Scottish hard-rock cult heroes Heavy Pettin return with Rock Generation, their first new studio album since the late ’80s, and they’re treating it more like a stadium-sized victory lap than simple comeback. “Rock Generation is a celebration for all rock fans around the world… Made to ROCK ur Soul,” declares frontman and founding member Stephen “Hamie” Hayman, sounding like a man preaching the gospel from a rock and roll pulpit.

For a minute in the early eighties, Heavy Pettin looked like heirs to the “next-big-thing” throne. Their 1983 debut Lettin Loose, featuring the should've been hit "In And Out Of Love," had the firepower to blast them into the same orbit as the glam-metal elite, and global tours with Ozzy and Mötley Crüe suggested just that. Then, just as they were poised to take the crown, the lights dimmed. Real life intervened, and the hottest young rockers out of Glasgow disappeared with barely a trace for more than three decades.

But Rock Generation doesn’t sound like a band dusting off mothballs. It’s more like they paused the tape for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and hit play with twice the voltage. Hamie leads the charge alongside longtime guitar slingers Dave “Davo” Aitken and Richie “St. James” Dews, with David “Boycee” Boyce anchoring the low end and Mick “The Wizard” Ivory beating the drums like they owe him money. The chemistry is still there and the mission unchanged. This is melodic, fist-pumping, radio-ready hard rock built for big stages.

The title track struts with hip-swinging bravado, a turned up twin-guitar anthem destined for raised fists and ripped-voice singalongs. “Oblivion,” featuring a killer guest vocal from Roni Lee, folds a Celtic lilt into its groove before exploding into a chorus that should fill arenas. “X-Rated” feels like a midnight bar-crawl where Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street crashes the Sunset Strip, glam attitude dripping off every riff. Recorded in their hometown at Morsecode Studios and produced by Ciarán O’Shea, the album aims for timeless rather than nostalgic. Rock Generation is about reminding the faithful and educating the uninitiated that rock ’n’ roll never goes out of style when it’s played with heart, hooks, and hell-yeah conviction.