When two bands with aligned energy and vision collide, the result can either feel fragmented or, as with Weekend Inferno, perfectly symbiotic. Weekend Cigarettes and Verse, Chorus, Inferno created a body of work arriving as a cohesive statement about what melodic punk rock can achieve in 2025. Thirteen tracks across the skate punk, pop punk, and melodic punk rock spectrum simply exemplify that these Italian bands understand the balance between melodics, harmonics, dynamics, groove, and power. There is a kinetic energy that never lets up but also never feels reckless. The guitars are bright, punchy, and precise, moving between driving power chords and melodic hooks with ease. It’s a sound that could easily collapse under its own velocity, but Weekend Cigarettes and Verse, Chorus, Inferno have mastered the art of tension and release. Every lead, theme, melody, harmony, riff, and chord progression lands with determination, paired with the instinct that distinguishes seasoned punk musicians from those who merely chase nostalgia. The production across the LP deserves your utmost attention. Weekend Cigarettes’ tracks, recorded and produced by Biagio Totaro in Alessandria, carry a clarity that allows each instrument to occupy its own space without diluting the raw energy of performance. Verse, Chorus, Inferno’s seven tracks, captured with Chris Fogal at Black in Bluhm Studio between Como and Milan, complement this with a slightly warmer, more immediate sound. The mastering, handled entirely by Fogal, makes both sides speak the same sonic language. There is a perfect sense of movement and depth, a modern sheen that never softens the modern punk rock rawness.
Melody has always been a defining element of skate punk sound, and here it is front and center without ever becoming diluted too much. Weekend Cigarettes and Verse, Chorus, Inferno land anthemic choruses wisely, making them so anthemic, powerful, and worth singing along while listening to this split release. These hooks are the product of musicians who understand the architecture of melody and know how to use it to amplify emotion. This split vividly demonstrates that melody and energy can coexist without sounding predictable. The drumming performance moves beyond mere timekeeping to contribute actively to the music’s emotional path. Beats are energetic and uplifting, but there is a keen awareness of dynamics, while fills are strategic, syncopation appears naturally, and every measure contributes to the overall forward motion. The basslines are not buried beneath guitars but stand as a melodic and rhythmic anchor, sometimes harmonizing with the vocal lines, sometimes driving the songs with subtle force. It’s a wisely constructed musicianship that understands dynamics, space, and melodic aspects. Vocals are another point where this LP succeeds in merging two bands into a singular vision. There is a shared sensibility between Weekend Cigarettes and Verse, Chorus, Inferno, showcased in an emotive delivery. These lines carry melodic sensibility, emotion, and soul, packed within all those carefully written verses and choruses.
Weekend Inferno balances brightness and darkness within punk rock’s emotional spectrum. These bands are not content to dwell purely in exuberance, they acknowledge tension, frustration, and melancholy, threading these undercurrents into an otherwise high-energy framework. This gives the record a depth that many contemporary melodic punk releases lack. It is immediate and thrilling, but also resonates with a sense of humanity, imperfection, of life lived at full tilt. The sequencing feels free of overplanning, guiding the listeners through a story built upon reflection, energy, and release. Both bands clearly respect the space while asserting their own identity, which is no small feat in a split format. The pacing never lags, but it also never feels rushed. All those intense moments are balanced with subtle breathing spaces, allowing the dynamics and emotional resonance to register fully. For listeners steeped in late ’90s melodic punk or modern skate punk, Weekend Inferno delivers a record full of hooks, velocity, and emotional immediacy, yet it avoids the pitfalls of mimicry. These are musicians who surely know their influences but are not beholden to them. There is inventiveness in the arrangements, clarity in the production, and precision in execution. The LP is not another nostalgic exercise, but an assertion that melodic punk rock can still feel important, vital, and contemporary when executed with care and passion.
Weekend Cigarettes and Verse, Chorus, Inferno demonstrate an understanding of how punk can be cathartic and melodic, playful and pointed, immediate and enduring. The LP is confident without arrogance, joyous without superficiality, and energetic without sacrificing musicality. These bands are pushing the melodic punk rock sound forward without looking backward, channeling decades of punk sensibilities with such precision and finesse. Weekend Inferno succeeds because it balances duality between two bands, multiple emotional registers, speed, and melody into a cohesive whole. The split format could have felt disjointed, but the LP makes clear that the punk scene thrives on collaboration, mutual respect, and shared energy. It’s a collaborative record about commitment to sound, emotion, and to the ethos of punk itself. Weekend Cigarettes and Verse, Chorus, Inferno delivered a collection of thirteen outstanding songs, produced a document of vitality, and gave us a snapshot of bands operating at the height of their powers and in dialogue with each other. Head to Engineer Records for more information about ordering.
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