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In June this year, Rival Sons released their first album in over four years with Darkfighter, the first of a two-part split double album. Darkfighter was evidence of a worked-on and polished signature Rival Sons sound that dug deep to provide the listener with an intimate, introspective narrative. The release of Darkfighter’s companion piece, Lightbringer, on October 20^th sees Rival Sons raise the intensity for the next chapter of their story of self-exploration.

The first of Lightbringer’s six tracks is a 9-minute journey that twists and turns through sections of various styles. The song’s name is taken from Rival Son’s previous album title, with lead vocalist Jay Buchanan marking the two albums’ convergence and introducing Lightbringer’s theme with the line, ‘I want to be a darkfighter, a lightbringer to the end.’ The instrumentals on ‘Darkfighter’ are delightfully rich—the entire middle section of the track is void of vocals, allowing the music to take centre stage and play out like a story that keeps you guessing.

You’re never quite sure what’s coming next—the acoustic guitar works up to a more Eastern-styled section, which then transitions to a short organ-dominated part before everything comes back to the beginning with the reintroduction of Buchanan’s vocals and the rhythmic acoustic guitar work—opening an album with something as complex as this is a bold move. Done imperfectly, it could very easily sound convoluted and disorganised, but here, Rival Sons hit the spot. It works.

Then comes ‘Mercy’ with its stop-start guitar rhythm that builds into a powerful chorus. There’s a strong message here, too, which the title gives away. It’s all about taking the route of mercy rather than revenge when we’ve been wronged. The lyrics combine with the guitars and drums to make this a catchy and memorable song. ‘Redemption’, a moving and emotive track, is Lightbringer’s third track. Matching the song’s melody, Buchanan’s vocals hit notes that evoke elements of Neil Young’s voice, especially through the chorus. Everything is carefully worked to build up to a thundering crescendo, during which Buchanan reverts to his distinctive, powerful style.

The tempo shifts quite dramatically for ‘Sweet Life’. Buchanan described it as ‘a barnburner’, and that’s a pretty accurate description of what it offers. In terms of the track’s sound, it’s an organic blast from the past that’s pure fun and gets better and better with each listen. The theme is much more light-hearted than the rest of the album, losing much of the heavy subject matter. ‘Before The Fire’ then gets back into the heavy stuff, though it transitions with a light-layered acoustic guitar section. The song features a catchy riff that propels everything along between chorus sections. It’s an emotionally charged and thought-provoking track that sounds as epic as it should.

Lightbringer closes out with ‘Mosaic’—a touching song about the elements of love and life, the ups and downs that we live for. It’s a grounding story about what it means to be human, and it’s a touching end to an album that will mean a lot to many people.

Rival Sons have a habit of producing outstanding albums, and with Lightbringer, they’ve managed to add another notch to their belt. There’s so much depth in terms of the music and the story told by each song. Buchanan’s voice is ever-powerful and delivers emotion by the truckload. Scott Holiday also deserves a lot of praise, as he plays lead guitar masterfully throughout. Ultimately, fans of the Rival Sons sound will feel spoiled this year with the band’s two latest releases that fuse magnificently to create the feeling of a double album. Lightbringer is able to retain the thematic feel of Darkfighter, yet there’s enough progression to keep things interesting in a most positive kind of way.