2. August 2025
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Media Review

Fox Lake – New World Heat

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Fox Lake - New World Heat

Fox Lake - New World Heat
3.8

Rating

 3.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Virtuous and versatile album
  • Good guest acts
  • Overall, an entertaining album

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some weaker spots as well

The US American band Fox Lake started as a bunch of friends, who started to jam some typical metalcore sounds in basement of one of their houses. On 1st August 2025, they released their sophomore album, New World Heat. Here is my review.

 

Fox Lake – About The Artists

Fox Lake have been founded in 2017 in Denver, Colorado. The quartet consists of Nathan Johnson (vocals), Griffith Johnson (drums), Zach Swafford (bass) and Brandon Kemp (guitar). Their 2020 debut album is called Silence & Violence. In the meantime, they released two EPs, Lady Luck (2021) and Fear & Loathing (2023).

 

Fox Lake – New World Heat – Track by Track

The twelve song album lasts 31 minutes.

1. For The Love of the Game (feat. Mugshot)

New World Heat opens with twin engine rock power. The San Jose band Mugshot is joining for For The Love of the Game. A mixture of rap elements, shouting, electronic sounds and a lot of guitar power is waking you up. In the song, they ask you Are you ready to die? That’s defintely an energetic way to wake you up.

2. Tough Luck

Without guest support, Fox Lake present the second song, Tough Luck. The sound stays energetic and powerful in this four person setup. However, the opener felt more promising. Tough Luck is loud and intense, but does not have the same depth and finesse of the opener.

3. Freestyle (feat. AVOID)

Freestyle is one of five songs shared before the album release. This time, Fox Lake invited the Seattle post-hardcore band Avoid for a shared studio session. The song is coming with different elements, from metal parts to rather slowed down and reduced sections. Hardcore fans will definitely enjoy it.

4. Go 4 The Throat

How many songs have heavy metal riffs paired with the sound of scratching records? Go 4 The Throat is going that stunning way. Despite the songs on New World Heat are rather short – this one is just 2:28 minutes – the song feels a bit of overloaded to me. But I appreciate that the band is going their way, their directions.

5. Cold Hard Truth

The most popular song of the pre-album campaign was Cold Hard Truth. Fox Lake achieved more than half a million streams on Spotify only with it. I agree with this public vote – the song feels more straight than the song before. With howling guitars and Nathan Johnson’s brutal vocal performance, it still feels aggressive, dark and enjoyable.

6. Real Fast

The most recent song release of Fox Lake’s 2025 album was Real Fast. The US-Americans shared this 79 second snippet just three days before the entire album. Despite the short duration, the track rather feels like a song than an interlude.

Hot damn, what a vicious collision
Fox Lake, motherfucker
Let me show you how we hit ’em

7. Halftime

The next one, Halftime, is indeed an (instrumental) interlude track. The sound rather reminds of lounge music. Time to relax before the next one.

8. Pure Adrenaline

After having 70 seconds to relax, Fox Lake pushes the energy level back into afterburner mode. Again, Pure Adrenaline does have quite a range of ingredients, but this time, it feels to be blended more masterful. A really nice piece of metalcore.

9. Headshot (feat. Silent Planet)

Silent Planet is a metalcore / post-hardcore band from Los Angeles. They join their countrymen for Headshot. The rap / hip hop elements are dominating the vocal part. The duet-alike lyrics and the very good work on the instrumental side lead to a speedy, entertaining song. With 3:33 minutes, this one is the longest listen of the album as well.

10. Savior

The rapping parts in Savior are again rather dominant. As the guitars are arranged with less volume, the rock level in this song feels less intense. A modern track for the for the more gentle-minded hardcore listener.

11. Gut Check (feat. Eyes of Salt)

For the last collaboration on this record, Fox Lake work with their hometown band Eyes of Salt. The song is maybe not the most present listen of the album, but it provides a more-than-solid experience, indeed.

12. Excessive Damage

What’s a better way than closing your hardcore project with Excessive Damage? The song is indeed giving the listener the full force and destructive energy of the band. That’s finishing New World Heat in a suitable manner!

I don’t really give a fuck
Life’s dull
Work sucks
You get what you pay for
Curb stomp your own heart ’cause you got bored

 

Fox Lake – New World Heat – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Fox Lake – New World Heat – Track by Track

Fox Lake present a wide range of metalcore ideas on their new album. Quite some of them are striking, some others are a bit away from the bull’s eye of the genre. As it is overall a really fun experience, you may neglect some of the weaker spots of New World Heat.

Favorite Song: Excessive Damage

 

Media Reviews – US Hard Rock / Heavy Metal

Here are all my hard rock / heavy metal postings in the Media Reviews related to the USA:

 

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