Opener This Is War surges forward on a sturdy, Sabbathy stomp. Some of the riffs of Dead Among The Living sound like a less tightly-wound Gojira, while Silver Tongue is chunkier than a lorry-load of Yorkies. On Fable Of The Silent Sun, meanwhile, things start on a clean, picked guitar, then drop into doom-laden heaviness halfway through, before dropping a break and a solo that wouldn't shame Megadeth. That it happens so cleanly and deftly only underlines what formidable songwriters they are.
Pawns & Kings is classic Alter Bridge – nice big choruses, intelligent lyrics, rock music meant to be played on big stages – but with their muscle properly tearing through their shirts. And though for longtime fans this shouldn't come as a surprise, the level to which they've dived in here still may do.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Alice In Chains, Gojira, Metallica
Pawns & Kings is out now via Napalm