Heavier grooves, deeper moods, keyboards having their say a lot more than before. There are echoes of Zeppelin, Kravitz, Pink Floyd, The Black Crowes and The Beatles at their most expansive throughout, with a thread of Royal Blood and delta-style guitar riffs holding it all together. It’s a different kind of Massey’s Cross, and it fits well.

‘Donner Party’ kicks the door open without apology; bass drum, heavy guitar, a serious bassline groove and lines like “we want it all” and “meat left on the bone” that set the tone immediately. It was a favourite from the first listen. ‘Sadly Forgotten’ follows without pause, all Kravitz-adjacent grungy riffs and distorted rock vocals that make you lean in to catch every word. The tempo shifts are a tease in the best possible way; breath, build, pause, then straight back, full on. Gritty finish. Loved it.

‘Sullen and Grey’ has a New Orleans Blues feel from the off, more upbeat in the drums, harmonies from the start, a counter melody guitar singing over the top. There’s a mid-section that shows serious musicianship, before stripping back to acoustic guitar and finger plucking and something that feels altogether more reflective. “I’m not dying, and I’m not crying anymore.” The contrast is everything.

‘Forge’ is the album’s exhale; acoustic-led, melodic, unhurried. Deep bass, hand drumming, finger plucking, a gradual build that never loses the warmth of where it started. It gives the record essential breathing room and adds real texture across the whole album.

Then ‘When 4 Was 9’ pulls you straight back into distorted grunge with absolutely no warning. “Caught with my hand in the cookie jar” is the most deliciously dirty line on the album. The mid-section drum solo is something else. Fat, detuned, genuinely experimental, nothing like a standard drum break, and if that’s your thing, it will absolutely hit the mark. There’s also a quiet nod to the next track tucked into the second half that’s easy to miss on a first listen and worth going back for.

‘Never Odd or Even’ is seven minutes, and I could have taken more. It’s the experimental detour of the record; a pulse, gentle keyboards, soft cymbals, a sound that shouldn’t sit comfortably next to everything that came before it and somehow it does. A distorted vocal brings it back to familiar Massey’s Cross ground, whilst the guitar carries echoes of Prince, Zeppelin, even the later Beatles. “Time has no reason, never odd or even to me.” It closes too quickly for me, I’d have liked a longer fade on this one.

‘Darkened Days’ closes the show with serious drums, a Hendrix-like weight at the open, and then a complete shift into acoustic, piano, almost bright and shiny despite lyrics about open wounds and empty beds. A bar piano weaves through the whole thing, the electric guitar does what it needs to do, and everything slows deliberately to a guitar whammy fade. The closer knows its job.

‘Unbroken after the storm’ is a record with real depth, range, and a genuinely sexy, gritty undertow running through most of it, those heavy guitars and dredgy, layered sounds doing things that are hard to describe politely. As with ‘Memorial’, if gritty guitar is your thing, there’s plenty to get your teeth into here. But it’s the side dishes, the experimental detours, the acoustic moments, the keyboard-driven atmosphere that make this a step forward rather than just a follow-up.

No chilli sauce required. This one’s already a scorcher.

‘Unbroken after the storm’ by Massey’s Cross is out 21st September 2026.

14th July 2026