Glorybots – ‘Mad End’ [Album Review]

Mad End, the latest long player from post-punk/alt-rock outfit Glorybots, explores the reality of today’s world and follows on the heels of three previous albums: Dark Alien Pop, Invisible, and Radiation Skies.

The musicians on Mad End include the band’s founder, Jalal Andre (vocals, guitar, bass), and Christopher Newton (drums). Vastly underrated, Glorybots’ sound embraces an array of stylistic flavors, including pretty much everything under the sun.

Of the 10 tracks on Mad End, suggested points of entry include the album’s opener, “Apnea,” with its shadow-filled melody and full, gleaming resonance. Andre’s vocals are juxtaposed against Krisa’s chugging bassline, forming an evocative, almost desperate, combination.

“Be Fair” blends tinges of industrial rock with alt-rock and then takes on frenetic, psych-rock textures. Whereas, “Fade” travels on grimy, grungy guitars riding a mid-tempo rhythm as Andre’s dreamy vocals imbue the lyrics with aching yearning. A luminous surface cuts through the dirty guitars, adding tendrils of edgy luster.

A personal favorite because of its initial, almost jangly guitars and off-tempo beat, “In Control” elevates to a boiling essence full of cutting energy. There’s a portentous darkness to the song as if forecasting a loss of dominion.

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Another favorite, “Bag Of Bones” merges grunge rock and prog-rock into a tune that, for some reason, summons up suggestions of Pink Floyd gone heavy. The harmonics shift from drifting textures to thicker radiance, a radiance akin to a dream state.

Mad End closes with “Colours,” arguably the best track on the album because of its sensation of existential urgency – a feeling of now or never that hovers overhead, brooding with an ever-increasing need for release.

A great album, Mad End encompasses profound, at times almost black emotions through excellent production, complex layering, and beguiling vocals.

Mad End Track Listing:

1. Apnea
2. Be Fair
3. Fade
4. Pain Rain
5. In Control
6. Levitate
7. Abscond
8. Bag of Bones
9. Singer Songwriter
10. Colours

Run Time: 44:49
Release Date: April 18, 2025
Record Label: Ethan Drone Music