Northern Ireland’s Hard To Explain emerged in a post-lockdown world, and before long, began what was to become a run of impressive single releases. ‘Hell To Pay’, the band’s debut album (released at the tail end of 2025) makes good on all of the band’s early promise, sharing a collection of varied and hard edged tracks that showcase strong vocals, thoughful lyrical themes, and – above all – a succession of massive riffs.
Things start very gently, however, with ‘All My Days’ opening with a clean, ringing guitar drawing more from an indie rock/emo influence, before dropping into a chugging rock groove peppered with string sounds. Moving into the meat of the track, tough sounding guitar work is complimented brilliantly by a crying vocal that really sells an emotive lyric, building upon the band’s past works with ease. The slightly thin drum sound and a slightly uneven sounding fade gives away the band’s DIY stance, but everything else comes together to create the kind of opener that should inspire people to keep listening. …And from there, the album just grows in confidence.
Bringing in a touch of melodic metalcore via some much heavier drum work, ‘Forget Me’ really captures the band in a much more positive way. Following a surprisingly heavy intro, the verse slides into a melodic goth metal melody with dominant bass, providing a pleasingly moody backdrop for Aisling Faulkner’s soaring vocal. During the first verse, the music is fairly sedate, but this helps to place the main focus even more firmly on a great voice. Once a second vocal arrives, with a semi-rapped style, it gives the track an edge, and even though there’s a nod to nu-metal and a late 90s sound, everything still feels pleasingly contemporary. By the mid point of this number, the whole band’s confidence is such that any potential wobbliness from the opener can quickly be forgotten. Bringing in a heavier riff for the coda, the nu-metal flourishes give way to something closer to a heavier take on something by Bring Me The Horizon (circa 2013) with guitarist Chris Kelly and drummer Shea Smith in fantastic form.
This album features more than its share of huge riffs, but the band really don’t believe in breaking things in gently on the powerful ‘Sick’. A track exploring the final days of a toxic relationship, it opens with an impassioned scream taking in the title, before crushing its audience with a heavy riff that showcases a strong groove-laden edge. The harshness is offset by a huge melody, though, and Faulkner’s huge vocal rises above everything to lend the track even more power, before everything takes a sharp detour into semi-rapped territory to bring another strong 90s throwback vibe. With a mix of emotionally raw elements and a classic alt-metal sound, there’s a lot about the Hard To Explain sound on this track that many will find very familiar, but between its anger, sharp lyric and it’s ultimately crushing melodies, ‘Sick’ sounds anything but stale. The riff alone makes this an album highlight, but as with ‘Forget Me’, the dual vocal really gives the track a lift, capturing a sound that’s really powerful, even allowing for the restraints of a studio environment.
In a slight change of mood, ‘This Too, Shall Pass’ opens with a solid riff drawing from more of a melodic metal influence, and coupled with a round of unrestrained whoahs, creates an instant earworm. The Linkin Park-esque beats and clear vocal filling the verse brings something a little more “traditionally” Hard To Explain, before the wordless vocals return to flesh out a great chorus. The push and pull between melody and power makes this classic HTE from first listen, with Faulkner approaching her role as the band’s frontperson very naturally. Released as a single in June 2025, ‘Wolves’ presents the band at their heaviest, opening with pneumatic drums set against a choir of vocals, before sliding effortlessly into a chunky groove that presents something that mixes a contemporary metal crunch with light industrial keys, creating the perfect backdrop for a variety of both sung and rapped lyrics. By the time the instrumental break rolls around, Chris has steered the band into even heavier climes, introducing a grinding guitar sound that feels like a throwback to classic KoRn. This suggests something that would sound immense live, and although it changes the mood of this number briefly, a return to the original heavy groove makes any tonal shifts feel quite natural. ‘Watch Me’, meanwhile, sees Chris teasing with some very 80s riffs, with the opening of the track dropping somewhat unexpectedly into a world of trad metal, before Faulkner’s vocal provides something more typical of Hard To Explain’s core sound. There are a couple of heavier moments during the pre-chorus, but in the main, this feels a little less Bring Me The Horizon and more Halestorm. Nevertheless, it’s brilliantly played throughout, and Aisling weaves through the jagged elements with a huge, melodic performance that really sells an expletive tinged chorus. Despite taking a musical side-step, long time fans will still find plenty to love here.
‘Lust’, meanwhile, shares more impressively heavy riffs which teeter on the edge of metalcore but come with another superb goth-esque undertone. In this respect, it plays like a close relation to ‘Forget Me’, but with the rhythm section working a lot harder in places. On a record where the guitars and vocals often dominate, it’s fascinating to hear bassist Jonathan Kerr stepping forward with a tough and occasionally funky performance, and when joined by Chris’s chopping guitar lines, Hard To Explain sound like a true force of alternative metal. There are some great melodies here, too: Aisling fills the middle eight with an almost soulful tone, and the multi-layered vocals that fill the chorus add a cool flourish where pop-tinged hooks contrast the heavier sounds.
The chorus of the brilliantly arranged title cut delivers a similar heaviness on a simple and direct hook, but the track’s verses bring something very different into play. Taking a more stripped back approach, the verse places keys against a glitchy, programmed rhythm, drawing more from alternative dance influences and light industrial fare. It results in something that catches the ear almost immediately. No matter where the music goes, Aisling’s vocal really impresses; throughout this number, she can be heard in full cry, providing a strong reminder of why this band’s complex blend of power and melody has won them a legion of fans in the build up to this album’s release. Unafraid of mixing things up even further, ‘Young & Free’ sees the band trying their hand at something more retro; the track’s lighter tone calls back to some of the 90s more radio friendly fare, with clean guitar lines jostling against a slightly airy sounding vocal, and the featured solo drops the band’s usual metal chops for a brief sojourn into something that’s almost bluesy. It’s great to hear the other side of Chris’s talents: he’s clearly grown up listening to a lot of classic rock; even if that doesn’t often factor into the bulk of the material here, the lead work on this track definitely seems inspired by sounds from much farther into a rock music past.
By choosing to release a string of digital singles over the previous three years, Hard To Explain have gradually built an audience, rather than arriving with all guns blazing, but this eleven song collection is a solid representation of their talents. Naturally, some tracks are stronger than others, and a couple of the stylistic shifts really show off how much the band have changed between sharing the trad metal tinged ‘Watch Me’ in 2023 and delivering the brutal ‘Wolves’ two years on, but when ‘Hell To Pay’ hits, it hits incredibly hard. On the basis of this debut, Hard To Explain are heading for bigger things.
November 2025