Sunshine Coast metallers Awaken The Hate have officially signed with XMusic, marking the next step in the band’s journey. The first release via the label is the bands new single Fucked Up! which is featured on their forthcoming EP, Open Your Mind. Fucked Up is a fast, no-brakes 2-minute thrash ripper inspired by the raw […]
When Acid Reign released their third album, The Age Of Entitlement, in 2019, there was justifiable widespread acclaim. Rightly lumped into the UK big four of Thrash metal alongside Sabbat, Onslaught and Xentrix, it was a powerful statement and demonstrated that there was a place for UK Thrash Metal in the modern world. It was also a bloody brilliant return from a band whose previous album was released in 1990.
It has been over six years since that release, and there has been a period of massive change in the band. Only singer Howard H Smith and bassist Pete Dee remain from the 2019 line-up, so it is very much Acid Reign 3.0 who are now ripping you a new one on new album Daze Of The Week.
Guitarist Matt Smith has been a staple with the band for over four years, so the newcomers are really drummer Johnny Grimley and guitarist Darren Mcgillivray, the latter another huge Acid Reign fan from his own band Wrath Of Man.
Acid Reign 3.0 ripping you a new one on new album Daze Of The Week.
Huge credit at the start to producer Jayce Lewis, who returns for the second time and does a sterling job. The production is perfect, capturing the aggression and rawness of this album without losing the modern edge needed. He was engaged with “a chance to work with a band that sounded reborn.”
It is certainly a different sound to TAOE, and as H told me recently, this is what you would expect from Acid Reign. This is not The Age Of Entitlement Part II. And as H also mentioned in our soon-to-be-published interview, this is a record that reaches back to 1989 and the band’s debut album, The Fear, and follows on as that release’s natural successor.
The first thing that grabs you about the album, after the stunning artwork, which is going to take some time to pore over when the vinyl arrives, is just how aggressive and huge-sounding it is. Opener The Who Of You explodes out of the speakers with such power that the neck may break if you try to even nod along to it.
The band are locked in tight. H’s vocals are better than anything he has ever done, combining his Hardcore and Thrash roots with a visceral punk-up edge. Not bad for a bloke who is only a few years off a free bus pass.
Daze Of The Weak follows. A clever play on words, this is an absolute stomping mudhole that follows the opener, but with a melodic feel that certainly makes it accessible without losing any of the edge. It is crisp, snarling and savage.
Over 48 minutes and ten songs, Acid Reign deliver on every aspect. The bruising rage of No Truth is a steamroller, unstoppable in its drive and power, with the riffs huge and Grimley’s powerhouse drumming locked in.
Blind Lies is huge, a gargantuan beast of a song that allows bassist Pete Dee room to star. It has a majestic middle section with a glorious tempo change that proves this band are more than heads down dandruff shakers. And it continues right to the end of the album.
There is a pleasing blend of bangers that rip your head off in three to four minutes and the likes of the six-minute plus Conniption King, which showcases the band’s ability to play it at a slightly slower tempo whilst retaining every ounce of the ferocity that surges here.
And do not get me wrong, for there is superb playing across this album. Just pick out the interplay on Alonely as just one example. And in H’s vocals, the Yorkshireman is in the form of his life. Less shouting, less screaming, more singing. These are proper vocals that work with the Thrash that erupts around him.
It is something of a cliché to think of Thrash Metal as a younger fan’s game, given the number of legacy bands that are still plying their trade, although there are few of the old school racing around the pit these days.
Yet, this is fresh, bruising and right in the youngster’s ballpark. The urgency of the second single, Sorrowsworn, with its contemporary lyrics, resonates with all. Even the thought of diving in the mosh pit is exhausting, but for a growing number of new Thrashers, this is going to be like Christmas morning.
For those of us who were there first time around, this album will induce the biggest smiles.
If the latest single raised a smile, then the first single, Fantastic Passion, was surely the equivalent of a metaphorical Chelsea grin. Featuring a blistering dual solo from Matt Smith and former Haken man Charlie Griffiths, this is one of the tracks of 2026. Huge hook, massive chorus and a band in full synch.
It is simply brilliant and leads into the final epic Centre Of Everything. Possibly the most intricate track on the album, it is a sprawler of a closing song, even though it is not the longest on the album. If there is one song that captures Acid Reign 3.0, then for me it is this one.
I often wonder what would have happened if Acid Reign had happened in 1984 rather than a few years later. It does not matter. This is where we are. And with Daze Of The Week, they have delivered one of the most sensational albums of 2026. This is Acid Reign reborn once more.
I’ll leave the final words to a certain Howard H Smith, just for a change.
“There were times, specifically when Marc and Cooky left at the same time, I really did wonder if it was time to call it quits. That was quickly followed by NO WAY.
“No way am I letting circumstance dictate when this band’s career ends. We will decide. Being in a legacy band [which is a label he is happy and proud to accept] is a privilege.
“If a 15-year-old me was told we would still be putting albums out all these years later, it would have blown his tiny mind.”
Acid Reign release Daze Of The Week on 15 May 2026 via Back On Black. For pre-orders, visit orcd.co/bobv1313cd.
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Stepping outside of my comfort zone once again, I was drawn towards the latest release from multi-instrumentalist Uncle Hauk. With elements of post-punk, alternative rock, metal and jazz, I was intrigued by this melting pot of musical genres, so dived in for a closer look.
I’d never heard of Uncle Hauk, or Hauk Heimdalssman, to give him his full title, before but there’s an extraordinary wave of cacophonous sounds that greet your ears on the opening track “Tsunami”. I love the bass line that flows and rips through the song, as it’s a powerful sound which lays the foundations for the rest to follow with a different more complex guitar noise coming through on “Only the Living”. There’s plenty of tempo changes and he’s constantly leaving you second guessing as to which direction he’s off to next, but the midpoint solo is good before the sax kicks in to add more variety.
Aided by Quentin Marshall Purviance on drums and percussion throughout the album, Hauk does pretty much everything else, allowing him to break moulds and create expansive soundscapes. “It Doesn’t End Well” feels more sombre and sober in its approach but the music is textured and layered with a plethora of different noises whereas “The World is On Fire” is more direct and punchier in its delivery. The songs have so much happening that you’ll need a few listens to pick up on some of the nuances, but its great discovering new things each time you play them.
As Hauk himself says “it is a dark, restless album but not a hopeless one” and on the soothing “Alive in Death’s Shadow” there are pockets of melancholy that punctuate the slower and more poignant rhythm. “Toothache” takes you to a darker place, as a haunting melody opens with a deep saxophone taking the lead. The flowing ambient sounds are satisfying to my ear, with the lightly tapped cymbals setting the beat before they expand the sound over the next nine minutes.
There’s a racier beginning to “Stormy” one that befits the song title, with a change of direction to allow the accordion to burst into life and dominate proceedings, adding another subtlety to the album. “Ocean” has that more traditional rock drum beat and guitar riff that will get your head banging along before it ends with “Iron Strong”. A piercing piano starts the slow and eerie composition as the moving vocal takes over and it’s a delightful way to end what is an album full of surprises.
Sunshine Coast metallers Awaken The Hate have officially signed with XMusic, marking the next step in the band’s journey. The first release via the label is the bands new single Fucked Up! which is featured on their forthcoming EP, Open Your Mind. Fucked Up is a fast, no-brakes 2-minute thrash ripper inspired by the raw […]
