Review by Phil Rozier for MPM
If Airbourne ever decide to bottle whatever unholy lightning they run on, the world’s energy crisis would be solved overnight. The Aussie rockers are back with their latest single, ‘Alive After Death’, and, surprise to absolutely no one, they’ve smashed it straight out of the stadium again.
This is Airbourne doing what Airbourne do best: loud, fast, unapologetically feral hard rock, delivered with the subtlety of a flaming sledgehammer through your front door. I can already see Joel cracking a beer can open on his own head to this belter (seriously, go see them live and you’ll understand!).
From the first snare beat, ‘Alive After Death’ feels like it’s been dragged up from the underworld. It’s darker, edgier, and meaner than their last few singles. ‘keep me alive after death’. Well, if it means I get to hear this track on repeat, then I’m game!
The guitars snarl, the drums punch like they’re trying to escape the kit, and Joel O’Keeffe sounds like he’s been gargling molten steel, but then, belts out a stadium chorus that can be heard from space. This track was engineered for sweaty festival pits, flying pints, and that moment when the crowd collectively decides health and safety is more of a suggestion than a rule.
With the band gearing up for their upcoming tour dates across Europe and the UK (supporting Maiden for one!), you can bet this track will be detonating venues across the land. If you’ve ever seen Airbourne live, you already know what that means: Joel climbing the rigging, amps pushed to illegal levels, and the audience leaving with ringing ears and questionable life choices.
Alive After Death is the sound of a band who refuse to slow down, refuse to mellow out, and refuse to apologise for being the last true torch bearers of unfiltered, high octane rock ’n’ roll. If you’ve ever loved anything they’ve released, from ‘Runnin’ Wild’ to ‘Breakin’ Outta Hell’, this one deserves a place on your playlist immediately.
Airbourne album tracklisting:
- Gutsy
- Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)
- Here She Comes
- Kid In A Candy Store
- Sky High
- Who Put The Rhythm In You?
- Christmas Bonus
- Last Man Standing
- Rock ‘N’ Roll Ya
- Bogotá
- Hells Got No Vacancy
- Send Me To Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven
More information and tour dates at www.airbournerock.com
Some nay sayers, and probably correctly, say that Airbourne aren’t reinventing the wheel. But fuck that, they don’t need to. Why bother? They’re setting it on fire, rolling it down a hill, and riding it into a wall of Marshall stacks.
Buy it. Stream it. Blast it until your neighbours complain. Blast it again.
Airbourne’s self-titled album will be released on 28 August 2026 via Spinefarm –pre-order HERE.
