Scottish rock behemoths Biffy Clyro are pretty much a national institution these days. One of the UK’s biggest acts across any genre, their march to the mainstream has been unstoppable since 2007’s game-changing album Puzzle, which spawned the top-20 hit singles Saturday Superhouse, Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies, and Folding Stars, and reached number two in the UK albums chart. When X-Factor’s Matt Cardle reached number one with a cover of their track Many Of Horror a decade ago, their status as household names was confirmed.

Three more top-five UK albums later and here we are, standing on the precipice of A Celebration Of Endings, the trio’s ninth studio album. Written and recorded before the current global Coronavirus pandemic, it’s a diverse offering that fuses the band’s original fragmented melodic post-hardcore style with more straight-edged rock and moments of introspection formed into beautiful ballads.

It is, however, an incredibly tight record. If anyone were to level a criticism at Biffy Clyro, it might be that occasionally their brand of pomp and swagger can feel slightly overblown. Not so here. A Celebration Of Endings is all killer, no filler, as they say.

Opening number North Of No South builds from a gentle start into a rampaging monster of a track, The Champ then settles us down with a more rock-by-numbers approach before latest single Weird Leisure comes careering over the horizon, a trademark Biffy track if ever there was one. Fellow single Tiny Little Fireworks is a rapid-fire staccato jamboree of melody and ferocity, and an absolute joy at that.

Worst Type Of Best Possible and the majestic, string-laden Space allow us to catch our breath for the first time, the latter a full-on love song as singer Simon Neil croons in his trademark drawl: “Will you wait, will you wait for me? / There's always a space in my heart / I'm still caught in your gravity / No matter the distance between us / Our joy lives in the moments we share”.

End Of then barges in with its snarling bassline and pounding drums to put all that nonsense to bed. Opening with the line: “This is not a love song / That was just a phase” there’s little doubt the interlude is over, and Instant History and The Pink Limit only pour more fuel on the flames. Opaque feels like the spiritual successor to Many Of Horror, a beautiful acoustic number that lays the way for Cop Syrup to storm in and send the album out with a bang.

A Celebration Of Endings then is the sound of a band owning what they do, comfortable with their many faces, and enjoying themselves. In this summer of uncertainty, I for one am glad we can all at least rely on Biffy.

A Celebration Of Endings tracklist:

1. North Of No South

2. The Champ

3. Weird Leisure

4. Tiny Indoor Fireworks

5. Worst Type Of Best Possible

6. Space

7. End Of

8. Instant History

9. The Pink Limit

10. Opaque

11. Cop Syrup

Buy or stream A Celebration Of Endings through Biffy Clyro’s official website.

 rock       alt rock 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.