REGIONAL JUSTICE CENTER - FREEDOM, SWEET FREEDOM (Closed Casket Activities)
A testament to the kind of songwriting range of Militarie Gun's Ian Shelton, the third effort from his powerviolence passion project in Regional Justice Center is also a moving tribute the familial connection at the core of his musical prowess. For the latest entry, Regional Justice Center now touts Ian's brother Max as a full time member along with venerated producer and veteran musician Taylor Young. Clocking in at all of 13 minutes in length, the songs on Freedom, Sweet Freedom are expertly explosive and packed with convincing emotion that makes the intensity of the sound as real as it gets.
GIANT WALKER - SILHOUETTES (Church Road Records)
The Newcastle rock prospects delivered an impressive debut back in 2022 with their self-released, All In Good Time. The well executed, stylishly dark showcase of sturdy-built rock suggested songwriting strength well beyond the band's youth. Teaming with producer and collaborator Chris Coulter, the band's sohomore effort in Silhouettes further develops Giant Walker's musical range - asserting elegant melody with a sturdy heavy music backbone balanced in prog and groove. A nine-track presentation worthy of all the hype the band and maybe a bit more.
KUBLAI KHAN TX - EXHIBITION OF PROWESS (Rise Records)
Texas-bred brutalizers Kublai Khan TX have found a new gear with the arrival of their next full length album, Exhibition of Prowess. The Rise Records release was previewed with the pulverizing singles in "Theory of Mind" and "Low Tech" and "Supreme Ruler" - all of which proved a full-scale musical assault intended to hit hard both on record and in a live setting. A showcase of the band's brand of metallic brawn, Exhibition of Prowess is a clobbering from start to finish that underscores why the band is in such high demand.
VOID OF VISION - WHAT I'LL LEAVE BEHIND (UNFD)
Turning the page from the stylishly savagery of their Chronicles-era which fruited a trifecta of EPs culminating in the 2023 title LP, What I'll Leave Behind takes on a more personal significance for the Melbourne aggressors. For frontman Jack Bergin, the album marks the culmination and eventual triumph following a harrowing health ordeal that forced the musician to confront his own mortality. A combination of existential reckoning, musical progression and a new found perspective on artistic fulfillment, What I'll Leave Behind proves to be Void of Vision's most powerful, personal finished product to date.
UNTO OTHERS - NEVER, NEVERLAND (Century Media Records)
Heavy goth practitioners Unto Others have again furnished a potential AOTY candidate with Never, Neverland in much the same way Strength earned similar acclaim in 2021. The album was bolstered by the stewardship of British producer Tom Dalgety (Ghost, The Cult) and asserts a masterful weave of the band's pedigree that spans goth, guitar rock, punk, black metal and heavy metal. Band architect Gabe Franco is elite songwriter on his own however, on Never, Neverland, Franco's collaborative sensibilities allows Unto Others to achieve a new level of potential that makes for a record that feels classic from the jump.
