8 incredible tracks you need in your life – January 2017

We’re now in 2017, and a new year means new releases.  January has seen the release of a number of great albums, including efforts by You Me At Six, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, As It Is, and the Dropkick Murphys.  There have also been a number of singles released over the past month, so today I’ll be giving you a rundown of the best tracks around.

Mallory Knox – Better Off Without You

Mallory Knox have released a couple of singles in the lead up to their third full length album, Wired, due to be released in March.  I love the rhythm of this track, and it has a powerful chorus which ties the song together.  I’ll be seeing the band alongside Lonely The Brave and Fatherson on their Wired tour in March, and I cannot wait!

Acceptance – Haunted

Acceptance is a band with a tumultuous past.  They formed in the late 90s and released a couple of EPs as well as a full length album, Phantoms, in 2005.  Not long after this the group disbanded, and its members took part in a number of other projects until they reunited in 2015.  The pop-rock group have released their latest single, Haunted, in the lead up to their second album due to be released next month.

Touché Amoré – Benediction

Post-hardcore rockers Touché Amoré released their fourth studio album, Stage Four, last September, and this track is their most recent single.  If you want emotive choruses and great drumming, this song is for you.

Lower Than Atlantis – Boomerang

This track has a heavy electronic influence, with programmed drums, synths, and autotuned introduction and vocals.  So far Boomerang stands out from the rest of the singles off of Lower Than Atlantis’s upcoming record, Safe In Sound, as the rest fit more comfortably with the band’s rock sound.

Dryjacket – Spelling Era

I featured another Dryjacket track, Two Toasters, in the November 2016 edition of …incredible tracks.  I really enjoy this band’s lighthearted sound, which is why I decided to feature them again.

Biffy Clyro – Flammable

It should come as no surprise that I’m a big fan of this track, the fifth single to be released from Biffy Clyro’s latest record, Ellipsis.  Although this album received mixed reviews from fans and critics, I think most will agree that this track is one of the closest on the record to their trademark aggressive proggy sound.

Breaking Benjamin – Never Again

It can’t be denied that Breaking Benjamin are a cornerstone of American heavy rock music, and have been for many years.  The video for Never Again was released this month, taken off of their 2015 album Dark Before Dawn.

Halestorm – Heathens (Twenty One Pilots cover)

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of Twenty One Pilots, but I am a huge lover of Halestorm, so I knew Lzzy Hale and the rest of the group would be able to put their own spin on this track.  This single is taken from the third volume of ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP released earlier this month.

What do you think of these tracks? Let me know on my Facebook or Twitter page, or in the comment section below this post.

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Review: Into The Wild Life (Deluxe)

Halestorm’s third full length album was released today in the UK.  It’s about time a new rock/alt-rock/punk/hardcore album was released, as I haven’t been able to get stuck into some new music for a long time!

In all honesty, I haven’t been a fan of Halestorm for long.  They were one of those bands that I’d heard of but never got round to listening to until very recently, when a good friend spammed me with links to their music videos.  Since then, I’ve been hooked.  There’s a lack of strong female voices in the world or rock and alternative music, but Lzzy Hale is one of them.

Anyway, back to Into The Wild Life.  I’m listening to the deluxe version on Spotify, which contains 15 songs and almost an entire hour’s worth of triumphant, unapologetic rock ‘n’ roll.  I knew I’d enjoy this album on first listen to the singles Apocalyptic, Mayhem and Amen, which are anthems in their own right.

The percussion-fuelled intro to Sick Individual is incredible, and a testament to the talents of drummer Arejay Hale.  Even in the band’s music videos, Arejay’s enthusiasm and energy is infectious, and the percussion has always been on-point throughout Halestorm’s previous albums.

Lzzy’s vocals perfect, as is to be expected.  To steal a quote from A Game Of Thrones, her voice is “honey poured over thunder“: beautiful and pitch-perfect in the verses, only just disguising her ferocity and raw power.  This is demonstrated in Dear Daughter, an inspirational piano-led ballad.

Dear Daughter represents a shift in Into The Wild Life’s pace: here the album slows down a little, with more focus on Lzzy’s voice. It picks up again thanks to Mayhem, but slows once more for Bad Girl’s World.  This just goes to show how the album varies stylistically from track to track, which makes for a refreshing and unpredictable listening experience.  It’s always good to hear bands experimenting and dipping their toe into new genres.

Overall, Into The Wild Life is an excellent effort by Halestorm, and if you were a fan of their previous two albums, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Highlights: I Am The Fire, Gonna Get Mine, I Like It Heavy, Unapologetic