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To call Stone Broken a throwback to the 90s era when Britrock flourished is a little unfair. Because this Walsall quartet definitely belong in 2018. However, you can hear echoes of Feeder and Reef in their sound. There are also hints of Alter Bridge and Nickelback mingling in the shadows. It all adds up to a confident second album.

The songs here are tight and strident, predicated on blossoming choruses and carefully built rhythms. Frontman Rich Moss has one of those voices that oozes emotional sincerity, while the rest of the band allow the music to flourish. There are enough high points to suggest Stone Broken are definitely maturing well, with Home, I Believe and Follow Me standing out as real gems.

The album does occasionally dip a little, but overall it’s a clear step forward.

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica, published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021.