Brit hardcore’s top-dogs-in-waiting’s third album is so good that wait may just be over
Festival appearances characterised by footage of circle pits so big that some wrongly suggest they’re AI. Signing to Roadrunner Records. Tour shows that sell out in minutes. An Adidas collab. Guilt Trip have truly permeated the culture in recent years, while staying true to the metal-worshipping strain of hardcore that got the Manchester-based five-piece to this point. What’s more, with each release they’ve vaulted forwards in ever greater increments.
That Armour Of Angels provides as huge a leap from 2023’s Severance as that album had from its predecessor, 2019’s debut River Of Lies speaks volumes about Guilt Trip’s ambition. Severance made people stand up and listen. It wasn’t their first record but it was their first impression proper on the scene, a rallying cry that excited all who heard it. Armour Of Angels is therefore the musical equivalent of an army that’s enjoyed many great victories – battle-hardened, unbeatable, and ready to steamroll all-comers.
The relentlessness of these 12 tracks certainly support that idea. From the moment Cut From God immolates the ears, there is precious little in the way of let up, save for an intermission partway through that, if anything, menacingly debriefs how ferocious the assault you’ve just experienced is, before its building snare tees up the continued savagery to come. Admittedly, what’s here isn’t a rewriting of Guilt Trip’s blueprint, but an excelling of it, thanks to the stomp of Angel Eyes and the grappling Suffer Me, led by Jay Valentine’s kinetic vocal performances.
Each song is festooned with incredible guitar work from Jak Maden and Sam Baker – huge chugging riffs, smouldering solos where appropriate, squealing harmonics – that are impressive and iconic enough to become study material for a new generation of players. The latter half of Burn, for instance, will prove an absolute workout for anyone looking to test their chops. Meanwhile, the production on Armour Of Angels deserves recognition for how brilliantly it renders arrangements with a deceptive amount of depth and intricacy. Retaining this big and bruising sound, while allowing sufficient space for everything to breathe, is no mean feat.
What is a feat is trying to pick highlights on an album so stuffed with moments of quality. It's a nice problem for a band to have, but not a quandary enough bands have these days. Those that don’t should listen to Armour Of Angels, a record that fortifies its creators’ position as one of this country’s most exciting exports.
Rating: 4/5
For fans of: Malevolence, Bleed From Within, Drain
Armour Of Angels is released on June 5 via Roadrunner
