Strung Out

***For 35 years, STRUNG OUT has been banging out their signature brand of intense, frenetic, metal-influenced punk; elevating the band to elite status, and playing a significant role in redefining the genre. Strung Out's 10th studio album Dead Rebellion packs that same familiar punch, but with a new focus on melody, showing a band that is still evolving more than three decades into their distinguished career. Take, for instance, the way opener "Future Ghosts" begins in a frenzy of riffs and drumbeats before settling into a kind of hypnotic aggression. Or how the frenetic undercurrent of "White Owls" quietens down, its power condensed into a hushed whisper before once again soaring off in an impassioned burst of emotion. Similarly, "Life You Bleed" tiptoes quietly at first but then accelerates into a fully-fledged rock anthem. Elsewhere, "Cages" is a vicious indictment of the fractious, polarized and technology-driven nature of society, while "Empire Down" is a self- reflective ode about living up to the pressures and expectations of being in this band. Produced, mixed, and recorded by Shawn McGee; Dead Rebellion might represent a new chapter for Strung Out, but it's guided by the same principles that have always driven them. While Strung Out has never been known as a political band, this record—like all Strung Out records—has captured the zeitgeist and the self- destructive political climate perfectly. Overtly political or otherwise, Dead Rebellion is nevertheless a record informed by and reacting to the world we live in and all the experience and wisdom the band has attained over the years. It's also one built on the unwavering principles that Strung Out has had at their core from the very beginning.