Band:	Stick To Your Guns
Album:	Keep Planting Flowers
Style:	Hardcore, Metalcore
Release date:	January 10, 2025
A review by:	Thryce

01. We All Die Anyway
02. Spineless
03. Permanent Dark
04. Invisible Rain
05. Severed Forever
06. More Than A Witness
07. Keep Planting Flowers
08. Eats Me Up
09. Who Needs Who [feat. Scott Vogel]
10. H84U [feat. Connie Sgarbossa]

If you’re like me, and you’re still plowing through all the incredible releases of 2024 in preparation for the upcoming Metal Storm Awards, then you’ve probably become a husk of caffeine and blast beats, with even your microwave now sounding like a prog riff. But now that the New Year hangovers are behind us, the first new releases are already making their presence felt. And Keep Planting Flowers isn’t just knocking on the door – it’s kicking it off its hinges.

Twenty years after the release of their debut album For What It's Worth and fifteen years after their breakthrough record The Hope Division (itself followed shortly after by the highly acclaimed Diamond), Stick To Your Guns, the five-piece hardcore band from Orange County, California, make a powerful return with their eighth full-length album Keep Planting Flowers, their first with SharpTone Records.

Granted, while being a guarantee for delivering a rock-solid performance, Stick To Your Guns might not be the most sophisticated band around, and as a result, probably not the hardest to get into either. But let’s be real: sometimes all you really need is a dose of adrenaline-fueled rage, a few fist-pumping anthems that are catchier than the flu in a packed subway, and a moment of introspective wisdom as a reminder that the world around you is on fire, so you better start untangling the hose... and make sure it’s not leaky while you’re at it.

And the band is not holding back on this brand-new release. Like no other, Stick To Your Guns fuses aggressive hardcore with melodic elements, crafting almost anthemic, infectious choruses and intense breakdowns, all anchored by piercing hooks. Jesse Barnett’s powerful, emotional vocal delivery amplifies the impact of the Stick To Your Guns sound, while society-critical and message-driven lyrics add balance and a certain emotional depth to every track, making their music not just impactful, but action-inspiring, urging listeners to reflect and react. The result hits harder than a pissed-off rhino on a rampage spree through a porcelain sink showroom, making Keep Planting Flowers arguably one of their best releases of the last few years.

Keep Planting Flowers shows a band that has found a newfound sense for intense yet refined melodies, blending power and emotion effortlessly. Some tracks are instant live-show bangers, primed to ignite a moshpit with the slightest flicker, while the title track stands as the mid-paced emotional centerpiece of the album. Accessible, at times even uplifting, but always maintaining its raw intensity, Stick To Your Guns is firing on all cylinders, delivering a dynamic, thought-provoking and pleasurable experience.

Awfully short on playtime, but incredibly high in enjoyability, Keep Planting Flowers offers you ten shots of hyper-caffeinated energy drink. The last two tracks feature guest vocals from Terror (USA-LA) and SeeYouSpaceCowboy, serving as the free bonus shots of espresso – because, clearly, these walls aren’t going to punch through on their own.

I’ll probably be hitting Keep Planting Flowers on repeat all year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up on several hardcore/metalcore 'best of' lists by the next year-end-lists-season too. Calling it already.