“Just not if you understand me” goes the hook of the opener here, and the sense of togetherness that Rise Against always engender is writ large.
“Nod” bursts out with no preamble, sounding not unlike Volbeat if they went punk.
Never mind, just for a second, that 2025 needs Rise Against — it damn sure needs rock ’n’ roll to sound dangerous. Like it does when Tim McIlrath screams “can’t run if we never crawl” on “I Want It All” like it’s a challenge.
The title track slows the pace and is arena rock, but it’s still unmistakably Rise Against.
The thing about believing in progressive politics — or believing there’s a “better way,” as they put it on “Damage Is Done” — is that you feel you’re increasingly on your own, shouting into some right-wing void populated by scum like Farage and Yaxley-Lennon. That’s perhaps the vibe on “Us Against The World.” But there’s hope as it soars. There really is.
This isn’t as “punk,” if you will — it’s rather more textured than that. “Black Crown” rather deliberately offers that “the worst is on its way,” and when you think of the last five years, that’s a chilling thought.
“Sink Like A Stone,” on the other hand, raises its fist in collective stoicism, while “Forty Days” seems to suggest that if the storm is here, then together we’ll build the Ark and find shelter.
“State Of Emergency” dials up the threat and cheerfully mans the barricades, while Rise Against in 2025 are increasingly about light and shade. “Gold Long Gone” leaves them baffled by an “algorithm we can’t fight” over an acoustic-driven track.
They’re still battling, though — and even the titles of the last two here tell you that. “Soldier” swaggers but is happy to charge into the fray.
“Prizefighter” delivers the album’s knockout blow with these words: “I don’t belong to you, or anyone else.”
Free thinkers forever, Rise Against walk it like they talk it. They always have. For a quarter of a century, they have meant every word.
We might live in a world of post-truth populism, but albums like “Ricochet” are the sound of the bounce back. There is hope. It’s in these words.
Join us on the right side of history.
Rating: 8.5/10
