Album Reviews

Today I learned that Exploding Head Syndrome (EHS) is a harmless sleep disorder in which a person perceives a sudden loud noise in their head just as they are falling asleep or waking up. It’s also the name of a Norwegian hardcore/punk band that has just released a new album called Deathbeds. And guess what? Only one of them sounds like a royal pain in the ass.

Produced by The Flatliners/Hot Water Music’s Chris Cresswell in the fall of 2025, Deathbeds packs 11 songs filled to the brim with hard-hitting riffs, massive melodic hooks, gang vocals, and irresistibly catchy choruses. Opener “Preaching to the Rats” sees the band racing out of the gate, sounding like a punkier Comeback Kid. Closer “Ballad of Denial,” on the other hand, sounds like No Use for a Name trying their hand at a hardcore song. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes, it gives the band plenty of room to showcase the full breadth of their sound.

Thematically, the album paints a bleak picture of a world driven into the ground by people clinging to power, wealth, and influence long past their expiration date. But Exploding Head Syndrome isn’t all doom and gloom. They’re just as likely to throw in a song about dealing with a drunk friend (“Scrabby”) or celebrating the joys of hot sauce on “Taste My Sauce.”

Whether tackling societal decay or condiment appreciation, Deathbeds delivers an energetic and memorable mix of hardcore urgency and punk-rock melody that rarely lets up.

Deathbeds track listing:

1. Preaching to the Rats
2. Confessions
3. Age of Deviation
4. Deathbeds
5. Sinking
6. Scrabby
7. Sins of Fathers
8. The Lynx
9. Faultlines
10. Taste My Sauce
11. The Ballad of Denial