Secondborn are so-called because they formed from the ashes of various other bands who “almost made it.” This is not an unfamiliar story in rock ’n’ roll, and in fact it’s often the wisdom of second-time-round experience that gives bands the leg-up they need to break into the mainstream.

In Secondborn’s case, they’ve decided to forgo the grind of the touring treadmill and focus solely on songwriting and recording. Their self-funded debut, the mini-album Symbols, is characterised by yearning, spacious guitars calling out over thunderous drums and powerful, heartfelt vocals, a slicky, heavy, polished sound that will appeal to fans of Rise Against, Further Seems Forever and 30 Seconds To Mars. Packed with passion and poppy hooks, Symbols is tightly-produced and primed for the mass market, overflowing with driving up-tempo rhythms and widescreen sentiment.

“Say Love” is a soaring, high-energy opener with an instantly contagious hook: “Say love, say love, save your love from all the time that you’ve wasted.” Lead single “When Lions Dream” tugs at the heart-strings with its unusual chorus lyrics, a strange metaphor for human experience (“When lions dream, do they remember all the ones they’ve lost?”) and the epic “In Winter” recalls erstwhile indie-rockers Longview in its rich, balladic intensity.

In truth, every song on Symbols boasts lighter-waving, festival-rousing potential, showcasing a band who may just have the perfect combination of talent and experience to succeed.