Like An Unescapable Horror Reboot, RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE Revisit Their Best With "The New Flesh Reborn"

"The New Flesh Reborn" is out now [photo: Rise From Your Grave]

Pittsburgh horror punks RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE have recently released their latest full length album, "The New Flesh Reborn". The album, in true horror 'requel' fashion, sees old tracks injected with a new, modern ferocity.

The band have an expansive discography, going back to 2017, and so there's plenty of blood-soaked riffage to crawl through - album opener and black lagoon homage "The Creature" is a revised version of a 2018 track, and kicks off the album with a very melodic, almost NWOBHM-esque lead guitar harmony.

The next 45 minutes or so are spent playing through a blistering tracklist balancing unrelenting punk ferocity with thrash energy, delivering essentially a 'Best Of' of previous albums and EPs.

Next track "Summer's Over" (originally released on the band's 2020 'The Void' EP) continues the punk affair. As with every track on this album, the production is stronger than their earlier counterpart, the band sounding tighter and more refined.

A particular stand out track is "Hell House", sounding almost like a carnival ride with its opening lead melody. The drumming is frantic, the guitars are fast, and the chorus is perfect for shouting and singing along to. A punk track about the devil's house shouldn't be so upbeat and feel-good, yet here we are.

That same feeling carries on throughout the album. "Bloody Hands" is the sort of track you can imagine people dancing along to at a festival, slightly warm drink in hand, having a great time.

[photo: Rise From Your Grave]

At its core, this is a strong horror punk album, though there are splatterings of different genres throughout. I would argue that there is as much of a thrash energy as there is punk. It's hard to listen to tracks like "One Last Breath" and "It's Me" and not draw comparisons to some of the classic thrash bands. There are also several places where the vocals remind me of an 80s James Hetfield, delivering aggression and melody.

"As I Crumble" is an effective album closer, and the most musically different track on the whole album. Starting with a clean, acoustic section, the track offers probably the most dynamic variation, sounding almost ballad-esque. It might not be as upbeat or ferocious as some of the previous tracks, but it offers a nice bit of respite as the album wraps. If there was any track on this album worthy of waving your phone torch, it's this one.

There might not be much of anything new to offer longtime fans of the band, but the end result is still solid. After all, no horror franchise lead ever stays dead, so why should tracks written about those same leads?

"The New Flesh Reborn" is out NOW on Bandcamp