Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the fourth issue now for free!
Volume four includes an update from cover stars Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, reviews of new albums from Black Stone Cherry and King Nun, a live review of Theory of a Deadman plus a special feature on the upcoming Ash vs The Subways tour!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Neck Deep, Within Temptation, Europe, Lake Malice, Filth Is Eternal, Nervosa and Sum 41!
Plus new live announcements from Yard Act, James, Nothing More, VUKOVI, Lynks and The Longest Johns.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with Spiritual Cramp, Butterfly Hurricane and Grove Street!
BLACK STONE CHERRY – SCREAMIN’ AT THE SKY – ALBUM REVIEW
Black Stone Cherry have been a constant to UK hard rock fans now for almost two decades. Regular tours and releases have kept the band relevant and they’ve established themselves as one of the most adored bands around for their core demographic.
Whilst many other bands have undergone drastic changes and re-births, Black Stone Cherry have shown modest sonic exploration and largely stuck to their signature sound. For other bands this tact often inevitably leads to dips in quality as the ideas run out. Not Black Stone Cherry however as they’ve demonstrated a rare knack for delivering consistently quality albums.
In recent years though the band have had to navigate the pandemic, the first loss of a member and what was a slightly lukewarm response to previous album, ‘The Human Condition’. Perhaps fatigue was finally kicking in for the band?
Well, any whispers of a downturn in fortunes can be quickly dispelled because on their new album, ‘Screamin’ at the Sky’, the band are here to you remind you why you fell in love with them in the first place!
The title-track and ‘Nervous’ kick the album off with a full throttle attack and neither the pace or quality drop over the course of the record. Each track feels shorter and more succinct, akin to those on ‘Between the Devil & the Deep Blue’ and their self-titled debut.
That winning formula is followed closely, with the band taking something of a back to basics approach as clichéd as that may sound. This really is an album that old school fans with relish and new fans can jump on board with.
Yes, any concerns that the beginning of the end may be upon us are squashed to a pulp by a band still capable of harnessing their raw power and creating something magic. Eight albums in, Black Stone Cherry are as consistent as ever and they remain a reassuring constant in an ever-changing world!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the fourth issue now for free!
Volume four includes an update from cover stars Creeper, a review of ‘Confessions of the Fallen’ from Staind plus a special feature on Metal for Good!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Bruce Dickinson, Blink 182, The Dollyrots, Chelsea Wolfe, Alien Weaponry, Helmet, VEXED, The Cadillac Three, P.O.D., The Vaccines, Against The Current, The K’s, Casey, Jack Valero, Little Man Tate, The Sleeping Souls, Interlaker, The Pale White, Florence Black and North Atlas!
Plus new live announcements from Bury Tomorrow, Poppy, Hot Water Music, Jake Bugg and Grade 2.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with BIG SPECIAL, Humour and headcage!
Staind are the quintessential early-noughties US radio-rock band. A nostalgic string of hit singles and multi-platinum albums has long established their position in the industry, but they will also know that they’ve hit their commercial peak.
Many in this position have chosen to milk the nostalgia, others have long separated to seek new opportunities and a small handful continue to release records and try to stay relevant. Over the past decade or so, Staind have mainly been the middle option whilst occasionally dipping into option one, but now they are going all in on option number three!
Whilst their own fanbase will be overjoyed at the news, there will also be many naysayers of will laugh, such is the popularity of shooting down bands of Staind’s ilk. Call it the Nickelback effect if you want but there is an equal amount of love and hate out there for radio friendly rock music of their generation.
This combined with singer Aaron Lewis’s outspoken politics the band are something of an easy target, but ‘Confessions of the Fallen’ deserves to be separated from all of the above. After all it’s a brave decision to put out a new album after 12 years, and one that they didn’t need to make.
Fans will be glad they did though as musically the record feels like they’ve never been away. Ten tracks spread across thirty-five minutes and you can’t really fault what the band have created at all. The likes of album opener ‘Lowest In Me’ had given a good indication of what to expect and the record fellows suit.
Staind have managed to capture what shot them to great heights in the first place, and this album wouldn’t have felt out of place twenty years ago. That said, it still manages to feel fresh enough that to avoid any nostalgic pitfalls.
There probably weren’t many clamouring for this album to be made, and the band certainly didn’t need to make it, but those that do find themselves checking out ‘Confessions of the Fallen’ will be pleasantly surprised by the quality.
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the third issue now for free!
Volume three includes an update from cover star Chris Shiflett, and a review of ‘Race the Night’ from Ash.
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Don Broco, Lonely The Brave, Dream Wife, TesseracT, DragonForce, Staind, Duff McKagan, Skinny Lister, All Time Low, While She Sleeps, K.Flay, The Meffs, END and Mother Mother!
Plus new live announcements from British Lion, Fozzy, KITE THIEF, VV, The Amazons, The Coral, Twin Atlantic and Lonely The Brave.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with Major Moment, Tropic Gold and Future Static!
At this point in their thirty year career Ash are something of a safe bet with consistently good records and always solid live. When other bands have self-destructed, lost the magic or faded away, Ash have remained a constant.
The relationships within the trio will of course be one key reason behind this longevity and when early press releases teased Tim Wheeler as describing ‘Race the Night’ as “the sound of the band reveling in the sheer joy of being a band after being separated by time and distance through the insanity of the early 2020s.”, the seeds were sewn for a change.
Change probably isn’t the right word to use though, perhaps re-emergence would suit better because as the band have drip fed singles from the new album many have likened the sound to 2004’s ‘Meltdown’ album in terms is heaviness.
The constant will to pigeonhole and connect releases is always is kneejerk temptation from music press though, and whilst sonically the connection is obvious, ‘Race the Night’ actually stands out for the reason highlighted by Wheeler. That is plain and simply that this sounds like a band having fun and making an album that follows no set rulebook just a desire to unleash their creativity and see what happens.
Well what has happened with ‘Race the Night’ is a sublime slice of pop rock perfection. Fans of the band that have enjoyed recent offerings ‘Kablammo!’ and ‘Islands’ and observed how good those releases are will perhaps be surprised by the quality of this album. That’s because both those albums were very decent and maintained the legacy of the band, but ‘Race the Night’ sees the band take a giant leap forward.
There are of course radio hits, delicate melodies and rifftastic moments spread throughout the well balanced release as you’d expect from Ash, but if in doubt just listen to the fantastic album closer, ‘Like A God – Reprise’. You just can’t help but picture a young band just jamming together in a garage!
Yes, whilst Ash have never failed to deliver the goods, ‘Race the Night’ feels like a special present indeed.
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the second issue now for free!
Volume two includes reviews of October Drift and Philip Seth Campbell.
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Demob Happy, The Struts, The Rolling Stones, Dream Nails, Militarie Gun, REWS, Haunt The Woods, Scaler, The Cadillac Three, Pendulum, Wargasm, Daytime TV, HourHouse, Black Water County, The Pearl Harts, Gama Bomb, The Hyena Kill, Amongst Liars, Dead Poet Society and Death Of Me!
Plus new live announcements from Enter Shikari, Keane, The Big Moon, Wayward Sons, Of Mice & Men, Meryl Streek and BIG SPECIAL.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with PLAIINS, Unschooling and paradise fell.!
ROYAL BLOOD – BACK TO THE WATER BELOW – ALBUM REVIEW
Royal Blood have been one of the biggest success stories for new rock bands over the past decade. All three of their albums thus far have reached the coveted number one spot and the band have elevated themselves to arena and festival headline status.
All of this creates a natural pressure on the band to keep delivering consistently high standards, and the time has arrived to see whether the band can achieve an incredible quadruple of number one albums.
‘Back to the Water Below’ sees the band handling production fully themselves for the first time having previously worked alongside the likes of Josh Homme and Tom Dalgety. The positives of such a move of course include the unadulterated freedom, but the double-edged sword is that there is nobody to offer assurance and quality control.
After all the bells and whistles that accompanied predecessor ‘Typhoons’, the album title this time around may also refer to the back to basics approach taken by the duo. From opener ‘Mountains At Midnight’ onwards it’s evidently clear that the band have gone back to their roots to use another tired cliché.
That’s not to say that they haven’t added plenty of polish to the finished product but that there is a slower more methodical sonic style on this collection. That Royal Blood DNA is evident throughout but the album is much more melancholic than those that came before.
This does in many ways feel the least hyped of all of the bands albums and the limited pre-release campaign feeds into that. It feels like messrs Kerr and Thatcher want to let the music do the talking on this record, and they are clearly talented enough to do so.
Whilst this may be a completely different album compared to any of their three previous efforts, Royal Blood have still created something distinctly Royal Blood. The band have seen their fair share of criticism in the past both somehow for failing to evolve and for changing too much! On ‘Back to the Water Below’, the band merge everything they’ve done before and evolve into something new.
So, while musically this record is a fantastic genesis of the their style, commercially it will be interesting to see if this is an album that can secure that illustrious fourth consecutive number one?
Hot Milk have been building, building, building since they stormed onto the scene in 2019. Building a solid fanbase, building a reputation as a top live act and building an incomparable back catalogue. Whilst those positive foundations were being built though, pressure and expectation built with them, specifically for a full debut album.
Well, the time has arrived for the band to show off their finished house to the word. Complete with aesthetically pleasing artwork, ‘A Call To The Void’ is ready for inspection and on first look it would appear that the band haven’t build any ordinary house, they’ve built a temple!
‘A Call To The Void’ is a call to arms, an invitation for that dedicated and passionate following to worship in their temple. From beginning to end the album is a galvanising expression of cathartic release from the band.
Stripping all existential meanings from the songs, what this album represents is quite simply a really fun half hour of joyous pop punk. What the band do well is add a darker edge to the genre which removes much of the silliness that is often associated with it. That said whilst many might try and pigeonhole this as emo or the like, the reality is that the band defy true genre designated.
There are plenty of obvious influences spread throughout the album, but Hot Milk have an ability to go beyond them and create something which is uniquely Hot Milk. The band have captured imaginations with their output thus far and ‘A Call To The Void’ is now the centrepiece on the mantle in their temple.
It will of course be interesting to see where the band go from this point, but they progress having successfully navigated the pitfalls of a debut album. Given that the group don’t appear to be ones to rest on their laurels then you’d imagine the building work will continue and you’d surely put money on them creating something spectacular!
HOLDING ABSENCE – THE NOBLE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION – ALBUM REVIEW
It has been quite a remarkable journey for Holding Absence, for example you probably won’t find many bands on their level this early in their career whilst technically featuring no original members. The band have come so far from their early beginnings though and to have the opportunity to marvel upon their evolution in recent years has been very special indeed.
Every challenge has been met head on, and the ability of the band to form such a strong, organic connection with their fans has been a pleasure to see. Hard work in the studio and out on the road has born beautiful fruit and 2021’s ‘The Greatest Mistake of My Life’ was a true masterpiece.
The band now find themselves in the unenviable position of trying to follow that release and they do so with third album, ‘The Noble Art of Self Destruction’, which is perhaps more than a subtle nod at the obstacles that they’ve overcome.
As mentioned already, the evolution and growth of the band has been special to witness but their sound in particular has developed so elegantly over the course of their career. On this new record they are sonically soaring above the clouds with a majestic aura connecting each track.
The ten songs here will suck you in and you’ll lose yourself to the honesty and richness of the lyrical content whilst be carried about by the gentle waves of the atmospheric soundtrack. It’s impossible to cherry pick highlights here as the album will simply take you on a journey that you’ll willingly follow.
Holding Absence are a band that appear to have found a magical formula for song writing because every time you think that they’ve peaked, they go ahead and surprise you all over again.
