Bygone – Bygone
Bygone – Bygone
Svart Records
Release Date: 12/12/2025
Review by Laura Barnes
1000/10
Not to be all ‘we are pudgy bone creatures stranded on a floating rock in a giant vastness that we cannot comprehend’, but when you think about it, we really are pudgy bone creatures stranded on a floating rock in a giant vastness that we cannot comprehend. We are alone in a universe that refuses to speak back to us, and we spend what little time we have in this endless unknown chasing tiny pieces of metal with an old man’s face on. How can we look at the stars without losing our minds? How can we think about space without feeling deeply, deeply depressed?
For Boston natives Bygone, the answer lies within rock ‘n’ roll. Armed with the power of heavy riffs and eighties keyboards, Bygone have brought Heavy Metal into the space age, and haven’t let the vast emptiness bring them down in the slightest. This debut release is 40 minutes of pure fun; to put it simply, it fucking rocks. Imagine Clutch high on acid, speeding a monster truck through the sands of Mars – that’s what this album sounds like.
From the first synthy notes of ‘Lightspeed Nights’ to the (very eighties) fade-out guitar solo of ‘Fire In You Fire In Me’, this album fizzles with a frenetic energy that never ceases, never rests. Each song has layers and layers of ideas that overlap, intersect, twist and crystalise into something greater than the sum of their parts. Vocalist Jim is every bit a Blues man as he laments his way through tracks like ‘Take Me Home’ and ‘City Living’ with passion and heart. To me, the best Blues songs are about yearning for a life that is just out of reach, and Bygone convey this feeling perfectly with these two tracks while still managing to deliver that Heavy Metal kick that makes my brain bounce up and down.
With all this talk of space and shredding, you might expect the production of this album to be glossy, modern and polished. Not so! Bygone opt for a barebones, stripped back approach that works in tandem with the album to create a unique feeling of retro-futurism. It’s similar to listening to an old Manilla Road or Uriah Heep album, where it feels like the band is right there in the room with you. This approach is particularly effective on ‘The Last Horses of Avalon’, my personal favourite on the album. Heavy, groovy, and steeped in folklore, this track is what it would sound like if Grand Magus liked to boogie. I’m no physiologist, but I’m convinced that it is scientifically impossible to listen to this song without at least nodding your head. If any of you guys out there are able to perform this phenomenon, let me know and I will issue a retraction.
I am very much aware that I am perhaps one of the more, er… Easily impressed members of the Ever Metal team, but I really do think that Bygone did something special with this one. This is an album so good that it makes me regret some of the high scores I’ve put out in the past. This is an album so good that managed to distract me from the ever-present existential dread for, like, a whole day. This is an album so good that I’m kind of running out of ways to describe it, so now you have no choice but to check it out for yourselves. See you on the other side, space cowboys!
TRACKLISTING:
01. Lightspeed Nights
02. Shadow Rising
03. Take Me Home
04. Into The Gleam
05. The Last Horses of Avalon
06. City Living
07. Fire In You Fire In Me
LINKS:
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