US hardcore brutes Nails are reborn anew on Every Bridge Burning

Eight years after their last album, Nails reappear as an almost entirely different band. Guitarist and vocalist Todd Jones is now joined by Warbringer drummer Carlos Cruz, current Despise You bassist Andrew Solis and Ulthar guitarist Shelby Lermo, resulting in arguably their most overtly metallic outing yet.

The savage blasting of Punishment Map and the pit-ready, knuckle-headed grooves in the aptly titled Lacking The Ability To Process Empathy are exactly what you’d expect from a Nails record, but the frantic licks of Give Me The Painkiller sound practically speed metal by comparison. I Can’t Turn It Off makes room for scorching guitar leads, and even the obligatory chugging closer No More Rivers To Cross has more of a showboating swagger to it than usual.

Todd himself turns in perhaps his most unhinged, feral vocal performance, at the expense of any emotional nuance. On Nails’ 2010 debut, Unsilent Death , he genuinely sounded like a man pushed to the very edge of desperation; here he sounds like a snarling beast, thinking no further ahead than his next meal.

Their last album, 2016’s You Will Never Be One Of Us , may have teetered on the cusp of self-parody, but this one almost embraces it. If the former was the glossy cinematic adaptation of Unsilent Death ’s harrowing novel, this is the following animated series (wackier, less respectful of the source material, but more willing to take creative risks).

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – what Every Bridge Burning lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in sheer energy. Todd’s songwriting is as tight as ever, but the album as a whole feels rougher and (whisper it) more fun than their previous record, like a lurid, increasingly Neanderthal-minded caricature of the band’s trademark sound. In all honesty, it’s an absolute blast.

Every Bridge Burning is out August 30 via Nuclear Blast. Nails play Damnation Festival in the UK in November.