American psych rock icons Blue Öyster Cult return with a mammoth new studio album, entitled The Symbol Remains, this October. Coming nearly two decades after the release of their last studio album Curse of the Hidden Mirror, the album showcases a band who hasn’t been slowed by the time passed, but simply unphased by it.  The Symbol Remains  is one of the band’s most spirited, diverse, and inspired releases to date.

As the old saying goes, “good things come to those who wait” and the fourteen new songs on display here certainly embody that. The band’s fans will be delighted given that they have delivered an extremely inspired album which ultimately sounds like a band looking back at their storied catalogue and giving the fans a bit of everything they’ve ever loved about BÖC, while simultaneously continuing to evolve.

Formed on a college campus in 1967, Blue Öyster Cult are best known for their massive singles (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, Burnin’ for You, and Godzilla. Riff-heavy and head-banging while intelligently hook-laden, the band remains a constant touring presence and is as relevant as ever. Pioneering the heavy metal style while providing inspiration to psychedelic jam bands and arena rockers alike, genre-benders Blue Öyster Cult is a widely respected classic rock band with a storied catalogue. The band has been covered by everyone from Metallica through HIM to Moe, which showcases the wide ranging influence of their music.

Sentinel Daily’s Gavin Strickmann has been immersing himself in the new album and had this to say about it: “Wow, just wow… I’ve been a big fan of the ‘Cult for pretty much all of my adult life, but I have to say I didn’t see this coming… With The Symbol Remains, Eric (Bloom) and Buck (Dharma, both vocals/guitar) have quite simply come up with their best album since 1983’s The Revölution by Night”…

He continued to foam at the mouth about the album for some while, but we’ll save the Welsh Wizard’s ravings for his full review of the album which will appear in these pages in the fullness of time. You have been warned!