When the past collides with the present, anything is possible. On Angels Against Angels, the experimental group New Age Doom revisits punk history in an effort to bend it, stretch it, and send it echoing through a haze of dub bass, metal riffs, and cosmic noise with the help of a singular voice. And that voice is H.R. of Bad Brains fame.

In this environment, H.R. steps into a moment that feels both familiar but also like something completely new. The album lives somewhere between the chaos of punk and the spacious pulse of dub, a collision drummer and co-producer Eric J. Breitenbach describes as no so much a plan and more of a gravitational pull. “The vision was to bring H.R. into a space he hasn’t visited in a long time,” Breitenbach explains. “A sphere he helped pioneer.”

The result is an album that thrives in contradiction. Jagged hardcore rhythms crash into wide-open dub grooves. Moments of punishing intensity dissolve into drifting atmospheres. Through it all, H.R.’s unmistakable voice floats somewhere between preacher, prophet, and survivor.

The project also pulls together a striking lineup of collaborators from across the alternative music universe. Among them are Andy Morin of Death Grips, keyboardist Jason Lindner, known for his work on Blackstar, Alan Cage of Quicksand, and electric violinist Alina Petrova from Pussy Riot’s Riot Days project. Returning members of the New Age Doom orbit include bassist and guitarist Tim Lefebvre, trumpeter Dan Rosenboom, saxophonist Gavin Templeton, drummer Benedicte Pierleoni, DJ CrookOne, and keyboardist Cola Wars. The lineup functions to something akin to a sonic laboratory, if that lab belonged to Dr. Frankenstein.

Tracks like “Radio On” and “Aetheopia Dub” lean into the meditative basslines and echo-drenched textures that defined the group’s earlier work, including their 2021 collaboration with Lee Scratch Perry. Elsewhere, the album veers toward the heavier side of the spectrum, mixing punk, progressive metal, and post-rock into sprawling songs. At the center of it all stands H.R., whose lyrics draw on spirituality, survival, and the search for truth in a lying world. His voice carries the weight of decades of struggle but still crackles with life.