THE GEMS – Year Of The Snake (2026) *HQ*

320_1 /// 320_2 /// HQ 1 /// HQ 2

After rising from the ashes of Thundermother with their empowering debut Phoenix (2024), THE GEMS make their next move into the “Year Of The Snake”. Having positioned themselves as important new players in modern hard rock, the Swedish fireballs offer a striking new collection of catchy showstoppers.
After the intro ,,Walls”, the album opens with a bang; title track ,,Year Of The Snake” is a top-notch earworm and just nothing less than a killer song. On the upbeat ,,Gravity” Tommy Johansson (Sabaton, Majestica) sings a duet with Guernica Mancini. It’s also a great rock and roll song. And it must be said that Guernica simply has one of the best voices in this genre. The same goes for ,,Diamond In The Rough” and ,,Live And Let Go”. Mona’s guitar work on this album seems to be more inspired by Europe early years, with a touch of Van Halen.

That’s also a new direction the ladies are steering on this album; more Melodic Rock than the no-nonsense hard rock we already knew from The Gems, which was clearly more in line with their former band Thundermother.
,,Clout Chaser” has an arena-ready chorus, and ,,Hot Bait” seems to be inspired by Van Halen, especially when you hear the opening riff and verses. And we’re only halfway through the album.

Varied rhtyms appear within ,,Forgive And Forget”, the pumping ,,Go Along To Get Along”, ,,Math Ain’t Mathing” and the fun modern ,,Buckle Up”. It’s a long track list, however the band maintains the songs in the 3-minute mark, and the album flows very well.
Closing track ,,Happy Water” shows once again what this band is capable of: kick ass with melody and power.

Guernica, Mona, and Emlee prove that there is a life after Thundermother and are capable of composing great songs on their own. I therefore maintain my position that this split has given us two great bands, both with their own identity.
“Year Of The Snake” has a great production and some superb songs, now more accessible and will put THE GEMS on many new ears for sure.
Highly Recommended

01 – Walls
02 – Year Of The Snake
03 – Gravity (feat. Tommy Johansson)
04 – Diamond in the Rough
05 – Live And Let Go
06 – Clout Chaser
07 – Hot Bait
08 – Forgive and Forget
09 – Go Along to Get Along
10 – Math Ain’t Mathing
11 – Firebird
12 – Stars
13 – Buckle Up
14 – Happy Water

Vocals: Guernica Mancini
Guitar, Bass: Demona
Drums, Bass: Emlee Johansson

Pre order:
napalmrecords.com/deutsch/the-gems-year-of-the-snake-digisleeve-cd.html