Album review overview: Tom Petty, Arch Enemy and more

Dozens of new albums arrive at Maxazine’s editorial staff every week. There are too many to listen to, let alone review them. It ensures that too many albums are left behind. And that’s a shame. That is why today we post an overview of albums that arrive at the editors in short reviews.

Arch Enemy – Blood Dynasty

“Blood Dynasty” is the twelfth studio album from Arch Enemy. After the atmospheric start of “Dream Stealer,” the metal (including Alissa White-Gluz’s grunts) breaks loose. The sudden ending is beautifully tight. “Illuminate the Path” has a positive lyric and a matching, rousing atmosphere. The music in “Presage” is unexpectedly very calm, I expected much more, but it’s a short track. “Blood Dynasty” is not particularly optimistic, but it is a good, accessible title track, with snippets of music that quickly stick in your head. The French-sung “Vivre Libre” is sometimes almost tender, at other moments powerful. This creates both a contrast and harmony with the grunts. Time slips like sand between your fingers in the melodic “The Pendulum.” “Blood Dynasty” is an album with many positive points. The blend between metal and lighter elements, and between rhythm and melody is good. Vocally, you hear both raw and deep grunts, as well as melodious grim singing. There is a lot of beautiful guitar playing, but the rhythm section is also impressive. Moreover, there are enough twists. Arch Enemy continues (even after 30 years) to make good albums. (Esther Kessel-Tamerus) (8/10) (Century Media Records)

Steve Allee Big Band – Naptown Sound

The sound of Indianapolis: a deafening 130 decibels from the Indy 500, as many people will think of that famous race when it comes to Indianapolis. We prefer the sound of Naptown, specifically the big band – in this case, the sound of the Steve Allee Big Band bringing a salute to musical Indianapolis. Naptown, the nickname for Indianapolis, is the cradle of rhythm and blues, with Leroy Carr and Indiana Avenue as icons of deep soul and funk. Music came to full bloom here, thanks in part to jazz greats who were born here: Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, and JJ Johnson, to name just a few. This album by Steve Allee is nothing less than a tribute to these greats. That tribute begins with “Full House,” composed by Wes Montgomery; it’s the perfect opener for this album because Steve Allee proves in the first notes that he belongs to the exceptional category when it comes to perfectly balanced big band arrangements. It’s precisely the arrangement, with solos on guitar and marimba, that elevates this version to a higher level. Besides this composition, the record contains only one other cover, and that is the very subdued closing track “Zebra II” by Claude Sifferlen, well-chosen after Allee’s compositions which are mainly deliciously groovy, worthy of a big band. The highlight is the swinging “Spang a Lang” with the characteristic Naptown funk. Then the heavens open and the spirits of the Indiana greats crowd around the opening to catch as many notes as possible coming from a trumpet, just as we feast on the Naptown Sound. (Jeroen Mulder) (9/10) (Jazzville Records)

Astropical – Astropical

When I saw this album cover, there was immediate interest in what kind of music would be found on it. It could be ambient, psych, or a cheerful pop album. It turned out to be the debut album of Astropical, a Latin band. Even more, it’s a supergroup with members from Colombian Bomba Estéreo and Venezuelan Rawayana. Two bands with name recognition, especially in South America. Yet we must conclude that together it doesn’t quite spark. Add to that some eyebrow-raising moments here and there. For example, “Odro Nivel (Capricornio)” doesn’t seem to be completely on the record, or someone forgot to give the track a slow fade out. For the rest, there isn’t a standout track or tracks. It’s easy listening, but the album is just as quickly forgotten. The album cover sticks in your mind better, so there’s work to be done. There is potential in this collaboration. (Rik Moors) (5/10) (Sony Music)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Heartbreakers Beach Party

Cameron Crowe’s mythical “Heartbreakers Beach Party” documentary resurfaces after being hidden for forty years. This time capsule captures Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers during the creation and promotion of “Long After Dark,” their last collaboration with Jimmy Iovine. The soundtrack forms a musical autobiography in which Petty’s mastery shines—every guitar riff a perfect sentence, every melody a story that finds its origin in the American soul. His distinctive voice—simultaneously sandy and sweet—navigates the listener through a landscape of desire and rebellious hope. As Crowe’s “Almost Famous” did for the ’70s, this film offers a window into a formative period in American rock music—a moment when authentic voices like Petty’s navigated a commercial industry without losing artistic integrity. This release doesn’t feel like nostalgia but as a vital rediscovery—an essential document of an artist in his element, a band at their peak, and an era that produced the finest in contemporary American music. Like you’ve made a cassette tape yourself: ‘Tom Petty for in the car’. Delightful. (Jan Vranken) (8/10) (UMG)

Anupam Shobhakar – Liquid Reality

Sometimes many words are needed to properly describe an album, and sometimes this suffices: Steve Vai goes sarod. Because that comes closest to what the Indian/American guitarist Anupam Shobhakar presents us on “Liquid Reality.” In Bombay, Shobhakar grew up with shredders like Van Halen, Satriani, and Vai, but it was John McLaughlin who put him on the path to combining Indian music with the styles of the aforementioned guitarists. The records McLaughlin recorded with his fusion band Shakti were a revelation. Shobhakar, now living in New York, threw himself completely into developing a new style and traded in his guitar for a sarod, a complex, fretless instrument with 25 strings. The problem was that Shobhakar could either play guitar or sarod, playing both simultaneously was technically not possible. The solution was a double-neck instrument – like Vai’s custom-made double-neck Ibanez – combining guitar (with frets) and sarod (fretless). On “Liquid Reality” you hear how that sounds: it creates a unique sound. Driven by a typical Indian rhythm, the opener “Anjaneva” is immediately a demonstration of both this unique instrument and Shobhakar’s finger dexterity. The highlight of the album is “Fallen Leaves,” a composition where literally two worlds come together. Fusion at its best. Of course, “Liquid Reality” is also and especially a tribute to Shakti, with a beautiful rendition of “La Danse Du Bonheur,” a composition by McLaughlin and violinist Shankar, from the album “Handful of Beauty.” That’s how we could summarize this album as well: a handful of beauty. Unique beauty on an instrument of which only one exists. (Jeroen Mulder) (9/10) (AGS Recordings)