Review: Rise Against-Endgame

BY JEREMY HAAS

Rise Against is a Punk Rock band based out of Chicago, Illinois who began playing in 1999. Led by vocalist/guitarist Tim Mcllrath with Zach Blair on guitar, Joe Principe on Bass, and Brandon Barnes on the drums, Rise Against is mostly known for their political lyrics. Each of the members is a straight edge, vegan, Peta supporter and this lifestyle influences their sound and lyrics.

On March 15, they released their fifth studio Album entitled EndGame.

Endgame is a politically inspired album. It has the same punk influences Rise Against is famous for, along with some harsher sounds that add variation and energy to the album overall.  The tracks are straight and to the point, with catchy guitar riffs, harmonized vocals, and simple song structures.  However, the fact that all the songs tend to sound alike is a definite downside, but that can also be said of entire punk genre of music.

The first song is a really energetic opener.  There isn’t an introduction, so the album goes straight to fast-paced punk rock. Immediately after comes more fast-paced songs, and attitude and raw power escalates as the album goes on.  It’s a good thing when a band doesn’t stray too far from how they started, and in essence, Rise Against is just staying true to the attitude of punk.

Apart from the fact that this band is super catchy and passionate, their music can be quite interchangeable. Songs are easily confused, and though the sound itself is great, the album EndGame doesn’t really seem like an actual album; rather, it’s more a collection of heavy guitar riffs and vocal harmonies. The tracks seem to mesh together toward the middle of the album, yet it ends strongly with the tracks “This is letting go” and “End Game”. These are uplifting and have slightly more variation than the others.

EndGame has the same punk energy that Rise Against has been bringing for over ten years.  However, the album itself isn’t quite out of the ordinary. It’s catchy, fast paced, and fun in places, but not exactly dynamic. It strikes me as more of a collection of fast filler tracks.