In Blood is the group's 14th album and the follow-up to 2020's critically acclaimed Dances/Curses. For a band known for their outstanding live performances, to release their most successful album at a time when they were unable to present it on the road was extremely unsatisfying.

Gigs (for so long the lifeblood of the band) were booked, rescheduled and cancelled. Things began to unravel, and for perhaps the first time since the band's inception in 2003, it was hard to see what was going to happen next.

But on the band's now 20th birthday, quitting just isn't on the cards, and expansive "anything goes" approach that has made Dances/Curses so successful has been refined and shaped into an 8-song single album that never stands still or fills time.

The result sounds free of any genre shackles and that suits Hey Colossus. Lyrically, British folk and ghost mythology formed the starting point for the song themes.

The album is a calling card for the band in their 20th anniversary year. It is as unusual and challenging as long-time fans would expect or hope for, but somehow more accessible and to the point than ever before.

It's the closest thing to a pop record and positively shines through the darkness like a little ray of light in what is still a very dark and and strange time.

Music can never completely erase these feelings, but like the natural world referenced in the lyrics and on the cover, it invisibly welds people together and lifts us up if we let it.

Within its 20 years of existence each new record has seen the band embrace wider influences while retaining a `heavy' sound that has become their trademark.

Today, HEY COLOSSUS music combines elements of noise rock, post-punk, hardcore, post metal, drone, psychedelic-and krautrock and at times even some touches of electronic music styles.

RIYL: PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, Dead Can Dance, Black Sabbath, Birthday Party, Swans... Gatefold sleeve CD, red vinyl LP!