Mallard's Greatest Rival

Earache Records is nominally a label devoted to death metal, but anyone who buys Rival Sons' Pressure & Time expecting an album in that style is likely to be disappointed, just as any rock fan who avoids it with the same expectation will be missing out. The Los Angeles quartet consisting of singer Jay Buchanan, guitarist Scott Holiday, bassist Robin Everhart, and drummer Mike Miley doesn't play death metal, though its music might be called early or pre-metal. Simply put, Rival Sons are a power trio plus singer in the traditional style, who might have made this album after listening to the first Led Zeppelin LP over and over for a day or two.

Since debuting in 2009 with the self-released Before the Fire, Long Beach, California's Rival Sons have been on a tear, delivering a refreshingly unfussy blast of blues-blasted hard rock on an almost yearly basis. Working once again with producer Dave Cobb, Feral Roots, the band's sixth full-length effort, comes out of the gate swinging with the 40-grit "Do Your Worst," a radio-ready banger that evokes both Led Zeppelin and the Black Keys…

The fifth full-length by American hard rock outfit Rival Sons retains the continuity of its relationship with producer Dave Cobb and sleeve artist Storm Thorgerson. There's more texture on this set, and tighter songwriting. Of nine tunes, eight are orignals. The two-part title track is raved-up, riff-laden, blues vamp crunch, while "Thundering Voices" weaves spacy psych with Led Zeppelin thunder. A gritty cover of Humble Pie's iconic "Black Coffee" (written by Ike & Tina Turner), delivers an R&B dimension we've not heard from them before.

2x GRAMMY-nominated band Rival Sons have announce details of their anxiously awaited new full-length album, DARKFIGHTER, which his set to arrive worldwide March 10th. Produced by longtime collaborator and multi GRAMMY Award-winner Dave Cobb, DARKFIGHTER is led by the explosive single “Nobody Wants to Die,” is accompanied by an Eli Sokhn directed music video streaming now on Rival Sons’ YouTube channel. The track notably marks the first new music from Rival Sons since the release of 2019’s FERAL ROOTS, which earned the band two GRAMMY Award nominations.

2023 release, the eighth album by Rival Sons. About Lightbringer, guitarist Scott Holiday said, "When you do two albums back-to-back like this, there are a lot of things to think about. The first record has to pack enough of a punch and tell enough of a story for the second half to have an even bigger impact. We balanced them out with energy and meaning, but the follow-up always needed to deliver a bigger blow. I think Lightbringer provides this." Vocalist Jay Buchanan added, "Darkfighter is a new Rival Sons, and Lightbringer is the clear definition of what we are now. We broke ground on Darkfighter, but Lightbringer is a step beyond the personal innovation and exploration.