Alt-Metal
MNRK Heavy
Release Date – March 21st 2025
Line Up:
Leigh Kakaty – Vocals
Dave Grahs – Rhythm Guitar
Nick Fuelling – Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals
Joey ‘Chicago’ Walser – Bass
Blake Allison – Drums
Tracklist:
When Bullets Miss
Deathwalk
What Remains
Wishful Thinking
Side Effects
Criminal
Enough Is Enough
Zero To None
Knife To The Butcher
Overkill
Pop Evil return with a riot on wax. Jeez, hold on to your hats ’cause this is a big bumpy ride. Frontman Leigh Kakaty has obviously been through some shit in his life and here and now he has unearthed all that hurt and pain and put it into these ten songs. I tip my hat to the man because it cannot be easy living with all that suppressed anger and emotion. Hopefully this will give him some closure.
Opening with the vicious ‘When Bullets Miss‘ – which sets the stall out perfectly. The guitars are huge and new drummer Blake Allison is tighter than a duck’s butt and just wait until you get the refrain – you will be shouting it forever! ‘Deathwalk‘ brings the electronics beside the guitars and they swirl around on the verses over Kakaty’s dark melody until the breakdown which is simple and melodic but wait… they come back with some huge stabs and they’re off again. The title track gets going on a rap-like line over an industrial beat before they basically bring the soundtrack to Armageddon to put the point across. ‘Wishful Thinking‘ just crushes on the intro before Kakaty takes over on a gentle lullaby before they get heavy on the chorus – it’s still proper melodic before ‘Side Effects‘ gets jagged and anthemic then ‘Criminal‘ just rocks like a bastard as does ‘Enough Is Enough‘. ‘Zero To None‘ brings those jagged riffs back and again Allison drives this ship with a massive beat before things come down on the creepy ‘Knife To The Butcher‘. Final cut ‘Overkill‘ is the ballad on the album and a fine way to end. Kakaty shows his sensitive side with a beautiful delivery full of heart and passion.
Ten tracks clocking in at 34 minutes, so all the fat has been trimmed off these songs and every one of them delivers. This is not my usual listening fare but what Pop Evil have created here is phenomenal.
Ten arena-sized modern metal anthems that need to be played excessively loud, so you get the full force of energy and passion. Apparently, this is the heaviest record they have made, and it pulls no punches and takes no prisoners. Get it quick and see if you agree, but I think you will find I’m right.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 10/10
Editors Pick 
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