ALBUM REVIEW: Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings

“A raging fire from the depths of hell, a wicked foe.”

While I’m not totally convinced by the concept, I think if I had to define what my biggest guilty pleasure is, it would be what is most affectionately known as butt rock. Growing up with a litany of post-grunge and radio-focussed alt-metal bands in my library, it’s no surprise that a lot of it stuck with me, but one such band I was always fascinated with was Creed. There was something about their melodramatic take on post-grunge that worked for me, but admittedly what fascinated me more is what happened following their demise in the early 2000s, rather than anything they ever did during their tenure

See, what rose from those Nickelback-flavoured ashes was Alter Bridge: a riffy, proggy alt-metal group. Consisting of all-bar-one member of the former group, most known in their early days for “Metallingus”, which served as WWE superstar Edge’s entrance theme. Through this, they propelled almost near-instant stardom, and have remained a fairly consistent name within the metal world since all the way back then in 2005. Of course, as is typical for almost any band with such an extended life, their discography has its ups and downs, but I believe they never hit a peak higher than 2013’s Fortress.

Fortress was a progressive metal goliath of a record – and one that truly sparked an adoration in me for the band. Through this, though, I feel they set the bar a tad too high, as while their subsequent releases weren’t bad as such, they certainly didn’t scratch quite the same itch. After some time, however, I became at peace with that. Fortress still stood as one of my favourite metal-adjacent records of the 2010s, and while I accepted they may never achieve those heights again, I took solace in that I could always venture back and listen to that record.

Until Pawns & Kings

Simply put, Pawns & Kings is a blast. Now seven albums deep into their career, it’s a strange thought to assume they may just be hitting a newfound apex so far into their tenure. However, I truly believe that Pawns & Kings stands tall alongside Fortress as one of the band’s most accomplished records to date.

The record begins its almost hour-long foray by setting a tone on “This Is War”: Alter Bridge mean business. They’re back in full force, and heavier than ever. There’s no joke in that too – Pawns & Kings is without a doubt the quartet’s heftiest outing to date on an instrumental level, even leaning pretty heavily into some dirty, glorious chugging at frequent points. Following track “Dead Among The Living” only bolsters this notion, with ferocious and angular riffing amongst the band’s penchant for larger-than-life choruses.

Toward the middle of the record, Alter Bridge pull back the bombastic energy a tad with “Stay”, the album’s token Mark Tremonti-led track. Taking a slightly more reserved approach to Alter Bridge’s sound, “Stay” at times leans into some pop-esque melodic structures, which provides an unexpected but well-executed juxtaposition to the album’s largely heavy, progressive sound. 

Further, closer, title track and lead single “Pawns & Kings” is one of Alter Bridge’s most sprawling and planet-sized tracks to date. Most easily associated in nature with Fortress’ similarly eponymous closer, “Pawns & Kings” guides the listener through a six-minute epic in style and grace. Containing one of the band’s most infectious choruses to date, and impressing with its pacey, almost breakdown-esque bridge around the three-minute mark, “Pawns & Kings” was instrumental in bringing me back into the Alter Bridge camp, and still stands as one of the album’s, and the band’s best. 

All in all, Pawns & Kings is one of the most accomplished comebacks I’ve heard in some time. While this band never strayed too far off the beaten path, I never quite expected the Floridian quartet to hit back as hard as they did here. Heavier, proggier and more grandiose than ever before, Alter Bridge have at last written a record to rival their own greats. 

9/10

Pawns & Kings will be available this Friday, October 14th via Napalm Records, and you can pre-order the album here.