The New Revenge – Hereafter (Album Review)

Today’s review features The New Revenge’s new album “Hereafter”. The band is out of Bakersfield, CA, USA. Their one sheet says the band “blends metalcore intensity with cinematic atmosphere and haunting storytelling.” They continue, “Hereafter is a deeply personal nine-track concept album built over three years—one that explores themes of spiritual ruin, apocalyptic dread, and fragile hope.”

The band’s influences are bands like the “Architects, Slayer, Sleep Token, and Knocked Loose.” The New Revenge have even created an “audience-tapped analogue horror narrative” called Hereafter – The Lost Soul Files on YouTube.

So let’s have a listen …

Fall is the first song on the album. Very heavy dramatic intro to the song. The vocalist has a good voice for this type of music. Nice middle bridge.

Kill God also starts very heavy, but there’s a cool breakdown shortly into the song. The vocalist excels at singing Doom Metal. The guitar playing on this record is tight with lots of chugging. I like the effects on the vocals.

Fallen Seraphim starts off with a heavy drum and single-note guitar riff, which drives the song. I love that you can hear and understand the vocals/lyrics on this album, something not common in this genre. The vocalist has a nice voice for the scream singing required for this genre. I like this song.

Breathe starts with a heavily-effected voice singing a cappella, with a robotic ring added to the vocal. This track deviates from the first three, which were more metal core in the vein of Slayer. I like the lyrics.

Fallen Waltz starts off with a cinematic flair, then vocalists come in talking about climate change and unsafe water in a news report format. The music is more background for the news clips. I like the use of news clips.

Warren Hope – New starts with a heavy chugging guitar riff and vocals about the devil. Now we’re back to that Slayer sound.

Bleed Into Me starts with a quirky piano riff over a keyboard drone. Quickly, it falls into a nice cinematic piano vamp. The vocals on this one are very clear – not the normal Slayer-like scream singing. The singer has a great voice. This song is more like the Breathe track earlier, except it has a nicely flowing cinematic music track laid under the vocals, giving it a dramatic sound.

Cold War Home – the song kicks off with a vocal growl, “sick and tired of this Cold War home.” The riff reminds me of Tool for some reason. The vocals are clear in this song, but back to screaming when the chorus kicks in. There’s a middle bridge that puts a different, lighter effect on the voice.

Hereafter, the album’s title cut, starts with a piano vamp, even a string section under the vocals, again reminiscent of System of a Down. The song gets heavy in the middle, abandoning the piano for heavy guitar riffage. Unlike the other songs, which are in the 3-4 minute range, this song is eight minutes long. I like how the vocalist easily switches between normal singing and scream-singing, and his voice sounds great doing either. This song is a message song, delivered with some excellent guitar chugging. I like how there’s a clip of philosopher Alan Watts. I’m digging this band, and I don’t normally like hardcore metal bands. I love the song arrangements and the string section that ends this song.

SCORE/Excellent: If you like Slayer, you’ll find plenty to like on this album. The band has a cinematic flair, like Sleep Token, using string sections and arpeggiated piano vamps to amplify the message. Don’t worry, there is plenty of hardcore chugging. This album is excellent. Much love, Beth

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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