I’m not sure what it is about Canadian thrash punkers Propagandhi, but it always takes me a dozen or more listens to fully appreciate their albums. I’ve been a huge fan of theirs since their debut album How To Clean Everything back in 1993 but, none of their albums have immediately grabbed me, even though a few have gone on to occupy my All Time Favorite Albums List. Their most recent LP At Peace (via Epitaph Records) is no different. Is it the complexity of the music or the heaviness of the themes that demands multiple playthroughs before getting hooked? I dunno. Either way, after a good fifteen or so listens, I finally feel comfortable enough writing a review for this, their eighth studio album. So, off we go!
First things first, this album is sonically divergent from their previous albums, but if you’ve been listening closely over the past few decades, their sound has been slowly evolving towards “Prog Punk” for lack of a better term. Yes, there’s still the obligatory face melting riffs and woofer punishing bass licks but this album is a far cry from traditional Punk or Metal. It’s probably not even something in-between the two. The sixth track “Stargazing” encapsulates this musical shift perfectly. Definitely not punk, nowhere near metal and…is that a synthesizer I hear?
Although the musicality is different the lyrics are exactly what fans would expect. Even if the tone of the writing is more desperate and foreboding, they are still politically motivated, oozing with derision, dissent and disgust and the title track makes sure to reinforce that standard. “Hedge every bet. Lick every boot. Make every appeal. Prostrate yourself to the killing machine to spare yourself from it’s wheels. “Better them than me” rolls so seductively off your tongue. Your reckoning has begun.”
However, the lyrics have an unfamiliar undercurrent of resignation to them which is probably a sarcastic nod to the Album’s title. Asked about the LP, front man Chris Hannah said “What we’re putting into the songs now, probably reflects more despair than 30 years ago when we had similar perspectives, but with strands of hope and naivete. Now it’s the existential dread of eking out a life worth living in this completely failed society.” This theme is most prominently displayed in both “Rented P.A.” and “Prismatic Spray (The Tinder Date)”.
The writing on the last few albums has also been a lot more contemplative than earlier ones. 2017’s Victory Lap was probably the pinnacle of this kind of reflective writing but it merges seamlessly into this new full length. It engages the listener, it’s conversational, earnestly asking how we can solve some of our problems together and admitting that perhaps even they haven’t done enough or been as vigilant as they should’ve. From my favorite track “No Longer Young”: “Life on the line, at this point what’s left to say? We’ll die in a world still at war. Did we really try?”
“Benito’s Earlier Work” is probably the most inflammatory song which…..yea, it should be. Anyone who is totally exhausted and overwhelmed by today’s fucked up political climate can relate. If you’re not in a constant battle with yourself between being totally apathetic to the current state of affairs and wanting to burn down everything you see, you probably don’t own a TV or have a Facebook account. When Mr. Hannah said “Speaking for myself, this record might be a snapshot of me deciding whether I’m going to live out the rest of my life as Eckhart Tolle or live out the rest of my life as Ted Kaczynski,” I’m sure this was the track he was thinking about.
And finally, it wouldn’t be a proper Propagandhi album without criticizing the Church! “God of Avarice” is more of a of indictment on ungodly people who use Religion like a fishing lure, hooking the gullible, unquestioning, devotees to subjugate “others” who don’t belong in “their Country”.
“There’s nothing that hints you’ve been touched by the light of an all loving one. A God of Empathy calling out from the shore, a line for those in need, the ones that you despise. Present to me a god of cruelty I’ll agree, yeah, you’re following faithfully”. The same messaging can also be heard a few tracks later in “Day by Day”: “We ensure that some will die along the trail, our god is not of charity. Feel it coming down, a test failed day by day, Are these the mysterious ways? Can’t go wrong, the praising of tyrants, follow along, the story’s in the works”
All in all this is a solid album that continues to push the band forward both musically as well as in the writing. And I bet if you were to ask me later it would rank a little higher than I do today but since no one wants to read a review a year after an album is released: 4 out of 5 Molotov Cocktails 🔥🔥🔥🔥