'Appeal to Reason' a collection of lacerating broadsides

Rise Against, “Appeal to Reason”

Like all polemical punk bands since at least hard-core pioneer Minor Threat, Rise Against faces an elementary challenge: Finding enough melody to keep the message from becoming a tedious, preachy diatribe.

The Chicago quartet pulls it off on its fifth album, a collection of lacerating broadsides against what the band regards as American aggression overseas and misplaced priorities at home. Hard-core punk is a clear influence on singer Tim McIlrath, who flings accusations in a voice stretched thin with intensity on “Collapse (Post-Amerika).” He shows a more tuneful side with the sing-songy pattern of “Audience of One” and dials back the volume, if not the fervor, on the mournful tale of would-be military valor gone wrong on the acoustic “Hero of War.” That tune aside, most of the songs on “Appeal to Reason” are packed full of galloping drums and serrated, chugging guitars. The pummeling rhythm on “Kotov Syndrome” gives way to a bristling, tuneful breakdown, while “Entertainment” is a relentless, breakneck-speed assault on vapid pop culture.

There is an element of cognitive dissonance that comes with a band skewering the entertainment industrial complex from within the ranks of a major record label, a coveted perch deep within the entertainment industrial complex. Yet Rise Against makes no apology for the seeming contradiction. Maybe it's a case of wanting to bring down the system from the inside.

Essential download: “Kotov Syndrome.”