REVIEW: Pendulum - Inertia

After 15 long years, Pendulum are back with a monster 16-track album, packed with features from a huge array of artists from all across the alternative scene. This long-awaited project is steeped in some of the best that alternative has to offer - but even with all the positives, Inertia has not come without its issues.

Opener ‘Driver’ and first full track ‘Come Alive’ feel somewhat underwhelming - the kick in ‘Driver’ is definitely satisfying, but by no means is it mind-blowing, while ‘Come Alive’ has an 80's feel at its beginning, before turning into what someone would imagine Sleep Token sounded like if they had not listened to them - whether that is a compliment or not is up in the air and can be left up to the listener. 'Save the Cat' is first single to appear on Inertia - the first real taste of the rave/rock fusion that Pendulum is known for, and the first inkling of there being a wheat versus chaff issue across this monster of an album. Nevertheless, ‘Save the Cat’ is addictive in how smoothly it transitions between its parts, and repeat listens warm the ears up to the "Meow".

This point of the album sees more of the vocal-based tracks come to the fore, and establishes the main critique with this project, that being the inconsistency across it. ‘Archangel’ never quite builds its tension or releases it in a way that’s satisfying, contrary to how the band might've played this track during their more formative years. ‘Nothing for Free’ suffers with a similar issue, as whilst it does have a drop that scratches a dubstep itch, that itch may not be shared by many. 

However, Inertia is at is best with its featuring artists, and the songs on which they join in are a joy. Wargasm come to play on 'Cannibal', where the dubstep is replaced with the currently dominant drum and bass, creating a distinctly energetic electro punk sound. Milkie’s vocals swap between sickly sweet and sinister, and complement the soundscape perfectly. Bullet For My Valentine take ‘Halo’, serving the screamed vocals from jump while combining their riffy metalcore with bloopy deep drums. The opening line of “Are you insane or are you f*cking deluded?” was delightful in its bluntness, and the synergy of their two sounds is what someone who’d never listened to Pendulum would imagine in their mind’s ear.

Hybrid Minds’ ‘Louder than Words’ is the weakest of the collaborations, with it sounding more like a solo Hybrid Minds song than a collaborative track; while that might be a subjective evaluation, it would’ve been interesting to see what that duo would’ve done with the heavier side of Pendulum’s sound.  Luckily, next up was the collaboration with Joey Valence & Bray for 'Napalm', which is one of the stand-out tracks of the project. The hectic, Beastie Boys-style sound of JVB melts perfectly into the deep chaos that makes Pendulum’s best songs work, and the dubstep sound that dates other songs on the project gives 'Napalm' a nostalgic tinge that works perfectly when mixed with the live drums at the tracks end, complete with dirty crashes to top it all off. 

The final two collaborations are the refreshing 'Guiding Lights' with AWOLNATION, which commits to being metalcore with and doesn't do too much more than just sound perfectly solid, before 'Mercy Killing' with Scarlxrd, which synergies the emo rock beginning with the rave middle and end nicely, and doesn't have anything bad to be said about it. This is not to say that the only good tracks on Inertia are those which had other people hopping on them though - ‘Silent Spinner’ is one of the strongest on the album, providing a burst of energy with its trumpets and flares on the crash symbol. The track itself is about Pendulum returning to the scene after their time away, and feels like the fresh start that the band were looking for, mixing scratchy live instruments with jumpy synth melodies to craft a moody synth rock song. 

As Inertia stands, the issue of not having separated the wheat from the chaff is very prominent, and here this means the difference between the collaborations and the singles is stark. The logic behind releasing the higher energy tracks pre-album and saving the slower paced entries for fans who want to see that range is sound, but it feels disingenuous when the singles have the high energy and synergy that have made Pendulum’s name, but when diving into their latest work it doesn’t have that same kick. The feeling is that after 10 years of crafting this project, some tracks have been hard to let go, or maybe some sounds not quite fully padded out yet.

Inertia is, all in all, for the fans. The feeling from these collaborations is that they are all people who love and have loved Pendulum, and that the songs that come across as filler to more casual ears may be just the breadth of sound that someone who has been craving new Pendulum has been waiting for. If you're a newcomer to Pendulum, dive right in on the collaborative tracks to find something special, but for the old fans, there might just be a diamond in the rough for you within this LP.

Score: 6/10

Inertia will be released on August 22nd 2025 via Mushroom Music.

Words: Julia Brunton

Photos: Pendulum