BLIND CHANNEL – Painstream Digi-CD

For the past 18 months, Blind Channel have kept quiet. Now, the Finnish firebrands are back with a new album, a new outlook and a significant absence: co-vocalist Joel Hokka. This is the first without his input, but rather than let that upheaval derail them, they’ve channelled it all into Painstream, an electrified blast of metalcore that turns personal turmoil and wider frustrations into fuel.

That anger has plenty of targets. Opener Messiah leans into the band’s pop sensibilities, pairing its towering hooks with a bigger, almost theatrical sense of drama. Youthanasia is sharper in its aim, playing on the idea of youth being sacrificed by a system that keeps failing them. With the future looking increasingly fucked for younger generations, Blind Channel give that frustration a suitably ferocious soundtrack.