Rise Against’s Endgame highlights new issues with old style

By Jacob Zinn
[contributor]

Rise Against is known for songs of self-expression and non-conformity, so it’s only fitting that their 2011 record doesn’t stray far from their signature anthemic sound.

The straight-edge Chicago quartet’s sixth outing, Endgame, carries on with the style they’ve honed since 1999, filling 12 tracks with palm-muted chords, ringing bass notes and chorus-prefacing pick scrapes.

However, the members show some musical progression with new techniques that complement their high-energy back catalogue. Historical sound bites appear on tracks like “Disparity by Design” and shouted gang vocals show up on more than a few numbers.

Songs like “Architecture” and “Wait for Me” and start slow and end fast or vice versa, as per Rise Against’s previous work, but the band later shows some stylistically differing directions. “Midnight Hands” starts out with a speedy nü metal-esque guitar hook while “Broken Mirrors” has a Pantera-like riff backed by chanting hey’s and melodic oh’s.

The always opinionated Tim McIlrath continues to voice his social and political views on this disc, challenging the American dream. He sings and screams another anti-war diatribe in “Survivor Guilt” and calls for an end to homophobic bullying on “Make It Stop (September’s Children)”, accompanied by an eerie chorus of children’s voices.

He also tests his vocal range on the first single, “Help Is on the Way”, and shows it off with every tone-adjusted whoa that appears on the album.

The album closes with the title track, taking the band back to their punk roots and giving listeners one more message of activism to ponder.

Ultimately, Endgame delivers 46 minutes of frantic, adrenaline-driven, politically charged hardcore punk rock, as expected.

Rise Against wraps up its co-headlining tour with Flogging Molly on Oct. 12 at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster for $41.25 to $68.50.