It’s a great time to be an Irish Pumpkins fan right now. Earlier this summer we were treated to an all too rare Dublin show and now the legendary Chicago band have just surprise released a brand new album.

And you know what the best part is? It’s really good. Yes readers, after enduring what seemed like an eternity of mediocre new material since they officially reformed in 2006, Billy Corgan and Co. have created a collection of songs which are actually, well, smashing.

Written and recorded over a two year period, their 13th LP is a molar rattling affair that unashamedly worships at the altar of the riff. Epic, euphoric and much more focused than last year’s triple album Atum: A Rock Opera In Three Acts, their latest record is something of a celebration of what made their early work so essential and is very much the proverbial return to form we all hoped for.

Brimming with heavenly hooks and riffs forged somewhere south of there, highlights include the gorgeous, gloom laden ‘Pentagrams,’ the sprawling and enthralling ‘999’ and cinematic, strings-swept swoon-fest ‘Murnau,’ which they named after the visionary director of Nosferatu.

Their best record since 2000’s Machina/The Machines Of God, Aghori Mhori Mei is both a thrilling riposte to the Pumpkins’ critics and a reward for their devoted followers.

8/10