Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Rise Against
Label: Interscope Records
Release: 2014
Length: 46:18
Rating: 3.5/5
Chicago’s Rise Against are back on the scene with their seventh studio album. On it, they stick to radio-friendly rock anthems and keep drifting away from the raw punk rock sound that marked the band’s early days. Eco-conscious activists, animal protectors, VANS-sneaker lovers and poster boys of veganism, they could probably do with a slab of raw meat after all, despite everything. But hey, it’s their call. The success of their last two studio albums, which landed them high spots on the Billboard 200, is clearly sitting well with them, so »The Black Market« keeps serving up more of the same. And very successfully. A week after release, it landed at number three on that very chart, just one spot short of its predecessor »Endgame«.
The new songs boast a great, dynamic production, with the building blocks of the sound nicely balanced. It’s polished to a shine rather than carrying even a trace of garage. Rise Against are also one of those punk-soaked bands that can’t handle dissonant impulses well. Instead, they keep their compositional focus on layers of catchy, melodic singability which, paired with the adrenaline rush of the riffs and the active rhythmic drive, gives the band a proven winning recipe that effectively reels in the masses, or in other words, is friendly to the majority. So with the new album, Rise Against hold on to their mainstream concept, even though the production on the new record is a long way from the »softer« sound of »Appeal to Reason«. That Rise Agianst are getting ever more concise when it comes to arranging is proven by the album’s lead single I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore, where after a hugely promising verse the band unplugs from the built-up voltage and carries on with a trivially solved, predictable chorus form you’ve heard a million times. On the other hand, Sudden Life, built on a slowed-down but groove-thickened rhythm, confirms their artistic maturing as songwriters. In this track the band trades off a series of lead rhythms and lead phrases, without losing the red thread of tight compactness and melodic payoff for even a second! This song definitely won’t be to the taste of fans of old Rise Against, but it’s a textbook example of how to get the most out of your material and write a song that can be radio-friendly at any moment while still having credible artistic expression and power. The galloping rhythm of the Zero Visibility verse is something a band like Volbeat could happily borrow, but sadly the adrenaline build in the verse gets cut off by a phrase choice further on that »slams the brakes« on the chorus and breaks up the form of the composition. You can see the band’s urge to try out different artistic turns in how they structure their songs, which, as in this case, doesn’t always work. The expressive link between past and present is certainly there, and you can follow it across the album. The song on »The Black Market« that most effectively evokes the spirit of earlier albums like »Revoluton Per Minute« is the catchy, punk-fueled The Eco-Terrorist in Me, where the vocals are especially sharp, following the slick rhythmic march.
»The Black Market« is therefore the band’s biggest departure to date from their old sound and style. When we’re talking about an album that aims for the mainstream and radio play, the predictable ballad People Live Here only adds more weight to that conclusion. »The Black Market« is a commercially minded rock album that will surely keep Rise Against at the top of the most popular punk rock acts of the new era. Artistically, though, it brings nothing especially thrilling.
Lineup
Tim McIlrath – vocals, guitar
Zach Blair – guitar
Joe Principe – bass guitar
Brandon Barnes – drums
Production
Bill Stevenson & Jason Livermore
Tracklist
1. The Great Die-Off (3:39)
2. I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore (3:59)
3. Tragedy + Time (4:17)
4. The Black Market (4:15)
5. The Eco-Terrorist in Me (2:45)
6. Sudden Life (4:08)
7. A Beautiful Indifference (3:24)
8. Methadone (3:48)
9. Zero Visibility (4:38)
10. Awake Too Long (3:11)
11. People Live Here (4:08)
12. Bridges (4:06)
