The Barbarians of California: MEGATONS
Following a successful 2025 tour with Deftones, The Barbarians of California are back with their sophomore album, MEGATONS, out on 21 August. And to put it simply, it is fair to say that 2024’s debut, And Now I’m Just Gnashing My Teeth, walked so that MEGATONS could strut, run, skateboard and go insane all around. It seems like singer Aaron Bruno and the rest of the crew lean into their AWOLNATION experience to have the most fun they could on this album. Even as they depart from the sound of their previous project, the end product really shines as a result.
Having already released five out of 12 tracks as singles, the album opens with ‘BACK TO THE VALLEY’, a great jumping-off point for the remainder of the record. It’s fast-paced, loud and sets the mood for what’s to come, as it delivers an incredible rush of energy to the listener. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel and feels familiar to the band’ previous work, setting you up perfectly to rock with the rest of the album if you were a fan excited for more.
The next four songs – ‘THE GNARLYCORE CLASS’, ‘VANILLA LATTE’, ‘BOMB TO A KNIFE FIGHT’ and ‘REALLY REALLY RAD’ – are singles the band has already released in the build-up to the album’s release. And while you might have already heard them, listening to them in their intended order is, well, really, really rad (forgive the pun). The tracks don’t relent for a second, keeping the listener on their toes for the entire stretch of music, with some very fun variations. The Barbarians of California are many things, but boring and predictable are certainly not among them.
A quick, explosive interlude before the rest of the album, ‘MEGATONS SEGUE’ probably features the heaviest guitars on the record. The drums and guitars are undeniable – and before you take a second to breathe, the album goes on to ‘EARTHQUAKE’, which is my personal favourite on the remaining tracklist because of the way it smartly weaves in some tongue-in-cheek social commentary.
Up next is ‘THIS IS SHREDICAL’ – and if the album so far hasn’t already had you on your feet, this almost certainly will. As the name suggests, the song embraces its whimsy and features some great, catchy hooks. While it continues to do what the rest of the album has been doing, it also has a couple of parts that shake up the sound, which is fun to experience. ‘HIDE ALL YOUR RECORDS’ is another interlude before the final three songs. And while it feels slightly unnecessary, it is not really out of place and doesn’t take away from the rest of the album.
Then comes the lead single from the album, ‘MODERN FASHION’. It’s defiant and it’s The Barbarians of California doing what they do best: unleashing chaos through songs that embrace the hardcore spirit. The influence of American metalcore band Every Time I Die is at its clearest here – and it works so impressively well. It leaves you wanting more with its two-and-a-half-minute runtime, but with the entirety of the album being just 30 minutes long, it’s something you might be feeling quite a lot.
The penultimate song, ‘SHARK OUT OF WATER’, marks the most dramatic shift in the band’s sound, slowing things down – but it’s done exceptionally well and I would love to see more of this from the band in the future. Then, things pick right back up with a lead-in to the album’s finale, ‘I AM THE SUBMARINE’, which delivers a very satisfying conclusion to a rather short but unforgettable record.
As guitarist Eric Stenman explains in a press release, MEGATONS was an unapologetically confident undertaking from the band that felt easy to make and was benefiting from their previous projects, which had helped them find their groove “just bigger and better”. If this is anything to go by, The Barbarians of California’s trajectory seems very exciting – and here’s hoping that we hear the band rocking up on the shores of Europe very soon.