In their eighth studio album, released more than ten years after their punk debut The Unraveling, Rise Against traveled back to their roots. Wolves takes a dive back into their punk origins while maintaining their dedication to political messages. Just take a listen to the penultimate track– "How Many Walls."

Before even talking about the lyrics, the song is catchy with jamming instrumentals towards the end. Rise Against rarely gives time in their songs to just enjoy some guitar riffs, which is why songs like "Blood to Bleed" from Siren Song of the Counter Culture are so special, and which is why "How Many Walls" is a rocking tune, even at face value.
But dip even a pinky toe into the lyrics and we're on a different level. The title itself references President Donald Trump's campaign promise of building a wall on the United States-Mexico border, but more deeply reflects building metaphorical walls between friends. 
The song opens with short instrumentals followed by the chorus, which asks us, 
    How many walls can you put up?
    How many guns till you feel safe? 
    How many times can we watch this story over and over and over again? 

Lead singer Tim McIlrath is asking the listeners if more guns and a bigger military is really always the answer. Is it worth it to make the same mistake over and over and are these sacrifices for security really worth it? Because at some point we're no longer helping ourselves. We are instead lining the pockets of politicians and large corporations. 

The entire album is more hardcore than Appeal to Reason, Endgame, or The Black Market, but worth a listen. 
​
I definitely recommend listening to:

Click here to travel over to their YouTube Channel. 

Zoe Adler is a music journalist from Long Beach, California. She is the editor and founder of TeenView Music as well as a dedicated musician. She is a summer intern at the Signal Tribune, a local newspaper. She will start at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in the fall. ​

​I have only once had the opportunity to see Thousand Foot Krutch live and believe me, I was impressed. The band is incredibly talented and their musical style is perfectly suited for the outdoor party atmosphere at Rocklahoma.
 
TFK has released 8 studio albums over their twenty years of activity, and Rocklahoma fans are in for a treat as they will get the opportunity to hear some of the new material off their upcoming release Oxygen: Exhale. The new album is a companion, or follow-up, to their 2014 release Oxygen: Inhale.
 
I have had the opportunity to sample the entire album and I am struggling with sitting still while writing this review.  This album has the power of Rage Against the Machine, but with a touch of my favorite band of 2015: Crobot. This band can rock it hard but gives us some of that funky groove that makes a live show so enjoyable.
 
They have released three singles from the album: “Running With Giants,” “Incomplete,” and “Born Again,” and all three truly hit the spot.  The official video for “Running with Giants” is below:

​While TFK members are Christian, their lyrics are in fact are about topics that anyone can relate to. I especially like the opening to “Give up the Ghost” when lead singer Trevor McNevan sings, “I am a rose raised by wolves.” If it wasn’t for their mom, my daughters could definitely claim that song as their own.
 
The lyric video to “Give up the Ghost” can be seen below.

​The quality of these tracks is repeated consistently on the album. In fact, I feel the best songs on the album are “The River” and “Adrenaline,” which show off the best that this talented band can do. While “The River” is one crazy, funky party, “Adrenaline” starts off exactly as the name suggests.  Get in, sit down, strap in, and prepare for departure. Either that, or get yourself in the pit and give it your all. 
 
Exhale is scheduled to be released on June 17th, and it is definitely an album to pre-order so you are ready to rock on day one. TFK will be opening the main stage at Rocklahoma this Sunday and you absolutely positively do not want to miss a minute.  

Through the years, Affiance has steadily increased the hardness of its metalcore, from a five out of ten in its first album No Secrets Revealed  (we don’t talk about the Calm Before the Storm EP) to a solid eight point seven out of ten in Gaia, the EP Affiance recently released. You can view the increase here: 

​Gaia, funded through an Indie Go-Go campaign, features seven angry tracks that channel the excellence of prior-Affiance while adding on more screaming, more punchy bass lines, and several badass solos by guitarist Dominic Dickinson.
 

The album starts mercilessly with “Reboot,” a song accompanied with a music video that effectively articulates the corruption of government through the juxtaposition of violence and torture with media coverage.

​Starting with a muted guitar riff, it’s as if Affiance is lying, persuading listeners to think the song might stay quiet. Of course, the volume increases, the drums kick in, and the speakers are exploding from the bass strikes. A few more seconds and the drums pick up a punk beat, pushing forward, urgency filling the sound as lead singer Dennis Tvrdik introduces his operatic voice, proclaiming, “I no longer believe we’re in control of this. The machine [is] calculating our death.”

​“Reboot” continues and I find myself compelled to move with the bass line; it becomes impossible to resist. Affiance’s music walks in and dominates; nothing else is relevant when it begins to play.

​Probably the most brilliant part of the song is actually the ending, where Tvrdik sings, “This was not built to last. THIS WAS DESIGNED TO COLLAPSE!” Immediately, abruptly, the instrumentals cut off, mirroring the lyrics perfectly. 

“Gaia” follows “Reboot,” starting with an odd recording of voices singing, “We will reap what we sow.” Suddenly, the guitar lands a sucker-punch right in the ears, erupting in an intricate riff that tumbles into a drum fill and falls out the other end with another helping of bass smacks. Dickinson shows off by weaving in tasteful lines among the thick threads of bass.

​Gaia in Greek mythology was the deity that embodied Earth, and in this track, Tvrdik sings, “Mother Earth, she weeps tonight,” harkening back to the eponymous goddess of the track. “How can we live while she dies?” he asks, forcing listeners to simultaneously consider man’s destruction of Earth while head banging—a serious multitasking feat. 

There’s no beating around the bush in “Hollow Empire;” the music pulsates with energy and vibrates with fury from the first note. The beginning feels like an argument between the upper and lower registers of the guitar. Dickinson begins deep in the guitar’s range, laying a wrathful rhythm, a sword thrust at the upper range. About twelve seconds in, the higher octaves fight back, taking flight in a complex solo filled with dizzying finger movements and craftily placed high notes.

“Hollow Empire” is filled with a considerable amount of screaming, but Affiance goes about sreamo in a careful and artistic way—there is never a growl misplaced or a howl misused.

At around 2:38, Dickinson plays a chromatic cascade down the range of the guitar that lands in the booms of the bass drum and Tvrdik proclaiming, “THERE’S NO FUTURE HERE! THESE LIES WILL STAND NO LONGER! BRING OUR FUCKING JUSTICE!”

​After those livid screams, Affiance plunges into the classic metalcore sound—a thunderous bass rhythm topped with drum fills and a repeated guitar riff.

“Knowing” may be the closest Affiance can get to a ballad while still being Affiance. If they achieved any more ballad-like a sound than this, I’d be worried that they accidentally uploaded another band’s song to their EP.

The sonorous line from the guitar that opens “Knowing” lays the bedding for the vocals and continues as a quiet, ceaseless, and beautiful background for much of the song.

“Knowing” features Tvrdik’s enchanting singing, finally acquainting the audience with his vocal power unequalled in all of metal.

We all know those balladic guitar solos that are so melodious, so beautiful, so perfect within the mood that we can listen to them over and over and we’ll never tire. You may be thinking of any number of famous solos, but once you hear “Knowing,” Dickinson’s solo will be the one that you remember.

​The last thirty seconds of the song consists of synthesizer chords and beats, a peaceful ending to Affiance’s one and only ballad. 

The last three songs speed by in a whirlwind that churns up any hidden anger, resentment, and frustration, and leaves you feeling cleansed and refreshed.
 

​“Crusader” begins with a brief prologue of ambient noise before Tvrdik releases a guttural scream from deep within, unleashing a growl so violent that my own vocal chords hurt from listening to it.

The song contains an odd period where a radio-style recording plays over instrumentals, which serves as a slight break from the screaming, pounding bass, and electrifying guitar solos that comprise Affiance’s most furious track.   

The opening to “PRSVR” is a surprisingly beautiful guitar line that grows in strength, volume, and intensity to Tvrdik’s command to “persevere.” The melodious line continues over the beating drums and throbbing bass. As the song pushes forward, Tvrdik shows off his impressive vocal range (although if you want serious proof, listen to “The Hive”).

At 1:20, Affiance tries on a new hat, switching to the fast-tempo metalcore technique driven by drums and paired with quick, screamed lyrics. Although this style is normal for metalcore bands, this is a first for Affiance, and they pull it off better than any other group did before or will after.

The rhythmic quality of the chorus captivates the listener—often I become so engrossed in the music that I don’t realize I’m headbanging and singing aloud until all the heads in the room are already turned my way.

​“PRSVR” ends in reverse of the beginning. A loud scream and then Dickinson playing a beautiful line that fades into nothingness. 

Melody- and rhythm-driven, “Exist” reminds me more of prior Affiance albums, although it still demonstrates the stylistic shift to a heavier sound that they made in Gaia.

A sizable chunk of the track consists of an instrumental section with a personal speaking over the top. “There comes a time in everyone’s life,” says the metallic voice, “where we must question everything we think we know and understand about ourselves and the world around us.”

​When the voice cuts off, an echo hangs over the clean rhythm of the guitar, bass, and drums. The song carries on, and in the last minute or so, a sparing use of synthesizer toys with the time, rhythm, and sound and manipulates dynamic swells up to the end, where I cry because there’s not more Affiance left for me to listen to. 

Johnny Cash, Neil Fallon, Morgan Freeman; Three of the most enjoyable voices in America
 
The album ends with two great songs: “Decapitation Blues,” which by its very name is a winner, but lives up to the hype both in terms of the riffs and the lyrics, and  “Son of Virginia,” another of those songs that takes advantage of the skills of this multitalented band.  Listening to this last song is a bit like watching the new Kyrie Irving Pepsi ad; he has so much talent that no one stands a chance.  Every part of the Clutch team is so gifted in their skills that they can do nothing but succeed.  This album is not just a touchdown, it’s a 99-yard, heart pounding, fist-thumping rush, followed by a two-point conversion and a successful on-sides kickoff.
 
Clutch has a new dedicated fan.  Never again will I go to a Clutch concert with the goal of seeing the other band…these guys rock.