(Andy Synn finds very few errors on the new album from Walls of Jericho, out this Friday)
If you’re a fan of Metallic Hardcore – or what we used to call “Metalcore” before the term got bastardised into having little to do with its actual roots – then you’ve been eating well this year.
Not only is the modern scene still as vital, as vibrant, and as vicious as ever, but 2026 has also treated us to the resurrection of 100 Demons with their first album in 20 years (Embrace the Black Light), a stunning return to form from Hatebreed (Fatal Paradox) and is now about to bless our ears with the long-awaited, highly-anticipated revival of the one and only Walls of Jericho with their first new full-length in a decade.
And what do you know? It turns out that revival really does never goes out of style.
Of course it would have been easy for any of these bands to just trade in empty nostalgia, but it’s to their credit that none of them – Walls of Jericho especially – chose the path of least resistance.
If anything, the energy and urgency behind songs such as “True Til’ Death” and the ultra-heavy stomp of “The Ascent” – each one a potent burst of razor-sharp Thrash-core riffage, pounding, propulsive drum work (Dustin Schoenhofer has arguably never sounded better ), and aggressively anthemic hooks – feels like the product of a band refusing to rest on their laurels and choosing, consciously, to go as hard as they possibly can on their big comeback… not because they have anything to prove to anyone else but because they need to prove to themselves that they’ve still got it.
And, boy, do they ever still have “it”, with the sheer in-your-face intensity ruthless efficiency of tracks like the monstrous “Broken Mouths Can’t Speak” (which features a wrath-fuelled guest appearance by Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe), the raging “Rise”, and short ‘n’ savage, circle-pit friendly “Borrowed Ground” – every killer cut stripped clean of anything that would hold them back from achieving their full, punishing potential – making System Error: Humanity not just their best album in ten years (OK, I suppose that’s a given) but probably their best work since the release of With Devils Amongst Us All a little over two decades ago.
But what really elevates this record – in addition to the striking array of absolutely fucking ferocious riffs on display here – and helps put the band right back at the front of the pack, where they’ve always belong, is the caustic, commanding, and unflinchingly cathartic performance of Candace Buckingham behind the mic, pouring every ounce of pain and passion, every drop of blood, sweat and tears, into her delivery like her life quite literally depends on it.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s never been exactly shy about expressing herself – and this rawness and realness has always been one of the band’s biggest draws to me – but the lyrics here somehow feel even more personal than usual, with lines like “She’s built of mothers, daughters, sisters, friends / A wall of crownless queens that will never end” (“The Flame”), “Existence is a birthright. Autonomy a sacred flame. / Every mind, every vision deserves the right to own their name” (“Agency”) and “If we burn, let it be brighter / If we break, we are still here” (taken from poignant penultimate ballad “A Brighter Fire”) showcasing an even more vulnerable, yet also even more visceral, side of the band’s iconic frontwoman.
Do I have any criticisms? Not many. Sure, it’s perhaps a little too long – fifteen tracks, much like 2016’s No One Can Save You From Yourself, suggests that the band weren’t quite willing enough to “kill their darlings” (especially since the aforementioned “A Brighter Fire” feels like the album’s natural climax) – but it’s not hugely noticeable (even if a slight trim of a track of two might possibly have enhanced the album’s impressive impact even more).
In fact my biggest issue is with the fact that “Beginning” isn’t the first track. It’s just… madness (which is not to say that “True Til’ Death” isn’t a killer in its own right) and I plan to have words with the band about this next time I speak to them (on that note, you should really check out my recent interview with Candace for even more background about the album’s creation and how it’s a real family affair this time around).
Ultimately, however, it’s the group’s innate humanity – despite the album’s nihilistic name – and their unbreakable connection with their audience (forged and expressed through howling hooks like “I see you, I see us, don’t give in, don’t give up“) which shines through on every single song, making album #6 as prodigious and as powerful a statement of identity and intent… musically, lyrically, and emotionally… as anything the band have ever done.