45. Earthtone9 - "In Resonance Nexus"

If there were any justice in this world, Earthtone9 would be huge. They always exhibited the ability and the fortitude to be arena botherers and festival headliners. But for numerous reasons both obvious and also completely unexplainable they have never quite made it. Instead, they have been channelled down a different road, the one entitled “highly revered cult entities”.

This is album number five, their first in 11 years and only their second since they returned from hiatus in 2010. It enlists a massive widescreen sound and is unashamedly commercial, easily the most accessible thing they have ever produced. It is replete with fantastically crafted songs. Every track is a belter, and every track is a room-shaking anthem in waiting. They perfectly marry heaviness and oppressive passages with gobsmacking harmony and perfect doses of melody.

We are probably straying too far now for Earthtone9 to ever become the big deal that they should have been, “In Resonance Nexus” proves that they are still delivering the goods and are a band that still very much matters.