Pendulum Embrace Breakneck Chaos On First Album In 15 Years, “Inertia”

Well over a decade after the release of “Immersion,” Pendulum have returned with “Inertia,” an album that reclaims their throne while fearlessly embracing reinvention.

For a band named after a mechanism of precision, Pendulum have always thrived in chaos.

In the 15 years since their previous full-length album, Immersion, electronic music has seemingly only continued to stylistically splinter. Drum & bass itself has ridden the rollercoaster to ever-increasing heights of popularity and has seemingly become a stronger movement than ever before. Festival stages have grown louder and more cinematic, and Pendulum, once considered among the foremost in the space of live electronic cross-genre appeal, simply vanished from the album format for a prolonged period of time.

But the band’s long-awaited comeback effort, Inertia, is not simply a nostalgic attempt to rehash past glory, but rather a raw statement of evolution that rebuilds around the band’s core strengths from a seasoned perspective.

The album’s weight is immediately felt on “Save The Cat,” a standout moment that spotlights frontman Rob Swire’s scream-laced vocals spiraling through metallic riffs and frantic breakbeats. It was written, as he put it, “during a period of self-questioning and frustration.” That sense of volatility is one that’s planted from the start with the instrumental opener, “Driver,” erupting with the familiar sense of urgency that made Pendulum’s early work so seismic.

The album’s collaborations with Hybrid Minds, Bullet For My Valentine and more see Pendulum embracing influences from across the electronic spectrum and beyond. Tracks like “Guiding Lights” with AWOLNATION employ a compelling contrast of soaring, arena-ready vocals with riffs heavy enough to hold the ground beneath it. That blend of grandeur and grit encapsulates the balance for which Inertia strives, reaching skyward without severing its roots.

The album draws to its conclusion with the palette cleansing “Cartagena,” a track awash in warm rock riffs and atmospheric synths that offers a lingering sense of calm and serves as a final reminder that the volatility is all by design.

You can listen to Inertia below and find the new album on streaming platforms here.