Album Review: Bones Park Rider - The Comfort of Nightmares (2025, Hepcat Records)

Written: 23rd December 2025

For nearly two decades, Sheffield’s Bones Park Rider have carved out a niche within Sheffield’s underground music landscape. Having built a solid reputation based on their exciting live shows, the band have become a fixture on the UK alternative circuit. Crossing the boundaries between alternative hard rock and post-punk, they couple genre-blending songs with an infectious zest. The Comfort of Nightmares is the band’s third album.

Single Poison Garden opens proceedings and we are immediately thrust into the dark lyrical content that inhabits much of the album that deals with, in the band’s words, “The monsters we deserve.” Poison Garden immerses us in the suffocating cycle of addiction. It’s like taking a walk in a poison garden / Sacred and profane / It’s like taking what’s good, out of your soul / Supplanting it with pain / Time and again. It is a powerful opening statement and Bones Park Rider certainly know how to write catchy, compelling riffs. From the outset, it is also clear that the production values of the album allow each member of the band to be heard - Clive Hoey’s restless bass and Rob Shapiro’s reliable drumming underpinning everything. Several times during the album, Bones Park Riders employ a stop-start strategy and these are extremely effective.

There is a consistent, insistent urgency running throughout the heart of The Comfort of Nightmares; however, each track has its own identity and this is one of the key strengths. Someone Else’s Problems rattles along at breakneck speed and vocally, it walks a wonderfully controlled fine line between punk style aggression and alt-rock finesse, each line delivered with both raw energy and impressive vocal command. The band are not afraid to tackle societal issues within their lyrics and Someone Else’s Problem skewers Western apathy towards global suffering -  a powerful indictment of privilege and collective denial. We’re not short of hardship, pain or hungry mouths to feed / Someone has to pay the price for the Western lives we lead / With our decadence and greed.

Another key element of the album is its taut, meticulously structured songwriting; each track is punchy and tightly coiled, with only three songs stretching beyond four minutes. This relentless focus ensures a dynamic, propulsive flow where every moment feels essential and nothing overstays its welcome. Thus, as the album progresses, Bones Park Riders keep the irresistible songs coming: October, a bittersweet ode to forbidden love is cloaked in autumnal imagery and longing. Exploit every opportunity / For stealing any time A blind eye is turned to consequence / But I accept my crime. David Wilkes rampant, uncompromising riffs and thoughtful lead lines drive the song and it impossible not to be caught up in the swaggering confidence that oozes from the band.

Fourth track Femme Fatale begins with a quote from 1949 film noir Too Late For Tears. “Don’t ever change, Tiger. I don’t think I’d like you with a heart.” One of the album’s most aggressive tracks, it lyrically channels noir allure and doomed obsession. Walker spits the lines with a viscerally emotive edge. Further quotes from Too Late For Tears are woven into the song reflecting attention to detail. This keeps the album’s momentum brisk and the variety high – four tracks in, each remains punchy and energetic sharing the same gritty DNA yet offering distinct personalities.

Continuing in this vein, The Truth Will Out is more melodic, embracing the alt-rock side of the band and Dead On Time is a sub-three minute punk infused rampage capturing the anxiety of modern-working life. The depiction of impossible demands and burnout is underscored by rhythms that land with a pummelling, corporeal impact, making this a cathartic anthem for anyone feeling crushed by the daily grind.

Soldier Boy, the longest song on the album, combines these two aspects with a memorable chorus instilled with an angst-ridden lyric that follows a wounded soldier yearning for heroism, confined to bed and haunted by memories and doubts. What appears to be captivity and enemy threat gradually unravels as psychological trauma, with carers mistaken for foes and a final, unsettling encounter with his own fractured identity. When I might fail to hold the line and not resist / Or may submit to their deceitful kiss / Perhaps beguiled by their pretence of love / Or not recognise an iron fist in a shabby velvet glove. Down On The Lowside highlights the superb musical relationship between the rhythm section of Hoey and Shapiro, while Drinker’s Lament allows Walker the opportunity to showcase his less belligerent vocals during the verses before igniting for the chorus.

The Comfort of Nightmares closes with the two-part track The Wildhunt / When The Devil Knows Your Name. The Wildhunt’s brooding bass introduces a fresh sinewy texture hinting at directions the band could explore in future releases. This is the album’s most fraught and atmospheric moment, steeped in cinematic tension as the protagonist faces down inevitable doom. The dramatic build and tenebrous instrumentation heighten the sense of dread. When The Devil Knows Your Name delves into themes of inescapable guilt and reckoning, with nocturnal imagery and a relentless sense of pursuit leave a lingering impression of unresolved consequence. There is a tightly controlled aggression throughout, unsettling in its restraint and although the track runs just over four minutes, it feels epic - especially during The Wildhunt.

With a title suggesting solace found in life’s darkest moments, The Comfort of Nightmares is an apt title for an album that burns with finds uneasy familiarity in exploring how people adapt to pain, regret and fear until their struggles become a strangely reassuring part of who they are. If I had heard this album before finalising my top forty albums of the year list, it would certainly have made the cut (it was only released two days before I published that article). It is lean and purposeful with not a single wasted moment. Every track earns its place; each riff and lyric honed for impact. The Comfort of Nightmares grips from the first note and maintains its momentum, balancing immediacy with thoughtful craft. While the band’s first two albums were enjoyable and showcased potential, this feels like a genuine leap forward – more assured, more cohesive and executed with a clarity that elevates their sound to another level. Bones Park Rider have produced an album that is distinctive and uncompromising; one of 2025’s hidden gems.

The Comfort of Nightmares is out now.

Bones Park Rider online

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bonesparkrider/the-comfort-of-nightmares