When I reviewed Kate's Acid live album, Blowing Your Ears Off, in 2024, I said that it was doubtful we'd see new material from this band. Colour me wrong. Here we have Hellbender, the first album under this new monicker, and it's fun, old-school heavy metal with some hard rock leanings, pretty much keeping with what the band did in the past. This is one of those upbeat albums that's hard to get off the platter: catchy, singalong vocals, crunchy yet accessible riffs and melodies that can appeal to the uninitiated while being hard enough for metallers into traditional heavy metal. This has '80s metal written all over it, with a modern production. It's been done before, but it's unpretentious and rocks hard where it needs to and it's the kind of stuff that gets the crowd going in a live setting. Nicely done.