For some bands a change in personnel can be a death knell, for others it can prove to be the elixir of youth. In the case of UK thrashers Acid Reign it very much proves to be the latter, the transfusion of fresh blood propelling them forwards with renewed vim and vigour. Needless to say, it’s been all change in their camp since the band’s last album (2019’s The Age Of Entitlement), and as such their latest long player Daze Of The Week has an air of freshness surrounding it, a feeling that the band has been reborn and rebooted, and are returning to claim their crown.

If proof were ever needed that Acid Reign’s sights are set on the horizon, then it can be found in opening track ‘The Who Of You’. There’s no time to waste on fancy introductions, the song fading in with fractured, twisted riffs and pounding drums, and means that when the track kicks in proper at the minute mark, it kicks like an angry mule. A swirling tempest that brings icy rain and treacherous winds, it’s a ferocious slab of thrash that places Acid Reign very much in the present. While it’s certainly true that they aren’t reinventing the wheel, they aren’t rehashing past glories either, rather ‘The Who Of You’ (indeed, the whole album) inhabits the middle ground; it’s fresh and exciting, yet vaguely familiar, all of which makes it very enticing. One notable improvement over days of old is Howard “H” Smith’s vocals, they have far more bite and aggression than was displayed during the band’s original tenure, whether it’s a production trick or a side effect of growing older makes no difference; the band sound far more angry and barbed, and that’s got to be a good thing.

As an old school thrasher I saw Acid Reign live several times back in the day (those shows at Milton Keynes’ Woughton Centre have passed into folklore) and they were always a band who leant heavily into humour, and while it was never a hindrance when they wanted to make a serious point, it gave them a novelty feel (and if it was a choice between their cover of the Nerves’ ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ and Slayer’s ode to Ed Gein, there was only going to be one winner). With songs such as ‘No Truth’ and ‘Blind Lies’ you feel that Acid Reign have put away the rubber chickens and whoopee cushions, and as such Daze Of The Week swings with a menace that was lacking in their pre-reformation work. That’s not to say older fans will be disappointed, far from it, Acid Reign are staying true to their original vision, yet the years have found them honing and refining things and the result is the tightly wound, red hot ball of thrash found in closer ‘Centre Of Everything’.

Acid Reign now have a sound that’s built for the long haul and if proof were needed, look no further than Daze Of The Week.

• Daze Of The Week is released via Back On Black on 15th May 2026.

• Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. The Who Of You

2. Daze Of The Week

3. No Truth

4. Conniption King

5. Alonely

6. Blind Lies

7. Sorrowsworn

8. Old Young Man

9. Fantastic Passion

10. Centre Of Everything