 
Rise Against and Alkaline Trio have been my favourite
punk bands for a long time now and it is safe
to say that Rise Against are a band which gets
better with age, ever since they released ‘The
Unraveling’ back in 2001 they have gone
from strength to strength and followed each and
every album up with yet another solid album release
and that feeling has carried right on to their
latest album ‘Endgame’ which is truly
fantastic and one of the most upbeat yet heavy
albums Tim Mcllrath and co have ever released.
‘Endgame’ features 12 rocking punk
rock tracks and there is not a weak track in sight
which is something that Rise Against manage to
get right pretty much 90% of the time as in all
honesty it is pretty impossible to pick out any
major weak sounding tracks from any of the Rise
Against back catalogue as each track stands out
in its own way.
The album opens with ‘Architects’
and from that opening fast paced instrumental
stint where the guitar riffs are super charged
and the drum beats are enough to burst some ear
drums, you just know that you could well be about
to listen to some of the best punk rock music
ever created and when Mcllrath’s signature
vocals come in melodically singing “Are
there no fighters left here anymore? Are we the
generation we've been waiting for? Or are we patiently
burning? Waiting to be saved? Our heroes our icons,
have mellowed with age, following rules, that
they once disobeyed, are now being led when they
used to lead the way”, you instantly know
that Rise Against are still singing about their
political infused war themes but in a more hard
hitting way.
‘Help Is On The way’ is the current
Rise Against single and is a fast paced radio
friendly track about the tragedy of hurricane
Katrina and it features all the elements of the
Rise Against that we have all grown to love.
‘Make It Stop (September’s Children)’
opens with child like group vocals of “woaaaaaaaaah,
woaaaaaaaah”, seconds later the guitars
come in super charged followed by Mcllraths’s
trademark vocals shortly after, the theme of the
song is big, brave and could quite possibly have
a positive impact on many people as it addresses
homophobia and is there to give teens the message
that it does not matter about what sexuality they
are as after all we are all human, the chorus
is really emotional with Mcllrath screaming for
the world to grow the fuck up and accept people
for who they are before more teens commit suicide
with lyrics of “make it stop. let this end,
eighteen years pushed to the ledge. it's come
to this, a weightless step. on the way down singing,woah,
woah”
Each and every track on the album stands out for
its own reason, ‘Disparity By Design’
is a fast paced punk rock number which features
very tasty instrumental work, ‘Satellite’
is a big banging tune with fantastic drum beats
and huge sing-a-long melodies whilst ‘Midnight
Hands’ features really progressive instrumental
work from the go.
For me one of the best tracks on the album is
‘Survivor Guilt’ the song is kind
of a follow up to the classic ‘Hero Of War’
and this time the song is coming from the perspective
of a soldier killed in war so is pretty much like
a true to life ghost war story and whilst the
theme of the song is quite emotional the instrumental
work is fast and furious with everything slotting
together so well to create the perfect Rise Against
war song.
With most Rise Against albums they always feature
the big sounding future singles towards the end
and that is exactly what they have done with ‘Endgame’
as track 11 ‘This Is Letting Go’ is
a big radio friendly anthem and is going to be
the stand out track for many people listening
to the album, whilst the album title track ‘Endgame’
provides the closing moments for the album also
shines in big melodic radio friendliness.
Anyone who switched off from Rise Against when
they signed to a major label is a complete fool
in my eyes but at the same time Rise Against are
laughing as they are now bigger and better than
ever before, and those so called fans are missing
out on the biggest punk album that Rise Against
have ever released, ‘Endgame’ is one
big polished punk rock album from start to finish
and I urge you all to purchase the album and check
out Rise Against at their best.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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