The Leeds band take everything up a notch on their inventive third album. Out on the 21st of January on LAB Records.
Artio have been active since 2018. All their previous learning and growth is channelled superbly into this ambitious new album. Artio just about sit in the Y2K revival. This grouping takes Nu-Metal as a starting point, taking on elements of Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and others of that ilk. Evanescence feel like a bigger reference point for Artio, though mixed in with more modern metal leaning acts like Bring Me The Horizon. They themselves cite Twenty One Pilots and PVRIS as influences. Oxford’s South Arcade have been the front runners in this sub-grouping until this point, however, Artio have unleashed a mighty effort here to do some serious catching up.
The album flies out of the gates with ‘The Devil You Know’ featuring Burnley’s talented former The Voice contestant, Cody Frost. It is an absolute banger of a single with epic production values.
‘Bite Down’ sounds similarly huge. ‘O Negative’ grabs your attention as it represents a massive sonic shift on what has come before on the album. Acoustic guitar comes in and there is a real fragility in the vocals of Rae Brazil that cuts against the full on confident sonic attack of the first few tracks. There are a couple more guest spots. CJ, of math rock group Love Rarely, appears on ‘If Only They Had More Chance To Take Flight.’ ‘Seven Suns’ is the other massive single on the album. It starts fast and intense, featuring Kahal, a talented, but somewhat under the radar, artist.
‘Let It Be A Void’ ups glitchy electronica in the underbelly of the track whilst maintaining the massive guitar sound.
‘Vertebrae’ mixes things up again. This has a more ambient/dance backing with a string section, the guitar and drums fading into the background for much of the track.
‘Death Stems’ is another eyebrow raiser. Virtually a spoken word poem with only the most minimalist of instrumental backing. There is real intelligence and thought going into this album and the ambitions are clear on tracks like this. This is proper art, not just a crass commercial grab for success. They can do a hit, but they want to do other things as well.
Artio were one of our most gutting misses of Reading Festival 2025, let us hope they will be back soon as this is a great band brimming with both talent and ambition. If you like your rock music bleeding into metal with industrial undertones, this is going to be a massive album in your 2026 listening.
Essential tracks: ‘Devil You Know,’ ‘Bite Down,’ ‘Seven Suns,’ ‘Let It Be A Void’ and ‘Death Stems.’
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