Album: SMOKING SNAKES – All Lights On
Release Date: July 10, 2026
Label: Frontiers Records
Review Author: MetalMike71
Smoking Snakes is a Swedish sleaze metal band from Gothenburg and this is their second album following their stellar debut, Danger Zone, from 2024. The band consists of:
Andy Delarge – Bass & Backing vocals
Brett Martin – Guitar and Lead Vocals
Mackey Gee – Drums
Rob Raw – Lead Guitar
The album is produced by Jack Ström.
Let’s dive into the album and see what we find.
SMOKING SNAKES – All Lights On
The intro is a nod to KISS‘ “Detroit Rock City” with someone listening to a radio show and a car that crashes. Then it goes into the first song, “Don’t Touch” (single & video). A great opening track for the album with a thunderous sound, screaming guitars and a great chorus. This will be a great song in their live set with a lot of singing along from the audience. Great guitar solo too.
“Trick Or Treat” (single & video) is up next and continues with pumping guitars and bass. A cool stick before the chorus. I can’t help but think of the good old days in the 80’s when I listened to WASP and RATT. Great song!
“All I Need” – starts with a great melodic guitar harmony and it feels really raw and live in the mix. The chorus sticks in my mind after the first listen. I love the guitar solo part in this song. This song is my favourite so far. Very melodic yet heavy.
“Look In Your Eyes” – a midtempo song where the drums fill up the sound very well and another great and melodic guitar solo.
“Last Man Standing” – back to the heavier sleaze sound again. Mackey Gee gives us some cowbells, which I like and this song really rocks. Great verses and great chorus. It feels like you are at one of their shows and rocking with them.
“Screaming For More” – Another thunderous track that really rocks. Again, I think about RATT and their sound. Again, a really cool guitar solo, not just shredding, but it fits the song really well. Great track.
“Broken Heart” (single & video). This was one of the first songs they released before the album and it sounds great. If I had RATT on my mind earlier, this sounds more like early Mötley Crüe but more melodic and heavier. Best song on the album, maybe?
“Nasty & Wild” – taking up the speed a bit, which is great and it has a little more heavy attitude. It has a cool chorus with a punk feeling to it. I love it!
“Turn Out The Lights” – This is a really cool song and I think it is the best singing from Brett on the album. And there is another great solo from Rob Raw on this song.
“Pleasure & Pain” (single & video). This is the fastest track on the album and it rocks. If someone asked me how Smoking Snakes sound, I would play this song to them. Pure, raw sleaze metal with great hooks, great guitars and thunderous sound.
There is a horror theme going through the songs and titles and the album closes as it started with an outro named “The Last Nightmare“, where we hear a chilling scream from a girl and a mysterious man saying “Welcome to my nightmare”. Is it a hint of what’s coming on the next album?
FINAL THOUGHTS:
To sum it up, here we get great songs with choruses as they came from the big names in the 80s metal scene. The sound is raw, unfiltered and it almost feels like a live show when listening to it. I can’t wait to see them live sometime soon, as that is where they belong. If you like bands like RATT, WASP, CrashDiet, Hardcore Superstar, etc., you will like this album. For me, it took some listening before I really liked it, but now I can’t get enough.
Rating 8,5 /10
There must be room for improvement 😀
PRE-ORDER: All Lights On
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