Having stretched out their sound on the imaginary Italian horror-movie soundtrack of 2024’s Nell’ ora blu (a truly fun listen for anyone looking for more manageably scaled darkness in their life), Uncle Acid returns to the pulpy, psychedelic hard rock that made albums like Blood Lust and The Night Creeper classic. Don’t let the terms “horror” or “metal” throw you: Highlights like “Don’t Let It Control You” and “When Evil Wakes” have more in common with the macabre beauty of ’70s radio hits like “Don’t Fear the Reaper” or “School’s Out” than Black Sabbath—music that feels all the more unsettling for how pretty and approachable it is. Retro, maybe, but attuned listeners will hear the way the band taps into heavy metal at its most primitive and essential: Cheap thrills and scary stories to tell in the dark.