The band Stars put it best in the creepy intonation that opens their seminal track “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead”: “When there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.” Virginia’s The Bigger Lights have been taking that advice to heart. Dissatisfied with the music they were making and the scene they were making it in, the one-time power-pop quintet have spent the last year burning bridges: with former label Doghouse Records, with scene bands extending tour offers, with their management. But with the release of their newest full length, it’s clear they saved the hottest flames for themselves. The self-released Battle Hymn scorches from beginning to end with 28 minutes of pop-metal mastery, a series of hair-hangover arena anthems twist-tied with gutbucket Los Angeles street punk, one foot firmly planted in each end of the 80’s. It’s a daring move that might leave their fans feeling burned, but no matter; like a phoenix from the ashes, The Bigger Lights 2.0 is sleeker, hotter and completely transformed.

It’s a change that reveals itself in the first seconds of “Terrible World, Give Me More,” a classic opening track that rips and roars like early, hungry Motley Crue, with a barbed-wire guitar lead that gives way to vocalist Topher Talley’s newfound snarl, “welcome to the show // it’s a goddamn masquerade,” bile practically dripping off each syllable. The anger that doesn’t let up, sprayed alternately at music industry execs and fair weather friends (the roiling hard-charger “Never Mistake A Suit For A Friend”), anonymous haters (the denim-jacket-meets-skinny-tie funk of “Living Martyrdom”), even the angel on Talley’s shoulder (“Halo, I’m Not Coming Home”). He’s a surprisingly strong lyricist, and if he occasionally turns into a fount for conventional rock dogma, he does so with the raging heart of a true believer.

Elsewhere, “Salt” trusses propulsive verses to an epically rafter-ready refrain. “Send Me A Miracle” makes gold out of late 80’s Def Leppard verses and early 90’s Poison choruses; alchemy! Best of all is “Bullet Believers (Rah Rah Rah)”, a too-fast-for-love barnburner that siphons the art punk of newer My Chemical Romance and takes it to the wall before breaking into a stunningly unpredictable midsection. This is the stuff of genius, folks. Behind it all, the secret weapon is the exceptional drumming of Ryan Seaman—whho sadly left The Bigger Lights post-recording to pound the skins in ex-Escape The Fate vocalist Ronnie Radke’s new project, Falling In Reverse. His powerful backbeat anchors the album, and his brilliant series of fills on “Suit” are a master class in how to show off your chops while always serving the song.

There are nods to more modern music here and there—“Suit” dips its toe in Panic! At The Disco’s waters; the opening verse of “Dear In The Headlights” wouldn’t sound out of place on the radio next to Jason Derulo and Chris Brown, although the chorus is pure lighter-waving power balladry at its best, a stone classic that would put White Lion and Steelheart to shame—but Battle Hymn is mostly notable for how little it resembles anything else out there. They’ve shed their power-pop skin completely, yet the metal guise they’ve adopted couldn’t be further from either the sludgy dissonance of modern metal or the pop-core and metalcore that dominates the heavier end of the scene today. No chug-a-chug breakdowns, no screamo vocals, not a crab walk to be found. Even the occasional twin-guitar solo feels more Thin Lizzy than Avenged Sevenfold.

Ultimately, Battle Hymn isn’t just a step in a new direction; it’s a massive step forward for The Bigger Lights in songwriting, in composition, but most of all in confidence. By the time the creaky feedback that closes out “Halo” fades away, one thing above all else is apparent: they may have taken the long way around, but this is the band The Bigger Lights were always meant to be.

★★★★★

*This review was composed by Jesse Richman