Of course. It was never in doubt. But it’s even better than that, ‘Fallen Star’ is Employed to Serve’s most complete record to date, and a contender for their best ever.

While ‘Fallen Star’ features all of the shrieked vocals and fat, low-end riffs fans have come to expect, it’s also the Woking hellraisers’ most experimental effort to date with more melody than ever before. There are glitchy electronics, melodic synths, and best of all – some massive choruses.

It’s very much a case of evolution not revolution – after all, this is hardly the first time Employed to Serve have written clean choruses – but on this record, there are plenty. And they’re damn good. Just try and listen to title track ‘Fallen Star’ or ‘The Renegades’ multiple times without singing along in your head. Combine that up with top tier songwriting and catchy melodies, as well as the trademark fury you’d expect from an Employed to Serve record, and the result is absolutely intoxicating.

On the theme of experimentation, ‘Break Me Down’ and ‘Last Laugh’ are perhaps the most experimental songs Employed to Serve have lent their name to, while still being extremely heavy in moments. The former opens with melodic synths and clean vocals – both of which are massive hooks when they come back in on the chorus. Meanwhile the latter features cleanly picked guitars, and an incredible vocal cameo from Svalbard’s Serena Cherry, both of which are used as recurring motifs throughout the song.

Speaking of Cherry’s cameo, she isn’t the only vocalist who lends their voice to the project, with appearances from Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos on ‘Atonement’ and Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach on ‘Whose Side Are You On?’.

While both men give a strong performance on their respective tracks, neither can keep up with lead vocalist Justine Jones. She is a force of nature on this record, a singer whose visceral growls have been finely honed by over a decade on the road. As ever, guitarist and co-vocalist Sammy Urwin is an absolute riff factory, but he also delivers the best vocal performance of his career on clean vocal duties, delivering hook after hook in infectious fashion.

‘Fallen Star’ pulls off a tricky balancing act. It’s heavy, it still sounds like Employed to Serve, but it’s melodic and experimental in ways that only serve to accentuate the core of the Woking hellraisers’ sound. They’ll still pulverise your eardrums in the way they always have, but they’ll have you singing along to their choruses and humming along to their hooks as well. It’s a strong contender for Employed to Serve’s finest work to date, and instantly becomes the starting point for anyone listening to the band for the first time.

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It’s no surprise then that the anticipation for Deafheaven’s latest record, ‘Lonely People With Power’ has been sky high. Part of that is surely because fans have been left wondering what on earth it will sound like. Then, in January, lead single ‘Magnolia’ dropped. The song is a pure extreme metal rager, with guitar lines that are more traditionally metallic than almost anything else in the band’s back catalogue. This sent the already high levels of anticipation to fever pitch. The heavier sound promised, at the very least, something entirely different to the previous record, and perhaps even a return to the blackgaze sound that brought them such acclaim with 2013’s ‘Sunbather’ and its successors.

It’d be easy to assume off this evidence that Deafheaven had pulled a complete 180 degree turn, following up their most melodic and accessible record with their heaviest and most brutal. And some of the tracks on the album give credence to that view, with opener ‘Doberman’ being a relentless assault on your eardrums with a few offerings of melodic respite sprinkled in for good measure. ‘Revelator’, later on in the record, similarly leans on extreme metal traditions in a way that other records by this band simply haven’t.

However, this is Deafheaven we’re talking about, a straight up black metal record would be far too pedestrian. Instead, by around the halfway mark of ‘Lonely People With Power’s run time, it becomes clear that this album is so much more than that. ‘Heathen’ pulls strands from the band’s traditional blackgaze sound, as well as the more melodic approach from ‘Infinite Granite’. The result is some of the band’s finest work to date, the contrast between the two vocal styles providing serious heft.‘The Garden Route’ follows a similar pattern. While the vocals are entirely screamed, its sonics sound lush and mellow, melding together Deafheaven of new and old.

As with any Deafheaven record, ‘Lonely People With Power’ rewards the listener for investing their time into it. There’s so much going on here that it takes a good few runs through before it all starts to coalesce in your mind. But when it clicks, it reveals an album that’s every bit as world-class as fans have come to expect from any new Deafheaven release. The epitomisation of this is ‘Amethyst’, a sprawling 8-minute track built around a recurring guitar motif. On early listens, the track feels near impenetrable, but slowly reveals itself to be one of the finest moments on the entire record. This is largely down to the genius of lead guitarist Kerry McCoy whose knack for adding melody to music that is often abrasive is little short of genius.

So where does ‘Lonely People With Power’ rank in the pantheon of Deafheaven releases? As always with a band that makes music so intricate and demanding of repeat listens, time will tell. However, it is clearly a record that is of extraordinarily high quality, showcasing a band that continues to experiment and evolve after well over a decade making music together. If you’re new to Deafheaven, don’t start here. The ideal entry point is and has always been the seminal ‘Sunbather’ (2013). However, with ‘Lonely People With Power’, Deafheaven have given their fans yet another record of stunning experimental black metal to explore, dissect, and cherish for many years to come.

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The answer: get creative.

For New York trio Imperial Triumphant, that meant mashing up extreme metal sonics with jazz sensibilities and musicianship, resulting in a long back catalogue of records that aim to challenge and unsettle the listener, even those that are seasoned extreme metal veterans. Their latest release ‘Goldstar’ is no different, but sees the New Yorkers pull together their jazz and metal elements into a more cohesive whole than they have previously. Their brand of jazz metal hybrid now feels like one pulsing, visceral whole, rather than a mashup of different styles. Listening to ‘Goldstar’ feels like being trapped in a vortex of tremolo picked guitars, wandering basslines and ferocious drumbeats while a demonic presence wails directly into your eardrums.

‘Goldstar’ is also the trio’s shortest album to date, clocking in at just over 38 minutes. The songs are shorter and leaner, and the whole record is more impactful as a result. The two prior records, 2022’s ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ and 2020’s ‘Alphaville’ both nudged closer to the hour mark, with the average song length being around 6 minutes plus. While both albums are excellent, the shorter runtime on ‘Goldstar’ makes it feel punchier and easier to return to for repeat listens. The music is as challenging as ever, but it doesn’t force you to wallow in its filth, it shows you a glimpse of it and dares you to come back for more. As an example, ‘Rot Moderne’ is one of the heaviest pieces of music the band has ever put their name to, featuring one of the most bone-rattling screamed vocals ever committed to tape. A runtime of under 5 minutes gives it much greater heft compared to much longer tracks from the band’s earlier work.

Whether you like Imperial Triumphant or not – and they surely aren’t to everyone’s taste – we’re lucky to have a band that continues to so relentlessly push the boundaries of what extreme metal can be. Indeed, as part of the writing process for ‘Goldstar’ the band have cited creative influences outside of the world of metal – and even music itself. For example, Zachary Ezrin, vocalist and guitarist for the band, says that the track ‘NEWYORKCITY’ was influenced by Dada-ism, an early 20th century art movement that kicked back at the establishment by rejecting artistic norms. In this case, the norms they’re kicking back at are those of heavy music itself, with the guest vocals of Yoshiko Ohara wailing over the top of a fuzzy, compressed wall of noise.

Ezrin also reveals that ‘Lexington Delirium’ is inspired by the art deco stylings of the Chrysler Building on Lexington Avenue in New York, continuing the band’s long tradition of citing their hometown as a muse. They have also long taken inspiration from the world of cinema, with Fritz Lang’s 1920s dystopian sci-fi epic ‘Metropolis’ a recurring visual motif in the band’s album artwork and onstage costumes – golden masks with long black cloaks. On the track ‘Hotel Sphinx’, the band took influence from the work of director Stanley Kubrick by using synths reminiscent of those you can hear on the soundtrack to the controversial cult classic ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

However, all of that experimentation is underpinned by the band’s primary sound; jazz infused black metal that is aggressive, off-kilter, and unpredictable. It’s a sound that’s won famous admirers in the world of metal, not least Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo who lent his drumming prowess to the track ‘Pleasuredome’ after being impressed by the trio’s set at a festival in France.

Imperial Triumphant are basically the textbook definition of a band that is not for everyone. Their music is uncompromising and challenging, and the band themselves don’t seem to care that not everyone will get it. But you certainly won’t come away from ‘Goldstar’ feeling nothing; love it or hate it, you will certainly have strong views on it. And if the music is to your taste, you’ll find it completely intoxicating.

‘Goldstar’ is the finest extreme metal release of 2025 thus far, and the greatest record of Imperial Triumphant’s career to date. While its quirks may be overwhelming for some, its visceral sound and boundless creativity make it the definitive showcase of one of heavy music’s most unique bands. So, if you’re a fan of metal in any of its forms, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. We can’t promise you’ll love it, but we can promise you’ve never heard anything quite like this before.

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The moment this album grabs you and demands your attention is on the first of its many left turns. After three tracks of heavy music blended with cleaner, more melodic sections, in comes ‘Caton Green’, a gorgeous, shoegazey instrumental that blends into ‘The Grey’ – a track that slowly builds before exploding into a wall of noise. But the surprises keep coming, as ‘Grandfather’ plays; a stripped back song that forces you to focus on its lyrics, in the style of a singer songwriter that’s telling a story, as much as singing a song. All this is bolstered by the frankly stunning clean vocal delivery from vocalist Luke Scrivens, which at times makes you forget you’re even listening to a metal record at all.

Make no mistake, without these stylistic shifts, this would still have been a fantastic heavy record. But with them, it creates a much more interesting and dynamic whole, as well as allowing the heavier sections to hit even harder when they do come in. This convergence of influences also lends real emotional heft to the album in a variety of different ways. ‘Violent Sun’ is a fantastic example, a song that blends together clean vocal and guitar lines with crushing heaviness. The result is that the two styles create a devastatingly visceral sense of melancholy in a way neither could have on their own.

They manage all of this in a remarkably concise fashion as well. Many genre bending bands take a long time to pull all of their ideas together, with albums clocking in at well over an hour. This record, however, sits at around the 45-minute mark, with the average track around 6 minutes long. As a result, it never outstays its welcome, and by the time the final notes of ‘Haze’ ring out, you’ll be tempted to jump back to the first track and play it again.

Hidden Mothers have been ones to watch on the UK metal scene for a number of years, and the release of ‘Erosion / Avulsion’ has been highly anticipated. It was worth the wait. Hidden Mothers have made a real statement with a record that is interesting, masterfully performed, and sounds unlike anything else in the UK metal scene at the moment. The album’s cleaner sections are where it truly soars, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if this helps it find audiences outside of the UK metal underground.

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For those of you who’ve spent months eagerly awaiting the debut full length from a band that’s just over a year into its existence, that’ll be music to your ears. The hype surrounding this album has certainly been palpable, in no small part due to the glittering careers enjoyed by the band members prior to making music under the Better Lovers name. This band contains members that have some of the 2010s’ finest heavy records on their CV, including ‘Option Paralysis’ and ‘Dissociation’ by The Dillinger Escape Plan, ‘Low Teens’ by Every Time I Die, and ‘A Different Shade of Blue’ by Knocked Loose, which was mixed by the band’s guitarist and producer, Will Putney.

If you like any of the albums named above, you’re in for a treat with ‘Highly Irresponsible’. This record hits enough familiar notes for fans of those records to be instantly on board, while having enough of its own flavour and being of a high enough quality to stand on its own two feet without relying on the past glories of its members.

So how did this roster of hardcore royalty come to be? It wouldn’t have been on the cards without the breakup of one chaotic hardcore’s most beloved institutions; Every Time I Die in 2022.

Following the dissolution of Every Time I Die, three of the band’s former members (Jordan Buckley, Stephen Micchiche, and Clayton Hoyloak), and their producer (Putney), went into the studio to start working on material for a new project. The project was eventually christened Better Lovers, with Putney joining the three Every Time I Die alums on guitar, and former Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato rounding out the lineup.

With the instrumental powerhouses behind Every Time I Die’s signature sound being key players on this record, it’s tempting to wonder if they sound like that band but with a new singer. And sometimes, yeah, they kind of do. ‘Your Misplaced Self’ and ‘Drowning in a Burning World’ are pure high-speed chaos, with Buckley’s trademark guitar style stamped all over them. But to say that’s all this band is would be to do a massive disservice both to the musicians involved, and to the colossal impact Puciato has on the album’s sound.

It’s uncontroversial to say that Puciato is one of the greatest heavy vocalists alive – a singer with an insane vocal range, from guttural growls to soaring cleans and everything in between. A whole generation of budding hardcore singers has grown up wanting to emulate the man from Maryland, and usually falling way short.

Additionally, there is evidence of Puciato’s influence on the record’s quieter moments, which feel reminiscent of some of the Dillinger Escape Plan’s more reflective pieces (‘Symptom of Terminal Illness’, for example) or his work with his post-Dillinger project, The Black Queen. ‘Deliver Us From Life’ and ‘At All Times’ are each a perfect case in point, more laid back tracks that act as vehicles for Puciato to demonstrate soaring examples of world-class clean vocal delivery.

Ultimately, though, this record is just a hell of a lot of fun. If chunky riffs and yelped vocals are your thing, just try and listen to tracks like ‘A White Horse Covered in Blood’ or ‘Lie Between the Lines’ without having a grin plastered across your face.

Hype can be a curse for some new bands, but not for Better Lovers. ‘Highly Irresponsible’ is a record that delivers in spades, and is sure to delight fans of the members’ previous projects and win over some new ones as well. This is comfortably one of the best heavy records of 2024, and one of the most exciting new bands of the decade thus far.

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One particularly tantalising prospect is the return of Joe Gosney and Liam Kearley of Black Peaks, one of the UK’s finest metal bands of the last decade who sadly called it a day in 2021 after two impeccable records. Guitar maestro Rabea Massaad – previously of Brighton instrumental metallers Toska – brings his musical prowess to proceedings, while bass player Rory McLean and vocalist Josh McKeown – the latter soon to be formerly of Palm Reader who have one final show left before they split – round off the stellar lineup.

So what does it sound like when some of the UK’s finest metal and post-hardcore musicians get together in a studio to make a racket? It’s probably little surprise that it sounds incredible. This record will be catnip to fans of Black Peaks and Palm Reader in particular, blending crushing heaviness with soaring melody. Even if the names of these bands mean nothing to you, if you like heavy music with a dash of melody chucked in for good measure, you’ll absolutely adore this EP.

‘Shroud’ opens with a low and slow riff while the vocals of Josh McKeown fly between growls, yelps, and melodic cleans. McKeown – already a standout performer on Palm Reader’s catalogue – gives perhaps his best performance on record to date across the EP’s four-track run.

‘In the Wake of Failure’ is a more melodic affair, an expansive and progressive track with an absolutely colossal chorus that’ll surely sound unbelievable live. ‘False Rituals’ is perhaps the standout, starting off similarly before giving way to pure brutality, while the guitar work of Gosney and Massaad is superb, cutting between harmonious winding cleans and low-end heaviness. ‘Eyes of a Nihilist’ sees the EP out with more progressive post-hardcore brilliance, and will have you reaching to press replay.

Whether you’re looking to fill the hole in your heart vacated by Black Peaks, Palm Reader, or Toska, or simply want some new heavy music to get your teeth stuck into, VOWER is without a doubt one of the most exciting new bands of 2024. With just four tracks and a runtime of under 20 minutes, ‘Apricity’ is a huge statement of intent, and we can’t wait to hear what’s next.

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Naturally, then, their first full length release ‘The Waking Sun’ has been hotly anticipated by those with their finger firmly on the pulse of the British metal scene. So does it live up to the hype?

In a word, yes. If you enjoy guitar music that’s progressive, interesting, and full to bursting with low-end riffs, this record is an absolute must-listen.

Indeed, listening to ‘The Waking Sun’, it’s pretty easy to see why El Moono is generating so much hype and striking a chord with so many people. This is a band that clearly has lots of diverse influences within the world of rock and metal (and probably some outside it too), and wears them proudly on its sleeve. That means they have a lot to offer to a wide variety of rock fans, regardless of what subgenre they favour

The riffing and chunky low end sound will draw in fans of much heavier bands. The tongue-in-cheek characterful vocals will pull in fans on the radio rock end. And the more expansive melodic sections will appeal to fans of bands like Black Peaks and Deftones.  The sheer groove of it might even pique the interest of classic rock fans. And if you like all of those things? Well, you’re in for a real treat.

The band sit in all of those camps nicely – the songs are proggy and expensive without jumping into double-digit figures in terms of length (longest track is around five and a half minutes). It’s not so heavy as to be off-putting to fans of less heavy material, while being heavy and riffy enough to keep the most discerning riff hound content.

Crucially as well, El Moono are clearly adept at blending all of these influencers together to create a cohesive whole. Some genre-bending bands stray away from this – whether consciously or not – creating music that sounds like it’s a Spotify playlist that’s being skipped through. Not so here. El Moono bring together so many different strands, and have a real ability to cram in as many ideas into five minutes than some proggier bands would do in ten, without it feeling forced or rushed.

Vocalist Zac Jackson is the star of the show on ‘The Waking Sun’, delivering a vocal performance laced with a knowing wit, while delivering punishing insights into the daily struggle of living with depression. He’s also superb at writing choruses, with ‘Screw Loose’ and title track ‘The Waking Sun’ providing absolute earworms that’ll get stuck in your head for days.

The album is full of experimental twists and turns, from the grooving sidewinder of a track that is ‘Haunting’ to ‘Phantom’ which is laced with grotty, pulsing synths. Then there’s ‘The First Man on Mars’ which constantly flips between crushing heaviness and stunning melody.

The quality of the UK underground metal scene has been famously impeccable in recent years, and with the release of ‘The Waking Sun’, El Moono have made a real statement of intent. This band are a fine addition to a thriving scene, and the hype is only likely to build exponentially from here.

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Best of all, they’ve achieved this level of mainstream crossover without compromising on their crushing sound. This came off the back of 2019’s ‘A Different Shade of Blue’, a record adored by fans and critics alike. So, with a bigger audience and more mainstream eyes on them than ever before, did Knocked Loose soften their sound on their hotly anticipated third record?

No chance.

‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ is every bit as disgustingly brutal as you’d expect. However, that’s not to say it’s a mere re-run of the previous record. There are hints of experimentation, best exemplified by ‘Suffocate’ – a track that lifts a beat during one section from reggaeton, a Latin American pop genre. The track also features pop-metal singer Poppy which adds an experimental yet palatable bend that we’ve not seen on a Knocked Loose release before.

‘Don’t Reach For Me’ also takes some unexpected left turns, with a clean, funky groove dropped right in the middle as singer Bryan Garris screams over the top. Chris Motionless from Motionless in White also shows up on ‘Slaughterhouse 2’ with the band expressing that they were keen to work with him because he ‘knows how to write a hook’.

However, this is evolution not revolution. If you’re a fan of the band already, you’ll be on familiar territory. Vocals that sound like they’re about to give out from over-exertion at any moment? Check. Chugging guitars that sound like they could level a building? Check. Breakdowns that’d make you fear for your life in a pit? Triple check.

In fact, you’ll feel right at home as soon as you hear the first song proper on the record, the barnstorming ‘Piece by Piece’. It’s a complete assault on your eardrums, as guitars, drums and vocals come crashing through the speakers. ‘Moss Covers All’ is a fun nod to hardcore heritage, an absolute cherry bomb of a track clocking in at all of 46 seconds, while ‘Blinding Faith’ features probably the best breakdown on a record packed with them, a guttural, low end crawl backed up by furious blast beats.

When you learn about the writing process for the record, it’s tempting to wonder if the band felt pressure to live up to the runaway success of the previous one. They wrote 40 songs over the course of 4 years before whittling this down to the final 10 you hear on the finished record. A lesser band might’ve been tempted to release a double, or even triple album with that much material and it’s a massive credit to Knocked Loose that they edited what they had so ruthlessly. All of this work has paid off in spades, this is without question the best album of their career to date. It’s hard to imagine any hardcore adjacent record being better than ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ in 2024, and we’re not even halfway through the year.

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That album took inspiration from chaotic hardcore genre stalwarts such as the Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge while adding genre-bending sections and lyrics that are often funny, and almost always tongue-in-cheek. To simply say that this band is a lot of fun feels like damning them with faint praise. They are a hell of a lot of fun to listen to, but they’re also extremely accomplished technical musicians, with an evidently wide array of influences that they bring into their music. These diverse influences, and their willingness to bring them into their music regardless of whether they’re traditionally fused with hardcore or not, makes them one of the most interesting and unique bands in a genre that is extremely difficult to stand out in.

‘God Smiles Upon the Callous Daoboys’ is the first new music the Georgians have released since ‘Celebrity Therapist’ last year. With only three tracks, and clocking in at less than 15 minutes in length, this EP offers a tantalising glimpse of where one of the most inventive bands in heavy music may go next. If this is any indication, fans are in for a treat. The music on here is heavier, wackier, and more fun than anything the Daoboys have put out before.

Opener ‘Pushing the Pink Envelope’ wastes little time, jumping into a maelstrom of riffs and screaming – cut through with some spooky sounding synths. The track then makes a series of abrupt heel turns, as it morphs into a relaxed, almost lounge-esque part before jumping into a pacy electronic section, and then a straight ahead rock segment with soaring vocal hooks. All of this occurs in around 30 seconds, and it’s a testament to the band’s songwriting craft that it never feels forced or disjointed.

Lead single ‘Waco Jesus’ opens with a crushing metallic riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on an extreme metal record. Barring a few quick pit stops at a more melodic sound, the song largely continues along the same trajectory, building towards a chorus with a towering riff.

‘Designer Shroud of Turin’ is an example of the Callous Daoboys at their brilliant best, featuring snapshots of soulful blues rock, experimental jazz, hip hop and, most notably, a samba section. The latter is so unexpected and ridiculous it’ll bring a smile to your face every time you hear it. Primarily though, this is a heavy track, featuring all of the jagged guitar sections and screamed vocals fans of the band have come to expect.

‘God Smiles Upon the Callous Daoboys’ is a superb EP, and one that will leave you pining for more. Every track is an absolute winner, and the fifteen or so minutes it takes you to listen to them all will pass by in the blink of an eye. The Daoboys have emphatically proven that ‘Celebrity Therapist’ was no one-off, and that they have many more ideas in the tank that are even more bizarre and incredible than what’s come before. Fingers crossed that we won’t have to wait too long for their next full-length release. Off the back of these songs, it won’t be one to miss.

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‘After the Party’ in 2017 was a career defining moment for the Pennsylvanians. While they had a solid back catalogue behind them at the time, it was one of the best releases of that decade and their most mature to date, featuring the best choruses they’d ever put out, superb lyrics, and relatable themes about love and ageing. They went one better in 2019 on the incredible ‘Hello Exile’, delving into serious topics of addiction and the political chaos in the United States while turning out some of the best songs they’d ever written.

‘Some Of It Was True’ continues their stellar patch of form, a triumphant record that will surely cement their already strong claim to be one of the finest punk bands of the last 10 years.

Bruce Springsteen has clearly been an influence on the band in recent years, which can most clearly be seen in vocalist Greg Barnett’s lyrical style. As a songwriter, he takes a leaf from The Boss’ playbook, taking on the role of a poetic storyteller and spinning tales that are as earnestly human as they are quintessentially American. As if to underscore the obvious influence, the cover art for this album doesn’t look dissimilar to Springsteen’s 1982 record, ‘Nebraska’.

The similarities are more than superficial, however. ‘Nebraska’ was a bold creative choice, a melancholy collection of acoustic songs released when Springsteen was at the height of his popularity. There are parallels to be found here; The Menzingers are more popular than they’ve ever been, and fans who are only on board because of their older material will be challenged by what’s on offer here. It features many tracks that are less explicitly rock-focused than anything they’ve ever done.

Large parts of the record will have fans of the Menzingers on familiar ground, however, not least album opener ‘Hope Is a Dangerous Little Thing’. This is one hell of a way to get proceedings underway, and is comfortably one of the finest songs the Philadelphians have ever put their name to. It’s a bluesy rock number, with a chorus hook that is in equal parts joyous and cathartic as vocalist Greg Barnett wails about unrequited love backed up by gang vocals from his bandmates.

Follow up ‘There’s No Place In This World For Me’ is another slam dunk, leaning on an Americana sound while the guitars have an infectiously groovy stomp to them. Title track ‘Some Of It Was True’ is one of the album’s standout moments, featuring an emotionally and sonically punchy chorus as Barnett croons “the older I get the less I know, and I knew nothing then”.

‘Alone in Dublin’ feels like a spiritual successor to ‘London Drugs’ from ‘Hello Exile’. Both songs deal with the experience of feeling out of sorts in a city thousands of miles from home. In classic Menzingers style, it’s triumphant sounding song with a gloomier meaning than it at first lets on as Barnett howls “I wish you were here with me, I’m all alone in Dublin searching for something”.

As with all previous Menzingers records, Barnett shares vocal duties with fellow guitarist Tom May. ‘Try’ is the best of May’s songs on this  record, a fun, bouncy track that is sure to sound absolutely huge live.

In many moments on ‘Some Of It Was True’, The Menzingers find their more tender side with songs that eschew the trappings of punk rock. This is a departure from their signature sound, but one that pays off massively. ‘Come On, Heartache’ is the album’s first foray along these lines, a song that is sonically upbeat but steers clear of the heavy guitars and gruff, half-screamed vocals you might expect from this band. Lyrically, it sees Barnett at his bittersweet best, lamenting about heartbreaks past while clearly having hope for the future. In a similar vein ‘High Low’ and ‘Ultraviolet’ are both slow, minor pieces that will be lighter-in-the-air moments at future Menzingers shows.

With ‘Some Of It Was True’ The Menzingers have proved how relentlessly and reliably brilliant they are, completing a trilogy of records that are all straight 10s. There are countless bands that make punk music, and many of those infuse their sound with an Americana edge, but there are precious few who can do it with as much energy or soul as The Menzingers.

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