By HIMALAYAS

Naturally, I’m a bit apprehensive to out-of-the-blue music recs, and when I read the text “You should check out HIMALAYAS” I assumed it was a pop group but I reluctantly gave them a quick listen. Checking them out felt a bit like sticking my head down the barrel of a flamethrower. Nothing could have prepared me to have my eyebrows singed that early in the morning. 

If I had to pin them down, I’d say HIMALAYAS sounds like a mix of Supermassive Black Hole-era Muse and I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME with a splash of Queens of the Stone Age… but heavier. The production has tidy pop sensibilities while maintaining a raucous and jagged underbelly. 

The collection begins with “Beneath The Barrel,” which has a slow-burning allure to it that sounds like a fresher take on Arctic Monkeys’ sound with a baritone guitar drone. While the lyrics climax in themes of resentment and turning a new leaf for the worst, the music grows fuzzy and rhythmic. It sounds evil without being a metal song. I love it. 

During my initial listens, I tried to guess which tracks were singles, and each song genuinely had me thinking “Oh, I bet this is the big one… No wait, I bet it’s this one.” 

Each song is laced with barbed-hook melodies that won’t let the listener loose without a fight. Being both catchy and fierce, BAD STAR is the audio equivalent of leather and chocolates. It’s heavy, but not toxically masculine which is a rare combo in my book. “What If…?” especially stood out for its massive choruses and ear worm melodies. The hysteria behind the hypothetical is not only an apt expression of the emotion, but in someways it’s an accurate depiction of the human experience living in 2025. 

“Nothing Higher” takes the band to new heights with a stripped back bridge that gives the listener their first chance to catch their breath after five back to back headbangers. Not that I was complaining, but the change of pace added a nice break from the norm for HIMALAYAS. 

Rounding off the collection, “Brand New God” captures everything I loved about BAD STAR. Lyrically, the songs are so deals with themes of forgetting the past and being subjected to man made leaders who play God. Musically, it’s probably the most grand build up on the album. In both fronts it’s thought provoking and gratifying. 

HIMALAYAS may be the ultimate hard rock gateway band. Tonally, they’re a bit heavier than I would typically venture, but the songs are so enticing and easy to dive into that it had me dreaming of distortion pedals and looking up the next When We Were Young Festival lineup. For those who are looking for a fresh face in the rock scene that has more to say than girls are pretty and buy beer: look no further. HIMALAYAS have proven to be one of the most promising new groups in the genre. 

You can follow HIMALAYAS on Instagram here.