JARED JAMES NICHOLS.
Label : Frontiers Records s.r.l.
ASIN : B0GHYXQLG2
June 5th, 2026
9/10
Jared James Nichols’ fourth studio outing, Louder Than Fate, can be summed up in just one word: DYNAMITE!
It’s been a busy old time since Nichols released his last album, the eponymous Jared James Nichols, back in 2023: extensive touring across the USA and Europe, co-hosting a podcast, and fatherhood. Yet amidst this hectic schedule – for many, becoming a dad is exhausting enough – the guitar man from Wisconsin has managed to compose and record one of the most sublime, energy-laden albums to be released this year.
From the opening, adrenaline-fuelled fury of Let’s Go to the closing high-octane laced Pretend, Nichols leaves it all out there in a sweat-soaked guitar frenzy of epic proportions. Jay Rushton’s production and the mixing of the album as a whole, particularly on Dust ‘N’ Bones, make the listener yearn to dive headlong into a Mosh Pit and simply FREAK!
This said, however, there are delicious rest breaks among the fevered repertoire. Show Me is, to put it simply, begging to have audiences cranking up their mobiles and begin the traditional swaying in the darkness of a gig. Killing Time, a sad story of imminent breakup, steers just the right side of Highway Schmaltz and instead drives headlong into the heart of sincerity.
For all this, though, it is Bending or Breaking and Ghost that truly stand out. Dark and throbbing like a malevolent creature riddled with menace, Ghost startles with its Sabbath overtones but in no way mimics the Birmingham bangers at any time. Equally as marvelous, although a lot lighter and more – dare it be said – ‘poppy ‘, Bending or Breaking would not be amiss on any album delivered by Lou Gramm or Steve Perry, but with ten times more grit.
If you haven’t come across Jared James Nichols yet, what the Hell have you been doing? Put it right and put it right with Louder Than Fate … Now!