-to-back, though. There is no denying her skill, as a songwriter or a vocalist, as her lyrics and delivery throughout are excellent and the production on the whole release is phenomenal. Honestly, it feels like a strange comparison, but the grandiose nature of the album almost gives off Seal vibes at times. That is a big compliment though, trust me!
I know a lot of people loved She Reaches Out…, but this is the most I’ve enjoyed a Chelsea Wolfe release in a while, at least since her Converge collaboration. If you are all into the darker, more epic side of folk-rock, I cannot recommend this album enough! While I probably wouldn’t listen to the individual tracks on their own too much, I cannot deny how incredible of an album as a whole it is. It’s a truly special release that I’ve already spun twice this weekend, and will be doing so plenty in the future! And, for that reason, I can’t give it any less than 8.5/10!
The Afghan Whigs: Soft Control
The first new album in four years from the alt rockers is a fun 36-minutes of catch melodies, creative riffing and amazing vocals and harmonies. I wasn’t too familiar with the band heading into this, but ‘Jungle Roux’ had me hooked immediately with its soulful, heavy-indie vibe. That was followed excellently by single ‘House of I’, while tracks like the grandiose ‘Mariah Luster’ and the jazzy ’77’ are also big highlights. If you’re into the style though, you’ll enjoy the whole album, just like I did. It’s quirky, that’s for sure, and there’s barely anyone out there doing this kind of sound still today. The closest comparison my brain kept making was Dogstar. So, if all of that sounds like your sort of thing, what are you waiting for, give this a listen! It’s probably not something I’d revisit too often, but I had a good time listening to it and am definitely curious to check out more of the band’s stuff. A solid 7/10 from us!
Ian Munsick: The Mountain Goat
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Check out our full review here.
Cutthroat LA: The Purge
The first new music from the American melodic hardcore band since their 2023 debut album, this EP picks up excellently where that left off! This is an awesome 18 minutes of hip-hop-infused hardcore/thrash, with each of the five tracks being as good as the last. The opener has plenty of hardcore and crossover vibes to it, while single ‘Purge’ is much more straight-up thrash. Meanwhile ‘Bullet Proof Mind’ and ‘Feeling Disconnected’ straddle that line perfectly, being amazing songs and almost remind me of Hed(PE) or even Body Count in the best way! If any of this sounds even slightly up your street, I can’t recommend checking this out enough! The band have a big new fan in me, and I really wish I could see it all live! I already can’t wait to hear where they go from here, but for now will happily be spinning this plenty moving forward. A very easy 8.5/10 from us!
Famous Strangers: Self-Titled
This is one hell of a debut album! It definitely fits alongside the likes of Rattlesnakesand Tailgunner with this resurgence of NWOBHM revival bands, and I am all for it! It’s packed full of awesome riffs, blistering solos and some really excellent, powerful vocals. We even get some harshness and screams throughout, adding almost a metalcore/melodeath element to it, in the best way possible! And there truly isn’t a bad song on the album, all seven being as excellent as each other! Whether it’s the balls-to-the-wall opener, the bluesy ‘Please Her’ or the more melodic metal ‘Far Away From Home’, there is plenty of variety, and it’s all amazing in its own right. At only seven tracks it goes by in a flash, too! The band haven’t been a thing for all too long, and this may already be an early breakout success for them, if there is any justice in the world. They already have a massive new fan in me from this album, and I truly cannot wait to hear where they go from here! I’ll be spinning it a lot in the coming weeks and months, and don’t be surprised to see it make our albums of the year listcome December. A very easy 9/10 from us!
Brandon Leake: Intimacy
Album five from the Californian poet is a different release for us generally, but that doesn’t make it any less great! It gives off big 90s hip-hop vibes, and I love it. Having said that, it also reminds me of Hamilton, but either way is fine by me! The lyrics are expectedly awesome, but the delivery and the instrumentation is just as good! Opener ‘I’ve Got’ is honestly a phenomenal track, and sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the release. Tracks like ‘Fear’ and ‘Shine’ are also great and, while the solely spoken word stuff isn’t typically my sort of thing, there’s no denying they are well written and performed. The story throughout is awesome and a fascinating listen, keeping me hooked thoroughly unexpectedly (even if it was a little too religious for me). If you are at all curious, give this a try, you might find yourself enjoying it like I did! 6.5/10. It sounds low but is high for something that I normally wouldn’t go for!
Mob Rules: Stories From the Verdant Vale
Coming just a year after their last massive album, the German power metallers once again knock it out of the park with this release. Honestly, thank god they didn’t wait another seven years like before! While only a short five-track EP, it’s a truly excellent release, and a welcome return from the studio after a surprisingly short break. Opening on a reprise from their debut album was a master stroke, and it leading into the big new single ‘Master of the Black Crow’ was an excellent choice. It almost has some modern Maiden vibes to it, though very much still sticking rooted to their epic power metal roots too. The other two singles are awesome while the new one, ‘Masquerade Ball’ is just as good as the rest! The whole thing flows perfectly and goes by in a flash. The band don’t get nearly the love they deserve, so if you like anything even vaguely close to power metal, give this a spin! A very solid 8/10
Ken Pomeroy: Tonight’s News
Another EP, this time a chilled-out one from the amazing Native American folk singer-songwriter. I remember enjoying her last album when it dropped, and this is another stellar release to add to her discography! Tracks like the opener and ‘Late for the Sky’ are personal high points, but there certainly isn’t a bad song throughout. It’s 20 minutes of beautiful, simple and stripped back folk music. Her vocals are amazing, and her lyrics throughout the EP are also great. Plus, the rest of the instrumentation fits the vibe perfectly. Much like with her album, it’s a solid 7/10, and I’d recommend it to anyone into folk stuff!
The Night Eternal: Cold Velvet
The third album from the dark heavy metallers is every bit as good as their previous two! It’s like a gothier (somehow) Mercyful Fate, but with a modern edge and production to it. Heck, it has a very early goth tone to it at times, think Type O or even Sisters of Mercy, which was awesome. It’s a lot of fun! Opener ‘Where This World Ends’ kicks things off excellently, while the likes of ‘Caught in a Spell’ and ‘The Watcher of the Burning Veil’ are also awesome. However, the more I listened to this album, the more I fell in love. Everyone song is as good as their last, and the vibe throughout is amazing. At 41 minutes spread across just eight tracks, it may be a little much for some people, but I’m the opposite! It felt epic and grandiose and pretty fresh, there not being many that sound like this at all! Although I had checked out a little of their other work in preparation for this, I can safely say this is their best yet, and they have a big new fan in me. I saw they are touring near me at the end of the year, I am gonna have to get tickets! Another easy 9/10, this is awesome!
Speed Stroke: Damage Control
The first album in nearly six years from the Italian Hard ‘n’ Heavy band is a lot of fun! It’s almost 40 minutes of catchy, heavy sleaze that it none-stop awesomeness from start to finish! The band are insanely talented, both as players and writers, the album packed full of amazing riffing, solid drumming, insane solos and some catchy, massive vocals, both in terms of melodies and harmonies. It really channels that awesome European heavy sleaze sound excellently, like the heyday of Santa Cruz, Crashdiet or Dust Bowl Jokies. And, on top of that, every song is as good as the last, making it impossible to pick set highlights. The whole album goes by in a flash so it’s well worth listening to the album as a whole! If you are at all into this sort of style, I cannot recommend this release enough! I’ll certainly be spinning it plenty moving forward, and I can’t give it any less than 8.5/10. Heck, it may grow on me even more with more listens and end up even higher in the future!
Silica Gel: Ballad of You
This is a wild, quirky album from the Korean psychedelia four-piece! While this sort of thing isn’t my typical go-to, the likes of Angine de Poitrine have really gotten me into it more than I expected, and I can appreciate the hell out of all that goes into art like this. It very much is art, and the talent and creativity that goes into stuff like this is insane. The band do a great job of straddling the line between experimental psychedelia and more of an indie vibe, too. The opener is craziness, while the likes of ‘Melatonin 88mg’, ‘Molecular Gastronomy’ and ‘BIG VOID’ lean a little more into a poppier side, and are really excellent tracks. It’s fantastically creative and well put together, and I fell in love the more I listened! It flows amazingly, the production throughout masterful. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you’re at all curious it’s well worth a listen! It will most likely grow on me even more with more listens, but for now it still gets a massive 8.5/10.
Oddland: Unilluminate to Illuminate
Album four from the Finnish prog metallers wasn’t at all what I expected heading into it, and I mean that it in the best way possible! Right from the tribal-meets-jazz-meets-metal opener I was hooked, not let go until 40 minutes later when the album finished! While ‘Freefall’ and ‘Red Canvas’ are highlights, there really isn’t a bad track throughout, and it’s all arranged excellently. It reminds me a lot of the likes of Haken and The band are all hugely talented, and have crafted something special here together, all working alongside each other perfectly. This is an absolute masterclass in grandiose, melodic heaviness, and is yet another amazing album from this week! The band have a massive new fan in me. My only slight gripe is that some of the songs are maybe a little similar structurally, but when they’re all this good that’s hardly an issue! I can’t give it any less than yet another huge 8.5/10
