I’m no longer certain what it’s miles about Canadian thrash punkers Propagandhi, however it always takes me a dozen or extra listens to absolutely recognize their albums. I’ve been a huge fan of theirs on account that their debut album How To Clean Everything again in 1993 however, none in their albums have right away grabbed me, even though some have long gone directly to occupy my All Time Favorite Albums List. Their maximum recent LP At Peace (via Epitaph Records) is not any exclusive. Is it the complexity of the music or the heaviness of the topics that demands a couple of playthroughs before getting hooked? I dunno. Either way, after a great fifteen or so listens, I in the end experience relaxed sufficient writing a evaluation for this, their 8th studio album. So, off we move!
First matters first, this album is sonically divergent from their previous albums, but in case you’ve been listening carefully over the last few a long time, their sound has been slowly evolving in the direction of “Prog Punk” for loss of a better term. Yes, there’s nonetheless the obligatory face melting riffs and woofer punishing bass licks however this album is a far cry from traditional Punk or Metal. It’s in all likelihood now not even something in-among the two. The 6th song “Stargazing” encapsulates this musical shift flawlessly. Definitely not punk, nowhere near steel and…is that a synthesizer I pay attention?
Although the musicality is exclusive the lyrics are precisely what lovers could count on. Even if the tone of the writing is greater desperate and foreboding, they’re still politically prompted, oozing with derision, dissent and disgust and the name song makes sure to enhance that preferred. “Hedge every wager. Lick every boot. Make each enchantment. Prostrate your self to the killing machine to spare yourself from it’s wheels. “Better them than me” rolls so seductively off your tongue. Your reckoning has all started.”
However, the lyrics have an unusual undercurrent of resignation to them which might be a sarcastic nod to the Album’s identify. Asked about the LP, front man Chris Hannah said “What we’re setting into the songs now, probable displays more melancholy than 30 years ago while we had comparable views, however with strands of hope and naivete. Now it’s the existential dread of eking out a life worth dwelling on this completely failed society.” This theme is maximum prominently displayed in each “Rented P.A.” and “Prismatic Spray (The Tinder Date)”.
The writing at the previous few albums has also been lots more contemplative than in advance ones. 2017’s Victory Lap was probably the top of this type of reflective writing however it merges seamlessly into this new complete duration. It engages the listener, it’s conversational, earnestly asking how we will clear up a number of our issues collectively and admitting that perhaps even they haven’t performed enough or been as vigilant as they ought to’ve. From my favourite tune “No Longer Young”: “Life on the line, at this point what’s left to say? We’ll die in a global nevertheless at struggle. Did we really attempt?”
“Benito’s Earlier Work” is probably the maximum inflammatory music which…..Yea, it need to be. Anyone who is absolutely exhausted and overwhelmed via today’s fucked up political climate can relate. If you’re now not in a consistent war with yourself between being definitely apathetic to the modern situation and wanting to burn down the entirety you notice, you probably don’t personal a TV or have a Facebook account. When Mr. Hannah stated “Speaking for myself, this document is probably a picture of me figuring out whether I’m going to live out the relaxation of my life as Eckhart Tolle or live out the rest of my life as Ted Kaczynski,” I’m sure this changed into the song he turned into considering.
And sooner or later, it wouldn’t be a proper Propagandhi album without criticizing the Church! “God of Avarice” is extra of a of indictment on ungodly folks who use Religion like a fishing entice, hooking the gullible, unquestioning, devotees to subjugate “others” who don’t belong in “their Country”.
“There’s nothing that suggestions you’ve been touched by using the mild of an all loving one. A God of Empathy calling out from the shore, a line for the ones in need, the ones which you despise. Present to me a god of cruelty I’ll agree, yeah, you’re following faithfully”. The equal messaging can also be heard a few tracks later in “Day by Day”: “We make certain that some will die alongside the trail, our god is not of charity. Feel it coming down, a test failed every day, Are these the mysterious ways? Can’t cross wrong, the praising of tyrants, observe along, the story’s within the works”
All in all this is a solid album that maintains to push the band ahead each musically as well as in the writing. And I guess in case you had been to invite me later it might rank a bit better than I do these days however due to the fact that no person desires to examine a assessment a 12 months after an album is released: 4 out of five Molotov Cocktails 🔥🔥🔥🔥
