BIFFY CLYRO release the seventh studio album Ellipsis.

The Scottish trio has quite possibly made the rock album of the years. With brutal honesty Biffy Clyro release a marvellously colourful album and prove that they still know how to surprise, even after 20 years.

Starting a new chapter, the guys ventured to LA’s Sound Factory to record Ellipsis along with producer Rich Costey. The frontman of the band Simon Neil has stated:

On this album we wanted to make everything sound a bit trashier. “Pretty” was not a word we wanted for this record, we wanted something that was grimy and sleazy, but then like really quite polished at certain points.

Funny enough this is a great description of how Ellipsis comes across as a whole. After two trilogies, Biffy Clyro are starting a new chapter and with a certain boldness they explore new territory whilst still keeping their distinct sound.

Kicking off with the single Wolves Of Winter the standard of the record is set. Having delivered hard hitting riffs stacked with a surprise it accurately sums up the essence of the album.

The record contains everything you look for in a good rock album. From great live anthems like Friends and Enemies and Animal Style, to stripped-back acoustic tunes like Medicine – “I rolled up my medicine to forget me”.

Other outstanding tunes are brutally honest, e.g. Re-arrange. Ben Johnston, the drummer, described the sonics of this song as their R&B attempt, stating that for a band with three albums of angular distorted music it’s brave for us to go down that kind of pop-ier path.

Alongside being a travel genre-wise, Re-arrange is also an open letter to Neil’s wife “listen to me when I say, darling you’re my everything, I didn’t mean to hesitate, please stay with me”.

Simon has earlier mentioned the influences on the album as everything from Deatheaven to Kanye West’s Yeesus, so it is clear that these rockers don’t shy away from experimenting with a dozen different genres.

Yet, what would a Biffy Clyro album be without a few rock and roll bangers. On A Bang is introduced with a little bit of Queens of the Stone Age feel, before it explosively attacks – “Why can’t you fucking do better?!”

The song Small Whishes stands out in contrast to the previous track, and is probably one of the weirdest on the album, with wonky piano and whistles, it’s an admittedly very unexpected tune.

The album is more personal than the previous one, and maybe this is a needed reaction after releasing a master record such as Opposites.

Ellipsis is rounded off with beautiful People, starting off acoustic before building into a perfect ending.

Over all, this album is both extremely varied, explorative and, even if it’s more ‘punk’ than the previous, it is an album of very high quality. It certainly proves Simon Neil’s statement:

The world doesn’t necessarily need another Biffy Clyro album, but it needs this one.

Words: Aurora Henni Krogh