In our header for the review of The Ghost Archives, the debut LP from Arrows Of Athena, we said what the Boston duo were doing in Alt-Rawk was a renaissance and it looks like that movement won’t be over anytime soon if new single “Abandoned Love” is any indication! Holy Jeebus! Now THIS is how you return after a little bit of time away (The Ghost Archives was released in April of 2024). Not only does “Abandoned Love” scream “Hi! We’re back!” but it also acts as the harbinger for the band’s upcoming sophomore opus (Tentatively slated for early 2026). So in other words, it’s the total package.
We hesitate to say that “Abandoned Love” is “leaps and bounds” away from what was on The Ghost Archives… but it kinda is. And as fans of that record, the praise for the new release stems more on the evolution of the AOA sound more than to any shortcomings in previous recordings (And for the record, there are none). Okay, and now we take the foot out of our mouth and continue…
A transcendent slab of modern Rawk mastery, “Abandoned Love” is everything fans could have wanted as the follow-up to The Ghost Archives. With so much generic “new” Alternative Rawk flooding the digital airwaves these days, it truly is refreshing to hear the kind of music that Arrows Of Athena is putting together. Jac-Lyn Gibson is a powerhouse vocalist and immediately stands out with this ethereal introduction as soon as the first note hits while multi-instrumentalist Scott Lerner cushions Gibson’s glow with a mighty modern Alternative map that is constantly discovering new sonic scenery to kindle into the ever growing Arrows Of Athena fire.
“Abandoned Love” arrives on November 7th through Belhaven Records and you can be the first in your neighborhood to have it by heading here. For more from Arrows Of Athena, hit their socials by heading here or here.