Staind, “Confessions of the Fallen.”

The latest album by Staind, Confessions of the Fallen, caps off a reunion that began in 2019 with a string of festival dates and a hometown show. At first, new material didn’t seem to be in the cards, but with time the band got into a studio. It’s the first new Staind album in 12 years.Could the Massachusetts hard rockers deliver the goods? Turns out, the answer is yes.

Confessions of the Fallen finds Staind reinvigorated and playing its heaviest material of its three decades in business.

At times, the record sounds familiar. Guitarist Mike Mushok churns out thunderous down-tuned riffs while bassist Johnny April and drummer Sal Giancarelli adeptly hold together the low-end rhythm section. What ties everything together is enigmatic and unassuming vocalist Aaron Lewis.

At the same time, everything feels a little different this time around, and those are the added ingredients that make this record shine. Opener “Lowest In Me” is an anthemic hard rocker that fuses upbeat melodies with hard-driving energy. Lewis delivers a curveball on the bridge, with a guttural scream that connects back to some of the band’s earliest work.

“Was Any Of It Real?” brings a NIN-like industrial influence to the moody and electronic verses before exploding back into the riff-driven chorus. The band tapped producer Erik Ron—who worked on Bad Omens’ stellar The Death of Peace of Mind—and that contribution doesn’t go unnoticed. Songs like “In This Condition” fuse heavy grunge rock with nu-metal dynamics. The track thrives on its straightforwardness, Staind doing what it does best.

“Don’t want to have to feel/ Like somethings always missing/ How can I carry on in this condition?” Lewis asks, his voice pushing its upper limits.

The mid-tempo “Here and Now” wouldn’t sound entirely out of place on 14 Shades of Grey, but again it feels like there’s more meat on the bone. From the layering of the guitars to the vocals, this lighters-to-the-sky song manages to keep the energy up despite being more of a power ballad.

Confessions of the Fallen effectively delivers aggression and angst without sacrificing the singalong qualities that make a song memorable. Case in point, “Out Of Time” effectively jumps between hard and soft, even mixing in some electronic loops and programming. Despite the occasional electronic flourishes, Staind never compromises its identity. The band pushes its limits even further on “Cycle of Hurting,” which fuses metal with melodic atmospherics. The track closes with some of Mushok’s best guitar work on the record over Lewis’ brutal scream.

“All my faults are all my fault,” Lewis sings.

When he’s not playing with Staind, Lewis makes and plays country music. The singer keeps the two worlds apart, though some blues seeps through into the melodies of otherwise heavy rocker “The Fray.” The only moment of solace comes on ethereal ballad “Better Days,” featuring a complex layering of Mushok’s guitar playing with the whole band kicking in for the chorus. It doesn’t Staind’s best ballad but it’s a fine song.

The darkness returns on “Hate Me Too,” which doubles down on the aggressive to melodic dichotomy that defines the majority of the record. Each track manages to stand out with its own personality. The album concludes on a heavy note with the title track adding urgency to rumbling rock.

Staind’s fire still burns in a genre where it can often be difficult to stand out. The record offers a valiant battle cry and a suggestion that the quartet probably shouldn’t wait another dozen years to make the next one.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.