When one goes exploring the vast tundra that is Norway, peeling past the corpse-paint, spikes, and overall grimness that dominates the region, they’ll be face to face with a band like Gluecifer: A band infamous for reasons besides murder and arson. In the heart of the Scandinavian extreme metal golden age, these rock soldiers kept it simple and straightforward. They made their bones with a loud, abrasive brand of punky hard rock, lying somewhere between The Rolling Stones at their sleaziest and the mighty Motörhead. It was loud and proud riff-rock to the max, which quickly earned the band the title as Norway’s “Kings of Rock”.
Alas, no reign lasts forever, and Gluecifer’s came to an abrupt end in 2005, following a much-celebrated farewell tour. In the years since their split, as sterile pop, brainless bro country, and corporate-curated “metal” wrapped their ice cold grip around the music industry, it seemed all hope was lost for true rock n’ roll. That is until Gluecifer said, “Hold my beer. It’s time to show these kiddos how it’s done.” From 2017 onwards, a whole new generation of rockers have been treated to Gluecifer’s legendary, high-energy live extravaganzas. Now, in 2026, said generation finally gets a Gluecifer album to call their own in the form of the aptly titled Same Drug New High.
Despite 22 years having passed since Gluecifer’s last album, Automatic Thrill (2004), the band wastes no time at all getting right to business. At no point over the course of Same Drug New High‘s 11 songs does it feel like these dudes got together and said, “Alright, let’s make an album that sounds like the old days.” No, rather they just picked up their guitars, plugged in, and did the only thing they know how to do: Rock hard, rock fast, and rock loud. In other words, if you told me this album came out in the mid ’00s, off the heels of Automatic Thrill, I’d believe it. The energy is present as ever, and the songcraft remains untouched.
While it’s easy to simply brand Same Drug New High a no frills rock n’ roll album (and it is), it’s also a well-rounded one, with each song boasting its own unique character. You’ve got your high-speed, motörcharged, garage metal bangers in cuts like “The Idiot”, “Armadas”, and “The Score”, which are then countered by humble, swaggering, four on the floor rockers like “I’m Ready”, “1996”, and “Made in the Morning”. Further diversifying the palette are flowery slabs of classic power pop in “Pharmacity” and “Another Night, Another City”, before the tripped out heavy psych of “On the Wire” brings the album to a truly crushing close.
In a world where hard rock has largely been condensed to a never-ending contest of who can be the best Zeppelin clone, Gluecifer embodies the true spirit of the genre, managing to sound as fresh and youthful as ever, even in their middle age. The songs still slap, the sound is pure, and the band are ready to sink their teeth into your cold, black, rock n’ roll-fueled heart. Indeed, the drug is the same, but the high is new. You’ll want to ride it out for quite some time, take my word!
8 out of 10
Label: Steamhammer
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Motörhead, The Hellacopters, Turbonegro