In contrast to ‘Nothing But Thieves’, the band’s first album, it would be hard to argue the band have made any brave steps or taken any avante-garde risks, but we can guarantee the record is filled with the same ferocious animosity and throat-filling vocals that rallied hordes of music fans two years ago.

Vocally this album is another testament to just how lucky this band are to have Mason. Following a year of hardship for the young singer, this record has had an obvious therapeutic effect on him. Songs like ‘Sorry’ and ‘Broken Machine’ are littered with self-deprecation and pensive negativity. This has made for exceptional songwriting. Lyrics like “I’m a mechanical thing / With a layer of shit / And nothing bothers me now” can’t help but catch your attention and force you to listen further.

Nothing But Thieves’ debut had an overwhelming theme of curiosity consistent through most of the album. The nostalgic and emotional ‘If I Get High Enough’ floods through you, tackling serious personal issues and psychological terror. These moments are missing on ‘Broken Machine’. ‘Hell, Yeah’ is the softest song on the album and never reaches its peak. Mason’s use of momentum is missing, which makes it difficult to appreciate what you’re listening to once you’ve been introduced to the level of soul-bearing as on ‘Lover, Please Stay’. However, on the deluxe version of this album they’ve included a piano version of ‘Particles’ which is possibly the best song the band have ever released. Mason’s naked vocals are tear-inducingly angelic and the soft support from a lone piano gives this album a soul.

Like most bands, the second album has given them a chance to experiment with their sound, trying to bring in more influences in order to dig deeper into their sound. This is most notable in ‘Live Like Animals’. Like if a rock band soundtracked the Blade films, the song is filled with heavy fuzz and distorted guitar screeching. In moments this sound is pulled off, sounding like a mix between Daft Punk and early LCD Soundsystem, but most of the song sounds like a bad arcade game you’ve played for so long you don’t know how to think properly. This isn’t helped by some questionable lyrics making lackluster political statements that really take away from the subtle political fury buried within this album.

What this band does well is bring all its components together in an organised chaos. Drummer James Price is a heavyweight the band can always rely on as is evident in album opener ‘I Was Just A Kid’. When building towards the heavier moments in the album, support from guitarists Joe Langridge-Brown and Dominic Craik mingles with Mason’s soaring voice, reaching monumental moments such as in ‘Amsterdam’ and ‘I’m Not Made By Design’. The band does a terrific job at showing off what each cog is up to. It’s obvious the writing progress is very communal, something that gives this album its meaning. The band have been thrown to the dizzying heights of playing to thousands only two years after releasing their debut album. They’ve proven themselves already; this album is just cementing their role in what is so special about our era of music.

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Punk and politics go hand in hand, even when the basslines are as sexy as they are in ‘Outrage! Is Now’. An element Death From Above have always utilised, raw sexuality is something omnipresent in old songs like ‘Romantic Rights’, ‘Pull Out’ and ‘Virgins’. ‘Never Swim Alone’ utilises the dark eroticism through spoken vocal rhythm building up to stadium-sized hell on the chorus featuring lyrics like “Valet park my hump machine, Backseat conceive, so unclean” contrasted by lines such as “There’s got to be another one coming, Another generation, Ready for the revolution.”

Death From Above pull it off. Lyrically, the album isn’t as much dark and carnal as it is pensive and furious. In this ten song record is a volley of balls to the wall riffs and a trail of destroyed drum kits. The momentum of the record starts and finishes at deafening levels, only dipping during the title track. Unlike in previous records where drawn back songs like ‘White on Red’ and ‘Black History Month’ received a mixed reaction from fans, ‘Outrage! Is Now’ gives vocalist and drummer Sebastien Grainger a platform to dig deeper. A universal highlight of the album.

Grainger has no problem letting his drums do the talking for him but this album is where he’s really shone through as a vocalist. Experimenting with the electronic sound of music and with bandmate Jesse Keeler writing more songs on the piano, it’s opened up the band’s repertoire and given Grainger an opportunity to comment on his frustration with the self-obsessed drones who are more concerned with talking about problems than solving them.

Filling the gaps between the anger are songs like ‘Nomad’ and the album’s lead single, ‘Freeze Me’. The latter is described by Grainger as a love song but sounds like the end of the world. A song put together by the band after Keeler sent a voice note of the piano part over to Grainger, it’s filled with anthemic bass lines juxtaposed by the sharp stabs from Keeler’s piano melody. The song keeps decibels high throughout but reaches a tipping point during the bridge where the heaviest riff of the record drowns out the piano and hits the listener in the gut.

“By your third album, I feel like you should be trying different things, whether subconsciously or consciously,” Keeler has said. For ‘Outrage! Is Now’ it feels more intentional than accidental. Throughout the bands first two albums it’s hard to pinpoint exact inspirations. You could make a guess at Lightning Bolt or The White Stripes but you’d be wrong. On this record, you can hear how Grainger and Keeler have been inspired. ‘Statues’ oozes Bowie with its warped chorus melody and shoegaze levels of reverb.

“The goal of the record was to expand the vocabulary a little bit, not to drastically change,” Grainger says of the new album. This applies heavily to songs like curtain-closer ‘Holy Books’. It’s a callback to ‘Heads Up’ and oozes a ‘fuck the world’ mentality. Basslines are dark and twisted but the lyrics aren’t talking about pulling out and doing cocaine anymore. It’s introspective and personal, an album for old fans, but something new listeners can immediately invest in.

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Whether you listen to the much-loved ‘Under The Pipal Tree’ or critically slammed ‘The Last Dawn/ Rays Of Darkness’, Mono have remained true to their original sound. While there is a well-earned respect towards the band’s musical integrity, there comes a time when you have to ask yourself when enough is enough. ‘Requiem For Hell’ is a truly dynamic album yet offers itself as just another Mono album, nothing that can give enough reason for these songs to exist.

Album-opener ‘Death In Rebirth’ is in true Mono style, taking it’s time to crescendo and build up towards a fruitful ending, contributing layer after layer of guitar climaxing in a fiery barrage of fuzz. ‘Stellar’ is sweet, melancholy and drawn back. It’s a true testament to how this band can create an environment to create the largest soundscape and then move quickly to minimalist instrumentation. Utilising a glockenspiel, a piano and a subtle string section, the shortest song on the record builds into the poorer half of the record.

It wouldn’t be a Mono record without at least one 15-minute cinematic epic. The title track is a journey of of deep contemplation using two guitars calling back and forth as it’s foundation as it meanders through a dynamic sound from mild and clean tone to what can only be compared to the sound of a wave of instruments crashing to earth, grinding along the ground and spilling over again.

Being the first album collaborating with Steve Albini in seven years, there’s a nostalgic feel to the record. Mono’s last work with Albini resulted in arguably the band’s most loved record, ‘Hymn To The Immortal Wind’. ‘Requiem For Hell’ shares a lot with this record. While records like ‘For My Parents’ and ‘Gone’ had a more bittersweet taste to them, the former two share a theme of true misery. The melodies used in ‘Requiem For Hell’ draw great feelings of despair and suffering from within these musicians. Whether this is intentional or representative of what the band are truly feeling, it’s something that can only be pulled off by a very talented set of people.

While these compliments come from a place of honesty, they can also be said about any Mono album. They have never failed to create a spectacular and individual experience and it’s this unique ability that will make sure this band always have a following. ‘Requiem For Hell’ is just more of the same. Another five symphonies that will never be appropriately appreciated as long as they exist in the monotonous arsenal Mono have accumulated.

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Tilian’s rise is cemented after hearing ‘Deception’, the fifth song on ‘Mothership’. If not for his honest lyricism filled with flirtatious metaphor and scandalous one-liners, there’s a passion for his own message oozing from his raspy thrills and addictive highs. The soulful gospel that most fans first fell in love with in ‘Downtown Battle Mountain’ is returning as Pearson is finding his footing on the constantly quaking ground that follows Dance Gavin Dance.

On the previous two albums Tilian was a fresh face in the cult band and although he possessed a wealth of experience (writing with Saosin or singing with Tides Of Man), it was obvious that the band relied on Mess as a crutch, making both ‘Acceptance Speech’ and ‘Instant Gratification’ albums lacking in clean vocals and therefore the final ingredient that turns Dance Gavin Dance from just another talented hardcore band into the very individual experience that the band really is. This is finally rectified on ‘Mothership’

It’s a known fact that the driving force behind this act is the partnership between guitarist Will Swan and drummer Matt Mingus. A mutual musical mind and unlimited talent, the work that goes in behind the vocals of the songs on ‘Mothership’ is enough to make this album worth your time. ‘Inspire The Liars’, for example, is a well-paced four and a half-minute offering of Dance Gavin Dance at their strongest where the chaos of varying melodies rides on the wave of Mingus’ complex percussion.

Album opener ‘Chucky vs Giant Tortoise’ possesses the nursery rhyme vibe which early songs like ‘Blue Dream’ and ‘Times New Roman’ found a home in. The first song on the album introduces the level of production as is becoming more common with Dance Gavin Dance albums. It’s subtle but enough to add a silky finish to the organised chaos hiding behind their producer, Kris Crumpet.

Inevitably, the album has its issues. Thirteen songs is in no way too much to expect from an album, however moments of intricate musicality become instantly forgettable due to the lacklustre formula this band somehow slumps into, as becomes apparent in ‘Petting Zoo Justice’, an adrenaline-fuelled hardcore song which turns into heartless filler.

However, where this band fails with originality it fixes with pure showmanship, and when an act can stand the test of time, scoring higher and higher with each release, there’s an amount of respect due and an inevitable curiosity that should come from those who hear of Dance Gavin Dance for the first time 11 years after their formation.

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With ‘GLA’ I’ve been convinced, Twin Atlantic are a rock and roll band, a modern interpretation of one at least. For every song built on the buff guitar sounds of Barry McKenna there’s a glossy touch exhibiting the more hands-on approach lead songwriters McTrusty and Ross Mcnae have adopted for this record. Releasing their inner music geek we’re treated to wonderful concoctions such as ‘You Are The Devil’ and ‘The Chaser’, two songs dripping with meaty guitar hooks that cut like rough sandpaper but become sensational with the support from the production side through midi instruments and atmospheric background which fills out the sound – something that will refuse to hold back when you hear these songs live.

Something that struck me immediately with my first listen was that normally with a Twin Atlantic album I’m able to draw comparisons. For example, in ‘Great Divide’ I’d hear ‘Oceans’ and think, “oh, this is is the ‘Crash Land’ of this album’, or ‘Hold On’ and think it had the same effect as ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’. With ‘GLA’ you’re given a whole new insight into the mind of the band. However, this is fresh water for the band and it does come through heavily in certain songs.

Half-way through the album the pace of the record takes a big step backwards. While ‘Whispers’ can hold its own as a memorable song, it doesn’t hold a candle to either end of the album. However, this wrong-doing is quickly rectified with ‘A Scar To Hide’. The softest song on ‘GLA’, this 4-minute acoustic piece is the most touching piece of lyricism since ‘We Want Better Man’ and something I think brings to the surface just what this album is capable of doing.

Twin Atlantic have survived the test of time because of one thing, their ability to bring emotion out of anybody who listens to their music. Provoking nostalgia in your listeners is something that puts you above the rest. Forgotten in their last release, this trump card is brought back in ‘GLA’ and proves Twin Atlantic are more than capable of standing the test of time. Here’s to another year of bigger crowds and more global recognition for the Glaswegian rock and roll band.

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Featuring ‘Pines’ tracks ‘Home’, ‘Pines’ and ‘River’, the 11-track record gives us eight new songs to sink our teeth into, taking in every bit of dejection and madness. This band’s sound has been something of a curiosity of mine ever since hearing ‘River’. There’s a real blues influence through the guitar work from vocalist/guitarist Mark Holley, shrouded in this brash lyricism similar to the misery-inducing Pianos Become The Teeth. Thankfully, this twisted style has carried through to ‘I’m Not Well’ and finally gives this band the platform they’ve been craving to manifest their troubles and traumas.

Dynamically this record hits every gear, taking time to indulge in the quieter moments, focussing on the intricacies of the songwriting which is heavily driven lyrically, but reaches it’s full potential in louder moments. Songs like ‘Whatever Let’s You Cope’ are intimately performed, offering this relaxed feel in the style of Lonely The Brave, but experimenting with the dynamics to a greater degree revealing tear-jerking moments of confession supported by stadium-sized instrumentation.

This contrasts with songs such as ‘How We Rust’, which play more to the beat of a band playing to thousands of people. The chorus of this song lands like The Xcerts’ ‘Live Like This’, producing a moment of singalong adrenaline which cuts up the pace of the album, giving way to more intense songs like ‘Husk’.

While this band can easily come off as an all-guns-blazing affair, Holley’s explosive musical character is more of a reserved being, lashing out in dear moments rather than lengthy spells. The snarling vocals of ‘River’ and the groovy frenzy of the hardcore ‘Slow Jams Forever’ are the embodiment of exactly this – a masterclass in fucking with musical dynamics, channelling emotion through fearless expression from jittering whispers to demonic cries.

For a debut release, there’s an emotional maturity to this record, a talent in the way of storytelling which adds to the compelling theme carried with it. It’s dark and a bit twisted in its performance, but as a musical release it’s a triumph. If the band have achieved as much as they have with only five songs released to the world, I can guarantee that ‘I’m Not Well’ is going to touch a lot of people and take the band to a cult-following of mass proportions.

MAX GAYLER