Italian heavy rockers PLANETHARD provide a chunky, muscular guitar sound balanced with some well performed vocals and rhythms. Their new album "Now" has been released just around the time they began an Italian tour with GOTTHARD, and we'll see if it's worth a shout here!

Opening up with the lead single "Play Harder" the band kicks into overdrive right away, with some nice, meaty riffs and a good sense of groove throughout. This is a no-nonsense rocking track with some cool melodies and a powerful rock vocal. This is followed up with "The One" which opens up with some moodier guitar chords before slamming into a really heavy main riff with some interesting use of harmony. The vocals here are again really powerful; this is a really confident singer with a good sense of melody at the same time. The rhythm section is also really tight, sticking the band together like strong glue.

The band has a really rocking sound that they continue to reinforce throughout the length of the album. Some standouts include "Neverfailing Superstar" which has some really nice use of light and shade that keeps the storytelling of the song quite fresh to the ears, with powerful use of dynamics. "Don't Say Goodbye" has some really cool instrumentation and layering, with a gentler overall sound that works really well to balance out this release, with some nice guitar work throughout.

The album ends with "Now" which builds up really nicely with some cool guitar and drum work intertwining to form an exciting sound before the vocals add even more to this. This is a really nice ending to the album, with a really dramatic overall sound to it.

The production is pretty good, everything is nice and audible and projects the desired sound well, from powerful riff sections to softer moments with acoustic guitars. The vocals are recorded nicely, and the rhythm section has a really supportive sound here.

"Now" is certainly worth checking out for people who like their rock with a bit more of an edge to it, without it stepping over the line into metal too much.