Rise against full album the sufferer and the witness

On Siren Song of the Counter Culture, the one song that stood out from the rest of the album was undoubtedly 'Swing Life Away', as it was an acoustic song, and predictably appealed to a wide range of people, making it feel like a gimmicky inclusion. Other standout songs are 'Drones', which begins with a thundering bass intro and becomes one of the heavier numbers, and 'Worth Dying For', a speedy number that initially sounds like a throwback to something from Revolutions Per Minute starts off with the memorable lyric ' Set me off like dynamite strapped tight around my waist / We are the ones in competition but claim this ain't no race.'

However, the shortest song, 'Bricks', sounds like it came straight from The Unraveling or Revolutions Per Minute clocking in at a brisk 1:30 and displaying the speed their older material often consisted of, making it a highlight of the album and one of my personal favorite tracks. Only two songs fall under three minutes in length, which seems about right at this point as they have slowly evolved from a band with mostly short songs to writing longer, less straightforward tunes. In some respects, The Sufferer and the Witness is faster and heavier than Siren Song of the Counter Culture, but those awesome, soaring choruses that allow Tim McIlrath to show off his vocals are still there along with the tasteful guitar solos, as always. Whereas their last album had a sound that mixed their own style established on Revolutions Per Minute with a sound more akin to Atlantic-era Bad Religion, The Sufferer and the Witness expands on it a bit, adding a noticeable increase in bass volume that gives some of the songs added kick and heaviness that was lacking a bit on Siren Song of the Counter Culture. They continue to write (mostly) fast, melodic hardcore punk that wouldn't sound out of place in Fat Wreck's catalogue. Once you've finished rejoicing over the fact that Rise Against decided not to use clip art to present their new album, you'll pop it in and notice that The Sufferer and the Witness is anything but a far cry from the rest of their material, which is a good thing. And it doesn't have shitty artwork that Siren Song of the Counter Culture did! Hooray! That said, The Sufferer and the Witness more or less starts off right where their major label debut, Siren Song of the Counter Culture ended. Rise Against continues to prove that a major label doesn't mean shit when it comes to writing their music, which is one of the small reasons I like them so much.

It's always nice when a band that exhibited incredible promise coming up through indie labels continues to show evolution without distancing themselves from their roots once they've hit major label status. Rise Against вЂ“ The Sufferer and the Witness - Geffen, 2006

Rise against full album the sufferer and the witness