Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Release date: 6 November 2026
After four years, Canadian hardcore punk band Comeback Kid are about to release their eighth studio album. The band weaves influences from melodic hardcore and blazing hardcore punk together to create their distinctive soundscape, while the lyrical world of the record concerns the choices we make in life and the effects these decisions have on our morality and ethical impulses.
Comeback Kid (Andrew Neufeld, Jeremy Hiebert, Stu Ross, Chase Brenneman and Terrance Pettitt) kick things off with a bang! The aggressive drum blasts open the album in ‘Target On My Back’. The song showcases the band's signature sound: an energetic rhythm section driven by drummer Terrance Pettitt, heavy and crushing guitar riffs that’ll have you banging your head in no time, and those melodic vocals used well in the choruses. The hard-hitting song sets a crushing tone for the record. ‘Vindication’ picks up the pace with cymbals crashing. It hits with a metalcore vibe: catchy melody, raw screamed vocals and huge breakdowns. Then, a fierce guitar riff starts ‘Shedding Season’, which features Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox, and there is a subtle shift in tone. The scream core vocals from both vocalists are uncompromising and the track is tough. The contrast of some clean singing may have been an idea to lift the track.
The album shifts gears with the speed punk and blast-beat drums in ‘Lost And Found’ and the soft to insanely hard guitar riff in ‘Underneath The Pressure’. The sound becomes more melodic, more atmospheric, as the emotionally charged tracks are packed with rich harmonies and subtle melancholy. These two songs are album highlights. Then, the pure, unrelenting power of the heavy drums paired with guitar riffs that crush, and the catchy chorus of ‘Chosen Hell’ follows. The lyrics: “I can't save myself. This is my chosen hell”. The war inside between ego and the consequences of decisions made ends in a realisation that the “Exit's unlocked but I'll never escape”. The messaging is repeated throughout the album. ‘Yesterday’s Gone’, which features Brendan Garrone of Incendiary, has an upfront melody, driving punk momentum underneath it with a breakdown waiting at the end. Lyrically, it lands on familiar Comeback Kid territory: leave the past where it belongs and do not allow a poor decision to keep dictating the future.
The hardcore ‘Tunnel Vision’ has a great chorus and a fantastic bassline rhythm. Lyrically, the song is about the chaos of losing one’s identity. It is followed by the heavy riffs of ‘Becoming’, about questioning destiny as the dark vocal fry vocals scream away at injustice. The fast-paced ‘Heartland Elegy’, with its melodic guitar riff underpinning the song, is sure to be popular with fans and live, as the chorus is a complete winner. It sounds like a full-blown anthem calling like “bassline under my skin”.
The album closes out with ‘Too Late’ as the electric guitar riff echoes before the guitars and drums cut in over the top, and the vocals bring a tone and sense of urgency as the question “what went wrong?” is asked. The fork in the road is approached: “Am I safer on my own?” The breakdown of “too late” is answered. The end is sharp and sudden. Hardcore punks will find a lot to like in Chosen Hell.
