Punk | Wannabe Music Reviews

Rise Against - The Black Market

Illinois’ own Rise Against have released their latest LP entitled “The Black Market” following up from their 2011 release “Endgame”. The ’14 disk is a definite improvement on the ’11 one, with some of the old Rise Against making a comeback, in particularly the more aggressive sound and feel which we heard on previous albums such as the bands’ debut “Revolutions Per Minute” or the 2006 release “The Sufferer and the Witness”, and it does this whilst still keeping some of the more radio-friendly sounds which were heard on “Endgame”.

With the opening track, “The Great Die-Off”, we are greeted by a song which sounds like it belongs on “The Sufferer…”. While it may begin sounding like a song from “Endgame”, it quickly jumps to a more aggressive sound and feel, making for a great opening track to a great album. The old Rise Against also makes a comeback in terms of lyrics with more rebellious lyrics making an appearance; which in this song carry a “Creation of a new government” message – “But your numbers are dwindling now/Though endangered we’ll still hunt you down/With heads on a stake long may you reign/We want it all and we want it now/Tonight I watched your fires burn out/The cold dead hands we pried these guns from are yours/We want it all and we want it now/A tide is coming to drown you out/We make ourselves at home while your body’s still warm“

Following the protest anthem that is track one comes track two, the first single to come from the album, “I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore”, which shows the greatness of Rise Against by combining sounds from “Endgame”, “The Sufferer…” and “Appeal to Reason”. The lyrics have a similar message as “The Great Die-Off” does, this time warning of a revolution if things get any worse than they are – “I don’t want to be here anymore/I know there’s nothing left worth staying for/Your paradise is something I’ve endured/See I don’t think I can fight this anymore/I’m listening with one foot out the door/And something has to die to be reborn/I don’t want to be here anymore/The point where we break gets closer everyday/But where do we go?/But where do we go?”

After a more pop-punk sounding song that is track three, “Tragedy & Time” and an “Appeal to Reason” throwback that is track four, and the title track, “The Black Market” comes track five, “The Eco-Terrorist In Me”, a very clear throwback to the Fat Wreck Chords era of the band with thrashing guitars, speedy drums and the harsh vocals of McIlrath combined with the melodic sounds of the chorus’ and bridge to create what is my personal favourite track from the record.The lyrics in this one speak of an Orwell like future –

“Spray paint the cameras/Jam the frequency/What you killed/Just kept alive in me/Under bandannas/But not an enemy/You can’t define us/Anyway you please”

“When it all comes down, will you say you did everything you could?/When it all comes down, can you say that you never gave up?/Were you standing by, to watch it fall away?/Will you hold on or let it go?”

“Instead of doing what’s right, they build higher walls/Where we can’t shed a light, on true criminals/When business and suffering are one in the same/when laws fail the people they turn to the flame”

“When the lights all go out/And roadblocks go up/And you sleep to the sound/Of alarms going off”

The album as a whole is a great combination of every Rise Against album to date with some songs having a more hardcore punk focused sound than others, and shows how amazing and flexible a band Rise Against are to be able to create such a blend of songs and I most definitely recommend you add this one to your collection.

Rise Against – The Black Market: