“Mad End” is the latest release by Glorybots, a fascinating American music outlet based in Seattle, Washington. It’s the first piece of work this year, arriving after three critically acclaimed full-length albums released from 2018 to 2023. Heavily promoted by “Pain Rain” and “Be Fair,” two exceptional compositions that vividly showcase what you might expect from the remainder of the album, “Mad End” arrives with many innovations in songwriting, composing, arranging, and producing, demonstrating a natural progression of such an incredible music outlet. Primarily operated by Jalal Andre, a principal songwriter and mastermind behind all soundscapes and guitar works, this fine piece of artistry also includes Ilya Krisa on bass guitar and Don Gunn on drums. Lyrically, the album explores various sentiments, moods, and circumstances, so it’s a highly relatable material that will immediately resonate with the crowd. Sonically, Glorybots combines many different but complementary music genres to paint such luxuriant sonic imagery. Perhaps, alternative rock comes to mind, but you’ll unquestionably stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from synth rock, indie rock, darkwave, etc. Glorybots expertly uses these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift this collection of songs to an entirely new level while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. “Mad End” carries so many qualities that meet all the trends in contemporary music production but there’s also a subtle touch of nineties and noughties rock nostalgia lurking around. This collision between modern and retro sounds suits Glorybots well and it will undoubtedly appeal to even the pickiest music enthusiasts. Therefore, these experimentations with different approaches and complementary styles resulted in an entire amalgam of catchy, memorable, and engaging compositions, suitable not only for alternative rock fans but anyone who appreciates expertly assembled and flawlessly performed music.
From the onset, it becomes apparent Glorybots invested nothing but tremendous ideas and marvelous orchestrations into this material. Every composition arrives with a perfect structure, garnered with many profoundly detailed segments, fully stacked with many impressive vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers. They thought about even the tiniest details and nuances, demonstrating a jaw-dropping dedication to the craft rarely heard or seen on the alternative rock scene nowadays. From the introductory piece to the closing notes and beats, Glorybots showcases how this longevous music genre can still sound fresh, unique, innovative, versatile, exciting, and entertaining. It’s a level of creativity achieved by just a few, but Glorybots do it with precision and finesse. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how Jalal Andre’s soulful, passionate, sincere, confident, emotional, powerful vocal performance elevates every song to new heights, commands attention, and guides the listening apparatus from scratch to finish. His impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing everything Glorybots intended to achieve with this material. Besides decorating all those segments and instrumentations, these vocal harmonies contribute more emotional depth and complexity over already intricate song structures. There are also additional vocal layers, back vocals, and occasional singalongs for a more anthemic kick. In the meantime, the interplay between guitars and synths creates a magnificent, lush, otherwordly backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how a comprehensive collection of leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, chord progressions, riffs, and ambiance delivered on these instruments construct the luxuriant atmosphere that immediately transports you a different realm. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these layers articulate without overwhelming each other, proving that Glorybots thought about everything while writing, composing, arranging, recording, and producing their latest album. The collision between heavily distorted guitars and calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal synths resonates beautifully from scratch to finish, making “Mad End” such a pleasant listening experience worth repeating over and over again.
Of course, this fine piece of sonic artistry wouldn’t sound complete without a rock-solid rhythm section. Ilya Krisa’s equally impressive, intricate, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines roar beneath all those guitar and synth works, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while simultaneously serving as a glue between mentioned orchestrations and rhythmic patterns. These low-ends are rich, deep, dense, and heavy, contributing more power, groove, and detail to the entire material. In the meantime, Don Gunn’s exceptional drumming performance based upon expertly arranged, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keeps the remainder of the instrumentations in line while dictating the groove and pace. You’ll notice how every hit of the snare, kick of the bass drum, and splash over cymbals cuts the ambiance, adding even more detail to the album. Each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver has its place and purpose here, and Glorybots thought about everything in order to satisfy even the pickiest music enthusiasts. Tracks like “Apnea,” “Be Fair,” “In Control,” “Abscond,” “Levitate,” “Bag Of Bones,” and “True Love Feeds” are just some of the standouts, but you should pay close attention while listening to the entire material, because “Mad End” reveals even more details with each new listen. It’s a multilayered listening experience that tackles all the senses, and each song on this album carries many qualities that will not only satisfy alternative rock fans, but anyone who appreciates catchy, memorable, engaging, perfectly assembled music. Glorybots invested all their experience, knowledge, creativity, skills, and ideas into it, making this material worth revisiting every time you crave high-quality songs fully stocked with everything you dearly love about alternative rock. “Mad End” is a serious contender for a top album of the year, so you should immediately place this masterpiece on your music radar. The album is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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