Posted on: June 29, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Okay, how is this album going to sound. Rise Against’s last album, “Siren Song of the Counter-Culture” was hit after hit, but how will “The Sufferer and The Witness” even sound? After the band kicks into “Chamber the Cartridge”, I had little doubt in my heart that the band would deliver with this album. If anything, Rise Against have started listening to their early Offspring albums for a little bit of added fury. Sure, the vocals of Tim are soulful as hell, but there is no curtailing the raw passion and fury of Rise Against during the tracks on this album.

Each of the songs on “The Sufferer and The Witness” could be present on Stephen’s Untitled Rock Show, but there is a completely different level to Rise Against’ compositions n this album that will not allow the band to be co-opted by all the screaming youths. This means that songs like “Injection” have thought-out arrangements that elicit a specific type of emotion, even as the soaring guitars and easily-sung chorus will appeal to the masses. Rise Against is able to stick thirteen tracks on this disc, and yet individuals will still clamor for more at the end of the track. What seems to be a favorite transition for Rise Against during this album has to be the long instrumental introduction. This allows the band to punctuate Tim’s vocals to the degree that when ey actually starts singing, individuals will be listening in. After all of these albums, Rise Against have not lost any of their steps.

This is shown by the pit-worthy “Bricks”. In that track, the band shows newer acts like Strike Anywhere what abilities that brought Rise Against to the forefront all those years in the past. The fact that the drums and bass lines are given such a major role in this incredibly syncopated track (the song only lasts ninety seconds) shows that the band will attempt to make the best songs, regardless of what the overall sound is like is different from what individuals should expect. There are simply zero in the way of weak tracks on “The Sufferer and The Witness”; the band is able to expand on their sound as well as solidify their position as one of the most rough and raw punk-hardcore act. Their struggle with Raised Fist to see who is at the top of that mountain is for the moment won by Rise Against by the strength of this album.

Top Tracks: Bricks, Behind Closed Doors

Rating: 8.0/10

Rise Against – The Sufferer and The Witness / 2006 Geffen / 13 Tracks / http://www.riseagainst.com / http://www.geffen.com / Reviewed 02 August 2006

[JMcQ]

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