We are inundated with genres and sub genres and sub sub genres in the music we listen to. Especially in heavy underground rock. There is no debate where Long Island band Restless Spirit falls. Restless Spirit is Heavy Metal in every sense of the term. True Heavy Metal. Restless Spirit is also one of the best, if not the best, Heavy Metal band out there today. There is something to be said about self-titling your fifth album, eleven or so years into a career as a band.
On the surface, it could just be one of those decisions a band makes about a new record and moves on. In the case of the eight tracks on Restless Spirit, there is so much more. A return to form, a new beginning, their true sound found…it could be one or all of those things, but the songs on this record are the most personal, deep, and raw we have heard from the band, all while leveraging the musical influences they love and, as usual, ripping up the place.
So why is this Restless Spirit record so special? Well first off, just to level set, all the stuff RS has released has been excellent. This record, however, focuses on shorter songs, leveraging the band’s sense of melody with their killer heaviness, in a more focused manner. One of the band’s secret weapons is how catchy-as-hell their songs are. The bridges and choruses stick with you more than ever on Restless Spirit. Of course, Paul Aloisio brings so many awesome riffs and solos, but the confidence in his singing voice has really grown as well.
So why is this Restless Spirit record so special? Well first off, just to level set, all the stuff RS has released has been excellent. This record, however, focuses on shorter songs, leveraging the band’s sense of melody with their killer heaviness, in a more focused manner. One of the band’s secret weapons is how catchy-as-hell their songs are. The bridges and choruses stick with you more than ever on Restless Spirit. Of course, Paul Aloisio brings so many awesome riffs and solos, but the confidence in his singing voice has really grown as well.
All of this is evident in the opening banger, The Burning Need. I love the layered vocals on this one. The recording of Restless Spirit captures the band in their rawest glory, with the drums of Jon Gusman sounding particularly awesome, showing why he is one of the best and most unique drummers in metal. The rawness comes across even stronger on Hallowed, and so does Gusman’s drumming, which is just next level. One of the charms of RS is that in 2026 they sound like a band I wound stay up until 2:45 AM to see on the third Hour Of Headbanger’s Ball.
The mid tempo Red In Tooth And Claw has a bit of a Mastodon feel to it, but with less studio magic. The rhythm section of Marc Morello and Gusman put in the work on this one, while Aloisio takes his vocals to another level. I mentioned hour three of Headbanger’s Ball earlier, but Desire Lines could have opened the show. The quieter opening, the loud transition, the chugging guitars, the catchy chorus. Killer, next level stuff. Keeping with the theme, remember how a video on The Ball would eventually find its way to, say, dial MTV? Desolations Wake is the Restless Spirit track that would break through. Three and a half minutes that rips it up and burrows an ear worm into your brain and soul.
The acoustic interlude Embers leads to the one-two closing punch of Time And Distance and Phantom Pain. The former opens with a complex riff and brings all sorts of different progressions; this one is the most complex composition on the record while still managing to rip the place up while also get kind of doomy. The latter returns to some of their earlier work from a length standpoint, but takes all of it to the next level. Aloisio’s guitar work is so raw and real. The quiet parts are even more impactful because of the sound he gets from it. I love the almost haunting vocals on this one and the closing synths are such a perfect touch.
The definition of Heavy Metal can be debated, but to me exhibit A is Restless Spirit, and their new, self-titled record is all I need as the evidence. Filled with raw riffs and rippers that are some of the most real songs you will hear all year and beyond, Restless Spirit have created something special with their new record that will make you bang your head and maybe even shed a tear at the same time, if you are paying attention. You really should, because this is true heavy metal, and some of the best of it that you will hear in the foreseeable future. 10/10
Frozen Soul - No Place Of Warmth (Century Media Records) [Matt Bladen]
Some bands transcend their genre, rapidly rising above it to become leaders of it, it's usually because they draw just enough from the originators to win over the veteran crowd but also bring their own edge which wins them a whole set of new fans.
Frozen Soul are just this sort of band, bringing more Texas Death than Hangman Adam Page, they've been rapidly ascending through the death metal scene with their glacial take on death metal that takes from the US legends such as Obituary and Mortician as well as the UK bruisers like Bolt Thrower and Carcass.
They're a band that have serious muscle in their music, driven by the full force battery of Matt Dennard's non-stop blasts, this is death metal dynamism where the pacing is where the power lies. One minute there is blistering speed assault, the next a steamrolling chug, as Absolute Zero moves into Dreadnought that's exactly what you get, guitarists Michael Munday and Chris Bonner bring riffs that are always distorted and syrupy, breaking into flash bang leads and solos that would make Jeff Hanneman excited.
Dragging these riffs down to the depths Samantha Mobley's bass fuzzes with disgusting reverb, giving the bottom end punching grunt. Along with producer Josh Schroeder, they settled down to write the record from the bottom up, entering the sessions with basically nothing, No Place For Warmth sees Frozen Soul hitting the basement to just crank out cavernous death metal, attempting some thing they haven't before but never overcomplicating what they do. It means that No Place For Warmth is a a record with a mechanised heaviness, the instrumental meat grinder crushing all as Chad Green's hellish shouts create visions of hellscapes and blood soaked battlefields as he takes the role storyteller for these deranged tales of death metal.
Frozen Soul's ascent can be measured by the guests they have on this record as Devin Swank from Sanguisugabogg jumps in for Dreadnought, Rob Flynn adds his shouts to Invoke War while Gerard Way shows off his chops on the title track. They're a welcome addition but not needed though as Frozen Soul just do death metal right, and while it may be No Place For Warmth it's definitely a place for fans of death metal. 9/10
Scanner has the best bass playing on the album, it’s so jarring as it rumbles, bouncing off of every surface. To my surprise there is even rapping on this track and it really fits the vibe of what the song is pertaining to. It makes me laugh as I thought to myself while listening to this, “This is like Limp Bizkit if they were good”!
This record isn’t without its faults, songs like New Clear and Noumena have a few kinks in them where they don’t have the danger that the other songs possess. Instead they are going for a more atmospheric direction and unfortunately they lose their way with their sense of direction, more settled instead of trying to break through the glass ceiling of conventions.
Saying that, the bright spots shine wholeheartedly for the world to see, displaying great versatility. It has so many different strings on its bow, taking influence from all sorts of different genres such as Noise Rock, Hip Hop, Industrial, Nu Metal, Grunge, Rave, Noise and even Electronic Body Music.
Overall with Co/de/termination, The Family Men have made a fun, consistent and loud full-length that loses its mind in Y2K paranoia, it's so internet in every sense of the word. I’m not forgetting this in a hurry, The Family Men have made a new fan out of me, this album is excellent! 8/10
Sace6 – Brutalist (Sumerian Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Brutalist is Sace6’s shiny new 11track album, and much like their visual style (see the music video for their track Covet) it’s heavy on the contrast and it’s captivating.
Sace6 brings passionate, emotional vocals which draws you in then saturates it a landscape of ice-y metal instrumentals with prominent heavy drums and Trip-Hop / Pop fusion style backing tracks for an odd collision of energy and sophistication that creates a feeling of perpetual suspense. It is jarring but with clear intention of a confrontational overlap.
Brutalist is a fine example of modern-day metal with a technologically driven and trendy mismatch of genres and vocal styles to satisfy the hungriest of crowds and it makes for a interesting way to expand your palate if you tend to stick to a rigid diet of whatever metal niche and predictable breakdowns you tend to gravitate towards and transcend into a more contemporary sound which evolves beyond the standard metal formula without losing intensity.
The album as a whole, carries the devotion and high stakes desperation while avoiding the cliches of a traditional ballad or sing in the shower anthem. Instead, each track feels like a lament that's anchored by an inventive and dynamic production that feels raw and grounded rather than performative.
Overall, Brutalist is very well made. Sace6 has been around for a couple of years now and has managed to lock in a signature sound, the production is huge and the mixing is tight and professional even with the creative chaos this album feels clean and very precise. I admit that It took me a few listens to get Sace6 at first as i found the contrast and mix of genre and atmosphere distracting as I wasn’t sure what to expect but after giving this album the space it deserves it manged to wedge its way into my brain to stick with me and i can safely say that I really enjoyed listening to this one. 9/10.
The Family Men - Co/de/termination (Welfare Sounds & Records) [Joe Guatieri]
The Family Men are a four-piece Industrial band, hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden. Forming back in 2017, their debut No Sound Forever only came out a few years ago back in 2024 and since then they have gone from strength to strength, challenging both the listener and themselves in their wild experimentation. Now in 2026 they bring us their second full-length, Co/de/termination, how will this effort fair?
The record opens with Calamity, a song that will turn you down and inside out and make all the blood from your body rush to your head. It’s aggressive, rapid and in your face with shouted vocals that remind me a lot of Henry Rollins.
Calamity and most of the tracks going forwards combine both live drums and a drum machine, seeing both of these worlds colliding. Let me tell you, it’s a technique that I’ve seen far too many bands fail at as it’s such a pain to pull off. One element cancelling out another due to sheer volume is very commonplace but The Family Man has pulled off what I can only dream of as they not only make it work but kick my ass doing it. It’s an astonishing achievement which I loudly applaud, it brings such a big smile to my face!
Moving through the album we have track three with Skull Theft. For me it’s like a deranged hellish take on Fire by Jimi Hendrix with its use of call and response within the instrumentation. It’s the most upbeat song on the album, a great one to bang your head wildly too and it has a few surprises up its sleeve. The squealing feedback used in the choruses are very irritated, coming off as stretching with all your might for something in your vision which is just out of reach.
Skull Theft plays around with the genres that the band tackles, Jungle strikes out to me immediately with the booming drums in the verses, displaying both precision and power. As the song closes, anxious power chords make their presence known in their attack, it comes across to me as Nirvana worship and I’m always here for that.
Next we go into track four with Solving The Light Issue. I want to dive into the pool that is this song, soaking up every last mineral of it. The layering shown is magical from heavenly synthesisers that rise and full in the background, to the wave of the out of control robotic guitars and even good old-fashioned beat boxing.
Towards the end of the song you get these ear-piercing guitar bends which scream louder than the vocals, very Shellac. I can see Solving The Light Issue being played in a sweaty underground Industrial club which only 15 people know about. It’s no doubt my favourite song on the album!
Crawling further into the tunnel that is Co/de/termination, we get track seven with Scanner. It stands in my head as the most unique song that this LP has to offer, from the get-go it has a damaged hum as if your desktop speakers have broken. This motif morphs into a glitched out beat from hell.
To put the image in your head of what I envisioned upon hearing this, it’s as if you’re a bedroom DIY Industrial artist in the 2000s and you’re trying to sample The Prodigy in the most rudimentary and caveman way possible. You are at the stage of placing the speaker of your half-broken cassette player up to a tiny FM Radio and recording it on full blast getting a tinny effect as a result of dubbing it. Then removing that said tape that you just made and then driving over it with your Mum’s car, only to duplicate it again. What I mean by all of that is that I really enjoy how fucked up it sounds!
Brutalist is Sace6’s shiny new 11track album, and much like their visual style (see the music video for their track Covet) it’s heavy on the contrast and it’s captivating.
Sace6 brings passionate, emotional vocals which draws you in then saturates it a landscape of ice-y metal instrumentals with prominent heavy drums and Trip-Hop / Pop fusion style backing tracks for an odd collision of energy and sophistication that creates a feeling of perpetual suspense. It is jarring but with clear intention of a confrontational overlap.
Brutalist is a fine example of modern-day metal with a technologically driven and trendy mismatch of genres and vocal styles to satisfy the hungriest of crowds and it makes for a interesting way to expand your palate if you tend to stick to a rigid diet of whatever metal niche and predictable breakdowns you tend to gravitate towards and transcend into a more contemporary sound which evolves beyond the standard metal formula without losing intensity.
The album as a whole, carries the devotion and high stakes desperation while avoiding the cliches of a traditional ballad or sing in the shower anthem. Instead, each track feels like a lament that's anchored by an inventive and dynamic production that feels raw and grounded rather than performative.
Overall, Brutalist is very well made. Sace6 has been around for a couple of years now and has managed to lock in a signature sound, the production is huge and the mixing is tight and professional even with the creative chaos this album feels clean and very precise. I admit that It took me a few listens to get Sace6 at first as i found the contrast and mix of genre and atmosphere distracting as I wasn’t sure what to expect but after giving this album the space it deserves it manged to wedge its way into my brain to stick with me and i can safely say that I really enjoyed listening to this one. 9/10.
The Family Men - Co/de/termination (Welfare Sounds & Records) [Joe Guatieri]
The Family Men are a four-piece Industrial band, hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden. Forming back in 2017, their debut No Sound Forever only came out a few years ago back in 2024 and since then they have gone from strength to strength, challenging both the listener and themselves in their wild experimentation. Now in 2026 they bring us their second full-length, Co/de/termination, how will this effort fair?
The record opens with Calamity, a song that will turn you down and inside out and make all the blood from your body rush to your head. It’s aggressive, rapid and in your face with shouted vocals that remind me a lot of Henry Rollins.
Calamity and most of the tracks going forwards combine both live drums and a drum machine, seeing both of these worlds colliding. Let me tell you, it’s a technique that I’ve seen far too many bands fail at as it’s such a pain to pull off. One element cancelling out another due to sheer volume is very commonplace but The Family Man has pulled off what I can only dream of as they not only make it work but kick my ass doing it. It’s an astonishing achievement which I loudly applaud, it brings such a big smile to my face!
Moving through the album we have track three with Skull Theft. For me it’s like a deranged hellish take on Fire by Jimi Hendrix with its use of call and response within the instrumentation. It’s the most upbeat song on the album, a great one to bang your head wildly too and it has a few surprises up its sleeve. The squealing feedback used in the choruses are very irritated, coming off as stretching with all your might for something in your vision which is just out of reach.
Skull Theft plays around with the genres that the band tackles, Jungle strikes out to me immediately with the booming drums in the verses, displaying both precision and power. As the song closes, anxious power chords make their presence known in their attack, it comes across to me as Nirvana worship and I’m always here for that.
Next we go into track four with Solving The Light Issue. I want to dive into the pool that is this song, soaking up every last mineral of it. The layering shown is magical from heavenly synthesisers that rise and full in the background, to the wave of the out of control robotic guitars and even good old-fashioned beat boxing.
Towards the end of the song you get these ear-piercing guitar bends which scream louder than the vocals, very Shellac. I can see Solving The Light Issue being played in a sweaty underground Industrial club which only 15 people know about. It’s no doubt my favourite song on the album!
Crawling further into the tunnel that is Co/de/termination, we get track seven with Scanner. It stands in my head as the most unique song that this LP has to offer, from the get-go it has a damaged hum as if your desktop speakers have broken. This motif morphs into a glitched out beat from hell.
To put the image in your head of what I envisioned upon hearing this, it’s as if you’re a bedroom DIY Industrial artist in the 2000s and you’re trying to sample The Prodigy in the most rudimentary and caveman way possible. You are at the stage of placing the speaker of your half-broken cassette player up to a tiny FM Radio and recording it on full blast getting a tinny effect as a result of dubbing it. Then removing that said tape that you just made and then driving over it with your Mum’s car, only to duplicate it again. What I mean by all of that is that I really enjoy how fucked up it sounds!
Scanner has the best bass playing on the album, it’s so jarring as it rumbles, bouncing off of every surface. To my surprise there is even rapping on this track and it really fits the vibe of what the song is pertaining to. It makes me laugh as I thought to myself while listening to this, “This is like Limp Bizkit if they were good”!
This record isn’t without its faults, songs like New Clear and Noumena have a few kinks in them where they don’t have the danger that the other songs possess. Instead they are going for a more atmospheric direction and unfortunately they lose their way with their sense of direction, more settled instead of trying to break through the glass ceiling of conventions.
Saying that, the bright spots shine wholeheartedly for the world to see, displaying great versatility. It has so many different strings on its bow, taking influence from all sorts of different genres such as Noise Rock, Hip Hop, Industrial, Nu Metal, Grunge, Rave, Noise and even Electronic Body Music.
Overall with Co/de/termination, The Family Men have made a fun, consistent and loud full-length that loses its mind in Y2K paranoia, it's so internet in every sense of the word. I’m not forgetting this in a hurry, The Family Men have made a new fan out of me, this album is excellent! 8/10
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