Propagandhi : "At Peace"

 

There are weird contradictions in life. One of them being for someone who does not like political punk, I do like this band. Perhaps it's because they are from Canada it hits differently. They have a brooding metallic edge to their sound that is perhaps brought out even more in the production of "At Peace," which is the band's 8th album. The title track finds the urgency of the vocal opens the door for taunt, thrashing riffing, not is not a far cry from Bad Religion. I think the fact that they are so technically sound as musicians rather than guys banging four chords helps factor into why I like them so much. 

"Cat Guy" is the lead single from this album and was last week's song of the week. It's a great song, and Chris's voice sounds great. There is more of their metal beginning present in the riffing, though through the matured filter of age. "No Longer Young" is driven by a riff that feels almost like Dokken, though their palm-muted guitar attack is air-tight, and no whammy bar solos are flying out of the smoke machines. The mix is a little dry on the computer speakers, so throwing on some headphones to see how it sounds. Yeah, headphones bring out the guitars. "Rented P.A." has a cool groove that reminds me a little of Maiden's "The Prisoner". 

When they started as a band, they wanted to be a progressive thrash, well, you hear the Rush influence bleeding into "Stargazing". I am not sure I would call it punk, but it's good music. The vocals are still really upfront and center of the mix, even with the headphones on. They lean more into their rock n roll side with "God of Avarice". There is the first hint of a guitar solo on the break here. It's more of a melodic nuance, but it stands out, though it does not stand out on the monitor. "Prismatic Spray" has more of a Judas Priest feel, though the drumming is more progressive. "Benito's Earlier Work" is a little more brooding and certainly more thought-provoking. 'Vampires are Real' gets back more to thrashing. 

"Fire Season" is darker and more deliberate, which sets up the song to take off into an even more impressive gallop. There is an actual guitar solo going into "Day By Day," which is more of a proggy rock than a prog rock song since there are no synths or odd time signatures. But this is way more complex than punk, yet it flows well.'Something Needs to Die, But Maybe it's not You" closes out the album in epic fashion. This might be the best metal album released by a band that's not metal this year. I will give it a 10 hands down. Of course, it's being released on Epitaph.   

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