You could easily argue that Superheaven have been making big rock albums well ahead of this timeline where they’re only now just getting their due respect. Originators in what we now know as heavy-gaze, the Doylestown four-piece laid the blueprint of a sound steeped in grungy ’90s alternative rock, shoegaze, and melodic hardcore influences that would become replicated but rarely pulled off as naturally by way-too-many newer artists within the scene in the wake of their hiatus-like inactivity following the release of their 2015 sophomore effort, Ours Is Chrome.

Their newly-released third and self-titled return hears them not only back in full force, but applying a new-found wisdom in the art of wielding big riffs through the doom and gloom that is modern life flailing into the cosmic abyss. Talk about effortless execution while reading the room thoroughly, though. There’s a welcome malaise in how they’re channeling surging electrical currents and careening feedback on opener “Humans For Toys”, the subsequent “Numb To What’s Real”, and “Stare At The Void” in a way that fits the vibe of these times where everyone’s just shrugging their shoulders nowadays at the way humanity is more or less providing an open arms invitation to a societal apocalypse.

Even in the face of this bleak reality, Superheaven elicit an exhilarating high. “Cruel Times” rises above the heavy clouds in anthem, while “Hothead” and “Next Time” respectively detour the listen into own driving pop rocked energies from opposing directions. Producer Will Yip has long been every hardcore-adjacent band’s right hand in making them sound like a million bucks in the studio, and when you consider Superheaven sees its release on Blue Grape Music, the newer label formed by two former Roadrunner Records’ heads, their version of an unofficial major label debut stakes its claim as a big rock album with impact under their own terms and timeline.

Highlights: “Numb to What’s Real”, “Cruel Times”, “Hothead”

Superheaven’s Superheaven is available now on Blue Grape Music.