Initially operating as an instrumental act, these self-described post-doom bruisers have added The Vampire Diaries and Westworld star Michael Malarkey. The actor, who also has a successful career as a singer/songwriter, has helped transform the Portland-bred quintet from plucky contenders to potential heavyweights, and their debut album is a beefy, bleak affair that doesn’t pull any punches musically or lyrically. Much of the material was written during the height of the George Floyd protests and the LP explores the effects of living in a world where the American dream has become a nightmare. Drawing on sludge, psych and Alice In Chains’-esque gloom, Last Days… rages against the machine with the best of them, and when they’re going for the jugular, as on Seawall, they sound unstoppable. ■■■■■■■■■■